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Naharguāul of the Deep and Dark
God of Vast Waters, Lord of the Abyss, Sea-Fiend, Davy Jones
Domains
Nahargu'ul's domains consist of the oceans, seas, and all other open waters of the world, as well as all things that swim amidst them, from the smallest and most insignificant tadpole to the most colossal of leviathans.
Powers
Naharguāul holds reign over the waters of the world, nigh all-consuming and unconquerable. Waves beat at his command, both to bring ships safely to their destinations, and to send them down into the depths where his monstrous sea creatures wait to devour them whole. While he cannot conjure storms in the clouds above, he can summon mighty vortexes to pull in and crush vessels. Coasts and islands lie at his mercy, as he may send unrelenting tsunamis against them if he so wishes, though this is a rare occurrence, as most matters of the mainland interest him not.
Aside from those who suffered his wrath, Naharguāul has been known to express his favor unto those who offer him substantial tribute. Such blessings consist of fishermen bringing in great bounties, divers being able to breath indefinitely underwater, and other such simple gifts. But these boons have not been delegated since the Silence began. Nahargu'ul's most favored champions were once known to be reborn at the deepest parts of the ocean, adopting new lives among the beings who dwell there, fitted to be agents of his wrath against those who directly opposed him, from bloodthirsty pirates to deliberate polluters of his domain. No mere mortal could ever face the harbingers of his divine judgement and live.
But that was all so long ago. And many have forgotten - and even forsaken - his rule, since the wake of the Silence.
Vulnerabilities
Where there is no water, Naharguāul possesses no influence. His most powerful creatures that lurk in the lowest levels of the ocean are warded off by intense light. He himself is blinded by it as well, when he is physically manifested. While fire cannot thrive under his rule, intense heat is known to cause his creatures great harm. All these things, dwellers of the land take into account when they clash with the monsters of the ocean. And of course, the raw power of lightning is the greatest tool that could be used against him or his creatures, but being on good terms with the God of the Sky prevents such circumstances from ever taking place.
Appearance
Naharguāul went unseen by many, for where he lurks is uninhabited by mortal men. Those who have witnessed him described him as a massive, slate blue kraken, humanoid in shape, with a face riddled with tentacles and six gleaming red eyes. None have seen much else of him in the dark of the depths. He was never known to assume a human form that can traverse the land. Some of the other deities question if he is even capable of such - which he is - but he would be equatable to a normal human man in such a scenario, which does not particularly strike at his fancy.
Creations
Krakens
Krakens are the greatest of Naharguāulās forces. They are born in his very image as semi-humanoid, gargantuan beings, with great masses of tentacles adorned, and maws that can swallow most ships whole. Krakens come in several varieties, from the Crimson Kings of the Great Red Reef, to the Yākorghan Massives lurking in the deepest trenches of the planet. Few entities can rival the raw destructive power of a kraken, yet Naharguāul always loved to watch when they tried.
Merfolk
Merfolk, otherwise known as mermaids and mermen, are Naharguāulās own sentient underling species. They are humanoid beings with fish-like fins and tails, and abilities that allow them to thrive underwater - echolocation, waterproof membranes, deep pressure resistance, and so on. Merfolk are rarely seen by humans and other species, but they are not entirely averse towards them. They live much simpler lives of hunting and gathering, making homes out of the rock bottom of the ocean, and quite a fair number of them once served Naharguāul directly, to some extent. But in the duration of the Silence, they have gone quiet.
Sirens
Sirens have a more peculiar origin than most seafarers know. A cabal of mermaids once renounced Naharguāulās influence, in an attempt to start taking sections of the worldly waters for their own usage, to form an undersea empire perhaps. Their punishment was being turned into little more than frenzied, flesh-hungry beasts. Now they stalk the ocean surface for traveling vessels, luring seafarers to their deaths with their intoxicating sounds. But their minds are forever warped, their order absolutely crushed. They serve as a reminder to other merfolk not to cross their one true sovereign. Or at least, they did.
