East Sting Wind is a largely reviled god, the third son of the Destroyer Wind and the untamed and cruelest of the kin of West King Wind. He has few friends even among his kin, for he is a bringer of suffering and pain. However, he is also the last refuge of those with no other place to turn, the god of outcasts who marks the final limit of those who would otherwise be slain. He stands at the edge of society, marking the line beyond which there cannot be forgiveness. He is recognized as one of the Four Winds, the most powerful of the storm-kin, but he is a god split in two.
East Sting Wind could only be restrained by his father, the Destroyer Wind, and when the Destroyer Wind was torn to pieces and did not return, East Sting Wind was left without master. He raided the other gods many times, fighting with West King Wind and Kargzant over and over. He never won, but he could not stop, for he inherited the wild nature of the Destroyer Wind and took it further than any other.
West King Wind eventually captured East Sting Wind and beat him until he would listen, demonstrating he could command the wild nature. East Sting Wind submitted, though much of his power was taken from him in punishment for his rebellious nature. Now, the East Sting Wind can unleash his full fury only with the permission of his khan. When he acts outside this, he becomes the Bandit Wind, stealing that which he is not permitted to take.
The Bandit Wind and Most Wild Wind exist together within East Sting Wind, and he is feared and hated by many still, even in his permitted existence. However, the Most Wild Wind has proven himself an able warrior against the Dark and one of the canniest advisors in fighting the Cold, for he is brother of the Freezing Wind, the hated traitor that is one of Pent’s greatest foes, and he knows the Freezing Wind’s ways. When he is the Bandit Wind, he is despised by all, but even bandits stand against the Winter forces.
The cult of East Sting Wind is divided into two - the Bandit Cult and the Wild Cult. The Bandit Cult exists outside of Pentan tribes, the cult of bandit raiders, outlaws and outcast criminals. The Wild Cult is smaller but has position within Pentan society. The Wild Cult accept strictures of obedience and punishment in exchange for being allowed to still be part of the tribe, and they serve as warriors and raiders for their tribe, though often on sufferance. The two cults are connected, however, respecting each others’ priests, and may worship at each others’ shrines. This has led to the Wild Cult’s priests negotiating with bandits on behalf of their tribe…and also sometimes being convinced to betray their tribe in favor of the Bandit Cult.
East Sting Wind’s Rider self is a wild man, his skin black like a dark storm, and he wears untreated furs but is bare-chested. As the Bandit Wind, his head is a red skull with bloody tears leaking from the eyes, while as the Most Wild Wind, his head is a white skull with blue eyes and a bronze chain necklace, symbolizing his submission to the khan. His Horse self is jade-colored and demonic, with six legs and the head of a falcon. He does not vary in either Bandit or Most Wild Wind aspect.
East Sting Wind is associated with the runes of Air, Disorder and Death. He is a bringer of storm and trouble, and his powers have been restricted heavily by West King Wind. He remains able to command the winds and to shatter societal rules and physical objects, or to wield the terror of death and battle, but he cannot use the widest abilities of his runes without direct permission from the khan, and pursuit of this mystic powers sometimes leads the outlaws of the Bandit Wind to seek absolution and submit to the chains of the Wild Cult.
AIR: East Sting Wind is one of the Four Winds, the strongest of the winds. He retains broad power over the Air, even after his conflicts with his brother. He does not command all of its aspects, but as the Most Wild Wind, he can wield much of its power. Among other things, initiates may use the Air Rune to predict weather, endure weather such as snow, wind or rain, summon or command, fight other elements, enchant silver, fight with swords, hear or speak at great distance, or leap great distances on the wind. When unleashed by the commands of their khan, initiates can call on powers of flight on wind, lightning, worsening the weather, or scattering things widely. Initiates strong in the Air Rune are passionate, unpredictable, and moody.
DISORDER: East Sting Wind is a bringer of chaos, though not Chaos. He spreads pain and destruction by his nature, commanding the wild and unrestrained violence of the Destroyer Wind. Few can match him at his ability to spread disorder, even weakened as he is. A very incomplete list of things initiates my use the Disorder Rune to do includes breaking things, commanding outlaws, wrestling, riding horses, performing daring stunts on horseback, commanding wolves, taking things from people, breaking laws, hurting people, detecting vulnerabilities, winning contests of strength, or entering berserk rages. When unleashed by the commands of their khan, initiates can call on powers of humiliating stronger foes, shattering formations, disrupting chains of command, turning people against leaders, or commanding demons. Initiates strong in the Disorder Rune are rebellious, innovative, and violent.
