Xiagru

Xiagru is a mythical behir in Khaghate folklore and a prominent character in "The Legend of Khaghate the First." Unlike contemporary living behirs, Xiagru shows signs of intelligence and even tool-making skills in several depictions. Xiagru is often venerated as a demigod or major spirit in the Khaghat region and is associated with rain, thunder, lightning, snakes, rope, binding, and nature's unpredictable wrath.
In its most famous appearance, the behir Xiagru encounters Tor, an exiled orcish chief living in the Eagle Mountains north of his homeland. After a lengthy battle, Tor slays Xiagru, but not before the behir manages to wound Tor and gouge out the orc's eye. Upon being struck, Tor is said to have witnessed a vision from Oheilion, the Bloodied Lord, and received from the war god advice on how best to live in the cruel Material Realm. After exiting the vision, Tor is said to have taken Xiagru's body and burnt it in offering to Oheilion and used the creature's bones to forge the traan'toran, a war mask that has become a symbol of the supremacy of the Khaghatan rank.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Xiagru is described in a number of passages in "The Legend of Khaghatan the First." Some quotations include:

"A great twelve legged serpent of twisting muscle and crackling storm surge"

His [Xiagru's] eyes flashed white-hot rage.

Its [Xiagru's] mouth was a cavernous maw of twin jaws to swallow all the world's terrors...

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Little is known of Xiagru's history before his famous encounter with Tor during his mountain exile. He is believed to have been born during the Dawn Era, likely long prior to the War of the Dawn and the War of Broken Days. Some have argued that Xiagru may have been one of the first behir ever created. This theory draws on evidence found in the Ordning religious tradition which claims that the first behirs were crafted by Jötu, the Storm Father to help slay the Dread Dragoness, Valdra during the War of the Dawn and that this explains the species primal hatred for all of dragonkind. This may also fit in thematically with "the Legend of Khaghatan the First" as the primary deific figure, Oheilion, is also considered to be a crafted, not begotten, entity.
By the time he appears in "the Legend of Khaghatan the First," Xiagru is an ancient behir with great magical and physical power. According to the myth, the hero Tor came upon Xiagru and was overcome by hunger. He forgot his people's prohibition on hunting behir and attacked the creature. The two did battle for a short time before Tor thrust his spear at Xiagru and killed the titanic beast. However, as it fell, the behir wounded Tor and gouged out the orc's eye. There is some debate on whether the wound was caused by a wooden splinter that ricocheted off either a tree or Tor's spear, or if Xiagru in fact was intelligent enough to craft and wield a bow and arrow. This is because in the original telling of the tale, the Khaghat'oa word traak is used to describe the flying debris that half-blinds Tor. Traak can refer to either an arrow or a wooden splinter and though behir are not considered intelligent enough use weapons like a bow, many Khaghate maintain that Tor was indeed shot by an arrow made by Xiagru himself.
Following Tor's injury and Xiagru's death, a vision appeared to Tor of the war god Oheilion. The war god explained to the Tor the reason for hardship and toil in the Material Realm. The war god then gave Tor a treatise on how best to survive and thrive in the midst of the cruelty and tumult of Holos. This is what is known to the Khaghate as the Ogadinui, and it has since become the foundational legal and philosophical text of the Khaghate people.
Upon awakening from his vision, Tor took the body of Xiagru and burnt it in offering to Oheilion. He then gathered the bones of the fallen behir and forged from them a war mask imbued with sacred power of the war god and of the Khaghate people. This became known as the traan'toran and became a part of the long tradition of armoring and warfare among the Khaghate. Today, the Khaghate remember Xiagru as both a symbol of nature's wrath and of their people's ability to overcome impossible circumstances.

Divine Classification

Demigod/Major Spirit

Alignment

Chaotic Neutral

Species

Behir

Date of Birth

Dawn Era

Circumstances of Death

Killed by Tor

Gender

Male/Neutral

Eyes

Flashing white

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Blue

The traan'toran or the "Face of Tor" is said to have been originally made from the bones of Xiagru themselves