Kolgol looked out over the desolate landscape which surrounded his rocky home. Soon it might be filled with travelers, pilgrims who would heed the call of Kalok. With a wistful smile, he turned, walking back into the volcano. His strides at last brought him before his creations, the Balgogs. The constructs were dormant for now, waiting to be called to defend the mountain. They were chief among the creations of Ka’Rhug, and would soon serve as holy defenders of the Black God.
It was this very same god that the cathedral atop the volcano was being constructed to. Kalok, as he was named in the dream that Kolgol had. It was his power and righteous fury that had so affected Kolgol as to take up his mantle and champion his cause. The Children of Kalok, the followers of this God had grown to include all of Ka’Rhug, and hopefully soon others that were not of the mountain. The core tenets of this religion were very simple, and as Kolgol had seen, were for good reason. Among the first and foremost of these was the practice of no resurrection. To heal a wound was one thing, but to call back a soul from Kalok’s domain was selfish and base, and above all was stealing from the God they worshiped. For it was in the life after death that Kalok would take the souls of his followers into the eternal warmth, and his children would never feel the devouring cold again. Of course, to safely reach this domain, the corpse and belongings of the deceased were required to be consigned to the fiery heart of Mt Rhug, or other sacred places. The third, and perhaps simplest tenet was fairly easy. Many religions would require one to show some symbol or sign that they were faithful to their god or gods. For the Children of Kalok, faith was shown by branding, done ritually to either the chest or face, depending on ones devotion.
There were of course, special times for Kalok’s chosen, and they would celebrate heartily. Among these times was the season of the Auf Kol, the bone-chilling winterlike season of refuge. It is said that it was during this season that Kalok appeared, and placed Mt Rhug as a haven for his followers to find sanctuary from their enemies, chiefly the cold. And protect them it did, as the walls of the mountain are thick, and the warmth that leeches up from the magma chambers far below can be felt in all rooms of Ka’Rhug. The other central holiday would occur on the day the Auf Kol ended. It was a sign that Kalok still watched over his children when winter ended, and a good omen to his people.
Kolgol smiled as he recalled this, but then began to focus as he chanted. He spoke in the tones of ancient Olgog as he heated the end of a wooden stick in an open fire. When it had reached the point of becoming charcoal, he removed it and began using it (holding the non charred end) to trace a rune on the chest of a dead olgog. An earther historian might recognize the rune as being markedly similar to an Egyptian Ankh, but to Kolgol it was the Rune of death and new life. Once this had been completed, he placed the corpse on a rack beside the large central cone of the volcano and finished his chant. Now he was quiet for a moment, and then after a minute or so had elapsed, he took the body of the deceased, wrapped in hides with his belongings, and with a hard shove, sent the corpse into the burning lava below.