DEATH East Sting Wind is a terrifying warrior, adept at command of death, and gathers up lost souls to his banner, taking them in when they cannot find the path to the Underworld. His command of the Death Rune is largely focused on direct violence, however. Initiates have been known to use the Death Rune to, among other things, slaughter lesser foes, fight on horseback, fight with swords, enchant iron, bind those they slay into whirlvishes, terrify people, command ghosts, or kill the unaware. When unleashed by the commands of their khan, initiates can call on powers of summoning the ghosts of the lost, imprisoning the souls of the dead, killing foes at a distance, stealing life from enemies, or weakening people against disease. Initiates strong in the Death rune are cruel, ruthless, and possessive.
East Sting Wind is opposed to the runes of Chaos, Moon, Life and Harmony.
East Sting Wind has few friends, for he breaks rules without thought and lashes out violently as a matter of course when angered. However, he loves Erissa the Healer, who can soothe his violent temper, and even the Bandit Cult is loath to harm her worshippers. The Most Wild Wind bowed to West King Wind, and while he strains at his bonds, he serves a loyal warrior. The Bandit Wind defies both West King Wind and Kargzant whenever he can.
East Sting Wind has a special relationship with his brother, the Freezing Wind, known to the hated trolls as Valind. They know each others’ ways, and sometimes have been allies, but more often fight each other. It has made the Most Wild Wind a valued ally to the First Herd in fighting winter, but also a terrible foe when the Bandit Wind decides to take advantage of the cold and darkness to steal and kill.
East Sting Wind often vies against Hurfor, who defines and codifies law. Even when he is the Most Wild Wind, he hates being restricted as he is and the two never get along, though the Most Wild Wind is bound to obey Hurfor.
The greatest enemy of East Sting Wind is the enemy god Waha of the Praxian barbarians, who hates him for his raiding and war upon the Praxian horse-haters, and Oria’s daughter, Eyritha Herd Woman, who hates him for stealing and killing many herd animals.
There are two cults of East Sting Wind, albeit interconnected ones. The Bandit Cult worships East Sting Wind as the Bandit Wind, free and unbound. Much of his great power was stripped from him by West King Wind and Kargzant after they defeated him and made him outlaw. Members of the Bandit Cult are all outlaws. Almost all were outlaw before joining, but even if they were not, becoming members of the cult makes them outlaw. The cult exists entirely outside any tribe, and is bound by no law. They are hated by all civilized Pentans, surviving on theft, raiding and crime.
The Wild Cult worships East Sting Wind as the Most Wild Wind, who submitted to West King Wind’s rule. (Or, occasionally, to Kargzant’s.) He was bound by chains that restrained his power unless he was unleashed by his khan, but he was given a place within the herd, a final chance. The Wild Cult are subservient to the tribe, warriors serving the khan. They are often rebellious, for the Most Wild Wind remains a violent and dangerous god, but they limit themselves and enforce order on those within the tribe who commit crimes. They are both prisoners and sheriffs, and when unleashed by the orders of the khan, they are a terrifying force in battle.
It is possible to transition between these two cults, and they may worship at each others’ shrines and temples. However, any transition necessarily starts the worshipper at the bottom ranks of the cult. The Bandit Cult distrusts the Wild Cult’s members, for they see the Wild Cult as servile and unworthy, needing to prove they are not bound by the chains of societal law, while the Wild Cult looks down on the Bandit Cult as foolish and requires them to earn trust by serving the tribe. Still, they do tend to maintain lines of communication with each other.
Neither cult has much in the way of greater organization. The Wild Cult of a tribe answers to its khan and the Cult of Hurfor’s judges within their tribe, and must always remain subservient and bound by law. Each tribe maintains its own cult and traditions within this. In theory, the Bandit Cult could have a greater organization that unified them, but this has never occurred, and worshippers of the Bandit Wind often end up in conflict with each other as much as they do the tribes.
Priests of the Wild Cult are known as Demon Stallions. Most tribes have only a handful, but almost no tribes have none. To become a Demon Stallion, one must prove skill in battle in ritual matches and must also be approved by the tribe’s khan. Each Demon Stallion ritually submits to the khan when they are given their position, swearing oaths to ensure that they will enforce the basic laws of the tribe on the lay members of the cult and those assigned to judicial service by Hurfor’s Judges, will obey the orders of the khan, and will protect the tribe from bandits. Rank among the Demon Stallions is determined in most tribes by annual wrestling competitions, though this is only widespread tradition rather than universal.
Priests of the Bandit Cult are known as Bandit Khans or the Unchained. There are no specific requirements to take the position save power. Any outlaw who belongs to the Bandit Cult may declare themselves a priest of the Bandit Wind, and as long as their bandit group accepts them, that is enough. Most seek to lead their groups, however, and so most bandit groups usually don’t have more than one priest. If they have more than one, the group determines rank by whatever means they desire, usually violence.
The holy places of East Sting Wind mark the sites of his great battles in the Godtime. There are a fair number of these spread through the land, but all are in places generally considered dangerous or poor settlement, so they are far more often found in the hands of the Bandit Cult priests than they are any tribes’.
