As of October the 14th, the following has been canonized as an accurate translation of ancient Dahkoarhim text. The Lord Priest's blessing follows that we may celebrate it as we see fit.

    Priestess Moxiette Poplucia

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In the frigid dead of winter, in centuries bygone, when The Dahkoarhim was little more than a tribe and religion on Ateraan was splintered into innumerable factions of false deities and idols, The Lord's apostles of Darkness were gravely persecuted.

Their religious perseverance and self-reliance pushed them ever onwards to thrive in the harsh desert landscape, where they began to found their temple. As a result of their apparently infallible determination, rival tribes were first jealous, and then fearful that the Dahkoarhim would soon monopolize the environment's already scarce resources.

"For every man or boy child, let us drive our blades through their breasts, that their hearts beat no longer," said the chieftain of the Ziefyr, who were thrice as many as the Dahkoarhim, said. "And so, too, shall we have their women, and sire a new generation to abrogate their bloodline. Nevermore will they, or their god of degeneracy and perversion, exist."

And so began the systematic massacre of the Dahkoarhim tribal members. In November, lone men, who had separated from the community to stalk game, were sniped by longbows. In December, the Ziefyr became more ambitions, and took to ambushing hunting parties. It was in January wherein scouts became privy to a full-scale invasion of the Dahkoarhim tribe, for which the Ziefyr travelled towards their village, presently, and would arrive within some weeks to ravage them.

The apostles agreed that they must face the enemy, somehow, in defense of their worship and land, but could not deny their fewer numbers, and The Lord had yet to bless them with powerful magics. They cloaked themselves in the color of shadows and took to silent prayer, emerging to the outdoors only when night had fallen, by which time they would abase themselves on the ground in worship of the Darkness, and ask for guidance.

After the third day, they said to one another, "The Lord has surely heard our pleas for He hears all. He knows them, and if He would not help us but rather have us slaughtered, then we will die as martyrs, beneath His will. Let us take our own actions, then, and strike true against the Ziefyr, and be at peace knowing that Darkness will prevail regardless of our fate." Having relinquished their lives to Dahkoar, the apostles braced themselves by training and readying their store of munitions, ready to fight in earnest despite the odds, as a display of devotion and deference.

It was then that the holy spirit of The Lord came unto them, filling their minds and bade that they travel by the flight of an ebon bird, a Raven, to their salvation. And lo, in the sky there appeared such a bird, and there was much rejoicing.

They followed the bird for days, traveling under the desert sun and braving frigid nights, until morale began to wear on some. The Raven flew steadily, but there was no source of savior in sight and all the while they were walking opposite of the Ziefyr's path, nearing a collision with the enemy.

Finally, at high noon, the Raven landed in a grassy pasture studded countlessly by stones and rock. The Raven preened, and ate from the ground, and flew away from their sights into the horizon while the apostles stood, bewildered.

"Stand firm!" "Have faith!" they urged one another, readying their arms, and some of them made to meet the Ziefyr to the extent of their ability. But there were others who succumbed to cowardice, even in the midst of the Dahkoarhim, who dropped their supplies and fled, fueled by fear, to hiding places.

When the Ziefyr appeared in the distance, the apostles that remained ran to face them over the pasture, all the while swearing their allegiance, with or without the savior they had anticipated. The daytime sun, then, was overtaken by the moon, and the sky filled with blackness despite the hour. 

And in the distance, animals screamed. Blood ran cold and the ground began to quiver, then split. Up rose a legion of undead summoned by The Lord, the first of their kind, from the stones and rocks which were their graves.

Alongside the Dahkoarhim they stormed the Ziefyr, unfettered by swords, spears or arrows and devoured them. The deserters, too, who had gone to hiding, were drawn forcibly from their shelters and consumed. When the battle was won, the undead crumbled back into the ground, but for one who stood mightily before the apostles. Its flesh was much degraded by rot, but although it had been stricken about the breast, the exposed heart beat defiantly.

"Behold," said The Lord, over the sea of carnage where His followers stood triumphantly, "A shepherd I bring to the most faithful of you. At once he walked among men, but evermore you shall know him as 'Altraxys,' my servant and your patron of the underworld. Know that the undead are my domain, as Darkness prevails even in death."

The apostles praised The Lord, and learned from Altraxys the secrets of necromancy, and it was one day closer to hailing eternal Darkness on Ateraan.