Cult of Kosmos

The Cult of Kosmos is a secretive organization which operated throughout Greece in the 5th century BCE, then later throughout Idgypt in the 15th century CE. The Cult worships a deity called Kosmos. They were directly responsible for catalyzing the both the Peloponnesian War and the Great Demon War much later.

Structure

The Cult of Kosmos was divided into several branches, each comprising five Adepts and led by an individual called the Sage. At the head of the Cult is the Ghost of Kosmos. Serving under these leaders were arrays of soldiers which carried out their will, assassinated their enemies, protected them as bodyguards, and defended their strongholds. Also under these leaders were several minor members and puppets under the Cult's control.

Equipment

"These Masked Men, they’re organized and unafraid. Their greatest weapon is no blade; it’s our greed." ―Leiandros describing the Cult's true power.

The Sages and Adepts are each provided with dark cloaks and grotesque white masks to serve as their disguises. Although they don these when congregating, they refrain from wearing them in their daily lives. In this way, they blend in with the public, concealing their allegiances to the Cult behind their regular personas.
The Cultist guards, in contrast, are far more visible due to the standardization of their armor. Each soldier is clad in steel armor, consisting most prominently of a helmet which bores a fearsome mask moulded in the visage of bearded man's face. The chestplate incorporates metal pteruges, and gauntlets protect the forearms. As part of their specializations, guardians are fielded with swords and shields, vanguards with large shields and heavy battleaxes, and scions with daggers. The Cultist Guards are also fed with a special medical concoction which makes them stronger and more resilient than most average soldiers.

Public Agenda

Old Cult

The Cult of Kosmos were not polytheistic and had a deistic belief system. According to Aspasia (the Ghost of Kosmos during the Peloponnesian War), the nations in Greece were already chaotic and the Cult wanted to use a controlled war so as to create a clean slate on which to establish an orderly and unified Greek Nation, one where violence would be absent and the people could move towards a more rational and developing society, which would be built by the people for the people. Aspasia mentioned this would require a very wise and philosophical king.
However, the members of the Cult soon grew chaotic and greedy and used the Chaos to earn massive amounts of profit and political power. Eventually this led to the Cult becoming corrupted with greed and personal gain, and these individuals enabled Deimos to become their violent leader. Aspasia, while still the leader of the Cult but unable to do anything to stop them, opted to use Kassandra to help her destroy the Cult so she could resume their original goal.

New Cult

It is not known how closely the modern Cult of Kosmos follows the beliefs of the original. While its initially motivations can possibly be interpreted as an attempt to bring the (at the time) more chaotic UCB under the rule of the more stable and orderly Idgyptian Empire in an attempt to establish peace, this cannot be confirmed and its later actions seem to point towards a similar trend of greed and hunger for power as its predecessor.

History

Founding

The origins of the Cult is shrouded in mystery, though it is believed that the originated as part of the Cult of Hermes before becoming disaffected with them and splitting off to form the Cult of Kosmos.

Greco-Persian Wars and the Peloponnesian War

By the 5th century BCE, the Cult of Kosmos had established a firm grip on Greek politics, and had formed a sort of partnership with the Order of Ancients in Persia, as their goals often aligned. They supported the conquest of Greece by Xerxes I of Persia, hoping to bring Greece under his ordered rule. However this brought them into conflict with king Leonidas I of Sparta, whom they confronted and warned not to oppose them in 480 BCE. Despite this Leonidas chose to fight the invaders, which cost him his life but contributed to the Greek victory.
Following his defiance, the Cult decided to have Leonidas' bloodline wiped out due to their potential for interference. In 446 BCE they, through the manipulation of the Pythia Praxithea, spread word that Leonidas' youngest grandson, Alexios, would bring ruin to Sparta, resulting in him being sentenced to execution. His older sister, Kassandra, attempted to save him, but accidentally pushed him and his executioner off the cliff, to which she was dropped off as well. The fall failed to kill the children, and while Kassandra fled into exile, their mother Myrrine sought medical attention for Alexios, though she was eventually convinced that is was best to leave her child's fate to the gods. After doing this, Alexios was found by the Cultist Chrysis, who took him under her wing and had him join the Cult under the name Deimos, whom the Cult saw as a weapon as opposed to a simple foot soldier.
Several decades later, the Cult orchestrated the Peloponnesian War in an effort to achieve complete control of Greece amidst the conflict between Athens and Sparta. At the same time they discovered Kassandra working as a misthios (mercenary) on Kephallonia. While initially deciding to have her killed, they were convinced by Elpenor of the Eyes of Kosmos branch to hire her to assassinate her stepfather, Nikolaos, to prevent an immediate Spartan victory. However in doing this Elpenor revealed the Cult's existence to Kassandra, which would backfire. In 431 BCE the Cult held a meeting, however the meeting had been infiltrated by Kassandra. Following this meeting, Kassandra set out on a mission to hunt down the members of the Cult of Kosmos one-by-one. She was successful in destroying the Cult of Kosmos, though some minor members might have survived.
[For more info on the Cult up to this point, check out their page on the Assassin's Creed Wiki]