Leviathans
Leviathans are more a category than any creatureās proper nomenclature. They are the most widespread of Naharguāulās creations, always taking the form of gigantic, serpentine figures, but with varying sizes and aesthetics. Some are simply giant eels, others are grotesque things with copious eyes and twitching limbs. Out of everything that lies deep within the ocean, leviathans are the most common causes of sunken ships and dead sailors. Not even the Silence has dampened their activity to any extent.
Worshipers, Religion, and Culture
Before the Silence, many who lived by the coasts of the mainland would argue that Naharguāulās was not so much a religion, but a social service. Those who were devoted to keeping him pleased would take to warning any who would listen that tribute must be offered, or they would certainly meet their deaths out in the open waters. They would say appropriate tribute consists of something those who would make their trips hold value in - some of their money, or cargo, or food, or even their own blood. Truth be told, Naharguāul has never desired any of these things, but those who would deny his power and influence over the world and its system of trade bred contempt within him, and for what little interaction he had with mortals, he did not like to be doubted.
But since the wake of the Cataclysm and the Silence, Nahargu'ul's many speakers-on-the-docks and faithful mariners have waned, to the point where just about everyone chalks leviathan attacks and bad waves to "happening to be in the wrong spot of the ocean at the wrong time". And of course, Nahargu'ul is greatly displeased by this notion, and wishes to return things back to what they once were, with him being the rightly feared and appeased God of the ocean.
Region or Location
Naharguāulās influence is spread about all the waters of the world, from the winding coasts to the deepest trenches. Indeed, out of all the Pantheon, he possesses one of the largest areas of influence, but not so much over the mortals who make use of it. After all, life is lived almost entirely on land. But what is trade and commerce without hauling cargo from continent to continent? Naharguāul had the power to steadily direct the state of the worldās economy any direction he so chose, but for good will towards his fellow Gods, he kept things within an appropriate medium.
Some isolated spots carved out of the bedrock of the ocean are more well known to the merfolk and whatnot who dwell or once dwelt there, but are of little to no mind to the mortals of the mainland, especially in this day and age.
Personality
Naharguāul is something of a distant sort towards the rest of the Pantheon, not finding much interest in their affairs with mortals. When he is in the company of others, he exhibits a calm but prodding tone with an occasional preference for cryptic vocabulary. In the past, he greatly enjoyed testing mortals from time to time by sending his aquatic abominations against them, if only to quell the monotony of the ocean. He especially delights when pirates assault merchant ships, privy to send forth any kind of creature or torrent, or even one of his bygone champions, to sway the battle in his favored direction. Truthfully, Naharguāulās nature is quite sporadic, but it is simple enough to stay in his favor, and equally simple to invoke his ire.
Opinions
Kilgarrah
Naharguāul has never been much of a fan of dragons. Kilgarrah, in all his pride and coveting of 'shiny, useless trinkets' as he puts it, is actually the subject of much silent ridicule on Naharguāulās part. He finds the dragon Godās nature somewhat amusing, and at the same time bothersome, and both know full well that his rage cannot pierce the the surface of the seas. In fact, he taunts him with the knowledge that countless, grand treasures lie sunken in the ocean depths, which he may never reach, even if Nahargu'ul has to send krakens to guard them, purely out of spite.
Yigzavath
Yigzavath has sent a great many of his works adrift in the past, causing sicknesses such as scurvy, dysentery, and the ever so detestable Sailor's Sorrow. For these actions, Nahargu'ul has adopted a sincere displeasure towards the Filthmonger, keen on keeping an eye out for any such transgressions in the future, whether it be a rise in cot-ridden sailors, or blooms of fetid algae in merfolk-occupied reef.
Nahash
Nahargu'ul has never had any quarrel with Nahash. At the very least, her activities brought about a little more seafaring among mortal men than other Gods', which gave him ample opportunities to act as he saw fit. Her play at his demand of tribute has been irritating at times, but it is of no consequence in the long run. To say little enough, he tolerates her existence.
