kel-Biann (II)

Kel-Biann, the supreme deity of the Two Kingdoms, sleeps with his faded head laid down on the rock of ages, where he dreams horrible dreams and the eternal lion and eagle remain to devour him.  The Prophet Bleghet says of this Eternal Man: "He is kel-Biann, our Ancestor, patriarch of all the world, whose History Preceded that of the Eldest Race and in whose Sleep, or Chaos, Creation began."

Kel-Biann is said to have a wife, kel-Ainatib, who birthed him a daughter, kel-Asurej.  Before the world existed, a jealous kel-Biann hid his daughter from her intended husband, kel-Sej and turned his back on kel-Sej's Divine Vision, sinking into his deadly sleep. 

This loss of the Divine Vision had terrible consequences. Kel-Biann's Emotions (Havul) usurped the place of his Reason (Neziru) when those two Animals were fighting over kel-Biann's body sleeping in the holy tent. Neziru left Havul to pour his fury on kel-Biann. Havul did this when kel-Biann worshipped the Shadow from his wearied intellect. Havul smote him with boils, whereupon kel-Biann dismissed him, limiting his senses.

Kel-Biann's sleep is a wandering, says the Prophet Bleghet: "Now kel-Biann was come to the Palm tree and the Oak of Weeping which stand upon the edge of Halweb, and he sunk down from the supporting arms of the Eternal Lioness, who dispos'd the pale limbs of his Eternal Individuality upon the Rock of Ages, Watching over him with Love and Care as the Sea of Time and Space thunders aloud against the rock.  Here kel-Biann remains, deadly pale outstrech'd and snowy cold, storm cover'd, a Giant form of perfect beauty outstretch'd on the rock in solemn death, until the Last Judgment, when he will Wake upon the Couch of Death.  Thereupon will he sneeze seven times, a tear of blood will drop from either eye, and he will again repose in the Lioness's arms, in the arms of tender mercy and loving kindness.  Kel-Biann will then collect up the scatter'd portions of his immortal body into the Elemental forms of every thing that grows.  Wherever a grass grows or a leaf buds, The Eternal Man will be seen, will be heard, will be felt, and all his sorrows, till he reassumes his ancient bliss."  Meanwhile, kel-Ainatib elects the seven Eyes of God (kel-Temkhes) to protect the Eternal Man, whose inward eyes are closing from the Divine Vision, and all his children wandering outside are fleeing away from his bosom.  Kel-Biann, in a last effort on his couch of death, delivered his sovereignty to Neziru.

The Prophet Bleghet's Scripture of the Night Journey begins:  "Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from ??? to ???, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing.  Bleghet wept and walked forth from kel-Fams Vale clothed in Clouds of blood, to fall thro' kel-Biann's heart which is the bosom of death, travelling outside of Humanity*.  Kel-Biann's Circumference was clos'd: his Center had begun dark'ning into the Night of Halweb."

Naitash, the Covering Cherub, is kel-Biann's Spectre.




*The actual word used here refers to a wide variety of humanlike races.

Kitsune

The kitsune are part of a multi-racial reclusive group of deep-desert nomads who know the secret routes through the dunes and oases and don't interact with civilized folk very much.

Those Who Existed Before the World

In Two Kingdoms theology, only a very small number of beings predate the world and therefore exist, in some sense, outside of it.  They are as follows:

• kel-Biann, the ultimate origin of the world
• kel-Ainatib, the eternal lioness
• kel-Asurej
• kel-Sej, the eternal eagle

kel-Biann I

Kel-Biann, the supreme deity of the Two Kingdoms, sleeps with his faded head laid down on the rock of eternity, where the eternal lion and eagle remain to devour him.  The Prophet Bleghet says of him: "He is kel-Biann, our Ancestor, patriarch of all the world, whose History Preceded that of the Eldest Race and in whose Sleep, or Chaos, Creation began."  Kel-Biann is said to have a wife, kel-Ainatib, who birthed him a daughter, kel-Asurej.  Before the world existed, a jealous kel-Biann hid his daughter from her intended husband, kel-Sej and turned his back on kel-Sej's Divine Vision, sinking into his deadly sleep. This loss of the Divine Vision had terrible consequences. Kel-Biann's Emotions (Havul) usurped the place of his Reason (Neziru) when those two Animals were fighting over kel-Biann's body sleeping in the holy tent. Neziru left Havul to pour his fury on kel-Biann. Havul did this when kel-Biann worshiped the Shadow from his wearied intellect. Havul smote him with boils, whereupon kel-Biann dismissed him, limiting his senses.

