Editing Ivelka

### **Ivelka, The Fallen Valkyrie (Fallen Celestial, Death Domain Cleric)**  
*Role in the Cabal:* Ivelka is Durnstang’s agent of corruption within mortal religious institutions, a once divine being who has fallen from grace and now leads death cults across Orsein. Her role in the Cabal of the Unseen Hand is to dismantle faith, corrupt holy orders, and spread nihilism, convincing mortals that the gods are indifferent to their suffering and that only death can bring freedom. While Ivelka believes she is leading a rebellion against oppressive divinity, Durnstang secretly uses her to weaken the Cycle of Mortality by encouraging mortals to embrace death prematurely, furthering his goal of severing the Weave.

**Background:** Ivelka was once a radiant Valkyrie in the service of Veritas, god of truth and justice, responsible for guiding the souls of valiant warriors to their rightful afterlives. For centuries, she was a paragon of virtue and honour, revered by mortal knights and paladins as a symbol of divine justice. However, during the Dark Ages, she witnessed unspeakable horrors as she fought against vampires and the forces of undeath. The endless cycle of death and suffering among mortals, coupled with what she perceived as the gods’ indifference, broke her faith in the divine order.

Disillusioned, Ivelka fell from grace, rejecting her celestial nature and turning to the powers of death. She became a death domain cleric, preaching a doctrine of despair, nihilism, and the futility of life. Ivelka now believes that all mortal existence is a cruel joke, designed to perpetuate endless suffering. The only escape, in her view, is death—true, final death. She leads her followers to reject the promises of the afterlife, seeking to free themselves from the gods’ control by embracing oblivion.

Unbeknownst to her, Durnstang carefully cultivated her fall. Her deep hatred of the gods and her obsession with death make her an ideal instrument in his plan to unravel the Weave and break the Cycle of Mortality. While Ivelka believes she is acting on her own, Durnstang manipulates her through visions and intermediaries, ensuring that her efforts serve his larger goal.

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### **Ivelka’s Motivation:**

Ivelka is driven by a deep-seated belief that the gods have abandoned mortals, leaving them trapped in an endless cycle of suffering. She sees herself as a liberator, offering mortals the only true escape from this torment: death without reincarnation or afterlife. In her mind, the divine promise of eternal reward or punishment is a lie, designed to keep mortals enslaved to the gods. By embracing oblivion, mortals can finally be free of the gods’ control.

Ivelka’s doctrine is one of despair and rejection of hope. She teaches that life is a meaningless struggle, and that the only true release comes in death. She believes that the Cycle of Mortality—where souls are reborn or pass to the afterlife—serves only to keep mortals bound to the Weave and the gods. By breaking this cycle, she believes she is offering mortals true freedom.

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### **The Cult of the Final Veil:**

Ivelka leads a secretive death cult known as *The Cult of the Final Veil*, a group of fanatical followers who share her belief in the futility of life and the promise of death as ultimate freedom. The cult operates in shadows, infiltrating religious orders, noble courts, and even hospitals and places of healing. Its members spread whispers of despair, urging those who suffer to reject the false hope of the gods and embrace death.

The cult operates through small, secretive cells, each led by a trusted disciple of Ivelka. These cells are scattered throughout Orsein, particularly in regions ravaged by war, famine, or plague—places where people are most vulnerable to the cult’s nihilistic message. Ivelka herself appears only rarely, preferring to guide her followers from the shadows, using her powerful cleric abilities to commune with them and offer guidance through visions.

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### **The Strategies of Ivelka and the Cult:**

1. **Corruption of Holy Orders:** Ivelka’s cult specialises in infiltrating established religious institutions, corrupting their members from within. Her agents target clerics, paladins, and priests who are struggling with doubt or disillusionment, offering them an alternative to the gods’ seemingly indifferent rule. Over time, these corrupted holy figures become subversive agents within their own orders, spreading the cult’s doctrine of despair and undermining the faith of those around them. This weakening of religious institutions is key to Durnstang’s plan, as it diminishes the power of the gods to influence the Weave and maintain the Cycle of Mortality.

2. **The Rejection of Resurrection:** Ivelka teaches her followers to reject the divine magic of resurrection, believing that it is a tool used by the gods to keep mortals bound to life’s suffering. Her followers actively seek to destroy places where resurrection magic is practiced and sabotage rituals that bring the dead back to life. They spread a belief among the common folk that resurrection is unnatural and a violation of the true release of death. This weakening of resurrection magic subtly frays the Weave, as it undermines one of the fundamental ways in which the Cycle of Mortality is maintained.

3. **The Death’s Embrace Ceremonies:** Ivelka’s cult holds secret ceremonies known as *Death’s Embrace*, where willing participants are ritually sacrificed in an effort to sever their souls from the Weave. These ceremonies are designed to prevent the souls of the dead from moving on to the afterlife or being reincarnated, sending them instead into oblivion. Ivelka believes that by doing this, she is freeing her followers from the gods’ control. In truth, these rituals weaken the Weave further, as the souls of the dead are no longer passing through the natural cycle of life and death, creating dangerous tears in reality that Durnstang can exploit.

4. **Plagues of Despair:** Ivelka uses her death domain powers to create magical plagues and spread despair among the masses. These plagues are not just physical diseases, but magical afflictions that drain the will to live, leaving those affected in a state of hopelessness. Entire villages and towns have been brought to the brink of mass suicide under the influence of these plagues, as people lose all hope and embrace death as their only escape. These plagues weaken the societal structures that bind mortals to the Weave, as communities collapse under the weight of despair.

5. **The Destruction of Soul Anchors:** Ivelka has a particular hatred for the idea of reincarnation and the immortality of the soul. Her cult actively seeks out *soul anchors*—powerful artefacts and locations where the Weave is particularly strong, allowing souls to return to life or pass on to the afterlife. These anchors are often found in ancient temples, sacred groves, or the tombs of great heroes. The cult seeks to destroy these places, disrupting the flow of souls and further destabilising the Weave. This weakening of the natural order makes it easier for Durnstang to unravel the Weave entirely.

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### **Ivelka’s Role in Durnstang’s Plan:**

Ivelka is one of Durnstang’s most important agents, as her actions directly target the Cycle of Mortality, which is central to the stability of the Weave. By corrupting mortal faith and weakening the Weave, Ivelka serves as a powerful tool in Durnstang’s grand design. Her influence spreads like a shadow over the hearts of the desperate, encouraging mortals to abandon the gods and embrace oblivion. Through her cult, the Cycle of Mortality is undermined at every turn, from the destruction of holy places and soul anchors to the rejection of resurrection magic. Each soul she severs from the Weave further destabilises reality, making it easier for Durnstang to tear the fabric of existence apart.

Durnstang envisions a world where the Weave no longer holds sway over life and death, allowing him to unravel the cosmos back into the Primordial Abyss. Ivelka, blinded by her hatred of the gods, is unknowingly accelerating this apocalyptic vision. As the Weave weakens, the line between life and death blurs, and the natural order begins to fray. Durnstang moves ever closer to his goal of breaking the Cycle of Mortality, plunging Orsein into a cataclysmic era where souls are forever lost, and death becomes the only escape from the gods’ dominion.

Ivelka’s fall from grace is complete, and her unwitting role as Durnstang’s harbinger of oblivion will have far-reaching consequences if left unchecked. The very fate of the world may hinge on whether her death cult and its insidious influence can be stopped before the Weave is irreparably damaged, and the Cycle of Mortality broken beyond repair.