Superstitions: Stribog, God of the Sky

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Copper Dragon
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Superstitions: Stribog, God of the Sky

Postby Copper Dragon » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:28 pm

"When his shadow crossed over the roofs, and his thunder rolled off the hillsides, our grandmother would say, 'Pick one sheep, child, and wish her well.' We were youngsters the first time around; learned soon enough it meant a sacrifice, it did, to Stribog. Ahh ye'h, it did."
- Imre the Older, Vlastan shepherd

In the foothills of the Earthspur mountains lie several hamlets, largely isolated from the Easting Reach through distance, difficult terrain and sometimes harsh weather. While each may have developed their unique folktales, all mountain-bordering villages agree on one tale: that of Stribog, God of the Sky.

In the tale, Stribog - alternatively called Strzybog - was once long, long ago a lad hailing from Palitsa, a now-abandoned mining village. He had a different name back then, forgotten by all: indeed only Stribog remains, meaning "sky-god" in the old Easting tongue. The boy in the tale nurtured a rebellious heart against his father, a man prone to brutality not only within his household but unto his village as well. The son challenged his father and lost: and so exile was his fate.

It was the father's deep-seated cowardice, however, not his brutal nature that spelled out the doom of Palitsa - as when hobgoblins descended from the mountains, and the villagers needed his leadership the most, the father fled first and left his kinsmen to perish. Coming upon the ruins of his village after the slaughter, the exiled boy fell to his knees and cried out.

So mighty, furious and terrible was his scream that it reached the heavens, and Talos the Stormlord heard: and Talos the Stormlord was impressed; and so in His whim sent down a bolt of lightning striking the boy. It ravaged his poor form, and scorched the earth all around, as only the Stormlord could. But not without something to come in the mangled body's stead.

For the boy then grew a hide thick, not to be pierced by spears; grew fangs, not to be halted by gambisons; grew wings, not to be bound by ground ever again. The boy became wrath itself by the Stormlord's decree. And wrath he exacted upon hobgoblins and his once-father swiftly: the hobgoblins' war camp was torn apart, and the father hunted down and devoured. He was named Stribog, God of Wind and Sky.

Stribog is rarely seen but moreso heard across the mountains. When his bellow can be heard in the stormclouds without lightning, it is said that Stribog has marked someone a coward worthy of death; when his howl on the wind shakes buildings, people know Stribog hungers for hobgoblin or righteousness.

Once a year, each hamlet takes a turn in sacrificing sheep, goats or other livestock to appease Stribog, cutting the animals to bleed and sending them out into the mountains. In recent years though Stribog has been more asleep than not, his shadow not brushing rooftops, nor his roars reaching human ears. Perhaps the time for vengeance, after a hundred-and-more years, is past the King of the Mountain; the God of the Sky.
Plays:
Artemis D'Assanthe, Dawnmaster
Udhana, the Kinless
Dhovainithil, Silver Elf
Jhasira of the Bai Kabor, Dawnbringer (deceased)

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