Dogma

Born from an empire once known as raelia, which thrived on slavery and the oppression of generations of conquered tribes. An empire born out of hatred and a desire to conquer, the Kingdom of Dogma was born out of something quite to the contrary: Love and the desire to protect. Amongst the enslaved population of raelia was a man of advanced years know as Todahtus, formerly of the Luminite tribe, worshippers of the Source of Light, creator of all things. In time, Todahtus, whom had served nearly 20 years under his master as the chief scribe and historian of the raelian empire, was informed that his young ward, Thalia was to be sold to a new master. Though he plead with his master to not send the girl away, as a slave, he had no authority to negotiate different terms her sake. Thalia was of course distraught over this news. Since she was very young, she had made a pact with the Source of Light that she would against all odds, keep herself pure for her future husband. She knew that without Todahtus’ protection and under the chain of a new master, it’d only be a matter of time until the ability to keep this pact would no longer be in her hands. Todahtus, leaning on his faith in the Bright Father, assured his young ward that their Lord would protect her, that He would secure His pact with her as He had promised. As it would happen, the new master she was sold to was Marcus Secundus Furiatus, owner of the finest school of fighting slaves in the empire. Amongst his stock of slaves, was the then champion of the arena. A young fighting slave by the name of Zarkanikus, whom the patrons of the arena dubbed with the moniker….” The Manslayer”. Zarkanikus was instantly taken by Thalia’s beauty upon his first time seeing her, a fact Thalia quickly noticed, and was initially frightened of. Being champion, he used his advantageous position to strike a deal with his master. He would perform a great feat and bring untold glory to his master’s house, volunteering to battle four men at once for the crowd’s entertainment. In return, he desired Thalia to be exclusively his. Zarkanikus fought ferociously on the sands, slaying all four men and securing his prize. When Thalia was sent to him that night, she feared that her pact was sure to be broken, and when Zarkanikus reached out to her, she recoiled from his touch. This wasn’t the reaction he’d become accustom to from the pleasure slaves he’d been rewarded for victory in the past, and when he asked the girl for an explanation, she told him of her pact with the Bright Father. What came next was a shock for Thalia, as while the champion was displeased with this outcome, he told her that she was free to return to their master’s house, as he had no desire for one that didn’t also desire him. Thalia had not expected such as display of honor from a man such as him, and so she had an idea. She would give herself to Zarkanikus, but only if he married her under the customs of the Bright Father, thus keeping her pact and granting him his prize. Zarkanikus eagerly accepted the girls offer. Word was sent to the only person equipped to fulfill such a request, the last living prophet of the Luminite tribe. Todahtus was brought to the house of Furiatus to officiate the ceremony, and the two were married. In the months that followed, while the two did have many moments of wedded bliss, the divide between their worlds became ever more apparent to Zarkanikus. While he had lived a life where toil and hardship could give way to glory and some manner of lavish living by the edge of a sword, house slaves like his new wife were not afforded such an avenue towards more accommodating conditions. At a party hosted at the house of Furiatus, after much wine, the guest of honor insisted on a spectacle of blood and steel to entertain the guests. Furiatus, desiring to gain favor with his patron, begrudgingly obliged in pitting the best of the past, against the best of the present day: Zarkanikus verses his bitter rival and former champion of his master’s house, Vexius, whom the patrons of the arena had dubbed “The Savage”. It’s said that the battle was fiercer than any even the arena had seen in its more than one-hundred-year history. Zarkanikus came at his rival with a fury that seemed reserved just for him, while Vexius, though advanced in years, kept pace with his younger opposition. In the end, it was Zarkanikus who plunged his blade into the veteran fighter’s belly. In his final moments, Vexius unveiled a long-hidden truth that shook the younger fighter to his core, that he had in fact been Zarkanikus’ father. Zarkanikus went to his chambers distraught and bewildered until Thalia was sent to comfort him. She prayed over her husband, praying that the Source of Light would comfort him and reveal the purpose of this tragic moment. Though sleep was an elusive beast for him that night, Zarkanikus eventually found his slumber. He soon found himself in a dream that felt as real as the waking world, awaking inside a cave with no entrance or exit, with a large stone platform against the far side of its walls. Suddenly, a flickering white flame began emerge, small at first, then erupting into a large white inferno that engulfed the stone platform. The white flames began to fashion itself into the shape of a great white lion with burning, pale blue eyes, its form made of the flames themselves. The lion spoke into Zarkanikus’ very soul, revealing Himself as the Source of Light, his wife’s God and creator of all things. He told Zarkanikus that He had long seen the plight of the enslaved, and that it pained Him deeply. He told the young warrior that He desired the slave population for Himself, to be their King and for them to be His people, free from the chains of their prolonged torment. The Bright Father told Zarkanikus that He saw him as worthy to lead His people as His Steward, to help lead them to