Dormammus
Dormammus' sorcery was always a rare sight along Nahargu'ul's waters. He is unimpressed by it, and to that effect, holds no major considerations towards him, neither positive nor negative.
Iuppiter
Out of all the Pantheon, Iuppiter is the one God Nahargu'ul approves of the existence of the most. Their domains combined have been the cause of both prosperity and disaster, from bountiful harvests of the seas to devastating storms along the mainland coasts. Nahargu'ul has always found the least amount of opportunities to enjoy himself among the Gods, and Iuppiter always found the most. In that regard, it could be said that they complete each other.
Ha
Iuppiter has told Nahargu'ul of Ha in the past. But matters of "chivalry" and "the forge" interest him not, so he has not clung to his descriptions. The two cannot really recall ever formally greeting each other in the past, even.
Ashevelen
The concept of luck is, for the most part, lost on most Gods personally, since reality is so much like clay to them. Nahargu'ul holds Ashevelen in little regard, as her domains take little precedence over his. After all, a thief and a mariner both drown in the exact same fashion.
Asivar
Grand hunts and the like often find little happenstance in the ocean, thus meaning Asivar and Nahargu'ul have little to no quarrel with one another.
Kalla
Kalla is held in no majorly negative fashion on Nahargu'ul's behalf. Nature, after all, does require open water in many of its aspects. She plays her games with him, and he personally finds her kobolds to be unsightly little creatures, but in the end, he considers her an equal.
Kulorerstus
Once again, Nahargu'ul cares little about the God of Death and Fear. He considers fear to be its own acceptable domain, but death is something that happens in all walks of life, so it's a bit redundant. And when it comes to necromancy, Nahargu'ul has never been one to relinquish the bones of his ocean's fallen, not man nor beast.
Del Sombra
Nahargu'ul is relatively fine with Sombra's rather invasive tendencies, as he possesses relatively little to hide. The ocean is vast and fairly empty, after all. Though he often wonders if she knows what really happened at Hagers, which given her nature, seems dreadfully likely. But he takes solace in the fact that she is not one to let a secret go without an equivalent something-something in return, and if the gravity of Hagers' truth is as severe as he believes it is, then the Sea-Fiend has nothing to worry about. All that aside, the two are on relatively good terms.
Thu-mmmok
Sea and sand go together in many ways - the coasts of the mainland, the out-stretch into shallow waters, etcetera. But Thu-mmmok's dry, harsh desert is the very opposite of Nahargu'ul's domain. The two aren't at odds over that however - it's more about how Thu-mmmok so desires a world that is nothing but sand, sand, and more sand. And such a world, Nahargu'ul detests the very thought of.
Erisbili
The most Nahargu'ul can say for Erisbili is that, he's simply there. Madness is an uninteresting topic to him, as he personally believes that once someone succumbs to it, they are no longer worth speaking to.
Tales
The Morkogun Against Jormungand
The Morkogun is one of Naharguāulās most prized krakens. Named such by an aged tribe of coastal mainlanders who came to worship the kraken as their protector, her history lies solely along those waters, as most notable krakensā do their own territories. For some curious reason, instead of just destroying anything that came near her like most krakens do, she devoted herself to the singular purpose of protecting the coastal village. Naharguāul was no less amused by this notion as he was proud of the massive, destructive sentinel the Morkogun had molded herself into. Kilgarrah, in all his overwhelming pride, took the notion as an opportunity to pit his own water serpent, Jormungand, against her. Naharguāul had always considered Jormungandās very existence as an affront to his domain of the ocean, but Kilgarrah was never one to back down in such a case.
The Morkogun and Jormungand clashed within the formerās territory. The battle lasted for hours, and both gargantuan creatures suffered their own share of scars and wounds. But in the end, Jormungand retreated after sustaining colossal injuries, and the Morkogun too rested for weeks after the battle. The villagers witnessed it, and it became their greatest tale. But seeing as neither creature died, Naharguāul and Kilgarrah came to count the battle as a draw, after much debate. To this day, the Morkogun still defends the site of the coastal village, although its inhabitants have long since slowly faded into history, as too did the battle itself.
