The Call

From A Brief History of the Yagudo Theomilitary: Bloodlust and Warfare, by Jango-Nango, excerpted from chapter 13: "Luri Cree, the Butcher of Mindartia"

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The terrifying Yagudo King Luri Cree, known to the Federation as Lurian Cree, the Butcher of Mindartia, is estimated to have hatched circa C.E. 790. The eighth egg of a prestigious warrior-priest, Lurian chose to focus on the warrior side of his bloodline. At that time, the Yagudo Theomilitary was under the control of the infamous Nee Lufa the Manifest, and strongly aligned under the priest caste of the Yagudo society. Luri Cree focused instead upon uniting and consolidating military power, aligning himself with the Divine Martyrs and Divine Sentinel factions. By C.E. 820, despite the continued reign of Nee Lufa, Lurian had grown to lead the Yagudo in secular affairs, proclaiming himself the King of the Yagudo even as Nee Lufa remained the Manifest, holding all spiritual power.

It is widely believed that the Seventh Yagudo War was the result of political machinations by Lurian Cree. A political realist and extraordinarily ruthless, Lurian Cree was as brutal to his own people as he was to the children of Altana. Beastman scholars have documented the various means, both overt and otherwise, by which Lurian Cree consolidated power over the Yagudo, ranging from political assassination to blackmail to torture. Unlike most Yagudo, Lurian seemed to care little for religion and only briefly acknowledged Nee Lufa's supposedly supreme power, genuflecting to the Manifest while carrying out his own political sideshows. His massacre of one hundred fifty-three Divine Templars as an example to Pii Quqa the Decreer in C.E. 823 remains legendary among the Yagudo, and before long, Nee Lufa was placed into the position of instigating a whirlwind attack on Windurst itself in a desperate bid to regain power from Lurian's grasp.

Lurian Cree's reign was also noted for a rise in brutality and incidents between the Yagudo and the Federation. Captured mercenaries or War Warlocks were often killed in horrific gladiator-style spectacles for Lurian's amusement in games dedicated to the glory of the Manifest. After Nee Lufa's death in the Seventh Yagudo War, the new Manifest, Soo Luma, proved far more tractable and was little more than a puppet for Lurian Cree's machinations. Lurian preferred a policy of realpolitik and isolationism from even the other races of beastmen, allowing only the most minimum trade contacts and frequently humiliating the other Kindred by forcing their ambassadors to convert to the Yagudo religion as well as provide soldiers and captives for the brutal Yagudo bloodsports.

By Yagudo standards, Lurian Cree was quite ancient when he was suddenly killed in C.E. 847. His murder came at the hands of his own son, Jori Cree, known as Jorian, who was far more religiously influenced than his father and was backed by the priest castes, including the Divine Inspirers and their leader, the rising star Tzee Xicu. Jorian declared that the Manifest's life was in danger from his father's machinations, and that the Divine One had placed a curse upon Lurian's soul, that he may never know peace in this life or the next. Although Jori Cree's actions won him the position of Avatar, he never wielded the vast political power of his father, and ceded most temporal authority to Tzee Xicu when she became the new Manifest circa C.E. 850.

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From the Federation of Windurst's mercenary record archives, Optistery, dated C.E. 869:

NAME: Loocee Wahcondalo
AGE: 20
RACE: Mithra
UNIT: Wildcat Volunteers (C.E. 861-863)
MEDALS OBTAINED: Steelknight Emblem ∮∮∮
NOTES:

--Honorably discharged after the conclusion of the Crystal War

--Known relatives: Jakoh Wahcondalo (cousin, Norg piratess)

--Engaged as a mercenary-for-hire for traveling merchants after the war

--Merchant train ambushed by Yagudo militants spring of C.E. 865, no known survivors

CURRENT STATUS: Believed deceased