Kosmosian Conspiracy

Whilst the Cult had been destroyed in the 430s BCE by Kassandra, almost 1800 years later another group called the Cult of Kosmos arrived in Idgypt in the early 1400s CE. This groups origins are unknown, except that is also originated in Greece [It is unknown if this Cult is that same as the one destroyed by Kassandra or a spiritual successor. It is also unknown if the entire Cult moved its operations to Idgypt, or just a specific sect, possibly even a splinter sect]. Initially establishing itself in Elizandria, it began to infiltrate the Idgyptian government, spreading its influence and establishing its members in higher and higher government officials. By the late 1430s CE, the Cult's influence had spread to the Pharaoh Shadotep I himself.
At this time Shadotep was becoming more and more disillusioned with King Pierre Antois III of the UCB, with whom he had been allied with 1100 CE. Called a warmonger by many today, many of Antois' policies; such as the enslavement of the orcs, intrusions into Idgyptian affairs, and focus on military projects over infrastructure and public well-being, had begun to cause tension between the UCB and Idgyptian governments. The Cult used this tension to influence Shadotep, even making him their leader as the Ghost of Kosmos. Together they came up with a plan, known now as the Kosmosian Conspiracy, to bring down Antois and conquer the UCB.
Having secured Idgypt as a wealthy benefactor, the Cult spent the next decade secretly spreading its influence and agents into the UCB and other nations. It also began forming a secret alliance that would become known as the Kosmosian League, with early members including Chief Othrid, an orcish war chief, and Charles Frederick, a revolutionary in the UCB. With the Cult's guidance and Idgyptian funding, these two would go on to form the Mordorian Liberation front and the UCB Separatist Movement. Early members of the League also included the Knights of Polaris and the kingdom of Reyvadin.
It would not be until 1453 CE that the early phases of the plan were put in motion. Large numbers of protesters, their leaders primed by the Separatist Movement and the Cult of Kosmos, took to the streets of Raskaria City demanding reforms. While it is unclear who landed the first blow, violence soon broke out between the protesters and the UCB military, and after some initial success the Separatists were forced to flee the city with the aid of the Cult. Following this many Separatist strongholds became openly hostile to the UCB military, thus starting the UCB Civil War.
Despite initial successes, it soon became clear that the Separatists were not well prepared to take on the UCB alone. A series of poor decision making and inadequate leadership lead to the Separatists losing ground until they were surrounded at the ruins of Fort Weathertop, which they had somewhat re-fortified. Despite the efforts of the Cult, the UCB stormed the fortress and put an end to the Civil War, and Charles Frederick was escorted to Idgypt by Cult guards. Though some small sects remained, the UCB Separatist Movement was effectively destroyed.
The League would spend the next five years consolidating its resources after the loss of the Separatists. Major developments would not continue until the breakout of the Raskarian Plague, where the Cult saw an opportunity. Intelligence had suggested that the UCB government had been largely threatening to the small nation of the Swords of Strength, and the Cult capitalized on this by dumping plague victims into the water supply of the SoS capital, Honera, and framing it on the UCB. Whilst this failed to start an outbreak in the city, it succeeded in convincing the SoS to join the Kosmosian League, which it had been apprehensive to do previously. 
However, following the end of the plague, King Antois III subsequently died and was succeeded by a general, Otto von Emmerich. Emmerich began to work to undue many of Antois' wrongs, leading to Shadotep becoming unsure if the Conspiracy should continue. However he was strong-armed by the Cult to continue with the plan, particularly by a mysterious figure claiming to be Deimos of the old Cult. Shadotep was distrustful of Deimos, and while the plan continued a rift had begun to form within the Cult of Kosmos.
The next stage of the plan was to recruit the kingdom of Donovia into the Kosmosian League, as they did not have good relations with the UCB, renamed the UKE under Emmerich. To achieve this, the Cult orchestrated for the UKE to attack a Donovian village on the border, convincing them it was a bandit camp. Whilst this convinced Donovia to join the League, their attempts at a peaceful resolution and general uncooperativeness caused several problems, forcing them to enact the final phase early.
With all the members in place, a conference was called where the members of the Kosmosian League voiced their grievances in preparation to declare war on the UKE. However King Emmerich had been primed for this, as Donovia had sold out the League to the UKE in an attempt to play both sides off each other for profit. With knowledge of the League's plan at his disposal, Emmerich was able to Shadotep and the other members realize that they were being manipulated by the Cult to act against their own best interests. Enraged at this revelation, Shadotep ejected the Cult of Kosmos from all Idgyptian offices and the Kosmosian League, as well as Donovia for it's betrayal of the League and Charles Frederick due to incompetence. It, along with the UKE, reaffirmed their alliance by both declaring the Cult of Kosmos to be enemies of the state. This caused the rift in the Cult to become a full schism. While most of the Cult fled Idgypt into the UKE wilderness, some members more loyal to Shadotep (i.e. Chief Othrid) chose to reject Deimos and remain loyal to Shadotep, which was hidden from the UKE.

