Ulkamoon Practice Magic Keyword

"There are arts and secrets in the rush and charge, in the wielding of the club, and in the club itself. All Noble men should learn these secrets, so come to the club!"

Ulkamoon's Union of Devoted Deuling Societies

Description/Common Knowledge

Since before the conquest of Darjiin by Dara Happa, the men of Dorkath have considered their sticks to be as or more important than their hats or loinclothes. Many of the ruling families of Darjiin are of Dara Happan extraction, and over hundreds of years in Darjiin they have adopted many native ways, including the use of walking sticks, swagger sticks, rods of command and such like. Ulkamoon, Solar God of the Club, makes an excellent patron deity for the many dueling clubs and societies of Dorkath.

Such is the public face of Ulkamoon, his dueling clubs and his worshippers in Dorkath. In reality, Ulkamoon's Dorkathi worshippers of Dara Happan and Darjinni descent know He is the god of Man's Sacred Club, the thing that differentiates Men from Others. They know Ulkamoon teaches his followers the use of the Outer Club (sticks, staffs, etc. for harming) and the Sacred Club (which is what makes a Man a Man.) Behind the façade of manly sport, gymnasiums, bloody knuckles and street duels for the glory of a neighborhood lies the true nature of the cult: secret fertility orgies and sex rites where the Dara Happan nobles of Dorkath mingle with the ecstatic fornicators of Darjiin.

Like Surenslib, Dara Happans misidentify Ulkamoon as a God. He is actually a powerful spirit most effectively worshipped through ecstatic and orgiastic rites.

Worshippers of Ulkamoon know that His Sacred Club is actually the Pillar of Life, the very Staff and Center of the Universe from which all creation springs. Ulkamoon is present in every deflowering, in each male orgasm, and in every bloodletting caused by a club, staff or rod. True devotees of Ulkamoon know that all bloodlettings are ultimately caused by the Sacred Club.

Entry Requirements

Must be a male Dara Happan past puberty and not a eunuch or otherwise deformed. Dara Happans not from the families of the Twenty-Seven Noble Sons of Manimat must be recommended by someone who is both a member of the Union and one of the Twenty-Seven Families. Thus many members of the Union of Ulkamoon are noblemen. However, some dueling clubs cater to lower class Dara Happans, with a few (or even one) noble Big Stick Carrier at the head of the club and able to approve lower class applicants. Most members are sponsored by their fathers or uncles. Further, applicants face significantly higher resistance attempting to join clubs which cater to a higher (and in some cases, lower) social status than the applicant's.

Abilities

Appearance of Solar Orthodoxy, Belittle Other Men, Close Combat [Stick Fighting, Staff Fighting, Club Fighting,] Endurance, Go Without Sleep, Traditions of Ulkamoon

Virtues

Confident, Masculine, Proud.

Traditional Spirits

Sacred Club Spirits

Ulkamoon is the Power Behind the Club, the Source of the Flow of Power that keeps all clubs moving and conquering. He offers the following spirits in charms or fetishes to those who worship him. The Sacred Club Spirits are the first spirits available to the casual worshippers of Ulkamoon, and those most often put in charms.

[Break Seal, Explosive Thrust, Hard as a Rock, Hit It, Keep Pounding, Make Stick Bigger

Special Spirits

Casual worshippers of Ulkamoon sometimes gain access to the following spirits, but Club leaders typically delay access to these until the worshipper discovers for himself the dual purpose uses of the Sacred Club. When the worshipper comes to the Big Club Men with questions about their discoveries, the Big Club Men offer new initiations and experiences which offer exposure to the Horned Dogs and the Rising Serpents.

Ulkamoon's Horned Dogs

Many spirits follow Ulkamoon's example and path, and none are more devoted to his goals than the Horned Dogs, fierce against rivals and relentless in chasing Ulkamoon's prey. The Horned Dogs may reside in charms or fetishes.

