The Anrok Incident

The Anrok Incident was a failed hijacking performed by members of Hilathu's cult. The incident began soon after take off from Anrok, when six members of the cult took two flight attendants hostage with use of their familiars, two pit vipers, a diamondback rattlesnake, a cobra, and a copperhead. Several other venomous snakes were released onto the flight with the intent for them to attack and injure passengers, to prevent them from acting against the cult. Members of the cult used the snakes as threats to get the flight attendants to unlock the airplane's cabin and give the cultists access to the flight's pilots, demanding that they steer the flight to one of their compounds in the Arizona desert.   Once inside the cabin, the cult made their demands known to all crew and passengers via the plane's PA system. Their intention was to land at one of their compounds and take all people onboard hostage to later sacrifice to the fallen god Hilathu, to help him regain power to challenge the pantheon. If their demands were not met, the cult threatened to take control of the aircraft and deliberately crash it into Lapi, The God of Earth's temple, threatening that this act would kill her.

Unfortunately, many were injured as a result of the hijacking.   As a result of the crash landing performed by Flight 612, Phoenix International Airport sustained extreme damage to both of its runways, causing them to be inoperable for 6 months. Flight 612 in its crash landing had its fuselage dig through the tarmac up to 12 feet deep, causing a large debris field that also damaged nearby hangars and destroyed 2 small piston aircraft that luckily were unoccupied. The fire caused by the crash spread into nearby foliage and caused a wildfire, burning down two residential buildings and debris from the aircraft is thought to have caused thousands of dollars of damages to surrounding properties as it rained down from the sky.   All members of Flight 612's crew were awarded special recognition for their actions during the hijacking, including the Laramidia Flight Union's highest special recognition, the LFU medal of bravery. Following their recovery from injuries sustained during the hijacking and crash landing, the crew was also awarded with a special ceremony at the Temple of Lapi from Lapi, The God of Earth herself, widely publicized and shown across Laramidia and Appalachia. The crew members were also awarded custom made toad signets said to be hand crafted by Lapi herself, out of the stone making up her temple walls.

Following the incident, multiple organizations involved with Laramidia's airline industry worked in cooperation to increase safety across airports all over the region. Phoenix International Airport's Safety and Security Board, the Laramidian Flight Union, Californian Republic Transport and Safety Regulation, and Laramidia Airline Workers United organizations led talks, conventions, and regulatory meetings regarding the investigation into the incident to identify safety issues and find solutions to prevent another similar incident, not just involving Hilathu's cult, but other plane hijackings.   A memorial to those who lost their lives and were injured in the incident was built at Phoenix's airport, just outside its entrance, depicting a beheaded serpent, a representation of Hilathu, being defeated by stylized statues of the crew and passengers beneath a model of Flight 612. The serpent's body is covered in engravings of the flight's passengers and staff, with a plaque erected in the center of the statue for those who lost their lives.

The Anrok Incident remains as the most famous and most terrifying show of force by Hilathu's cult to this day, and is widely recognized as the incident that sparked enormous controversy into allowing the cult to continue to operate. Prior to the incident, most of Hilathu's cultists, although known as highly dangerous, were not often taken seriously by law enforcement. Threats were often ignored or had minimal investigation done. Public outcry against the cult, as well as lobbying from Laramidia's airline industry led to increased security and motivation to arrest and properly investigate the cult's operations in the region.