User:Zesarra/Cult of Bloody Roses
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Overview
The Cult of Bloody Roses is a temporarily disbanded guild, but as it is still frequently referenced in various plots both Horde and Alliance, its information should remain here for curious roleplayers.
Older than the Kal'dorei, older than the Silithid, older than the Dragonflights... the Rose has been here since the seeds of existence first began to sprout. Waging war with the Old Gods, the Rose is believed by its followers to be the Aspect of the Twisting Nether. They proclaim that the Rose will return to shroud every world in its fel magic. However, it is a merciful entity, willing to not only spare, but to reward as well, those that usher it into Azeroth and the worlds beyond. What good is serenity, peace of mind? Eternal boredom, to be stagnant until time runs backwards and the threads of reality come undone. What about pleasure? Fufillment, abundance, gratification?
The Rose gives this to its followers, a just reward for their wisdom. All that you desire, her love, his power, their wealth... shouldn't all of that be yours? You're the deserving one, not them... Help us, help us take back what is ours, the true Tenders.
- "So misguided, the buds of this world...we must trim them before they breed even more of the corruption..." ~Shriaeri Desfanna, the Blood Drainer
Beginnings
- "They say that when a pure soul falls, a rose blooms in its stead... so shall I watch my garden grow." ~Shriaeri Desfanna, the Blood Drainer
Shriaeri Desfanna is well known amongst the trainers of Murder Row, if only because their hate is no less than her fanaticism. She was a promising warlock, twisting the Fel energies so much easier than the erratic Arcane. But her prowess was matched by her unslacking thirst for more, an insatiable hunger for the next tier of power. Her merciless conquest of demons brought the attention of a demonic entity whose name is still unknown the world, if it even has one.
Shriaeri's mind was instantly flayed of all will when she foolishly tried to control it, mistook it for simply another demon. One could remark that Shriaeri was simply weak, although her followers would disagree, but regardless the outcome is undeniable. Shriaeri went on random sprees of slaughtered, far from Silvermoon City itself, killing mostly humans and trolls. Those she did not kill, she spared, offering salvation to them in exchange for their undying loyalty to the 'Rose' as she called it, named for the horrific flower-shaped scar it had left on her forehead. They, both in reverence and fear, called her the Blood Drainer, because she left not a drop still flowing through the veins of her sacrifices.
Suprisingly, she amassed her followers quickly, then returned to Silvermoon alone and through physical, monetary, and spiritual temptations she wove many other Quel'dorei into her schemes. She kept all of her ramblings, prophecies, and religious rites recorded in one volume using a twisted dialect of demonic that only she and her most trusted faithful could understand. They deemed it the aptly named 'Voiry de Crysos' or Book of Roses. And though Shriaeri would vanish and her cultists would be slaughtered between the wars and the persecution they had always faced, Shriaeri's daughter Saryx EbonArrow would live on in the wilds, away from the wars and the troubles. Until the huntress would return with one of Shriaeri's own heart and calling: Annashara.
Covenant of the Rose
The original Cultists, all of whom are dead, of Shriaeri's generation did not have to sacrifice quite so much as what Annashara demanded of her followers. Annashara was unfeeling in what she asked of them, save for the delight she took in branding them. Using a fel contract, one that's glyphs would constantly shift and the words would rearrange themselves to their true purpose (or whatever she wanted to trick the person into thinking was the secret words) as soon as the reader had finished reading the sentence. By the end of the contract, it said something completely different, usually unnoticed by the reader.
Annashara had them sign in their own blood, to validate the contract and bind it to the owner, although at least one of the cultists signed with their tears instead. How this affects the legitimacy of the contract, if at all, is unknown. However, the small cuts would heal with time, so how was she to eternally remind them of their duties?
From the blood essence on each contract, Annashara extracted just a tiny piece of each signer's soul, enough to go through with her enchantments. She was then able to brand each signer with the emblem of a rose. While each brand had a rose featured in it, their actual appearance varied from person to person, since they were each individually enchanted with a different essence. The brand reflected the nature of its bearer, as well as remaining so that they could never forget what they had done.
Where the brand appeared on the body was another varying thing. For most, it appeared on the shoulder, chest, or hands. However, for some it appeared over their heart, their forehead. In the case of Donomasou, his brand appeared behind his eye, visible only to his own memory.
The brand is as eternal as the pact, and some claim even more are coming into the world.
Voiry de Crysos
When Shriaeri Desfanna mysteriously vanished twelve years after starting her cult, she left behind her most sacred writings. The Voiry de Crysos was lost as the Cult was torn apart and its worshippers rounded up for execution. Eventually, by chance or perhaps divine will, the book returned to Murder Row where most of it had been written. It sat on the shelf for decades, until finally it was picked up by a young girl of Shriaeri's own blood.
It would take Annashara eight years to decipher the lock to merely open the book, and it would take her another two years amongst the Ebon Vanguard before she could read it coherently. Only when her life was on the brink of being extinguished did Annashara ever cast from its pages, using its secrets to cheat death and her ex-husband's misplaced wrath.
Twenty more years would be spent delving into all of Shriaeri's mysteries, to all her hidden clues and meanings, to all her revelations and how they had thus far been true. However, when Annashara was finished studying it, she began to add to it, making the decision to continue Shriaeri's work.
Rites of Conquest
- The Cult of Bloody Roses counts these among their acheivements.
- The successful binding of twenty-five fanatical worshippers.
- The successful infiltration of the recovering Ebon Vanguard.
- The assassination of Karesha EbonArrow.
- The assassination of the Forsaken Mage Dvorn.
- The location of the Idol of Ba'shal, though they did not recover it.
- The sacrifice of Imzar Coldsteel to the Rose.
- The successful murder and plague-spreading of Alizabeth de Lyonhart (Slyannen).
- The political marriage of Annashara and Dvorn, before the latter's assassination.
- The first summoning of Khan'drake, The Demon of Games.
- The orchestrated death of Thain, the Westfall Highwayman.
- The deciphering of the Blood Drainer's last prophecy.
The Prophecy
- And cloaked in tears,
- She'll hide from fate for many years.
- But after death the call will come,
- And they'll be merely roses when she's done."
Shriaeri wrote this one last prophecy before she vanished off the face of Azeroth. Many speculate it is simply her self-delusions of grandeur, considering herself some kind of Chosen. However, her succeeder Annashara felt it was the stars pointing to a champion still to come. She dedicated much of the Cult's resources and efforts towards finding this 'Chosen'. Now, alone and without most of her old followers, Annashara feels she may have found it in the Human Mage Isil Ciryatan. To what lengths she will go to see the prophecy come to pass is as of yet unseen.
Requiem of Exile
After Annashara's grand marriage to Dvorn, which was a major rp event hordeside when it happened, the Cult got the attention of those that were not so interested in bringing the Rose into this world. It was subsequently disbanded and shut down, its leader chased to the faraway lands of Kalimdor.
No one has thus far tried to restart the Cult of Bloody Roses, though any ex-members or new potential faces may contact the once guild-master: Dreadsinger (Horde), Angedéchu (Horde), Saryx (Horde), Shyntoyss (Alliance), Nightglow (Alliance), or any other number of alts, if you are interested in picking it up again before our expected time.
Out of Character Information
- This was at its founding, and still is, a heavy roleplay guild. It was designed for absolutely nothing beyond its plotline or any roleplay that spawned from it.
- The ranks were gained ic'ly, and it is the hope of the guild leader that it remains that way when it is restarted.
- Our OOC allies are <We Come Unprepared> and <Murloc Death Knights>.
- Ic'ly we had no allies.
