Blood Congregation

Blood Congregation
Ascendant	Wulfen
Oligarchs	Ranzou Cypra
Patron	Shaitan
Leadership Style	Oligarchy
Founder	Xerimor
City	Mhaldor
Classes Permitted	Apostates, Magi, Occultists and Shamans
House Tutor	Morimbuul, the daemon tutor
Heraldric Arms	None
Icon	The Crown of Thorns

Founded in 318 AF by Father Xerimor, and formerly known as the Apostate guild, The Blood Congregation is one of the Houses of Mhaldor.

They serve as the clergy of the city, devoting themselves to the Seven Truths in all fields with a fierce zealotry.

Their house tutor is Morimbuul, a troublesome daemon who has fathered three children with mortal mothers. His children are Aznahz, Sabatu, and Nebatu.

The foundation of the Apostate class and, subsequently, the guild itself occurred after a number of unusual occurrences. The first hint to its beginning was in the year 318 AF, when images of dark priests began to appear to Mhaldorians, while angels in Shallam began to show demonic traits.

In the same year, the rogue occultist Xerimor summoned Lord Taug and was told to travel to the Chaos Plane to slay Danaeus.

Upon the completion of this task, Taug imprisoned Danaeus' soul in an altar in Mhaldor, with the intent of imprisoning him there for eternity. Naturally, Lord Golgotha was enraged by this action, and instructed Xenophage and the Occultists to construct a portal strong enough for him to enter Sapience through. Upon his arrival, he freed Danaeus and, to fill the void left in the altar, imprisoned Xerimor in his place.

The citizens of Mhaldor worked to free Xerimor from his prison, lest his soul be bound there for eternity. They were instructed to make a sacrifice of a holy being to achieve this goal. Though many attempts were made to capture and slay a priest for this purpose, none were successful. Finally, Azmodai, the pit fiend, summoned the priest Valeo, whose angel was slain and used as a sacrifice to free Xerimor.

Immediately upon his release, Xerimor explained that the altar could be used to unleash a demonic force upon the land, and he then opened a portal in this manner; one that was large enough for an entire army of demons and other infernal beasts.

Valeo intervened, however, striking Xerimor with his holy mace and then using the last of his power to resurrect his angel. In the meantime, the demon general, Morimbuul walked through the portal, the first of what should have been many demons. It was then that Valeo's angel stepped through the portal with her master's corpse. This had an unpleasant effect, at least from the perspective of the followers of Evil, as it balanced out the powers of the portal, and caused it to collapse.

Rather than waste the efforts put forth by the Mhaldorians, Xerimor completed a ritual to bind the now stranded Morimbuul to a life of servitude. With Morimbuul's knowledge, the Apostates were formed.

The Apostate guild has been patroned in the past by Lord Sartan, Lady Indrani, and, presently, Lord Apollyon. They were also briefly patroned by Lord Thoth after Lady Indrani left Mhaldor, and Lord Shaitan after the seperation of Lord Sartan into the Twin Lords of Evil.

The Apostate guild and the city of Mhaldor found themselves at odds only once during the history of the guild and city, though the repercussions were heavy for Mhaldorians.

In the year 333 AF, an apostate named Dalamar broke guild and city law by exterminating The Garden of Rapture. Herb bans were placed upon Mhaldor by Oakstone at this time, crippling the city with an herb shortage. Dalamar was cast out from the city, but remained in the Apostate guild. This caused some strife between Mhaldor and the Apostate guild, and Father Detritus was refused Viceroyship due to the trouble.

With blessings from Lady Indrani, Vicar Appolonia contests Father Detritus for guildmaster in an attempt to patch up guild and city relations. This only causes more misunderstandings, however. Eventually, the guild and city come to an agreement, and Father Detritus is permitted to take his place as a rightful Viceroy of Mhaldor.

The leader of the Congregation is referred to as the Messiah of the Damned. Former Messiahs are known as Fathers or Abbesses, depending on if they or male or female, respectively.

Secretaries of the Congregation are known as Vicars.

The Blood Congregation had an icon called the Crown of Thorns. It was destroyed in the year 433 AF by a joint effort involving Eleusis, Shallam, and Ashtan. It was reerected in 441 AF.

Messiahs of the Damned

Xerimor: 318 AF to 321 AF
Mistral: 321 AF to 324 AF
Detritus: 325 AF to 335 AF
Afflicted: 335 AF to 350 AF
Ladydeath: 350 AF to 359 AF
Ranzou: 359 AF to 378 AF
Ravai: 378 AF to 385 AF
Wulfen: 385 AF to 397 AF
Herenicus: 397 AF to 413 AF
Cypra: 413 AF to 431 AF
Dyzanru: 431 AF to 439 AF

In 439 AF, the Blood Congregation switched from a Dictatorship to an Oligarchy, below are the political leaders of the house since that time.

Messiah of the Damned	"Term of Service"	Apostle	"Term of Service"	Apostle	"Term of Service"
Dyzanru	439 AF to 452 AF	Herenicus Wulfen	439 AF to 440 AF 440 AF to 452 AF	Rameus Cypra	439 AF to 440 AF 440 AF to 452 AF
Ranzou (Interim)	452 AF to 452 AF	Wulfen	452 AF to 452 AF	Cypra	452 AF to 452 AF
Wulfen	452 AF to Present	Ranzou	452 AF to Present	Cypra	452 AF to Present

Patrons

(In no particular order.)

Lord Sartan: Most of the patronship of the original guild was under Sartan, at varying times.
Lady Indrani: Indrani matroned the house for some time, until She took Her leave of Mhaldor.
Lord Thoth: Thoth briefly patroned the original guild only briefly, as a placeholder after Indrani was no longer matron.
Lord Apollyon: Apollyon took the mantle of patron shortly after the split of Sartan.
Lord Shaitan: Immediately following the split of Sartan into Shaitan and Apollyon, Shaitan was automatically made the patron of the house. He also patroned the house during an extended absense by Lord Apollyon. He is the current patron.