Kilva
| Kilva | ||
|---|---|---|
| Titles | Ra The Last Hero The Immortal King The Unkillable King The God-King of Ur The Man Who Cannot Be Killed The Man-God The God-Man The God of War | |
| Alignment | Evil | |
| Divine Rank | 1-5 (demigod) | |
| ||
| Born | Pre-Avhadra | |
In Saphorism, Kilva ("KIL-vuh") is a war god and god of battle, cities, law, and kinghood. He is known for his jealous, proud, lustful, and indomitable personality.
According to myth, Kilva was originally a mortal man born of the barbarian tribes of the south, who, through conquest, rose to become the king of Ur. Later in life, he became obsessed with his own mortality, and embarked on a quest for immortality. Somehow he succeeded, and ascended to godhood.
According to Raysh (who seeks to become a god himself), Kilva was the last man to ascend to godhood.
Many of the myths surrounding Kilva describe his various deaths and resurrections. He was killed on at least three occasions, coming back each time.
Search for immortality
Beginning
After Kilva had ruled in Ur for several years, he began to obsess over his own mortality. It began during one of his military campaigns, when he conquered the then-city-state of Jardin (modern-day capital of Phoena). After the city's armies surrendered and the enemy king was beheaded, Kilva walked the halls of the king's palace, finding rows of great marble statues of the city's past kings. One of the city's ministers (presumably trying to get on Kilva's good side) declared that the palace artisans would immediately begin sculpting a statue of Kilva and placing it alongside the great kings of the past.
However, rather than being impressed, Kilva was furious, angrily proclaiming that indeed these were great kings and conquerors, but "still their fate was stone." He then stormed out of the palace after declaring his legacy would never be stone and mortar—he would have a "living legacy."
Thus began Kilva's search for immortality. Kilva summoned from every corner of his empire and beyond alchemists, sorcerers, sages, priests, magicians, necromancers, and other learned men, seeking from them the secrets of eternal life. Many were eager to earn the king's favor—and just as many were executed after their methods failed or their lies were uncovered. During this time Kilva performed many rituals, drunk alchemical concoctions,[1] journeyed to mythical lands, and spoke to many wise men and things that were more than men. But he couldn't find eternal life.
Many years passed and the king's fury became legendary. He grew ever more tyrannical, and his name was known across the land, with many calling him a madman.
Insomnia trial
And then Kilva heard a whisper of a magician in the far west who had mastered every art known and unknown to the wise men of old. He was said to be "more than a man," and thousands of years old, outliving the trees and the wind. Desperate, Kilva followed this trail of whispers.[2]
And so Kilva journeyed to the west—and found him. His name was Zulaban, and he was a magician of the old world. The magician did indeed know of a path to immortality: eating the fruits of the garden of Aishadal would do it, but the trick was finding the garden. Zulaban would tell him its location, but only if Kilva passed a challenge: he would have to stay awake for nine days straight.
Kilva accepted. After hours of meditation, Kilva climbed a mountain and hung off of a cliff face by his fingertips, reasoning that staying in that position would keep him awake. Drinking only rain water and occasionally baiting birds to kill and eat, he hung there for nine days and nine nights, hardly even blinking.
At the end of it, Zulaban conceded defeat and gave him the location of the garden.
Aftermath
What happened then is a matter of debate. The myths diverge here. Some claim Kilva found a hundred-headed serpent in the garden which he had to wrestle to death. Some stories speak of how there was a giant there who made Kilva answer a riddle that took him 967 days to figure out. There are a few myths of how he found a fairy queen there and he had to "wrestle" with her[3] for 15 days straight before she was finally satiated and allowed him to take the fruit. Others claim Kilva literally just walked in, grabbed the fruit, and left with no issues.
Whatever happened, when Kilva emerged, he was immortal.
As a patron
Kilva could serve as an Undying otherworldly patron.
