Thrygon

Thrygon, the Pitiless, the King of Terrors, is one of the five sons of Thaedon and one of the primary deities of the Thaedonu-Vaati pantheon.

Thrygon is a cruel and merciless punisher-god, the tempter of mankind; he lures or goads mortals into wicked deeds, and hurls into the underworld the souls of those who have been judged deserving by Kaephus. He inflicts misery on mortal men, he delights in their corruption and downfall, he laughs when they do evil, and is dismayed when they live virtuously. He strives always to thwart his benevolent brothers and steal the souls of humanity away from them. Those who suffer mishaps will often blame Thrygon for it, since he is considered the source of bad luck and misfortune, and those who wish ill upon another will curse them in Thrygon’s name (although invoking him to curse an undeserving victim is a serious taboo, believed to imperil the soul of the malefactor).

Unlike the rest of the Thaedonu-Vaati, Thrygon does not dwell in Aenuvion.  He is said to have the ability to be in many places at once; he is always abroad in the world to tempt mortal men into evil deeds, and yet he also stands waiting outside the gate of Paradise so that he can cast down the souls of those condemned into Karkharos.

Despite all of this, Thrygon is not unrelentingly hateful and malevolent like the gods of the underworld. He can sometimes be persuaded (or tricked) into showing clemency to mortals, or even aiding them, and he may occasionally send omens to warn mortal humans that their evil deeds will lead them to his spear if they don’t reform their ways. However, his motives in this not are not mercy or compassion, but his own fickle amusement. It pleases him when his warnings are ignored, and he delights when mortals return to their wicked ways after a brief atonement.

**Symbols and Attributes**

Thrygon is typically portrayed as a man of impressive height and statuesque proportions, with a handsome but cruel aquiline face and baleful, piercing eyes. His head has a kingly crown upon it and in his hand is a great spear. He uses this spear to pierce the souls of evildoers who have been condemned by Kaephus, and hurl them into the underworld. As a figure of speech, "on Thrygon’s spear" refers to living wickedly or in unrepentant corruption, and thus putting one’s soul in danger (for instance, “He’s on Thrygon’s spear,” or “He’ll end up on Thrygon’s spear if he doesn’t change his ways”).

The divine attributes of Thrygon are of course his spear, and also his crown symbolizing his epithet “King of Terrors” (because the fate he inflicts, consignment to the underworld, subjects the condemned soul to all the terrors found there). He is said to ride a monstrous steed with a hide of black iron, hooves of burnished steel, and blazing eyes and nostrils; and to be accompanied by enormous black hunting hounds.

Aside from his spear and crown, the other important symbols of Thrygon are the black bull or aurochs, and the leopard or panther: Both due to their dangerous nature, the former for its strength and aggression, the latter since he is said to “prowl to and fro like a leopard seeking whom he may devour”. His priests wear the emblem of a black bull’s head as a medallion or holy symbol, and may sometimes wear a leopard-pelt mantle as well. Thrygon is also associated with the sign of the black dog (due to his hunting hounds), the striking scorpion, the shrike-bird, and the thorn tree that grows in barren places.

**Servants and Minions**

Thrygon’s chief servitor and emissary is the Morgemmach, the Scourge Rider, master of the Dread Hunt; on certain nights of the year when the moon is new, he leads Thrygon’s baying hounds and the spirits of his host on a grim cavalcade across the land, riding down those lost souls that have slipped free from the pits of Karkharos or eluded the judgment of the gods. When the Dread Hunt streams across the night sky, people huddle fearfully in their beds, for living mortals who witness it may have their souls torn from their bodies as well and forced to join the eternal pursuit. Some say the Morgemmach is the foremost temmataiyu of Thrygon, created from his divine essence; others that he was Thrygon’s first priest and mortal servant when mankind was newborn, before the dawn of history.

The spirit-host that follows the Morgemmach in the Dread Hunt, the thrall-riders of Thrygon, are not temmataiyu: They are restless mortal souls spared perdition in Karkharos but doomed instead to an eternity at the Pitiless One’s cruel command. Some are the souls of evildoers who were condemned by the gods and given up to Thrygon’s spear, but whom he stole away for his own purposes rather than casting into the pits of the underworld (these could be considered dark counterparts to the exaltants of the other Thaedonu-Vaati). Others are the luckless few whose good and evil deeds balanced perfectly in the judgment of Kaephus: They cannot attain paradise even after wandering Abrynus, yet are deemed undeserving of the torments of the underworld. Others still are said to be the souls of those unfortunates who were drawn into the Dread Hunt by witnessing it on some moonless night. The souls of Thrygon’s priests also find service in his spirit-host after death, though for them this is no punishment, but rather the rightful and desired reward for a lifetime of service.

