The Judazhai
The titanic dragon-snake that slumbers eternal, bringer of the end when it wakes
The Judazhai is classified as a Lesser Idol, and is capable of granting powers as a patron to witches and warlocks, and perhaps clerics and the like who venerate the original World-Serpent that slumbers beneath the world. Consult your GM if you are interested in following or recieving power from the Judazhai as described here.Obedience: Spend an hour with legs crossed in contact with the ground in some fashion, emitting deep, bass vocalizations in the lowest pitch you can reach. Effect: You can cast the 3pp Spell "Mountain Stride" 3/day as a standard action that does not provoke Attacks of Opportunity. You gain a swim speed of 30ft that serves as a burrow speed of the same speed, but does not leave behind a tunnel as you are 'swimming' through rock.
Summary
Appearing in the most ancient of legends, the myth of the Judazhai is one of planet-cracking destruction brought to its absolute pinnacle - legends of the Judazhai have spread all across Zheng-Kitar as legends speaking of "The World Serpent", "The End-Bringer", and countless other tales about a gigantic beast capable of bringing end to all should it be allowed to wake. So vast and wide is its myth that it has even been misinterpreted by societies even on other continents and spawned gods all its own, whether through myth and rumor that has spiraled out of control into their own narratives or by inspiring ancient scholars and magicians to attempt to create a beast similar in majesty to the Judazhai that, in the end, create horrible beasts that pale when compared to the original, but are terrifying all their own.
As the original "World Serpent", the Judazhai's myth is a thing of most ancient legend - its myth speaks of it as either the herald of the Spirit King of Water, a hated rival, or even in some myths, the body of Yezhiha himself. In all myths, it is spoken of as being abandoned and left behind when The Spirit Kings Vanished from the world - whether as a body that was abandoned as a broken husk or as a herald or rival that was entombed to protect the world and its peoples.
Regardless of the variation of the myth, all variations agree on one thing - the Judazhai was a beast so enormously massive that it spanned a distance measured in hundreds upon hundreds of miles, so enormously titanic that it was truly worthy of the moniker "The World Serpent". So massive, in fact, that if the most ancient rumors of the Ezdhûl people are to be believed, its tomb might be hidden in plain sight - that, when it was left behind, the Spirit Kings elected to simply build the world of Zheng-Kitar around it...and that it slumbers beneath the Tripalm Spine Mountain Range, thus giving the titanic mountain range its moniker which is said to literally be the spine of the Judazhai.
Whether that is true or not, however, is unclear - if it is, its awakening would be unfathomably nightmarish, as its awakening would thus spell the vanishing of an entire mountain range.
Historical Basis
It is believed that the legend of The Judazhai lies rooted in the ancient stories of "The Six Husks" - a tale that speaks of six creatures that were born from the actual remnants of the bodies used by the Spirit Kings - though some have distorted over time. After languishing for millennia, they have all taken on a twisted sentience all their own.
When The Witch Kings of Bhorsis-Razghûl cracked the shells of the Spirit Kings(A feat which would ensure the Spirit Kings would vanish from the world in time), they ensured that the bodies would be abandoned when the Spirit Kings left the material plane behind - whether it was a purposeful machination by the vile kings or was an accidental side effect, however, is unknown.
So goes the myth that when The Spirit Kings Vanished from the world, the bodies that they left behind became "The Six Husks", and were abandoned in places they could not bring harm to anyone...and though they languished for milennia as mindless husks, they have taken on a seperate life all their own as beasts of unbelievable destruction.
Spread
Though the legend of "The Six Husks" is a myth that has become somewhat universal, the exact myth of The Judazhai has become mostly specific to the Ezdhûl people, as they are the only ones who yet remember its true form and location of its imprisonment.
Variations & Mutation
Over the milennia, the legend of the Judazhai has taken on several variations which speak of it in different ways - some myths speak of it as a slumbering engine of destruction, others as a sentient beast so alien and foreign that its goals and motivations are unknown, while still others call it a mindless destroyer that would lay waste to all should it wake.
Cultural Reception
The myth of the Judazhai is most crucial to the Ezdhûl people, for it is they who are believed to have been tasked with maintaining and watching over its prison since time immemorial...though all but the most ancient among them have likely forgotten that most ancient of duties.
In Literature
In literature, the Judazhai is depicted as an ancient, indescribably alien behemoth of unbelievably massive proportions, whose very anatomy and existence is beyond mortal comprehension - each of its heartbeats is said to come once a year in an event that rattles the lands around its prison for dozens of miles, its breaths coming just as often in softer tremors that vibrate the ground for a hundred miles in every direction. Even its thoughts and speech is so ancient as to be completely incomprehensible - the few records held by the Ezdhûl people tell of a language so old none but the actual beast itself can remember it, and thoughts and speech moving so anciently slow that for it to speak or think a single word would likely take months or years.
In Art
In art, the Judazhai is depicted as "The World Serpent" - often depicted as coiling around the world in slumber, or some variation therein. Also, to a secondary degree, it is believed to be the source and reason for why most all mapmakers on Zheng-Kitar draw Mountain Ranges as resembling a long rocky spine - for in witnessing the beast slumbering and masquerading as The Tripalm Spine Mountains, they unknowingly began mimicking such a style in their mapmaking.
Date of First Recording
The first recordings of the Judazhai appear around 440 ASK, over 4100 years ago.
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