Shül

= Shül =

//"Only the most foolish would dare to speak of the Lady of Death while she looms so alarmingly overhead; those who invoke the name of the Immolant bring about the most grievous of insults to her ideology and so are made to burn until dead as punishment. We must live in quiet respect for her, always, for it is she who brings light to Armeya and who watches over all things. The children of each generation must be taught to fear this entity, else in their ignorant folly they may bring death to us all. Hers is the oldest of stories; as the first of the gods there is little known of her origin, but the popular story is as thus--'Once a woman watched as a passing light illuminated the world. She climbed to the peak of a mountain in the desert each day and proclaimed a challenge to this light: 'Fight me!' she would say, but lo the light would run and hide beyond the horizon for fear of her power. But this woman was clever, and she fashioned a rope, and she waited at the horizon for the light to show itself once more. When it did, she hurled the rope around the light and ran to the peak of the mountain once more, where she proceeded to pull the rope in, closer and closer, until the light was near enough to be choked. The woman wrestled the light until all the creatures of Armeya did not know if it was day or night. When the fighting was done, the woman had become the light, and so she watches over us even now.' Naturally, this sort of story is preposterous, but it's all that we have. Regardless of the past, only the present regarding the Eye of Terror is of any importance--be thankful for her vigilance, but wary of her wrath."// High Priest Alden of the Order of the Proud Fang, Sermon on the Divine

Shul is almost always portrayed as she appears to the people of Armeya: a magnificent, golden ball of light bearing a single stylized eye. Shul's brilliance is too much to bear for the common viewer, and so most creatures are unable to see her terrifying eye gazing out from the light. However, once every century or so Shul pauses in her daily pass over Armeya and focuses the power of her light into a single, enormous ray that she unleashes upon a populated area of the world as a reminder of her seemingly infinite wrath.

Shul is the Neutral Evil, one-eyed goddess of light, fire, wrath, death, humility, strife, and sight. Her worshipers are Neutral Evil, Lawful Evil, Chaotic Evil, Lawful Neutral, Chaotic Neutral, and True Neutral. Her domains include the following (to access domains marked with an asterisk (*) one must be the same alignment as the god):
 * Death
 * Evil
 * Fire
 * Sun
 * Purification*
 * Hatred*
 * Suffering*
 * Wrath*

Orders within the faith of Shul take great strides in their worship to ensure their survival, fearing for their lives while paying utmost respect for her power and ability. She has existed since, literally, the first dawn, and as a result her knowledge of the history of the world is unequaled by even the most studied of Imperial citizens (however, any attempts at asking her to share this knowledge ends as well as you might expect). Despite the utter terror she evokes in the general population, most people are genuinely thankful for her existence; without her, there would be perpetual night.
 * Samieyel
 * Dwelling amidst the unforgiving desert sands, the terrifying Samieyel stalk the weak. This ancient order of Shul may be the eldest of all organized religion in Armeya, comprised entirely of bloodthirsty warriors who terrorize the civilized lands of the world. To the Samieyel, the greatest tribute to Shul is to pay homage to her ascension story; by reliving the tale of her defeating the ancient light in combat they come closer to their deity spiritually. Unfortunately the Samieyel have chosen to slaughter anyone and everything they can as proof of their strength, to which Shul greatly approves. Joining the Samieyel is a two step process. First, it requires finding them and defeating at least one in personal combat with the option of killing the opponent. Second, the initiate must participate with his new companions in a hunt for a particularly strong beast and sever its life as tribute to Shul.
 * Brothers of Night's Raiment
 * Under cover of darkness the Brothers of Night's Raiment slip through the shadows to their agreed-upon meeting place. Be it a new member's house, an abandoned temple to some other deity, or underground in some secure shelter, all locations on Armeya are fit to worship the Day Bringer. As Shul passes across the far side of Armeya, the Brothers dare to invoke the name in relative safety, gaining her immediate attention without having to fear for her likewise immediate retaliation. Quickly the cult will offer sincere apologies and bloodletting rituals to plead their humility before her. Members of the order are typically wealthy in some manner or another as part of the requirement to be involved is to magically disguise yourself at each meeting, lest some infiltrator to the group were to discover someone's true identity and report them all to the Imperial Legion for their highly illicit activities centered around worshiping all aspects of Shul, from her lust for fire to her love of death.