Gnolls of the Brazen Peaks

Raiders and warriors, thieves and murderers, gnolls prey upon the spoils of other races—their refuse, their castoffs, and their vulnerable. Gnolls are often likened to hyenas, but with intelligence and the ability to walk on two legs. This comparison is both succinct truth and deadly understatement. Like the beasts they resemble, gnolls survive off the scraps of those greater than themselves, opportunistically preying upon the weak while cowering before the powerful. Unlike base beasts, though, gnolls know the value of organization, the inevitable deadliness of prolonged attacks, and the might of their own tribes. In others, gnolls see only the potential for prey and exploitation, and those too canny to serve as today’s meal might still serve as tomorrow’s feast.

In the shadow of Pale Mountain, gnoll savagery takes on a new dimension. Here, secreted among the dusty foothills and shadowy crags, the beastmen gather in bands of dirty, brutal curs, seemingly with few greater aspirations beyond their next meal. These gnolls are filthy wretches who demonstrate the horrors of inbreeding, seclusion, and murder, ravenous beasts that covetously guard the barren territories they claim as their own. Feared and loathed even by others of their kind, the gnolls of Pale Mountain embrace their brutality with the spread of a savage cult among their people: worship of the Rough Beast, Khro.

Further east in Ndata-mbanye, gnolls typically worship the demon princess Nga/ani the Warrior Queen (interpreted in the Two Kingdoms as one of Khro's daughters), who is often credited with raising them up from mere beasts. In the Pale Mountain region, the Carrion King—a merciless warlord sworn to Khro’s bloody religion— revels in the debauchery and savagery of his minions’ fear and faith, exulting as they raise icons to the god of wrath and howl his name as they ride to slaughter. As the Carrion King’s power grows, more and more tribes fall beneath his influence, sharing in the spoils of his savage rule and adopting the ways of his mad god. Now all of Pale Mountain quakes with bloodcurdling howls, but whether the gnolls of the Brazen Peaks will turn upon themselves or strike from their lairs, bringing new war upon unprepared Katapesh, none yet know.

From his throne upon Pale Mountain’s slopes, the Carrion King commands hundreds of gnolls, his emissaries and slaves having compelled or subjugated numerous tribes of slavering warriors into his service. Among the ramshackle hordes, bands of raiders and slavers, and lone murderers, four noteworthy tribes have come to serve the cruel warlord. Each known and feared in its own right, these four tribes existed before the Carrion King’s rise to power, having shared and warred over Pale Mountain for decades. Now they find themselves allies but, even under the claws of their brutal master, the resulting peace is a weak and little-enforced thing.

Of the tribes serving the Carrion King, each possesses a similar structure. A strong leader commands the activity of the whole pack, organizing hunts, placating the tribe’s deities, and leading them in preparations for raids and inevitable intertribal skirmishes. Even in this time of supposed truce between rival tribes, bloody conflicts are not uncommon. As individual tribes prove too small to sustain prolonged battles there might be weeks without any direct conflict, but a season cannot go by upon Pale Mountain without groups of gnolls dying in the jaws of enemy tribes. The Carrion King punishes conflicting tribes—often with murder and impossible commands— but such castigations are swiftly forgotten as rivalries and slights stir the embers anew.

Languages

Dune Whispers:  The language of a multiracial reclusive group of desert-dwelling nomads who don't interact much with civilized folk.

kel-'Renīyah:  The predominant language of the Two Kingdoms.  Ratfolk speak a variant called kel-Fahrenīyah.

The Laughter of the Desert:  Gnolls are not fashioned for human speech, but they can shape words around their natural sounds. In doing so, they speak two tongues at once; their yips and snarls and howls carry meaning amongst themselves that is hidden from their human listeners.  The language of the gnolls is, in truth, a dialect of Dune Whispers.  However, the gnolls are hardly a civilized group and tribes sometimes spend generations without interacting with each other.  Therefore, although gnolls from most tribes can understand each other (with quite a bit of effort), a character must name the specific tribal dialect they speak and understand when taking this language.

Vyarĭsitkŭ Językŭ: The language of the Aporuëna realm of Vyarisid.

Almah's Party

The group of people Almah has gathered to aid her in retaking the village includes the PCs and (now that the astrologer Eloais is dead) 14 other characters—Almah’s major domo Garavel, an expert on gnolls named Dashki, a cleric of Bromka named Zastoran, four soldiers, six mercenaries (now five), a pair of camel drivers (now but one), and Almah herself.