Kylmar

The savage lands, the frozen wastes, the gates of hell. All names for the lands of Kylmar; a large peninsula on the west of the Eastern wastes. Its inhabitants, collectively known as the Kylmari, are known as fearsome raiders from Conivia all the way into the Korcinmir. It is an unforgiving landscape, connected to Faus by ice for half the year.

## Cults of Kylmar

Referring to all the inhabitants of this icy landscape as simply Kylmari wouldn't do them justice. Whilst there is not much of a central government or a nation to be found here, there are still clear cultural divides between several groups. There are three of such ''cults'' to be found in Kylmar: the cults of the Wild, the Giant cults, and the cult of Rasmus.

### Cults of the Wild

Perhaps the least interesting from a geopolitical standpoint, but with their own culture nontheless, these Kylmari live largely in the inland areas of Kylmar where they are simply trying to make a living for themselves. That's not to say that they are a peaceful people. There are many threats in Kylmar beyond just bad weather conditions and long winters. The wildlife is ruthless in Kylmar, many places are infested with monsters due to some open connections to the underdark. To protect them in this landscape, the Kylmari call upon the aid of 4 deities: Adi, Olva, Ivon, and Rasmus.

Adi is a god of justice and rightful vengeance. Adi is typically portrayed to come in the form of an owl. When there are arguments between tribe members or even between whole tribes, an Adima is assigned to moderate the argument and to speak about what is just vengeance. Most typically they have to ensure murder doesn't result in war but rather that compensation is ensured and everyone leaves eachother the hell alone. Adima are typically accompanied by an owl themselves. Sacrifices are usually not made to Adi, but children are always taught to behave themselves if there's an owl nearby, lest Adi's judgement is brought down upon them.

Olva is the god of affluence, food and health. He comes in the form of a yak, a bison or another large bovine creature. It is typically said that if Olva gives you his blessing you will have great success in life. The cults of the wild are one of the few in Kylmar who keep livestock, and Olva is seen as a protector of that livestock. Treat your cows well and Olva's light will shine down upon you. One individual piece of livestock is often chosen and treated particularly well to be raised for sacrifice. This sacrifice then is believed to join Olva's herd.

Ivon Is the godess of motherhood, winter and wisdom. Winter is a time of contemplation and planning for the future. Many villages have a special building called the Ivonal where villagers can come together and discuss matters in winter. They are considered holy places of wisdom by many. Ivon is portrayed as a fox: resourceful, sly perhaps, but smart and quite good at looking after their young. Ivon is the one of the four that is typically sacrificed the most to. Winters are rough in Kylmar and Ivon is the godess that can grant people the wisdom to make it through this time. Sacrifices typically include animals, but in really rough times human sacrifices aren't uncommon. Some zealous followers of Ivon are known to sacrifice parts of their own body in exchange for wisdom. This is why village elders are often quite injured and mangled looking.

Rasmus is the guardian of the tribes. He typically shows up as a wolf or a wolf like man in imagery. Rasmus is the saviour in the most dire of times like war with other tribes or raids by monsters. Sacrifices to Rasmus are exclusively human, typically a strong warrior. The logic of this is that the strength of the sacrifice is then granted to all the members of the tribe. Other than that, Rasmus is worshipped as a general guardian deity and seeing a wolf is often considered a sign of good luck.

These stories about these deities have not changed much eversince the Kylmari settled the land. Because the gods are connected to animals so strongly, as long as the animals are still there, the stories about the gods aren't going anywhere.

### The Giant cults

These Kylmari have developed a worship for the Ancient creatures of Omnia: the Dragons, the Aboleth, and the Giants. The Kylmari not being the sharpest axes in the armory simply call all of these creatures giants. Other Kylmari often refer to these cults as: the giant hunters. These cults can be found in the far east of Kylmar, where the land meets with the Eastern wastes. Rather than the equal worship the deities recieve in the cults of the wild, most tribes here are dedicated to a single deity of which there are also four: Arfira, Olfiron, Isern, and Rasmus.

Cults of Arfira are usually found a bit further inland around a group of mountains known as Giant's graveyard. In ancient times, this is where dragons would come to battle if there was no other way to solve an argument. It is also where traitorous and evil dragons were executed, such as many who were loyal to Tiamat. A draconic collosseum if you will. This left the place littered with dragon skeletons, earning it the name of giant's graveyard. The Kylmari carve weapons out of these bones which often still have a little bit of lingering elemental magic contained within them. Cults of Arfira have a tendency to sacrifice their own people in the hope of infusing more draconic powers into their weapons.

Cults of Olfiron are found on the coast and near other large bodies of water where they worship the aboleth. They are often in conflict with the cults of Isern. The cults of Olfiron are known to be the most needlessly violent and taking more than they need. These Kylmari are the only ones of the giant cults to go out on raids like the cult of Rasmus. The Aboleth that they worship have no other goal besides causing chaos and carnage on the surface.

The Cults of Isern are also find on the northern coastline which leaves them in frequent conflict with the cults of Olfiron. A prominent ritual in these cults is the journey onto Faus in winter in an attempt to seek out Isern who will grant them great wisdom and a safe haven until they make the journey back. Isern also likes to encourage fights with the cults of Olfiron as she has quite a few issues with the Aboleth. Much of the knowledge of Isern lies in blacksmithing and this cult's weapons are the highest quality in Kylmar.