The Morkogun and Jormungand clashed within the formerās territory. The battle lasted for hours, and both gargantuan creatures suffered their own share of scars and wounds. But in the end, Jormungand retreated after sustaining colossal injuries, and the Morkogun too rested for weeks after the battle. The villagers witnessed it, and it became their greatest tale. But seeing as neither creature died, Naharguāul and Kilgarrah came to count the battle as a draw, after much debate. To this day, the Morkogun still defends the site of the coastal village, although its inhabitants have long since slowly faded into history, as too did the battle itself.
Violated Hagers
Hagers was once a sizeable fishing hamlet, located on the southwestern coast of some obscure part of the mainland. Its inhabitants were simple, its history was average. For the longest time, Naharguāul held no major notion towards it, good or bad. Even without his direct attention, Hagers managed to survive on its own well enough. Thenā¦ something changed.
It is unknown how exactly it started. Whether it was Naharguāulās doing, or some other entityās. The hauled-in fish began to look distended and sickly. Fog became more and more frequent, until such it was a permanent blight. Slowly and quietly, the villagers began to change. What were once normal human beings morphed into writhing, slithering, sorrowful creatures. And somehow, this change went completely unnoticed, until one of Naharguāulās merfolk vigils discovered Hagers after learning that dozens of his kind had washed up on its shore, dead and withered.
Naharguāul, for reasons still quite unknown to the rest of the Pantheon, sent a torrent of mighty waves crashing down on Hagers, in an attempt to erase it from existence. The village was flooded, nearly all of its structures reduced to ruins, and the inhabitants seemingly wiped out. Other civilizations of the mainland eventually struck Hagers from all known records, including trade routes and ledgers. It faded into obscurity not too long after.
To this day and age, Naharguāul says nothing of the subject, other than that it was āa mistakeā.
It is unknown how exactly it started. Whether it was Naharguāulās doing, or some other entityās. The hauled-in fish began to look distended and sickly. Fog became more and more frequent, until such it was a permanent blight. Slowly and quietly, the villagers began to change. What were once normal human beings morphed into writhing, slithering, sorrowful creatures. And somehow, this change went completely unnoticed, until one of Naharguāulās merfolk vigils discovered Hagers after learning that dozens of his kind had washed up on its shore, dead and withered.
Naharguāul, for reasons still quite unknown to the rest of the Pantheon, sent a torrent of mighty waves crashing down on Hagers, in an attempt to erase it from existence. The village was flooded, nearly all of its structures reduced to ruins, and the inhabitants seemingly wiped out. Other civilizations of the mainland eventually struck Hagers from all known records, including trade routes and ledgers. It faded into obscurity not too long after.
To this day and age, Naharguāul says nothing of the subject, other than that it was āa mistakeā.
Hero
Name: Mariner Vorris
Age: 657, now ageless
Race: Human (for the most part)
Gender: Male
Description: Vorris is a tall, gaunt figure dressed in sullen rags and ropes, face concealed by a bundled cloth. His skin is a pale blue, covered in things like grooves and barnacles as a result of Nagarguāulās influence, and spending so much time underwater. He wears a very large, tough straw hat, normally meant to keep the sun out of his eyes when heās on the surface, now covered in a tattered net and rough white coral.
Personality: Vorris is a silent, stalwart force. He possesses little in the way of hobbies, interests, or anything of the sort. He is simply an agent of Naharguāulās will, and he considers himself nothing more than that. The man he once was, he has done his best to forget.
Backstory: Long ago, back before the Cataclysm and the Silence, Vorris was a pirate and a slaver. He was second in command to one of the most ruthless captains of that time, a man known only as Argyle. He was as he is today - quiet, steadfast, and not easily overpowered. By many, he was seen as nothing short of a heartless criminal, but something changed his thoughts as time went on. He began to regret the atrocities heād committed, the riches heād helped pilfer, and the people heād helped oppressed. All the while, he clung to his faith in Naharguāul, which he believed was what kept him safe for so long. He wanted for little, always throwing his share of any haul overboard to appease the sea God, much to Argyleās displeasure.
