Lashiaz, the Blood Serpent

'When she has tasted all the blood of the world. She will arrive and swallow it whole. Sending the non-believers to agony and pain for eternity.' - Line 1 of The Blood Serpent prophecy

The god of the Szenth is an all-consuming serpent that hungers for the blood of the world. Her will in reality is to consume her enemies and absorb their blood, empowering herself with their strength and magic. Currently, she is a spirit after her eradication, though she reincarnates into small snakes once a century and can be cared for and fed eternally until her size and power become something god-like. With each sacrifice, she grows and hungers more. Her people, the Szenthians, care for her until she becomes big enough to communicate telepathically and can command them to perform her bidding directly. 

They will continue to feed her until she becomes so large and powerful she can consume kingdoms and eventually the world, or so the tales go.

Belief

The god of the Szenth is an all-consuming serpent that hungers for the blood of the world. Tales tell that the great Blood Serpent wishes to consume the blood and flesh of each race upon the world and when that is done it will distinguish the believers from the non-believers. On that day it can consume the world, expunging the non-believers from reality and regurgitating a pure world. Meanwhile, the non-believers will forever suffer in the gullet of the Blood Serpent, burning in the eternal agony of their actions and sins.

The pure world will then continue to worship Lashiaz continually purifying those in their society through extravagant Blood Rite Sacrifices to keep the insatiable god fed. If they should lapse in this duty the Blood Serpent will once more consume the world, but this time never regurgitate it.

In Practice

The Szenth have long since held the belief that the blood serpent will grant them the ability and power to rule when it has been fed on the blood of its enemies, and this is somewhat true, for with more frequent and extravagant rites the power of their spellcasters and warriors grows. They are able to channel the magic of Lashiaz directly, but that means that when the Blood Rites are more infrequent and fewer their power wanes. Their strength is directly linked to the Blood Serpent, as is the prosperity of their race. This means they regularly perform these rights, hidden within the swamps of northern Xieyin Island. 

With their limited numbers they now prefer to move in the shadows and subtly manipulate others into action. Driving wars, battles and savage brutality in whatever manner they can to then sweep the battlefields after and dedicate the slaughter to the Blood Serpent. Though these are less appetising to Lashiaz than the taste of fresh blood and unwilling sacrifices. 

Activity within the World

The Szenth have recently performed an unthinkable action. They have subverted the will of Kelaksha, the Great Serpent of the Kylithotal Empire by replacing the Voice of Kelaksha in their last choosing ceremony. This dark magic twisted a Szenth into the form of a high priest who was chosen by subverting the choosing ceremony. They are nearing the end of their choosing cycle with only 1 year left, but have made sweeping changes to the society, poisoning the minds of many saurians and performing open Blood Rite Sacrifices to twist the spirit of their great Wyrm Kelaksha into the next reincarnation of Lashiaz, the Blood Serpent. 

Though they have a stranglehold on the kingdom and have used twisted magic to turn the Emperor into a sickened puppet, many have fled the kingdom and established an opposing kingdom of true believers of Kelak on the east of the island called the Okalotan, where they wish to strike back and remove this corrupted puppet before it brings their kingdom to ruin.

A Tale of Venya

Learn more about the world, its history and the factions here.

Worshippers of Lashiaz

The Szenthian Snakes of Xieyin Island once held a stranglehold on the jungles of the southern continent, though long before the the Cataclysm and Age of Enlightenment they were all but destroyed by the rising Saurian Empire. Though now many believe they were destroyed by Kelaksha as told in the myth The Tale of the Lizard Queen. 

This wasn't the case and after the cataclysm tore the world asunder the Szenthian snakes rose from below the steaming swamps of Xieyin island once more, from where they had been biding their time. They used their twisted magic to assault the Kylithotal Empire and once more began the 'War of Scales'. This continued for much of post-cataclysm history until the Kylithotal Empire smashed the last cities of Szenth in 2349 A.C. and chased the snakes into the swamps. Their cities and lands lie empty now upon the north of Xieyin Island, but none would be so foolish as to say they are gone for good.