The Kukshin

The Order of the Kukshin is a clerical order of the Hierarchy of the Eternal Flame. Membership in the order is limited to women. This is also true of its fighting order, the Crimson Dancer.

Though the order is of Thardic origin, it spent many years in Rethem and has since relocated to Orbaal. In the past decade, it has spread to mainland Ivinia where it has met with moderate success.

The Senesharil of the order is Merene of Tusyne, a woman of Rethemi descent. She is also the Viriahn of the order's Quimen temple. The order has one Markitha, Sulabryn of Larvenes, who oversees the Ivinian branch of the order from the Baleka temple.*

* [Author's Note: According to the "Agrik" article in Gods of Hârn, Sulabryn holds the rank of Senesharil. I personally don't think it much makes sense for a single order to have two independent grandmistresses, just because it is spread out over two regions. Rather, it seems far more likely to me that Sulabryn is a Markithra who happens to enjoy a great deal of indepedence.]

History of the Kukshin

[Note: What follows is a summary history of the order. For an extended and detailed chronicle of the Kukshin and the Crimson Dancer, click here.]

The origins of the Kukshin lie in the Thardic Interregnum (c. 590-625 TR) when a troup of women from Shiran decided that they could not rely upon men to protect them from the violence and social chaos. Taking up arms, they vowed that they would stand together to fight off and punish any man who attempted to rape, rob, or otherwise harm them. This band, a purely military organization, called itself the Sisters of Crimson.

With the restoration of social order in the 620's, the Sisters faced several challenges, the gravest of which was that thenew Shiran Republic (founded 625 TR) sought to disband the Sisters, whom it regarded as an 'illegitimate military organization' no different than a bandit gang or a group of brigands.

The Sister's response to this challenge was to split into two bodies, one of which would be a clerical order (called the Kukshin) devoted to Agrik, the other of which would be a fighting order (renamed the Crimson Dancer) under priestly sponsorship. Because clerical orders and fighting orders were deemed 'legitimate' in the eyes of the new Shirani government, the attempt to disband the female warriors was abandoned.

While this was taking place in Tharda, Arlun the Barbarian was busy founding the kingdom of Rethem. The priestesses of the Kukshin, having heard about alliances between him and other Agrikan orders, sent an embassy to great the king and pledge their loyaty. Though a bit amused by the idea of female warriors, the new king nonetheless perceived the competence of the women. Always eager for more troops, he accepted the fealty of both orders in 636 TR. He also permitted the Kukshin to erect a small temple in Golotha. The Kukshin and the Crimson Dancer were formally accepted into the Hierarchy of Eternal Flame two years later in 638.

Because many Crimson Dancer troops aided Arlun in his campaigns against the Thardic League during the 30's and 40's, it and the Kukshin met with increasing hostility in Shiran. Eventually this hostility would become so great that it and its fighting order would abandon Shiran altogether and move to Rethem. Later, the Kukshin helped support King Orbras and King Nemiran, sending Crimson Dancer troops out to help crush revolts.

When Ezar's war broke out in 682, the Kukshin supported the war, and put a good number of Crimson Dancer warriors at the disposal of King Puril. To the outrage of both orders, however, Puril refused the gift, insisting that he would never let "important military activities be handled by a a bunch of women trying to be men". His short-reigning son Kabe felt similarly, further exacerbating the growing tensions between the two orders and the Rethemi Crown.

King Chafin I, Kabe's successor, was more willing to give the order a chance. When he decided to assassinate Queen Ariel of Kanday, he turned to the Crimson Dancer to do it. Once that assassin was caught by the Kandayns and implicated Chafin, however, both the Crimson Dancer and the Kukshin fell into extreme disfavor. This increased after the war, when the orders became scapegoats for its loss.

Sensing the growing sentiment against her order, the Kukshin Senesharil began to explore the possibilities of relocating. On a trip to Orbaal in 699-700 TR, one of her envoys, the priestess Melkea of Akarne, seduced King Alegar I and convinced him to allow her order to build a temple there and to make arrangements for the Crimson Dancer to acquire land in the kingdom. The king agreed, and in spring of 701, Crimson Dancer troops, blessed by Kukshin priestesses, attacked Quimen, massacred the former rulers, and took charge of the settlement for themselves. The sheer brutality of this attack sparked the Jarin Rebellion in other parts of Orbaal, but earned both orders a fierce reputation in the northlands.

Since 710 TR, the order has been expanding into Ivinia itself. Two temples have since in southern Ivae and a Markithra has been appointed to oversee the Ivinian branch of the order.

The Order's Name

The Order of the Kukshin takes its name from an obscure figure in Agrikan mythology. 'The Kukshin' rarely figures in popular tales or stories; most information about this entity comes from a 2nd century Karejian poem (which, many believe, is but a translation of a much older poem written in the language of the Targan River Culture). This poem refers to a mysterious being called 'the Kukshin' who seems to be a spirit who unleashes terrible destruction through some kind of 'dance':

Though the poem itself makes no overt references to Agrik, its tone and content has led many to accept that the Kukshin must be a demonic servant of the Warlord of Balgashang. The priestesses of the Order of the Kukshin contend that she is one of the Four Horsemen, those semi-allegorical beings who represent the forces of wanton and indiscriminate destruction that Agrik can unleash upon the world. It is for this reason that their orderial badge depicts a spur.