According to popular folklore, Thrygon’s host includes the souls of many kings, warriors, and other famous figures who were renowned for their wicked deeds in life but also for their strength in war or their skill in the hunt. In any part of Urva where the Thaedonu-Vaati are worshipped, people will insist that the vanguard of the spirit-host contains whatever figures of local history or legend fit this description. In the Taefemach, it is the spirit of Beric Blackhelm, a knight of the Old Empire who cursed the gods in a time of desperation and then died in battle before atoning for his blasphemy. In Dranuria it’s Rothvir the Cruel, semi-legendary first king of Tybezar, who conspired with priests of Thrygon to murder his disfavored older son so that his younger could succeed him instead. In the Medrenesse they tell of Belaegos of Kolja, a warrior and seafarer in the service of Rhajat who carried on an affair with the wife of his liege-lord. There are as many such claims as there are local legends of iniquitous deeds; and if asked, a priest of Thrygon will sagely reply that all of them (and more) are true.

Thrygon is certainly also served by many temmataiyu; foremost among them are his dreadful black hounds, followed by the Kyrixes, winged fiends like gynosphinxes (having the faces of she-devils on the bodies of great cats) who serve as his messengers and deliver his curses to those they are to afflict. Lesser emanations of Thrygon may take the form of harpies, strixes, birds of ill omen, and various menacing wraiths and phantoms.

**Priests and Devotees**

Priests of Thrygon serve the designs of their god: The temptation, corruption, and misguidance of the people of the Vanir-Vaati. This makes them feared and reviled figures in human society, in stark contrast to the other priesthoods of the Thaedonu-Vaati. They are believed to possess (and frequently use) the power to inflict all manner of curses and maledictions, and to be gifted with a sinister charisma which lets them persuade even righteous, gods-fearing people to commit wicked deeds if given a chance. For this reason, few people in their right mind will interact with a priest of Thrygon outside of certain prescribed ritual contexts. When one walks down the street, shutters close and people suddenly find reasons to be elsewhere; those whom the priest approaches quiver in fear and grasp at any excuse to end the conversation as quickly as possible. Priests of Thrygon are commonly referred to as “shrikes,” although never to their faces.

Since most people react to a priest of Thrygon with avoidance or frightened deference, Thrygonite priesthoods often send their members out into the world incognito to do their god’s work. Dressed in common clothes and without their holy symbols, they are able to move freely in human societies as agents of Thrygon and advance his agenda through covert means. Temples of Thrygon frequently have secret passages or tunnels, often emerging from hidden doors a considerable distance from the temple itself, to allow these disguised priests to come and go on their errands without being noticed.

The vestments of a Thrygonite priest usually consist of a long black robe or ankle-length black tunic (often sleeveless), bound about the waist with a belt of steel links; around their neck or on their breast they will wear a heavy medallion with the symbol of the black bull’s head. Steel or golden arm-bands and bracers are commonly worn as well, and a leopard-pelt mantle is not uncommon, especially when conducting ceremonies on certain holy days. Their staff or rod of rank will be tipped with a symbolic spearhead (or may actually be a spear, albeit usually embellished with ritual adornments like bull’s-head or leopard iconography, an ornate cross-bar below the blade, and so forth). For obvious reasons, priests of Thrygon use a real spear as their primary weapon, but the spiked or 'thorned' maul is also holy to them; its crushing blow and cruel spikes are seen as apt representations of the punisher-god's pitiless nature. Spiked flails and scourges are also sometimes used.

Priests of Thrygon may sometimes be persuaded to place curses on an unlucky victim in the name of their god. Usually they will demand some favor or payment for this, although sometimes they readily agree and ask nothing in return, which will discomfit the one making the request if they have any sense. However, there is a widespread and deeply held belief that persuading the Thrygonite priests to curse an undeserving victim will result in the curse being mirrored upon the one who requested it, and is also a wicked act that will weigh heavily on the offender’s soul in the judgment of Kaephus (and thus may lead their own soul to end up on Thrygon’s spear).