Eventually, tension between the captain and his first mate reached a boiling point. Vorris didnāt just want out, he wanted the rest of the crew to give up their criminal lives as well, before they met their deaths out in the waters. No one sides with him, rather supporting Argyle on the basis that theyād yet to fail thus far. But in truth, Naharguāul was testing them, and at that precise moment, poised and ready to strike. With Vorris tied to an anchor and positioned to be thrown off the ship, Naharguāul himself reached from the depths and grabbed the vessel with on hand, crushing it.
Vorris, Argyle, and the rest of the crew drifted down to the bottom of the ocean. But Naharguāul appeared before Vorris and offered him an ultimatum - āBecome my champion, and live to serve me. Refuse, and die with your kin, and your regrets.ā
Itās fairly clear what choice Vorris made. All his loyalty to Argyle vanished in that moment, and he was given breath. He was reborn in a watery trench, and molded into a weapon against his former fellows. He became the torrent which brought pirate vessels down into the depths. He claimed dominance over the leviathans of the worldly waters, as well as the waters themselves. Merfolk praised him as a hero to their kind, quashing any trace of pollution that would violate their livelihood. And after not too long a time, he became content with it all.
When the Cataclysm struck, Vorris was set to protect his and his Godās realm. He clashed against the corrupted creatures, and fended off the unrelenting waves to the best of his given abilities. When the conflict ended and the Silence was put in place, he settled to wait for the day Naharguāul would beckon him once more. Eventually, years passed, and he went into a deep slumber far below the surface of the ocean, encrusted in preservative coral, never disturbed until nearly five-hundred long, quiet years later.
Motivation: Vorris has no definitive goal. He is simply fitted to do what his God commands, and if no command is given, then he will either rest on the rocks, or go about patrolling the ocean for neāer-do-wells.
Why have they been chosen as a hero?: Vorris was the first in a situation that caused Nahargu'ul to abstain from taking destructive action right away, and for that, the mariner earned his respect.
Equipment: Vorris wields a catch pole, now a relic from his criminal days. It has been warped into a shell-encrusted icon of a weapon, sturdy and jagged enough to go up against even the mightiest renegade krakens, and even a fair few of the creatures found on the mainland.
Magic: Vorris, through the myriad gifts granted to him by Naharguāul, is capable of the following - breathing underwater, fast and agile swimming, sensing vibrations, seeing in the dark of the depths, commanding the creatures of the sea to do his bidding, and controlling water in great volumes to his every whim.
Yigzavath the Pestilent
Invasive God of Parasites, The Creeping Terror, The Crawler, Filthmonger
Domains
Yigzavath holds precedence over all forms of diseases, insects, and the disgusting places they thrive within.
Powers
Yigzavath himself is a living seedbed of raw, organic matter, from which he molds all of his creations - horrible plagues and illnesses, grotesque parasites, all with varying effects on whomever they touch. Most of these things are only good for making a handful of people'sā lives miserable in some fashion, but a few of them could potentially wreak havoc upon the entire world if left alone to do so.
Yigzavath's followers, the Acolytes, were all granted immunity to the very diseases they once spread before the Silence - that is, they still very much carried them within their physical bodies, but they were in no way crippled by their effects. The Filthmonger's elite, as well, were made into hosts for all manner of horrible, swarming creatures. Flesh-eating moths, venomous hornets, even butterflies that could exude hallucinogenic, fear-inducing gases. It is no surprise how feared they once were for these "gifts".
Vulnerabilities
It should be no surprise that any advance in medicine and healing magic presents a wrench in any of Yigzavathās sordid plans. Fire, too, is less than adored by him and his creations. Lastly, the old adage, ācleanliness is next to godlinessā, is often taken as a ward against his efforts, meaning the greater and cleaner cities often avoid them entirely. At least, that is what they once believed - now, they simply keep clean for clean's sake.
