Vrikdarok

"IF VIOLENCE FOR VIOLENCE IS THE RULE OF BEASTS, THAN OH WHAT A MONSTER AM I!"

— Dominus Vrikdarok

Dominus Vrikdarok (pronounced: vrick-dah-ROCK) is the god of bloodshed, murder, violence, and wrath. Before the Thousand Year Flood, he was a demon lord in the orkish pantheon. He currently serves as a member of the Dominion and resides within the House of the Burning Standard in Diabolis.

History

Lifeblood

Vrikdarok's first act was one of violence. In the time before mortals, Vrikdarok cannibalized one of his siblings simply to see if he could. This set him on his bloody path to hunt down and murder all other members of his pantheon, display their heads as decoration, and wear their tusks as medals.

Vrikdarok waged war against the his fellow orc gods, determined to overpower them and become the only god in the pantheon. He slowly gained more allies in the forms of titans, demons, and his fellow orcs. His brother, Alvaroth, would combat him at every turn, gaining powerful allies of his own. They began a battle that would continue for several thousand years as the numbers of their armies ebbed and flowed. This battle is known as the Lifeblood Duel and serves as an core concept in orc culture even in the modern day.

The Interruption

The Lifeblood Duel was ended in a stalemate when Ezzoal unleashed the Thousand Year Flood. Alvaroth and Vrikdarok were forced to set aside their differences and fight side by side against the gods of order. For the first time in their lives, the two gods lost track of one another during the chaos of the war.

Vrikdarok spent the Thousand Year Flood in pure bliss, gleefully carving up gods of order and butchering their bodies for trophies to add to his ever growing collection. He easily claimed the highest body count of any of his fellow gods of chaos and Vrikdarok wears that accomplishment with pride.

By the end of the Thousand Year Flood, Vrikdarok was eager to dive back into conflict with Alvaroth and his fellow orc gods, but found that his former planar domain was unwound into the Fissure. Only he and Alvaroth survived the war and they were not the only pantheon that took heavy losses. The divine death toll was so severe that Chief Overseer Rovius forbade them from resuming the Lifeblood Duel until the gods found a means to reorganize themselves to prevent the destruction of reality itself.

A New Opponent

Vrikdarok was approached by a foreign god, Archdominus Serallus, with an offer during this painful lull in the bloodshed. Serallus offered Vrikdarok a new realm and shared power over all demons with Dominus Drakas in exchange for his loyalty. Vrikdarok had never been subservient to anything before, so he was enraged by this offer.

Vrikdarok felt that this outsider was one of the talkers, those who claimed they could do terrible things, but could never back it up. Vrikdarok had crushed plenty of talkers in his time and ground their dried up tongues into pigment for his god-hide armor. He challenged Serallus to a duel for control over Serallus' new plane, Diabolis, eager to thrash this outsider for daring to assume he had power over Vrikdarok.

Serallus readily accepted the duel and defeated Vrikdarok in a matter of seconds. For the first time in his life, Vrikdarok knew the bitter taste of defeat. He agreed to serve Serallus, but he was fuming at being kept alive to live with this loss.

Rematch

Vrikdarok's focus has been devoted to thoughts of one day besting Serallus. He regularly challenges Serallus to rematches both officially and unofficially, Vrikdarok is filled with anger every time Serallus claims another victory. Serallus always chooses to leave Vrikdarok alive to lick his wounds when the fight is done.

Vrikdarok swears that once he finally defeats Serallus, he intends to deliver the anguish Serallus has dealt him ten fold by all the means he can employ.

Dogma

Vrikdarok believes that all conflicts can be solved with a violent resolution. No one should get into a fight they are not willing to spill blood over. If you are not willing to kill your opponent, the conflict is not worth having.

That being said, Vrikdarok also believes that every conflict is worth violence and death, no matter how mundane. To be beaten in a conflict and left alive to know defeat is shameful, one should always fight till their very last breath.

Relationships

Vrikdarok thrives on conflict so he has very few allies. He believes that once he defeats Serallus, he will be able to start his siege on his fellow gods until there are no other gods than Vrikdarok.

Friends

Vrikdarok's only real ally within the Dominion is Dominus Uribal. Vrikdarok understands the need for destruction and knows that their inevitable battle will be glorious and bloody. In the meantime, Vrikdarok is happy to call Uribal one of his few friends.

Outside of the Dominion, Vrikdarok has forged an alliance with the Itinerant god, Kalgora, who serves a similar role with domain over violence. There is a friendly rivalry between the two on how many bodies their followers can stack.

Neutral Relationships

Vrikdarok and Dominus Drakas share dominion over the demons in Diabolis as they were the only demon lords to survive the Thousand Year Flood. Vrikdarok does not care for Drakas' smoke and mirrors, he only sees Drakas as another future enemy.