**Temples**

The holy places of Thrygon are usually subterranean cave-temples set into the side of a city’s tessaraon or temple hill; in some cases, they may be dug into hillsides or bluffs outside of town, separate from the temples of the other Thaedonu-Vaati. If the temple is built around a natural cavern, its main chamber may be rough-walled and irregular, columned with stalagtites and stalagmites. Others, though, feature elaborately decorated altar-halls with high arched ceilings and rows of pillars, all carved from the solid rock. Whether above or below ground, Thrygon’s temples typically have only a single entrance (as opposed to the triple doorway seen on the temples of the other Thaedonu-Vaati), closed by a heavy iron door engraved with his holy symbols and devotional verses.

Temples of Thrygon are rarer than those of the other gods and many cities lack them. People tend to not want to live near temples of Thrygon, which is why they are sometimes absent from the tessaraon or located outside of town. It is considered very bad luck to allow the shadow of a Thrygonite temple to be cast upon oneself. Thus they are only approached during the hours of the day when the temple entrance is in sunlight; when the temple is casting its shadow over its entrance, practically no-one will come to the temple since they cannot enter without passing through the shadow. For this reason, Thrygonite temples tend to be sited facing east (so people can come in the first half of the day) or west (so they can come in the second half), and very rarely north (since then the temple would cast a narrow shadow over those approaching its entrance even at midday in summer).

As with the other Thaedonu-Vaati, Thrygon’s temples typically have a statue or idol of him standing over the altar. In poor or minor temples this may be comparatively small (human-sized) and carved from plain stone, but in large or rich temples, it will be much bigger and beautifully fashioned from valuable materials: The body carved from onyx, the hair from red carnelian or porphyry, his crown and spear-tip chased with gold and his raiment likewise gilded, the eyes made from gems, the teeth from pearls.

Some temples to Thrygon observe a particular discipline whereby they are sealed to the outside world all year except for a single day; on this one door, the iron door is opened and supplicants are permitted to enter. The other 363 days of the year, the doors are locked and no-one may enter and the priests do not leave (although some of these temples have secret passages allowing the priests to slip out when they must).  The priests spend their time in hidden ritual and prayer, or sometimes leaving to travel in secret as agents of their god, doing his work. Temples which follow this discipline are especially likely to send out priests in secret to do their work incognito, using their hidden passages to come and go while the temple remains sealed.

**Holy Days and Propitiation**

There are four major holy days dedicated to Thrygon over the course of the year: The Day of Dirges in early Xonasmoon, the Partha Siyeh in Telasmoon, the Partha Helwa at the end of Deinasmoon, and the Thrygonu-Partha at the beginning of Thrygasmoon. On these days, and on certain other occasions throughout the year, the traditional sacrifice to Thrygon will be enacted: One or several black bulls, killed by piercing them through the heart with a broad-bladed spear.

On the Day of Dirges, the Vanir-Vaati chant prayers of mourning for the dead and beg Thrygon’s mercy for the souls of their kin. The priests of Thrygon will bring forth the idol of the god from the temple and carry it through the streets of the city, on a palanquin or a wheeled platform, while people gather along the procession’s route to sing their dirges and call out their supplications. In addition to the customary sacrifice of a black bull, offerings of black rams or goats are also made to Thrygon on this day.

On the Partha Siyeh, the priests of Thrygon lay out trestles before their temple door, laden with great bowls of wine, fruit and honey, sweet breads, and other delicacies, all centered around one or several whole roast oxen (black bulls which were sacrificed the night before in the traditional manner). The Vanir-Vaati gather and chant prayers of abjuration while the temple musicians play their pipes and drums to attempt to drown them out, and the priests enjoin them to help themselves, symbolically enacting Thrygon’s temptation of mortal souls. The assembled people must refuse the feast from dawn until midday; then the priests of Thrygon, rejected, retreat into their temple and seal the doors, and priests of the other Thaedonu-Vaati bless the repast, enabling the people to enjoy it. This is a holy day in which rejection and refusal of Thrygon’s lures is celebrated. If any member of the community succumbs to temptation and touches the food before midday, it is considered not just a curse upon that person, but upon all, since they have let one among them go hungry (or failed to discipline each other) such that they could not resist. Thus the Vanir-Vaati restrain each other, and also customarily ensure that ample alms of bread and (traditionally) apricots are given to all the towns’ poor and destitute before the event so that none are too tempted.

On the Partha Helwa, the Vanir-Vaati march in processions to the temple of Thryon, bringing offerings of wine, oil or butter, milk, barley-cakes, cloth, or coin, which are given to the priests; they beg to be passed over by Morgemmach and the Dread Hunt, and beseech it to ensnare only wraiths and restless spirits over the cold months to come (which is when it is traditionally thought to ride most frequently).

