WHO ARE THEY?
The Red Talons are a vicious dragon cult that worship the ancient red dragon Ruinaxis.
The tales tell of the dragon Ruin, but don’t say that to a cult member as it is offensive to them to not use their god’s proper name.
RUINAXIS: THE MYTH, THE LEGEND
Ruinaxis is a legendary red dragon. The legends say her shadow would blight out the sun as she flew over head. Greedy, vengeful, deadly; Those are the description of her in the the myths of old.
The legend says a group of adventurers once stole her sole egg nearly 3000 years ago. Her wrath was so great she destroyed most of Sulel trying to find the egg and punish those responsible. Army fell to ruin in her path. Cities were burned and it seemed no one could stop her rampage.
Races, cities, brothers and sisters turned against each other. Each blamed each other for stealing the egg. But no one could find it to offer it to Ruinaxis to appease her wrath. adventurers hunted other dragons for their eggs hoping to offer it to Ruinaxis to appease her. Ruinaxis was not fooled and destroyed the offers and the supplicants.
THE SAVIORS
The legends say 12 of the most powerful mages in Sulel banded together to stand against Ruinaxis. They new their magic and armies could not kill her. They devised a plan to banish her from the Prime Material Plane.
They each forged 12 powerful artifacts. With the their powers combined they were able to banish Ruinaxis to the Abyssal Plane. The power unleashed from the ritual was so immense that all 12 mages were destroyed in the banishment. It is said that the only thing that can return Ruinaxis to the Prime Material is a ritual performed with all six artifacts. The apprentices of the Savors knew that the artifacts were too powerful to destroy without catastrophic consequences. They scattered the artifacts to the ends of Sulel to prevent Ruinaxis from ever being released from the Abyss.
RECENT HISTORY
The Red Talons have been little more than shadows and boogeymen for the the past 3000 years.
They are a warning told to young children. Parents will say “Be good or the Red Talons will take you and feed you to Ruin.” This threat used to be a threat – not reality.
Something has changed in the past few years. The Red Talons have become more bold. They are infiltrating all levels of government from the smallest village to the greatest monarchy. There are tales of human sacrifice and summoning rituals.
THE PROMISE OF RUNIAXIS
Followers of Ruinaxis believe that she will grant them immortality once she is returned to the Prime Material Plane.
THE FOLLOWERS
Priests of Ruinaxis are not priests. The most senior in the hierarchy are rumored to be conjurers and diviners. Paladins of Ruinaxis are Spellswords.
THE HARBINGER – HIGH PRIEST OF RUINAXIS
The High Priest of Ruinaxis is rumored to be a man called The Harbinger. No one really knows who he is. It’s not for lack of trying. Captured Red Talons have been put to The Question™ to try to discover his identity, but all with different answers. It seems that no one really knows who he is. It seems that the cult is divided into to cells and only the higher leadership really knows their plan.
Some say The Harbinger is a Dragonborn possessed at birth by Ruinaxis. Others say he is a Human warlock that has made a pact with the dragon. Others still say he is a mad wizard exiled from the Arcane Tower seeking revenge.
The threat and chaos has been enough to garner cooperation between kingdoms and countries to discovery The Harbinger’s identity and kill him. There is currently a combined bounty between all the countries of Sulel of 1 million gold pieces for his head.