Enemies

Within the Dominion, there is one god that Vrikdarok hates over all others and that is Dominus Raglen. Vrikdarok believes that Raglen is all talk and no action, a coward, and a stage magician in the guise of a true god. They have held this animosity towards each other since the Antediluvian era, but it has been brought to the surface since they now need to work within the same pantheon.

As with all members of the Dominion, Vrikdarok is not popular with the Imperators. He directly opposes Imperatrice Allara, believing her to be a spineless pacifist who is too fearful to lift a sword. An opinion he shares about the other peacekeeping gods among the Imperators such as Imperatrice Olah and Imperatrice Lovara.

Vrikdarok hates the calm that Overseer Celano preaches. Why would one merely go with the path of least resistance and go with the flow, when you can carve your own way through brutality? Many Celanics struggle with the Vrikdaroki lashing out on their temples to teach them this lesson.

Even centuries after the end of the Lifeblood Duel, Vrikdarok still holds Alvaroth in contempt even though they have not had a direct confrontation in years. To this day, the Vrikdaroki and the Alvarothans of Phoenix will clash on the battlefield, flooding the land with their blood spilled in dedication to the ancient feud.

Appearance

Vrikdarok takes the form of a massive orc with dark gray skin and long, blood red hair that is tied into war braids. His skin is riddled with cracks that burst with lava and pyroclastic flow whenever he is driven to fury. He wears hide armor made from the skins of the gods he has slain and wears a necklace of tusks from the other members of the orc pantheon. The center of this necklace is left empty and is the designated space for the tusks of Alvaroth.

Providence

"Breathing the smoke from Vrikdarok" is an orkish idiom that has been co-opted by the rest of Phoenix. It means to get disproportionately angry about something mundane or irrational.

Home

Vrikdarok dwells within the House of the Burning Standard in Diabolis. The House takes the form of an endless battlefield littered with broken, bloodied weapons, armor, and corpses. The ground is soaked through with blood and riddled with mines, trenches, and barbed wire. It is said that one cannot take a single step in the House of the Burning Standard without something or someone trying to kill them.

Servants

Vrikdarok is primarily served by demons and a few titans that he has roped into joining his cause. Followers of Vrikdarok tend to have explosive tempers and are eager to solve their issues with violence.

Praetors

Rokaan

First and only praetor, it is the longest serving praetor of Vrikdarok as it has survived the position for about a century now.

Religion

Historically, Vrikdarok has been primarily worshiped by orcs of all kinds. Since the population of gods has significantly lowered after the Thousand Year Flood, Vrikdarok has seen a surge of worshipers coming from all ancestries. The Vrikdaroki can primarily be found in the Wastes and Cryptlands.

Worshipers

Vrikdaroki are typically very violent and angry. Worshipers of Vrikdarok are usually soldiers, law enforcement, criminals, and anyone who finds joy in taking the lives of others or allows their anger to rule their outlook on the world.

The Vrikdaroki are known for violent displays of their faith in the form of gruesome murders. Victims will often be found missing a body part or valuables. The Vrikdaroki are usually unafraid to carry out these violent attacks in broad daylight, unleashing hell in the middle of a public space in the name of their god.

Clergy

Vrikdaroki clerics are very rare. Most Vrikdaroki tend to lean towards martial forms of combat rather than magical, but even magic has its purpose in wrath. Vrikdaroki clerics will often lead armies of their fellow worshipers to lay siege to settlements out of nowhere, guiding their companions movements and turning the battleground into an arcane no man's land.

Clerics will often devote their time to planning attacks against the worshipers of any deity other than Vrikdarok. If their god is no longer free to slaughter whomever he wishes, then the clergy has been given the divine purpose to slaughter any of their fellow mortals that dare to worship heretic gods.

Temples & Shrines

The Vrikdaroki never build their own temples. Their clerics will seek out the temples of other gods and lead their cult to a battle. The Vrikdaroki will slaughter everyone inside the temple and claim it as their own.

The newly founded temple will be painted with the blood of its former clergy and their heads will be displayed as trophies. Any statues or depictions of the temple's original god will be destroyed and molded into Vrikdarok's likeness.

Shrines to Vrikdarok double as trophy rooms, all trophies from a Vrikdaroki's kills will be placed alongside candles made from the hands of the Vrikdaroki's most favored victims.

Holy Texts

Vrikdarok has no holy texts, all of his stories and rituals were passed along orally. His clergy will often claim the holy books of heretic clerics they killed. Vrikdaroki clerics will tear pages out of the books and combine them together as a form of trophy to display how many heretics they have slaughtered.

Favored Animals

Vrikdarok favors crocodiles above all other animals, but he also has a fondness for any animal known for aggression such as hippopotami, cassowaries, boars, and bears.

Organizations

Order of the Burning Standard

A dreadknight order known for their sheer brutality, boldness, and aggression.