Among these places are: Three Ash Grove of Lentasia, where East Sting Wind burned the Three Ash Brothers and slaughtered their elfin subjects, though no trees have grown there since before the Darkness. The Whirling Stand north of Wind King’s Pathway, where East Sting Wind fought his siblings for a week straight until they finally drove him off. Icebreak Gorge in the Star Watch Hills, where East Sting Wind and the Freezing Wind first fought each other, and East Sting Wind defeated Freezing Wind by overwhelming him.
The Wild Cult also holds sacred the Place of Stilling at the base of Thunder Butte, where East Sting Wind was defeated and submitted to West King Wind. The Bandit Cults reject this, however, and consider it a terrible and unlucky place, which makes it a good spot to stay when afraid of banditry.
There are very few temples to East Sting Wind. The Wild Cult will usually carry shrines with the tribe to be set up wherever the tribe settles. Larger temples are formed only when multiple tribes come together, and are typically overseen by the Judges of Hurfor to ensure the brawls don’t get out of hand. The Bandit Cult forms impromptu temples when large enough bands gather, and this is most common on East Sting Wind’s high holy day.
Initiates of East Sting Wind must possess at least one of the Air, Death or Disorder runes at 1W. Criminals who do not have any of these runes are still considered lay members of the cult if they are sentenced to work as part of it, but are not eligible for initiation. Almost all initiates in the Wild Cult are sentenced to membership rather than choosing it directly, though some seek it out. Members of the Bandit Cult are considered to legally become outlaw the moment they initiate into it.
In either case, initiates of East Sting Wind do not become ritually impure through contact with blood.
The most holy day of all the year for East Sting Wind is Wildday in the Disorder Week of Dark Season, for this marks the time when the East Sting Wind is strongest. Most tribes maintain a stronger watch against bandits on this day, for the Bandit Cult tends to gather in numbers for raiding. The cult also holds the Windsday of every Disorder Week to be sacred, for on these nights East Sting Wind gathers his Wild Hunt and races across the wild lands, seeking lost souls and causing destruction with his storms.
Goods taken in raids are the favored sacrifice to East Sting Wind. He does love ghee and meats, as most gods of Pent do, but he vastly prefers to be given things taken by force, demonstrating one’s dominance. Most sacrifices to the Most Wild Wind are propitiatory, seeking to direct his wrath away from the tribe, as there are more reliable war gods for blessings. However, some still seek his blessings of fury and destruction. The Bandit Wind is exclusively sacrificed to by outlaws, and never by civilized tribes.
There are relatively few subcults of East Sting Wind, and essentially all of them are part of the Wild Cult rather than the Bandit Cult, as their traditions tend to be kept by individual tribes. That said, as members of the Wild Cult sometimes forsake their tribe to join the Bandit Cult, and members of the Bandit Cult sometimes surrender to a tribe and are spared execution by being bound into the Wild Cult, there is overlap. The majority have only a few adherents and follow specific heroes that emerged over the tribe’s history.
Gargath Wolf-Wise (DEATH): Wolves and dogs are the closest creatures to true people, reincarnated from human and horse souls that become tainted by too much impurity or beasts which have not quite achieved a level of purity and transcendence to become men. Gargath Wolf-Wise was one of the warriors of the East Sting Wind whose rider soul was a wolf’s mistakenly born into a human body, and thus knew the impure secrets of fang and claw. He taught his people how to fight not as a group of men but as a pack of wolves. They learned the Wolf Secret, which let them drive a soul out of a body as wolves drive the weak beasts out of a herd. Members of the Gargath subcult can use the Death Rune to grow claws and fangs, speak with wolves, fight as a pack, allow horses to eat meat, drive the soul out of a person by chasing them in the night, hunt prey for food, or identify the weakest member of a group.
Wasteland Thunderer (AIR): The Wasteland Thunderer is the aspect of the East Sting Wind that thrives in the worst places, the places to which he was driven after he angered West King Wind and Kargzant by breaking all of their rules but before his confrontation to try to return. He is the lord of the whirlvishes and the master of starvation and bad weather. Followers of the Wasteland Thunderer can use their Air Rune to survive on very little food and water, to command thunder, to summon and command whirlvishes, to attack with cutting wind, to cause hunger, to track things in wastelands or wild places, to eat impure things safely, or to call a protective whirlwind around themselves.
Demon Horse (DISORDER BEAST): The Demon Horse subcult focuses its worship on West Sting Wind’s horse aspect, the demonic steed that is the second half of his soul. The Demon Horse is a terrible monster from the deep hells, yet born of air and sunlight. It bears the head of a hawk and many clawed limbs, for it craves flesh and destruction. It is said to have wooed dread Gor Gorma’s own horse-soul, and so it is the Consort-King of Hell. Initiates of the Demon Horse subcult can use their Disorder or Beast Runes to strengthen horses or wolves or grant them monstrous abilities, to fight with clubs, to summon or command demons, to keep horses alive despite grievous injury, to heal horses by killing and feeding them beasts, or to turn horses into wolves or vice versa.
