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Chapter 6: TRACES OF THE DarAGKarIK a desperate people longing for order Adherents comply with the messages shared widely throughout the region, making the New Dune Wastelands a place of relative calm amid roving chaos One is more likely to find a helping hand here among her worshipers, the self-named Kathurath, than anywhere else on blighted Khitus Rekak’s Agony Many sages and chroniclers enshrine Rekak as the most argumentative Daragkark of all His fellow Dragon Kings tolerated his presence in their Great Councils at first, even as he disputed any achievements of his fellows Despite his obstinate nature, Rekak sought to keep despots from rule and wars from disrupting burgeoning civilizations, like most Daragkarik He just spouted brazen criticisms and imperious suggestions in a highly caustic manner The other Dragon Kings came to shun him, pushing him out of the Daragkarik Councils and relegating him, as much as possible, to the distant, least-populated areas of the world To their chagrin, Rekak was among the last to depart Khitus When only a handful of Dragon Kings remained among the mortal populations, he seemed a forgotten stepchild returned to prominence, and many turned to his guidance For a time, his bold advice served his followers, but eventually they fell from his attention due to a lingering disease that plagued Rekak for more than a quarter-century Nearly every Khitan witnessed his spectacular final days and horrifying farewell Rekak broke out in hideous, weeping sores and his joints and bones creaked painfully He moaned in terrible pain for months on end, the wailing audible for miles around his mountain fortress in the distant northlands Racked by increasing pain, he finally soared into the night sky, so high that nearly everyone could watch as he burst into white-hot pieces to scatter among the stars, his final death-shriek so deafening that an entire generation suffered for it The First True Believers A self-appointed high priest of Rekak appeared quickly on the scene, a Trakeen with a limited clergy insisting they witnessed the Dragon King’s anointing ceremony Bach-u-Tal claimed religious hegemony over all of the departed Dragon King’s subject peoples, but was widely ignored in his earliest days So far as anyone alive then was aware, Rekak had no truck with Bach-u-Tal during his life Many saw the high priest as a fraud His strength lay in his persistence He and his disciples wandered Khitus for decades, reiterating his connection with the departed Dragon King-turned-god until his message took hold by sheer repetition alone They firmly established the engine of a new religion— Rekak worship—in those days They demanded a singlemindedness of allegiance, a dogmatic adherence that flew in the face of any Dragon King’s creed Still, as Khitus became a more dangerous world, people seeking order found comfort among these Trakeen Bach-u-Tal eventually died, and his youngest son Bach-a-Mal claimed the title of high priest after a bitter and bloody interfamily struggle Bacha-Mal later bestowed his title in a more orderly fashion to his own youngest son That son, Hach-a-Tal, is now an old, childless man holed up in a dark dungeon beneath an abandoned desert fortress “for the protection of Rekak’s worship.” Sharing His Pain In today’s Rekak worship, true disciples, or Rekakik, must feel pain as the Dragon King felt upon his departure from this world True believers burn themselves, cut their feet, and cruelly twist their own bones and joints to make every movement bring agony “Any comfort shames the memory of Rekak,” Trakeen teach, and “to be without pain is to be without Rekak’s love.” There is some suspicion, especially among nonbelievers, that the Trakeen conveniently exempt themselves from these “holy agonies.” Escapees from the often-isolated sects insist the entire religion is a sham, and their numbers have been dwindling steadily over the last few generations An unexpected event, however, has halted that decline and leant new credence to the Cult of Rekak The writings of the original High Priest, Bach-u-Tal, claimed that three events would seal his legitimacy as Rekak’s chosen upon Khitus None came to pass during his lifetime, but all have happened within the last decade: • A comet bisecting a triple-moon convergence occurred 20 years ago; • A virgin priestess birthed twin Yenfansas eight years ago, and these white-eyed children still live with the current High Priest Hach-a-Tal also “for their protection”; and • A land storm unearthed Rekak’s lost fortress home just five years ago, the locale from which Hach-aTal manages the entire cult The Trakeen have widely publicized these events and their fulfillment of established prophecy, revitalizing the flagging cult’s legitimacy and drawing many new followers Those who deem these events to have religious meaning also insist Rekak will return to Khitus as the sole Daragkark to watch over the entire world In preparation, the clerics insist on renewed agonizing efforts, certain that only through intense pain will they set up an effective beacon for their god to follow on his return journey 127