The Great Demon War

Following the betrayal of Shadotep, Deimos and most of the Cult of Kosmos fled Idgypt for the wilderness of the eastern UKE. There they put their backup plan, which had been kept secret from Shadotep, into motion. Over the next five years they would establish contact with the demon lord Surt, and in 1467 CE opened a rift allowing Surt and his demonic army to enter the Overworld, beginning the Great Demon War. This was condemned by the Kosmosian League, in which the other Cultists loyal to Shadotep remained.
During the war, the forces of the Cult of Kosmos would fight alongside Surt's armies. However they would not live to see the end of the war, as Deimos was tracked down and killed by the UKE's 300th Expeditionary, and most of the remaining Cultists were slain at the Battle of Mordor by Chief Othrid and the Mordorian Liberation Front, an event which earned the Orcs their freedom in the UKE.
Despite Idgypt's involvement with and funding of the Cult of Kosmo, all blame for the Demon War was put on Deimos and the main branch of the Cult. The portion of the Cult loyal to Shadotep was dissolved, many of its members retaining government positions or joining portions of the military or intelligence network. Strangely the Kosmosian League was never officially disbanded, though after the Demon War it is largely considered defunct and no longer in operation.

Following the War

After their defeat during the Great Demon War, the remaining members if the Cult went into hiding, and while many considered it destroyed some still feared it could be lurking in the shadows. One such instance includes fears that the Theban Succession 1501 CE was orchestrated by the Cult of Kosmos, though this was later proven to be false.
The Cult of Kosmos would next appear when on the 12th of February, 1504 CE two men attempted to assassinate UKE President Kmen Amran. The assassination attempt was unsuccessful, and while one of the assassins escapes the other is successfully apprehended. Upon interrogation, he reveals that he and his associate are both former members of the Cult of Kosmos under the employ of Drogon Underhill, CEO of Adamant Arms. He is tracked to a ruin in the deserts of Kyrenaika, a nome of the Idgyptian Empire, where the investigators are assisted by local phylakitai. A rune is discovered to have been recently carved in the ruin, and it is discovered to be a form of Abyssal consistent with that used by the Cult of Kosmos when communicating with demons. The rune is discovered to be a teleportation sigil, and after cracking the rune a team used it to teleport, returning hours later with a spherical object and followed by a Balor.

Military

These cultist guards were divided into three units: guardians, vanguards, and scions. They represented warriors of standard, heavy, and agile physiques respectively. Whereas the towering vanguards were known for their mighty strength yet sluggish pace, the scions were trained to be almost unmatched in the swiftness of their attacks. The Cult observed gender divisions in their army ranks, such that men were always trained as guardians and vanguards while the scions were exclusively women. Many of these soldiers were pulled from aspiring athletes and gladiators who had become addicted to drugs that the Cult had secretly provided.

Mythology & Lore

Kosmos

Kosmos is a mysterious entity who is worshipped as a deity by the Cult of Kosmos. His "voice" in the world was called the Ghost of Kosmos, who serves as the Cult's leader.
The Cult of Kosmos also uses a large amount of snake symbology, which can possibly be traced to the giant serpent Python of Greek myth, which was said to have been killed by Apollo.

Founding Date

6th-5th century BCE

Type

Secret, Occult

Gallery

Cult of Kosmos Emblem.png

Emblem of the Cult of Kosmos

Cultist Guardian.png

Guardian of the Cult of Kosmos

Cultist Scion.png

Scion of the Cult of Kosmos

Cultist Vanguard.png

Vanguard of the Cult of Kosmos

Female Cultist.png

A female cultist in her ceremonial attire.

Male Cultist.png

A male cultist in her ceremonial attire.