Korv'al'zagan
A territory captain of Zagan. Works under Ikal'seka. Epithet is "The Snake in the Grass" His area of responsibility encompasses Ikela and its surroundings. Some timelines have him strongly connected to the Dragon Tyrant Kozhun. More subtle than many of his kin.
Cult
He is known to have created a substantial cult, known as the "Korvite" cult (or just "the cult"), in Ikela proper. Since the earliest days of the Dragon Tyrant, it has been the secret power behind most of the goings on. Only rarely do cult members take the top role in any public-facing organization, and when they do it's not the leadership of the cults themselves. They prefer to hide behind a façade of legitimate power.
History
Founded in ?? by ??, it was responsible for sending the assassins who killed Kozhun's mate and children, thus depriving him of his hoard and leaving behind a torque emitting corrupting whispers. After corrupting him for a few decades as he slept on her bones, the cult promised him a replacement hoard via secret ritual involving channeling energy to him from elemental ley lines and worship through stolen or extorted dragon eggs (taken from neighboring flights) and up through a sacrificial victim. This progressively made him more and more insane, leading to the hyper-destructive Tyrant known to history. This was really just an experiment in channeling energy, partially superseded by information learned from the Stormveil Center. What they really wanted was a way to manipulate the anima, especially anima of belief on a large scale. When the leaders had learned what they needed, they transitioned to the next part of the plan, starting the final war of Kozhun's reign and sending the 8 "founding heroes" (secretly under the command of one of the Cabal) to destroy the ritual and thus make Kozhun vulnerable.
Since the fall of Kozhun, they have burrowed deeper into Ikelan society, infiltrating much of the nobility, organs of commerce, the Church and military. Their current plan involves creating a network of altered aether manipulation nodes around Ikela to redirect all worship to Korv himself, as well as make devil summoning easier and stronger within the area. Unwittingly, their efforts have contributed substantially to the event surrounding the Reweaving, and completing the network is likely to break the seal at Charn entirely, leading to the end of the world as we know it.
Organization
The cult is cell-like in organization, with a strong hierarchy both between cells and between cells.
Cell Structure
Each cell has a Cell Leader, who commands the Followers, of which there are between 2 and 10. A Follower in one cell might be a Leader of a subordinate cell. Higher-level cells know about their subordinate cells but the reverse is not necessarily true. Followers may or many not know their fellows and generally don't know about cells on their same level, at least officially.
Cell members tend to put a lot of effort into espionage directed at other cells. Backstabbing and infighting are endemic, as betrayal, blackmail, and outright murder are known and accepted means of climbing the status ladder.
Hierarchy
Most of the hierarchy is between senior cells and subordinate cells. Power is measured by distance from the Cabal, the ruling group. The Cabal always consists of 7 members, themselves broken into three ranks, denoted by the color of their (illusory) masks.
Masters: The two Masters wear white and black masks and know all the details about the Gold and Silver Masks. The White Mask is the High Summoner, the "spiritual" leader of the cult and the direct conduit to the will of Korv himself and is always a powerful mage and summoner. The Black Mask is the High Inquisitor, the mortal arm of Korv. His is the role of enforcer of cult policy, and he is always a warrior of consummate skill. The two of them tend to wander and their own identities are well-kept secrets.
Gold Masks: The 3 Gold Masks are the senior members of the Cabal under the Masters. As of early autumn 251, Tempus Machina have discovered that one of the privy advisors to King Ikel III is a Gold Mask. The Gold Masks know the identities of the Silver Masks but not the White and Black or each others' (by default anyway).
Silver Masks: The 2 Silver Masks are the junior members of the Cabal. As of early autumn 251, Tempus Machina have discovered that Esla, head of the South-bay Trading Company in Varanasi, is a Silver Mask. The Silver Masks only know the identities of their own subordinate chains as well as those they've discovered.
The actual mask and attire characteristic of the cabal (a blood-red robe over red-enameled plate armor, with face obscured by a shining, featureless mask of the appropriate color, voice distorted) is generated by their medallions. The actual medallions are powered by unknown forces but contain masking spells so they are magical only on the closest inspection. The medallions can be replaced but only by the White and Black masks acting together.