The Thrygonu-Partha is arguably the most important festival dedicated to Thrygon, and occurs in early winter at the beginning of the month named for him. It is thus part of the Vathanalu calendar's major early-winter festival season. As on the Partha Siyeh, there is an emphasis on abjuring the god's temptations rather than making offerings to him. During the day, the idols of Thrygon are carried through the streets in procession by his priests and acolytes. At major temples and cult sites, nine black bulls are traditionally sacrificed. It is prescribed that the Vanir-Vaati should eat a pre-dawn meal and then fast throughout the day, refusing the offerings of food made by the Thrygonite priests in procession; and that they should close their houses at dusk, using a paste of red pigment (sold by street vendors on the days before the festival) to mark their doors and thresholds with a sign of warding. Once their houses have been ritually sealed, they are then to eat a specially prepared meal (traditionally cooked the day before and set aside) and spend the night until sunrise in prayer and meditation on obedience to divine law, adherence to righteous ways, and the renunciation of wickedness.

During this time, the priests of Thrygon are said to prowl the deserted night streets, laying curses and hexes on houses that are not marked properly with the sign of warding, sometimes even entering such houses to abduct their children (they are also said to abduct, or curse, or sometimes kill, those found outside during the night; if they are merciful, they will simply give such people a single symbolic lash with a switch or whipping-stick, but being spared a more dreadful fate and granted this “mercy” is said to indebt one's soul to Thrygon and enable his priests to call upon a favor or repayment at some future time). On the following morning, the Vanir-Vaati are to return to the streets to make public renunciations of evil ways, and give charitable offerings to the poor or perform other virtuous acts (for instance, freeing a slave or forgiving a debt). Imp-like effigies called ‘dharuks,’ meant to represent malevolent spirits or minor temmataiyu sent forth by Thrygon to tempt mortals into wicked deeds, are beaten or burnt. The night’s fast, which had lasted since the meal eaten at dusk the previous day, is then broken with a mid-day feast.

However, despite its focus on renunciation of evil deeds and temptations, the day of Thrygonu-Partha is also considered to be an auspicious day on which to beg the priests of Thrygon to curse a rival or enemy. The priests themselves loudly and enthusiastically remind the people of this during their procession. The Thrygonu-Partha is also said to be night when the Dread Hunt often rides.

On major holy days where the priesthoods of the Thaedonu-Vaati all join in sacred processions, the priests of Thrygon always go last, tossing handfuls of coins along the roadside in front of the assembled crowds, grinning and encouraging people to gather them up. As with the food set out at the Partha Siyeh feast or offered by the priests' procession on the Thrygonu-Partha, it is taboo to take these coins; if someone does, the baleful gaze of Thrygon will fall not just on them, but on their whole community for allowing one of their own to be so poor and desperate that they would risk their soul for Thrygon’s cursed coppers. Thus it is expected that the town’s well-to-do people will distribute alms to the poor on their own before the procession. The coins strewn by the priests must be left where they fell until nightfall, whereupon it is permissible to gather them. In some areas, this practice is also observed on the Day of Dirges, with the priests of Thrygon's procession strewing coins as they go through the streets hearing the supplications of the people.

Thrygon is the only one of the Thaedonu-Vaati to whom human sacrifice is sometimes given, albeit rarely. When it does occur, it is usually an attempt to alleviate some catastrophe or intolerable state of affairs which is believed to be the result of Thrygon's wrath. It is hoped that an offering of human souls, couched in the appropriate ritual and supplications, will appease him and allay whatever torments he is inflicting. The sacrificial victims may be condemned prisoners, or sometimes (especially in cases of widespread panic or hysteria) whoever the community blames for incurring Thrygon’s displeasure. In other cases, devout Vanir-Vaati may willingly offer themselves, or commit ritual suicide as a form of voluntary self-sacrifice, out of religious mania or desperation. For instance, during the Great Plague of Vedvik, thousands of frantic people--generally those who had lost their families to the contagion--flocked to the temple of Thrygon in Sharabaz and allowed themselves to be killed upon the altar there in the hopes that he would be propitiated and send an end the plague.

**Cult Centers**

The most significant centers of Thrygon’s cult in Orithea and Rhydain are the Temple of Thorns in Ghalentos, the great temple-cavern outside Turain, and the Shrine of Lamentation on the isle of Verulam.