Also known as the Cult of the Sun Eater, the Circle of Cycles is a new cult spreading throughout both urban and tribal areas of Sol, especially in Ayrith and Asvathas. The cult centers around a supposedly resurrected naga in the form of a mortal yuan-ti known as Phosphoroth. Devotees gather in local chapters free to pursue their own traditions, rites, and customs while worshipping the Sun Eater. Some worshippers claim the lofty goal of restoring Phosphoroth to his true divinity as a celestial naga. As Phosphoroth is a living god walking amongst mortals in the flesh, the nature of this growing cult shifts by the year and the particular sect. It remains a very loosely organized religious movement, still mostly beneath the notice of the most established religions of Sol.
The Ancient Nagas
According to yuan-ti tradition, which has been adopted and syncretized by followers of the cult, in ancient times, the yuan-ti held dominion over the continent and its people. Civilization began with their great empire, spanning from the western shores of Asvathas to the jungles of Shanrao. This great civilization was ruled over by the naga, divine serpentine nature forces holding dominion over various aspects of life and the cosmos such as death, rebirth, power, and truth. One was known as the Sun-Eater, the naga who would swallow the sun, represented by a serpent eating its own tail surrounding a darkened sun. The Sun-Eater represented rebirth, power, and cyclical order. Under this order, the world is constantly divided into phases, each in succession. When one phase ends, another begins. Clinging to the past or skipping to the future only invite trouble and disrupt the natural order.
Ancient legends tell that this celestial naga was tricked and forced to give up power at the command of a malevolent elven mage in times older than memory. The Sun-Eater, reduced from the form of a true naga, remained in the universe as raw energy. Nobody knows precisely what brought him to the form he takes now, a humanoid yuan-ti, but he has revealed himself to the few who call him lord. Taking the name Phosphoroth, he is identified as the Sun-Eater in the flesh.
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