Theology, Ceremony, and Ritual Practice

The Order of the Kukshin has never been especially theological in its outlook. Having orginated primarily as apologists for the existence of an all-female fighting order, the Kukshin's theology was, for a long time, centered around a few very basic Agrikan principles such as are embraced by all orders: the ethics of might, the sacrality of combat, the glory of war, the necessity of sacrifice, etc.

There is, however, one distinctive feature of Kukshin theology that has developed over the past century: its insistence that women are the 'preferred vessels' of Agrik's rage and bloodust. The exact meaning and extent of this point is debated among Kukshin priestesses, but its main practical effect has been to inculcate a belief in female superiority and a spirit of misandry among the order's adherents. The belief among many priestesses that they were denied their due and effectively 'run out' of Rethem precisely because they were women has done much to strenghten these beliefs.

Such attitudes are reflected in many of the practices and rituals of the Kukshin. Priestesses sometimes take male lovers for personal pleasure, political gain, or to conceive children (preferably daughters) but they do not marry. Many prefer to avoid sexual contact with men altogether and instead become celibate or find pleasure in other women. Sacrificial victims are almost always male, and the rape, torture, and sexual humiliation of male captives is common.

Unlike the priestesses of the Order of the Eight Demons, however, Kukshin clerics do not possess elaborate theological justifications for the sexual torture of men. In truth, they seem do it largely out of personal sadism and/or a desire to assert physical mastery over men. A few priestesses have advocated a much more aggressively anti-male theology (“Agrik is the commander, the blessed Kukshin the horseman; we priestesses are the spurs, and the Crimson Dancer the horse, and men— men are the enemy at whom we must charge!”) but they so far remain a small (albeit vocal) minority.

Since its move to Orbaal and its expansion into Ivinia, the Order of the Kukshin has begun to borrow ideas out of Sarajinian belief. In particular, there seems to be a tendency among some priestesses (particularly those in Ivinia) to regard themselves as 'the brides of Agrik' who will, upon their death, attain a special priveleged personal relation with the Warlord of Balgashang. This idea clearly seems to be an Agrikan appropriation of the Elkyri, who play such an important role in Sarajinianism.

Politics

Since having moved to Orbaal and Ivinia, the Kukshin has fallen out of contact with most other Hârnic orders, although some contact takes place with the Fuming Gate in Tormau and with the Eight Demons and the Octagonal Pit in Shiran. It has a bit more contact with the Ivinian branch of the Pillar of Fire and with the Order of the V'hirahn.

Because of its location, the order is largely independent from official church hierarchy. Neither the Apalankh of Hârn nor the self-proclaimed Apalankh of Ivinia (of the order of the V'hirahn) have any real control over the order.

As a general rule, the Kukshin gets along poorly with the other, male-dominated clerical orders of Agrik. They have particular antipathy for Herpa the Mace, the Fuming Gate, and Mamaka the Master of Steel— all of whom, they believe unfairly scapegoated them in the 690s. It gets along quite poorly with the (also male-dominated) Ivinian order of the V'hirahn.

Kukshin priestesses are on noticeably better terms with the all-female order of the Eight Demons, with whom they are in contact via the hostel in Shiran. There even seems to be some interest within the order in the theology and demonology of their fellow Agrikan sisters from Tharda, but this tends to be relatively minor.

Since leaving Rethem, the Kukshin has actively nursed its greivances against the Rethemi crown. They have, consequently, begun negotiations with with the rebellious Earl of Tormau, seeking to ensure that, should he prove victorious, he will welcome the order back to Rethem.

In Orbaal, the Kukshin is regarded with unease by most Ivinian clans, all of which are led by men— and men who (with only a very small number of exceptions) worship Sarajin. Most Jarin nurse a profound hatred of the order because of its brutality in 701 TR. For these reasons the Kukshin has not generally played a significant role in Orbaalese politics. That fact, of course, could change should the Kukshin seek to find a way to use Alegar's half-brother (who resulted from the union of his father, Alegar I, and the priestess Melkea Arkarne) to gain influence in the kingdom.

In Ivinia, the order has generally sought to avoid politics. Unlike the orders of the Pillar of Fire and the V'hirahn, which have taken opposing sides in the Menglana-Ibanvaal war, for instance, the Kukshin has so far remained neutral. The Ivinian branch of the order, it is worth noting, has begun to operate fairly independently from the Hârnic branch; the Markithra who heads it wields as much practical authority as many Akaratai. Relations between the two branches, nonetheless, are still quite strong and there is little sign of schism or succession in the foreseeable future.

Land and Wealth

The Order of the Kukshin does not hold any land other than that upon which its temples are built. Its wealth comes primarily from tithes given by its fighting order, which holds Quimen castle and a few nearby villages that pay tribute. It oftne upplement this income by for-hire assassination.

Introduction

History of the Kukshin

The Order's Name

Theology, Ceremony, and Ritual Practice

Politics

Land and Wealth