[Impress Women, Machismo, Sniff Out Wantons, Stare Down Rival]

The Hidden Rising Serpents Revealed

These very sacred spirits of the Ulkamoon Practice are too great to be bound into charms. They only agree to enter fetish sticks, and only agree to release their powers at traditional times and in orgiastic rites which Ulkamoon blesses.

[Impressive Presence, Join Together, Over and Over, Raise Sacred Club]

Spirit Ally: The Big Stick Spirits

Practitioners who Concentrate their magic inside the Ulkamoon tradition may awaken their Big Stick Spirit Ally, which must reside in one of the Practitioner's sticks. Big Stick spirits vary in their abilities, but they are always at least three of the typical abilities granted by Ulkamoon's Traditional and Special Spirits.

Fetch

The Ulkamoon practice has no shamans, so there are no fetches.

Fetishes

Ulkamoon and his subervient spirits require charms and fetishes to be sticks, staffs or rods. In poorer dueling groups, fetishes may be scratched onto a wooden stick, while among the elite sons of the Twenty-Seven, fetishes may be elaborate precious metal bands, studs, or gem encrustations on one of the formal walking sticks few Dorkathi noblemen are seen without. Members whisper about the rumored existence of special fetishes designed for attachment to Great Clubs, always containing a spirit of the Hidden Rising Serpents Revealed.

Secret

Perfect Stroke Spirits: Concentrated worshippers of Ulkamoon may, after many years of practice with the Sacred Club, may be contacted by the Perfect Stroke Spirits. Perfect Stroke spirits may only be bound into a fetish that is the Sacred Club of the worshipper. Such notable devotees are known in private circles as Strokers.

Worshippers

A cross-section of Dara Happan male society in Dorkath, and to a lesser extent any Dara Happan dominated part of Darjiin. Several dueling clubs exist in every neighborhood, catering to each social level. Rivalries exist between various clubs (such as that between the White Tower Long Staff Masters and the Brass Orbs of Ulkamoon, both located in Dorkath), but when all the spirits of Ulkamoon gather to raise the Great Club, all the societies come together as one.

Holy Days

The Stick Parade

For three days prior to the Great Sex Hunt in Dorkath, Ulkamoon's Dueling clubs engage in parades around their neighborhoods, brandishing their best sticks. These parades inevitably meet and result in half-wild, half ritual street fights. A complicated series of criteria and a formal judging process by esteemed elders of the cult and city result in ranking the clubs for their participation in the Sex Hunt rites. Losers are often too injured to participate.

Great Sex Hunt

Winners of the Stick Parades get prime positions in the Sex Hunt Rites, where they often manifest the powers of the Horned Dogs.

Long Night

The Winter Solstice marks the time in the Great Darkness when Ulkamoon pounded the spirits of night into submission, making them flee or making them worship His Sacred Club. Worshippers mark the occasion with an orgy that lasts from sunset to sunrise and shows successful club wielders the House of the Club, which is the Pillar of Life imbedded in the Center of the World.

Other Side

The House of the Club is a great pillar in the spirit world, guarded by the Horned Dogs, the Big Stick Men and the Legendary Strokers. Since there are no shamans in the Cult of Ulkamoon, reaching the House of the Club entails considerable difficulty, something usually attempted only by an entire school on a sacred day, through both the private outer rites and the secret inner ones.

Other Connections

Yelm, emperor of the universe rules Dara Happa and the noble families of Darjiin. Ulkamoon's Union survives while the Priesthoods of the Gods of Above believe Ulkamoon serves the Emperor. The Union works to keep those priesthoods convinced of their service.

Galgarene is the Griffin Goddess, opponent, distraction and lover of Ulkamoon.

Orypsus, the god of pleasure is considered by some to be the father of Ulkamoon.

Disadvantages

The Cult of Ulkamoon in Dorkath hides its orgiastic nature from the public behind the façade of its dueling societies. In particular, the animistic worship of a being whom traditional Solar worshippers consider one of the Other Acceptable Gods would provoke any conservative Dara Happan to condemnation or violence.