Sangia

Appearance

Falha and the Golden Dragon
Sangia's tale begins even before the Old World. It those dark and much removed years Falhath was an unnamed and unexplored mass, though some tales speak of a glorious civilization in what is now the Great Woses. The coast was then settled, Ozea a small fishing village, and others dotted here and there. Yet all were at the mercy of the whims of the Conch-Blower, the Sea King of the island nation of Ithracia.

Now it was the time of Falha the Warrior, and he chaffed at the poor treatment of the Sea Kings. They came with spears and short swords in armor of coral and blued steel, demanding tribute in the form of gold, grain, and the flesh of nubile young women. No resistance had held against the Sea Kings when they came to collect their due. In desperation, Falha sought the Oracle at Axum for guidance. The Oracle bid him to seek the lair of the golden wyrm Sangia, for that dragon had gone forth and had taken a treasure galley for his own. Among the jewels and gold of this ship was Princess-of-Pearls, the first and most lovely daughter of Conch-Blower, King of Ithracia.

Armed with this knowledge, Falha sat about to finding Sangia's lair, but the wyrm was mighty and had no fear of men and made no great effort of hiding. By guile and armed with the Black Spear granted to him for this task by the duplicitious weapon god Atma, Falha found the lair of the wyrm. The battle between the two was ferocious, as Atma had crafted the spear with the sole intention of destroying dragons, which he greatly hated. In the end, Sangia, despite his grandeur and might was cast down and slain. Falha claimed the treasure horde of the dragon as his own, and took the hand of Princess-of-Pearls as his bride.

Conch-King was angered by this, but laws ancient even then demanded that he offer Falha a boon for rescuing his daughter. The King knew that Falha would take her as his boon, and then the same ancient and noble laws would demand that he himself make an offering of dowry to Falha. Thinking Falha a country fool, the King offered the warrior the lands of his home, from the river Orcus south to the promitory of the land and the island at its tip, to the edge of the Woses. The King could make no claim on these lands, and it was easy to grant them as a dowry.

Falha took his great treasure trove, and his new bride and he raised his home on the banks of the Agares river. It was not long before others flocked to his new township of Daurus as it was immune to the raids of the Sea Kings and paid no tribute. As the town grew into a city, Princess-of-Pearls gave unto Falha six stout sons and three fair daughters, but as the light of Daurus grew, a shadow was to fall over all of Falha's house.

For in those days, dragons were considered sacred creatures and precious to the powers. And Zin, the venerable and now all but forgotten goddess of dragons, sorcery, and law laid a curse upon Falha and all his line for the wicked slaying of Sangia. Within the span of a year, all of Falha's sons perished and his daughters were lost at sea. Wracked by grief the warrior-king, now gray of hair made the voyage back to the Oracle of Axum to seek the answer for his suffered. When he heard that it was the deeds of his own hands that caused the curse, it is said that even the son of Conch-Blower, the new Sea King heard his wail of lament.

Bereaved and broken, Falha traveled to the site of Sangia's lair, where the bones still rested and the lair itself looted of anything of value. Falha dug a great pit and buried the bones of the dragon, and laid the spear, point down among the remains, cursing Atma for his evil weapon. With the body buried, a task of a year's labor, Falha raised a shrine and burnt offerings of lambs meat, incense, and left piles of gold to honor the dragon's spirit. He asked for forgiveness and knew in his heart he would never recieve it.

But Sangia's spirit was wise, and was moved by the gesture of the King, for Falha could have commanded a small army of servants in the building of a temple, and such, but performed the work with his own hands, only allowing his wife Princess-of-Pearls to wipe his forehead and sooth his blisters in the evening. Sangia took up residence at the shrine and forgave Falha, and told him to have hope, for his daughters survived though he would never see them again. (There will be more on them in another sub) Zin agreed with Sangia and lifted the curse from Falha, and on her 60th birthday Princess-of-Pearls bore Falha one last son, whom Falha named Sangius.

Sangia the God
The fortunes of the Sea Kings Waned, and the days of the Horse Lords rose and fell, and eventually the pinnacle came in the foundations of the Old World. During this time, the shrine had grown into a sizeable community, Sangreal, that venerated the patron Dragon spirit of Sangia. this pleased Sangia as the locals were hardy of frame, adventurous, and loved gold. They made offerings of gold infused incense and lambs meat, his favorite. And thus it seemed that Sangia would remain a rather humble, yet potent patron god until the coming of the Nightmare war.

As some gods rushed from their abodes the do battle with the horrors that spewed forth, Sangia was both more wise and more patient. As the evil things sought to enter his domain, they encountered the rushing teeth and golden scales of the Dragon God. Some historians have thought of chiding the deity for not trying to do more to end the conflageration, but a wise man does not argue with a Dragon, or a Dragon God.

And it was thus that Sangreal was made safe during the Twilight. And the Sangia accepted Ixia to come into his domain, so long as she submit to his rule. The pact was formed between them, and Sangia was greatly pleased by the works of the artisans, and the raising of the Haven Wall, and the revenue generated by the new vitality of the people. It was not long before the Dragon turned his luminous eyes to his old prize, the city-state of Ozea.

Sangia wanted the wealth of Ozea added to his own, and thus began the century of warfare, with the Order of the Golden Sword and the mounted Winged Knights bringing battle against the ghost worshipping Ozeans. Sangia revealed himself to Voz, the general and lord of the Ozeans on his battlefield deathbed. Seeing the rampant glory of the celestial wyrm, Voz was greatly moved and accepted the faith of Sangreal. It was not long before Ozea was grasped within the fold of the Faith, and the figure of Belex was raised to the position of a full God.

The Recession of the Kingdom
Flush with the rapid growth of his veneration, Sangia and to an extent Ixia and Belex grew complacent and decadent, while their clergy became increasingly authoritarian and plagued by fits of wrath, greed, and avarice. This generated contention between the Kingdom and the populace in many places, combined with the agreements of the Diet of Sangreal served to weaken the core support for the faith. Few pilgrims were coming, and the offerings were becoming more lean, forcing the Trinity to return to their tasks of suffer the risk of loosing their congregations completely.

The new interest in the Via Mortus has also hurt the coffers of the Faith, and already the Golden wyrm is planning on how to reclaim his lost treasure, Ozea.

Special Equipment
Sangia has no special items associated with him, as his only needed weapons are tooth, claw, and flame. His armor is his own hide. He does have a vast trove of gold that he rests on in true draconic fashion, but this is tempered by the constant presence of Ixia, who has been slowly but surely influencing the great wyrm with the patience only a woman posseses.

Roleplaying Notes
The basic nature of Sangia is the prime reason that the basic tenets of the Trinity involve the abandonment of idols, since having a 12 foot statue of a dragon cast from gold would really make Sangia happy, it would also turn the Trinity into a dragon cult. Dragon Cults have risen before but have a bad habits of being quashed by noble heroes. Sangia remembers being slain once, and has no desire to repeat that event. This being said, the Trinity is not a Dragon Cult since aside from the gold heraldic dragon emblem of the Arms Militant there is nothing that substanciates Sangia as being the same dragon slain by Falha.

Most images of Sangia that have been produced show him as a strong man clad in gold robes. While moderately annoying, this is acceptible.