As normal, a devotee must have a rating of 11W in one of the Air, Disorder or Death runes. They forswear membership in all other cults, and may belong to only a single subcult. They give up all other magic that does not derive from the East Sting Wind.
Sky Cracker (DISORDER): East Sting Wind, the Sky Cracker, cannot resist any challenge. He is free and unrestrained, looking for any chance to show his might. He cannot be defeated in any sport, and he draws out competition in others. Those who play or brawl with the Sky Cracker are energized and pushed to greater heights of frenzy. They will follow the Sky Cracker in anything while the fury has them. Sky Cracker has superhuman strength, but he and his followers forgo weapons, wielding the bodies of their enemies or other objects found before them. It is said that East Sting Wind earned the name Sky Cracker by hurling Hurfor so high that he cracked the Sky Dome. The Sky Cracker’s furious joy ends only when everyone around him is unconscious, either from the savage joy of exhaustion or because he has beaten them senseless. Only then can he rest, but any who gamed with him or joined him in fighting the enemy are refreshed by the experience, remembering well the love of action and battle.
Titan of the Tornado (AIR): The Titan of the Tornado is the truest expression of the Most Wild Wind, uncontrolled and unstoppable, with neither beginning nor end. He can think of nothing beyond the next moment, the next strike. The winds surround him like armor, tossing arrows and stones away before they can touch the Titan. While he is in a state of purity, he flies faster than anything, riding the whirlwind that surrounds him. It is his mount and his body, and no weapon can strike through it. All who come close to the Titan are hurled to the earth, ready for him to tear apart. The wrath of the Titan can be chained by only two things. First, the Khan who commands him can leash him once more, tearing him from the sky. When this happens, he returns to his senses, but will always find some act of rebellion to show that he is not fully under control. Second, he can be defeated by an equal - though this is never easy. The Titan will never refuse a challenge by a hero to fight, and a hero can get close to him without being hurled away. However, all the might of the winds flows into the Titan, and only the mightiest can withstand his onslaught. Even in defeat, the Titan always gives at least as good as he gets, ensuring that any victory over him is at a terrible price.
Master of the Wild Hunt (DEATH): The Master of the Wild Hunt is the grimmest aspect of East Sting Wind, the dark master of the lonely dead. He rides the wild lands, seeking out lost souls. Wolves flock to him, hungering for flesh, and the outlaw and outcast instinctively obey him. He craves conquest, taking what he desires. He can track anyone, and no one can detect his ambush. He strikes when they are far from civilization, surrounding his prey and hounding them until they collapse. While he is in a state of purity, every soul he strikes down rises as a whirlvish in his service. He may command wolves and the dead with a word. The Master of the Wild Hunt never enters a civilized camp, and he can survive on nothing but fear and wind. Those who fear him lose all strength before him. He cannot abide insult or betrayal, and he seeks vengeance above all things. His hunt cannot end until he slaughters prey without mercy, and he can let no herd he encounters live, feeding their flesh to his wolves. Once he has brought low a soul, he may end his hunt - but if he continues, he cannot stop until he has captured another. He makes this choice after every ambush, every raid.
It is not easy to earn the divine wrath of East Sting Wind as a member of his cult, but it can be done. Primarily, this is earned through cowardice. Those who demonstrate cowardice before their khan or bandit leader are cursed by the presence of a spirit wolf, who howls endlessly in the night such that only they can hear. This lasts until their cult leader or khan forgives them.
Priests of the cult may lay the curse of East Sting Wind on those they deem traitors to it, and those who abandon the Bandit Cult without being inducted into the Wild Cult are automatically so marked. Those cursed this way will at some point face the wrath of the Wild Hunt.
The Wild Hunt is a pack of vicious spirit wolves and ghostly followers of the Most Wild Wind. They are found throughout the wastelands and abandoned places of the world. They roam the far lands of Pent and Prax for the most part, attacking those they encounter. They also can be found rarely in the lands of the Orlanthi, though always far from populated and prosperous lands.
A soul captured by the Wild Hunt in the wastelands is bound into the wind itself, creating a ghost known as a whirlvish. These are human-sized dust storms, and they rage for centuries on end, until destroyed. Their minds leave them in this state, as they exist only in rage, passion and frenzy. They attack any sentient being they encounter when operating outside control. Unlike most spirits, they exist in physical form and can be harmed by weapons, and if defeated, their rage is sated. They become normal ghosts and may pass on to the Underworld as long as no one prevents them from doing so.