freedom and establish a dominion for Him in the physical realm. Though he was in awe of all he was witnessing, Zarkanikus refused at first, not seeing a reason to give up his life of glory and relative comfort for the woes of slaves he didn’t know or care for. In response, with a great roar the Bright Father infused a vision into Zarkanikus’ very soul, making him live the suffering of multiple slave across the empire, slaves who’s suffering the young warrior had been complacent to until now. Zarkanikus awoke from the vision in a state of hysteria, needing to be subdued by the guards. As time went on, Zarkanikus struggled with these visions of the Source of light that continued to petition him to take up the responsibility that he was being called to, and from that day on, He no longer felt a sense of pride at the sound of the name “Manslayer”. In time, the Bright Father revealed Himself in visions to Zarkanikus’ closest blade brothers, who began to believe in the great lion’s words, and began to urge their brother to take up this mantel set for him by divine purpose. Zarkanikus continued to struggle with this calling until his position as a slave was made clear to him by his master, whom he though held him in higher regard than mere cattle. His master had petitioned Zarkanikus to be agreeable to the prospect of the emperor being given private access to his wife, Thalia, for an evening as a gift to occur favor for the house. This was the first time Zarkanikus had been in disagreement with his master’s decree, and in return, he was rewarded with a new manner of prize…punishment. Zarkanikus was beaten and chained in a cell to remind him of his place as a slave. In his torment, he called out to the Source of Light, and he was answered. He earnestly accepted the role of Steward to the Kingdom that the Bright Father wished to establish for His people. At that moment, The Source caused a mass awakening in all of the slaves of the house, pulling them into a collective vision, establishing Zarkanikus as the Steward of their soon to be Kingdom. The Kingdom would become known as Dogma (D.O.G.M.A), for its people would be Disciples Of God’s Mighty Army. Plans were made amongst the fellow slaves, whom had begun to refer to themselves as Dogmenians, and the day came when they staged their uprising, slaying their former master and escaping into the city’s sewers. Soon, Thalia told Zarkanikus of Todahtus’ lifelong efforts to prepare for this moment, suggesting they meet with him. During their meeting under the cover of night, the prophet directed the Dogmenians to a key figure in his preparations: A longtime disciple of his and faithful servant of the Source of Light, Tordanthus the blacksmith. History would come to remember him as “Tordanthus ‘Light’s Hammer’”, a name granted to him by the Bright Father Himself during the war that was to come. He was an eccentric, zealot of a man, whom assisted Todahtus in establishing a stockpile of armor and weapons outside of the walls of the city. The blacksmith was eager to help lead them to this stockpile, but on the condition that they’d train him and allow him to fight alongside them in the memory of his unborn daughter, whom was killed in the womb when a guard attacked his pregnant wife. Tordanthus guided them through the sewers and outside the city walls, showing them the way to an old Luminite temple at the base of the mountain range. The temple had been used as a place to stockpile the weapons and armor Tordanthus had made in preparation for this fated time. The Source of Light instructed His people to wait there in safety, instructing Zarkanikus and his warrior brethren to train those who needed instruction while Todahtus continued to make preparations within the city. In this time, the Source of Light also ministered to His people, teaching them in the ways they were to be with one another. Teaching them to love, guide, protect and when need be, forgive one another. The Bright Father decreed that from that day on, any who called themselves His people would be blood of each other’s blood, regardless of their scattered backgrounds, they would now be one people. The day came when all the preparations were set, and the capital city was set to host a great tournament in the arena for a celebration, hundreds of the best fighting slaves from across the empire in one place. This was the appointed hour. The night before, the King instructed His people to pray, bringing them into another mass vision. On this spiritual plane He awakened every slave in the capital city to His existence, calling them all together, all to a singular purpose, to do the Bright Father’s will by claiming their freedom. The uprising that proceeded was swift, as Zarkanikus led the Dogmenians on the outside of the city walls, the now awakened Dogmenians still within the city began the revolt from the inside. The King’s justice moved quickly across the city. The great capital city of raelia, once the symbol of the empire’s greatness, only lasted an hour against the Dogmenian uprising. The war that followed, known to history as “The War of Broken Chains” lasted three long years, battles won, lives lost, tragedies endured, but the Dogmenian war machine burned through the raelian empire like a Holy fire. In the end, the Dogmenians conquered the entire empire, freeing their brethren and forming a nation atop the ashes of oppression. The Kingdom entered a time of peace, until the time came that the King called upon His council to prepare for a new endeavor. He told them of a distant realm of magic and things the Dogmenians were unfamiliar with. He commanded His Steward, Zarkanikus, to lead a pilgrimage to this land and establish a dominion there for Him, to be a beacon for justice and hope in the chaotic realm and to make a way for its people to come to Him if they so choose to. And so…. the saga continues.