Gods & Monsters: The Thaons & Religion
PSA: I must’ve literally written the following YEARS ago and don’t even remember writing it so kldsjfakldsjfkjd read at your own risk tbh ;D
This post is a WIP and mostly a means of bouncing ideas off Lizzy since ~religiosity~ My thoughts were too jumbled to put into texting and I had a lot of questions and alkjdskfljdksajf Also sorry for the format of this it’s weird bc it’s mostly questions but I also want to set this up to sweep in and form the skeleton of her bio once I’m ready for that (read: three years from today)
Though a daughter of flame, Rochilda Thaon is a creature of the shadows. For millenia, her mother’s people have haunted the snow-peaked mountains north of Blaminster. Older than the civil wars that blighted Aragoth, older than House Godiva, older than House Arrington, and older than what men call the Old Ways, the Thaons belong to a more ancient, primal time when the only forces competing for power in Aragoth were fire and ice, light and darkness.
So I remember that Rochilda is the ~descendant of the woman who trained Dezod (what a family history I s2g), so I collected the things I said about Dezod and his mentor in his bio bc I couldn’t remember *shifty eyes*
Terrified but fascinated by his own powers, [Dezòd] fled Dorwine, ranging far north to the mountains near Blaminster, where a powerful enchantress was said to live in the caves, scoured clean by the fierce winds and cleansed in the drifting snows. Scrambling his way up the sheer face of the mountain with the help of his powers, he sought her.
When he at last found her, having faced several trials (which, it turned out, had been illusions, invented by her to test him, and drive away unwanted visitors), she reluctantly agreed to train him in the use of his abilities so that he could at least use them. She told him that he was the most powerful case of natural magic she had seen in many centuries and she taught him the use of her dark arts.
Having been mostly trained, two years later, [Dezòd] descended the mountains and returned home
Dezòd went alone to the north mountains to consult the enchantress who had trained him, for she had the Sight and he wished to know his future. When he reappeared in her sanctuary, his very face burned away, she told him to turn away from the course he’d chosen or untold suffering would swallow the realm and consume him for a thousand years until one came to put an end to it – a young Dragon Rider, both the first and the last, a true son of the home Dezòd had lost, whose actions would be set in motion by Dezòd himself. Notwithstanding, Dezòd insisted on having his revenge and so his mentor told him that, to achieve his feat, he must slay her and drink of her blood. Only then would his might be complete and his revenge possible. Doing as he was bidden, Dezòd was left in a trance for three days and three nights, awakening as a new being altogether, his humanity scoured from him and crumpling into a forgotten horror.
Ok, so first thing’s first. Is there anything I should change about any of that? I’m totally happy to do so!! That bit’s all set 1,000-ish years before present day Aragoth, and, obv, as his mentor, this enchantress had a long history with dark magic. If we’re keeping the above as canon, then there were whispers about her which drove Dezòd to seek her out. I’m imagining that, at the time of their meeting, two things were going on. 1) The Thaon sorceresses had haunted those mountains for millenia and 2) this particular one was making many sacrifices to the demon god and I was wondering - is it sacrifices to The Sorcerer that prolong life? To the Demon? To any god? And if you give a soul to the demon, are you granted long life or do you have to sacrifice one specifically in order to GET long life? Or does that just kind of go w however the hell you’d like it to go? Hahahah
The Creator: The maker of everything, including the other gods. It is said that he was a dragon who roamed the empty night skies until he created the earth with his dragonfire. Dragons are also a religious symbol, as well as the sigil for House Godiva. Dragon RIders are said to be The Creator’s protectors of earth.
The Sorcerer: God of magic. He is the one who bestows natural magical abilities onto those who have it. Those who don’t have any magical abilities and wish to learn often pray to him. Some religious men and women believe that trying to learn magic when you are not born with it is unnatural and offensive since surely The Sorcerer would have given you the abilities if he thought you should have them.
The Demon God: Once it was his duty to harbor the souls from the world to heaven. He was known as the god of Death. He was often considered the least powerful of all the gods. To prove that he was not, he created hell and became its master. He was cast out of heaven, for only The Creator may create. The Demon god gains all of his power from human souls. He gets souls when 1) they are sacrificed to him, either directly like Rochilda Thaon or in immortality spells such as Rowena Godiva preforms or 2) when someone with a truly black heart dies [ex: Jon Valles ;D], he claims them. If the demon god should ever gain enough souls, it’s said that he could reclaim his seat in the heavens and cast out all the other gods. Followers like Rochilda Thaon who help him accomplish this, are promised high seats should this ever come about, but anyone who knows anything about the demon god, is that he is a made of false promises …
In the last paragraph, a distinction is made between Rowena’s sacrifices and Rochilda’s, which is what brought up the question. I’m trying to gauge your typical Thaon lifespan and extrapolate from there how much Rochilda knows of the past. I know she’s 36, but I’m trying to figure out if her mother was the daughter, granddaughter, or great great great great great great great (etc) granddaughter of Dezòd’s mentor. I mean, either way I suspect the story’s been more or less passed down, etc, but yeah.
From what I’ve pieced together, the above mentioned gods are the ones with the greatest claim on Rochilda Thaon. She is alive (via the creator), she has magic (via the sorcerer), and she worships the god of death for she is mortal.
gummygunk
turnnoffyourmind
theartofmadeline
vaporwave
dailybridgerton
yousharknotpass
annaxmalina