The Cults of Rasmus are most famous for going into the eastern wastes and hunting giants. The reasoning for this varies between tribes. Some believe the giants are in fact old warriors who were cursed to be stuck in the form of a giant. By slaying the giants they are releasing them from this curse. Some even believe Rasmus is stuck in a giant's form and seek to free him. Others believe that if they slay a giant that they will gain its powers. A few believe it was the giants who slew Rasmus and hunt them purely out of vengeance with the spirit of the great bloodaxe watching over them.

### The cult of Rasmus

By far the largest cult in Kylmar, its followers living on the southern coast and pretty much all of the western half of the peninsula. These are the raiders of Kylmar, the scourge of any coastal town. They raid for their own survival, food and other goods, but they also steal valuables, gold largely. This is all to appease their main god: Rasmus Bloodaxe, who they believe to be frozen in a chunk of ice that can not be thawed with the hottest of fires or broken with the sharpest of axes. Around this, the temple of the blooded gold has been constructed, where dedicated followers of Rasmus come bring their spoils of their raids in the hopes of gaining some drops of a substance known as the blood of Rasmus. This is created by sacrificing an individual over the ice containing the frozen body of Rasmus and slowly letting it stream over the ice. When drunk, this blood puts warriors in a beserker's rage and temporarily mutates the body in a much stronger but grotesque form.

The individual in this ice is not Rasmus Bloodaxe. To find out who or what is, we need to go back all the way to the war of life. After this cataclysmic event had ended, many of the Tessenosai were killed, some went into hiding, and a few were to be imprisoned in Tartarus. The only entrance to this prison deep under the surface of Omnia was far north on Faus. Escorted by the Omni and what remained of the warriors of life such as Masilues, these Tessenosai were brought to a prison where they remain to this day. Whilst they were being escorted, one managed to trick his way into escaping. A Tessenosai known as Lamaki. He likes toying with others, but is also a creature of incredible greed. Lamaki escaped his captors, but would not get very far. The land of Faus has a mind of its own, and it was intent on keeping Lamaki there. As king of the Numans, Faus is typically a neutral entity, but Lamaki's evil was to great to ignore. The ice would shift and change at every step Lamaki took, keeping him running in circles until eventually he became frozen solid.

Perhaps through Lamaki's desire to escape, or perhaps because even mighty Faus forgot, Lamaki's body came loose from the icemass of Faus. Still frozen in a chunk of ice though, which can not be destroyed unless Faus deems it so. From inside of his icy prison, Lamaki was still able to cast his influence over the Kylmari who found him. He pretended to be Rasmus and promised them great strength in battle through the blood of Rasmus, simply blood cursed by Lamaki. Becoming a dominating power on Kylmar, tribes started flocking to the temple of the blooded gold and paying tribute to Lamaki. Only Faus or another Tessenosai can break Lamaki out of his prison, so he aims to cause as much chaos in the world as possible to hopefully increase the chances of a Tessonosai breaking free so he can be rescued. In the meantime, he takes great pleasure in being worshipped and causing chaos.

Besides Rasmus, these tribes worship 3 indivduals very similar to the ones in the tribes of the wild: Athir, Olfar, and Isforn. Athir has taken on the role of an arbiter in trials by combat. ''By Athir's judgement let the worthy survive'' is typically said before such a duel. Olfar is the god that is prayed to before big raids, in hopes that there will be good loot to take from the target. Because of his strong connection to the raids he has also turned into a god of sailing and safe travels. Isforn is the godess of the home and family. Kylmari raiders steal and plunder to ensure the safety of their home and families when it comes down to it.

### The true gods

All 3 groups of cults have very similar deities. This suggests a common origin and inspiration for these gods. When and why these people split and the 3 distinct cultural groups were formed is unknown, but the 4 gods that came out of them can definitely be traced back to specific individuals.

With the exception of most of the Giant cults, pretty much every Kylmari worships Rasmus. This can be traced back to Rasmus Bloodaxe, one of the 9 lost kings of humanity. He is a cultural figurehead for any Kylmari.

Ivorn, Isern and Isforn can be traced to two key entities: Isern and Isforn. The former is one of the seven mountain giants who has started living as a recluse on Faus. The latter is a Numan of glaciers, a symbol of birth life and death, much as the glaciers grown and recede every year. Ivorn is likely a remnant of one or both of these entities that has survived through stories. The Kylmar inlands have little glaciers and no connection with Isern. The fox symbology likely arose out of many old folk stories about foxes being tricksy little creatures.

Olva, Olfiron and Olfar share a common ancestor in a story about a mythical king of Kylmar, who ruled before Rasmus was born. This king was a greedy tyrant, who took everything he desired from his subjects. This is all the message that the cults of the giants and the cult of Rasmus took from it: take what you want. But the story continues. The tyrant loved feasts and was particularly fond of beef. The cowherds of the land were scared he would eat so much that there would be no more cows left in Kylmar. One particular cowherd prayed for an answer and recieved one. He was to sacrifice one of his cows and feed it to the king. The cow was sacrificed and after the king ate it, he went mad. He started mooing, grazing in the court yard and was last seen running off with a herd of wild yaks. Look after your livestock or you'll go mad, is the message the cults of the wild took from this story.

Adi, Arfira, Athir also share a Numan origin. Legends say there was once a fight between brothers. They were both accused of a murder, but both claimed the other was guilty. The family of the victim prayed for an answer as the brothers stood before them, a single feather landed on the brother's shoulder. There was no bird in sight so the family took it as a sign that this brother must be guilty. Not the most watertight form of judgement but hey, I never claimed the Kylmari are sensible creatures. Some tellings of this story talk of a bit of bone rather than a feather.