Sklirios Bloodheart
Sklirios Bloodheart was a Minotaur Cleric of Baphomet. As a child, he was very physically frail, and he obsessed over becoming stronger. Reading forbidden texts of Baphomet led him to discover the foul rite of Troeikardios, and he took to it with a fervor. As an adolescent, he disposed of his parents and ate their hearts, taking their physical and temporal power and becoming the head of the Bloodheart Clan.
He was constantly cruel to his sister, Kalosyne, and he despised her kindness, believing it to be a sign of great weakness in her. When she married the equally gentle Eleos Blackhorns, he considered it good riddance to them both. A chance encounter with the Satyr oracle Threnody, however, changed his mind. Threnody foresaw that both of the children of Eleos and Kalosyne would be priests, and he declared “the younger will be more powerful than the older”.
When their first child Kethalios was born, Sklirios slowly groomed the boy, bringing him firmly into the worship of the Horned Lord. A few years later, the young couple were with child again, but, this time, they fled, sailing across the sea. Sklirios, Kethalios, and a handful of Baphomet worshipers followed, and Sklirios called a storm with magic to drive them off course, preventing them from finding aid in Estwald.
The minotaurs found their prey just south of the town of Seowyn's Crossing. Sklirios gladly killed Eleos, but he hesitated before killing Kalosyne. Kethalios had no such hesitation, killing his mother callously. Before they could find the child, Natharios, however, they were driven off by worshipers of Shandalene. A vision from Baphomet told Sklirios to return home in order to keep his power, and so they lost track of the child, who eventually grew up under the name Eustace.
Once Sklirios saw that his younger nephew was coming home, his plans were altered. He’s aided his older nephew’s rise to power as Emperor, but he’s never forgotten that Eustace is the more powerful one. He manipulated events to lure Eustace into the Labyrinth of Souls under Manakos, and confront his brother. Whoever proved to be the stronger, Sklirios intended to kill him and eat his heart in the ritual of Troeikardios, gaining even more potent clerical powers. In the end, however, Eustace, having reclaimed his birth name, defeated his uncle.
He was constantly cruel to his sister, Kalosyne, and he despised her kindness, believing it to be a sign of great weakness in her. When she married the equally gentle Eleos Blackhorns, he considered it good riddance to them both. A chance encounter with the Satyr oracle Threnody, however, changed his mind. Threnody foresaw that both of the children of Eleos and Kalosyne would be priests, and he declared “the younger will be more powerful than the older”.
When their first child Kethalios was born, Sklirios slowly groomed the boy, bringing him firmly into the worship of the Horned Lord. A few years later, the young couple were with child again, but, this time, they fled, sailing across the sea. Sklirios, Kethalios, and a handful of Baphomet worshipers followed, and Sklirios called a storm with magic to drive them off course, preventing them from finding aid in Estwald.
The minotaurs found their prey just south of the town of Seowyn's Crossing. Sklirios gladly killed Eleos, but he hesitated before killing Kalosyne. Kethalios had no such hesitation, killing his mother callously. Before they could find the child, Natharios, however, they were driven off by worshipers of Shandalene. A vision from Baphomet told Sklirios to return home in order to keep his power, and so they lost track of the child, who eventually grew up under the name Eustace.
Once Sklirios saw that his younger nephew was coming home, his plans were altered. He’s aided his older nephew’s rise to power as Emperor, but he’s never forgotten that Eustace is the more powerful one. He manipulated events to lure Eustace into the Labyrinth of Souls under Manakos, and confront his brother. Whoever proved to be the stronger, Sklirios intended to kill him and eat his heart in the ritual of Troeikardios, gaining even more potent clerical powers. In the end, however, Eustace, having reclaimed his birth name, defeated his uncle.
Children
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