The Vulture King is a spirit or creature worshiped in Aesar. Though historically a minor faith, practices adopted by followers of the Vulture King have been influential in shaping the society of Aesar. Burial practices associated with the Vulture King are particularly noteworthy, as they involve leaving the deceased in the hills to be eaten by scavengers in the belief that doing so cleans them of their sins.
Edicts and anathema
- Edicts
- Read the future in the flight of vultures and the bones they leave behind, allow the dead to be consumed to purify their souls
- Anathema
- Harm the vultures of Aesar
History
The origins of the Vulture King are poorly understood. He is believed to have been worshiped on Aesar for almost as long as the island has been inhabited, though there are exceptionally few records of its history.
While the veneration of the Vulture King has never been particularly widespread, his faithful have had an outsized influence in Aesar culture and society. His cult has been at times repressed and at others accepted, but generally left alone. It has been rumored that many viceroys of Aesar have been worshipers of the Vulture King.
More recently, the leaders of Aesar have begun to clamp down on some practices associated with the Vulture King. As the undead incursion has spread from mainland Oscan to the island, the recently deceased bodies traditionally left out in the hills to be consumed by vultures have risen and returned. The government of Aesar has recently begun enforcing the burning of bodies as a way to prevent the resurrection of more undead, which has caused some tension among the more staunchly traditionalist.
Beliefs and followers
The faith of the Vulture King is inherently informal in nature, a set of shared practices rather than a codified religion. His followers not only eschew a church and formal religious structures, but also generally see little purpose to temples and clerics. Their practices are instead passed down through legends and stories, taught and retold by family and community elders.
Worshipers of the Vulture King greatly respect the vultures of Aesar. Their movements and activities are believed to reveal insights about future events, and warnings about upcoming calamities in particular. The bones the vultures leave behind after scavenging a carcass are prized for use in augury, but their patterns of flight are also thought to have significance and meaning.
The faith's funerary practices are perhaps its best known aspect. The bodies of the recently deceased are left in the arid hills of Aesar, in locations where the vultures are known to frequently land. To followers of the Vulture King, when a vulture feeds on the flesh of a body it also consumes sins from the soul of the deceased. By allowing their dead to be devoured, the Vulture King's faithful believe their souls to be cleansed and purified, allowing them to receive a favorable judgement in the Echo.
While the more traditional Aesarites believe the Vulture King to be literally a massive vulture that dwells near or on their island, the more common interpretation today is that he is a manifestation of the collective spirits of Aesar's many vultures.