The Provinces of Ulthuan | The history of Ulthuan | The Dragon's Guild | Religion | Training in Ulthuan | Miscellany
Ulthuan is a largely cosmopolitan area with all kinds of races and beliefs represented within its population. For the most part these different groups, whilst not necessarily approving of each other all the time, at least tolerate each other's existence more than they do in other areas of the world. There is no one major relgion within Ulthuan, in fact it is largely comprised of an even mix of all major religious groups. One or two more unique religions within Ulthuan, however, are probably worthy of further explanation.
Fortunately for the rest of Ulthuan this particular cult has now all been wiped out. Their sole ethos is the reduction of the universe to the state of raw, primeval chaos and the Dark Cloak acolytes would attempt to do everything in their power to make sure this dream came about. The main religion was of a quite standard devil-worshipping cult with a large base in the very depths of Nagarythe. The standard Dark Cloak cultist is nothing more than a shaven-headed zombie dressed in the jet black robes that give the group their name, their minds so filled with the rhetoric of the cult leaders that they can perform quite superhuman feats through their zeal. These are led by those who still have their free will, those who chose to serve the cult without fear or objection. These men and women have been granted great power by their god and can use limited black magic. In turn these serve the great god of the Dark Cloak, a terrible monstosity known as Resomegnis.
The Dark Cloak were responsible for a terrible war that broke out in Ulthuan not many years from the present day. Reaching the very peak of their zeal, the group, with Team Rocket funding, forged a host body worthy of their god, a twisted vision of genetics and magic that saw DNA from some of the most vicious and cruel threats to have faced the realm spliced together to create a creature part Mewtwo, part Dark Gengar and part Dark Tyranitar. Now with a physical form, Resomegnis urged his followers to raise a vast pokémon army and unleash their wrath on the surrounding realms. They struck mercilessly, destroying all in their path until they reached Sector Alpha and were repelled by a last-ditch effort by a unified force of Dragon Tamers and Pokémon Avengers from overseas. The body of Resomegnis was destroyed by taking advantage of the fact that his component parts still had something of a will of their own, and the Dark Cloak were mostly wiped out with a tactical military strike on Nagarythe.
A more relevant and long-lasting effect of the Dark Cloak is that of their Inner Circle project - an experiment in adding demonic energy to the standard Team Rocket methods of genetic enhancement that, once finally successful, gave the pokémon the ability of spellcraft amongst other benefits. The few successful results of this were, sadly, too free-willed for the Dark Cloak to control. It is well known that Reaper, the pet Salamence of Crimson Blades boss Armand DiAnnio, is one of these, as is the legendary Abbadon, a Charizard held in fear by those of the northern provinces owing to his terrible bloodlust. What is less known is that the forces of justice have one or two allies from this project, too, one being actively trained by a member of the Dragon Tamers and the other rumoured to have been taken by the Order of the Dragon.
The ancient gods of elvenkind are still worshipped by a handful of beings in Ulthuan who are sufficiently educated in the ways of those who inhabited Ulthuan before The Sundering. The most relevant to the Guild and the Dragon Tamers being the infamous Tactical Neutralisation Unit or Order of the Dragon, although one or two military units are proud to be able to trace their origins to the days before The Sundering, plus there are a handful of enclaves who have enough knowledge of ancient times that they have taken the elven gods for their own.
The ancient elven religion is similar to that of the Romans, Egyptians or ancient Greeks insofar as instead of worshipping one particular god it instead promotes the idea of a group of gods and goddesses, each with their own specific role. For example, the god Hoeth is worshipped as the keeper of knowledge (and in fact he can be considered one of the more visible elven gods, for any visitor to Saphery is usually looking for entry to his White Tower, the single greatest source of knowledge in the entire world) whereas the hermaphroditic god/goddess Liadriel is charged with festivals and celebrations. Even war and murder has its own god, the terrible Kaela Mensha Khaine ('bloody-handed Khaine'). As with all religions that promote the idea of multiple gods, however, they all answer to one supreme being, the god Asuryan, held as the one true Phoenix King and the lord of all.
Worship of the different elven gods varies greatly depending on their role. The goddess of dreams and fortune, Lileath, for example, merely requires a few thoughts before going to sleep and the adherence to her sacred days, whereas Khaine's only worship comes from a few muttered prayed before battle and the dedication of any blood spilled to his cause. Although there still exists shrines to all the major gods and those who know enough about them to worship them still also know where to find the shrines, and a pilgrimage on a god's sacred day is expected. On the whole the elven religion, although still adhered to by some, is little more than a minor religion in the face of other, worldwide belief systems.