Appearance
Yigzavath resembles a hulking figure wrapped in a dark orchid cloak, standing twice the height of most mortal beings. Upon his face rests a strange white mask made of an obscure material, with ports and holes carved in it to make way for his eight, spindly, arachnid appendages. No one knows what rests behind his mask - not even the rest of the Pantheon, and Yigzavath intends to keep it that way. Peeking out from behind and under his cloak seems to be the latter half of a giant centipede, complete with a thick shell and many legs, and at his sides are two withered, leathery, humanoid arms, riddled with hives full of an indeterminate number of crawling creatures.
Creations
Yigzavath is responsible for every fly hovering over a pile of refuse, every tick that bites someoneās scalp, and all other sorts of insectoid blights upon the world. He is also the originator of a great many diseases, which are carried among his many infinitesimal creatures. Other than the standard range of examples many know of, much stronger, stranger, and more sinister works of his exist as well. Parasites that rob people of their ability to feel a certain emotion, deprive them of their senses, or even cause them to suffer from terrifying hallucinations. These and many more, Yigzavath has brought upon the world.
In the past, Yigzavath has brought it upon himself to create specialized insects and illnesses meant solely to aggravate the other Gods of the Pantheon. These include but are not limited to...
Glass Heart
Glass Heart is an airborne disease that exists solely among Kilgarrah's dragons and draconian creations. It is rare, but exceedingly dangerous, and often fatal for the smaller and weaker among them. Glass Heart starts at the skin and works its way inwards, causing the infected to lose body heat, impairing their motor skills until they are almost completely paralyzed, halting their organs' separate functions until finally reaching the heart. At the very end of the process, duration depending on the strength of the infected, their internal fires are extinguished, and their heart succumbs to the disease and shatters like glass, owing to its name.
Rotworms
A simple, but still very unsightly happenstance that exists primarily among Iuppiter's many birds, though on very rare occasions, it can be found in zizs and other feathered beings. Rotworms are often mistakenly picked up and partially ingested by mother birds, with most of them going to their young. The initial sickness is delayed, but soon afterwards, rotworms begin rampantly reproducing within their victims, causing intense nausea and interfering with instinctive processes, until they cause them to expire, whereupon the bundled rotworms will slowly eat their victim's body from the inside out, and then sink back into the dirt to begin the process once again.
Sailor's Sorrow
Sailor's Sorrow is contracted through contaminated foodstuffs, most often fruit and bread. Seafarers dread this sickness of the stomach, which causes them to vehemently reject the consumption of clean water, and slowly develops into horrible dryness and itching of internal organs, until the victim dries up from the inside. Many will often resort to drinking seawater out of desperation, which does little to impede the progress of the disease.
Forgeblight
Forgeblight is common among blacksmiths and armorers, and is often contracted from bacteria found on certain metals and ores. It does everything possible to impede their particular line of work, causing severe shivering in their limbs, shortness of breath that is only worsened with smoke and fumes, and an intense aversion towards the high temperatures of any proper workplace. It's no surprise that Ha despises this creation of Yigzavath's.
False Mothers
False Mothers are regarded as one of the most twisted ideas Yigzavath has ever put to play. Beginning as nothing but miniscule parasites, they search for pregnant women and infiltrate their womb, feasting on the fetus, and taking its place. The parasite then initiates a somewhat faster than average pregnancy period, and when it is fully grown, enacts a quick and horrifying execution by spreading throughout the womanās body, destroying her internal organs. It slowly, carefully begins pushing the dead womanās bones and innards out through the mouth, navel, and anus, until the body is essentially just a skin suit, which it proceeds to wear for the rest of its lifespan, which involves finding somewhere secluded to produce offspring. It is believed, and hopefully true, that all False Mothers were hunted to extinction by the Healers Guild during the Silence.
Worshipers, Religion, and Culture
Most would pray to a God or Goddess of healing to lift them of their ailments, which is definitely appropriate. Though a foolish few pray to Yigzavath in such scenarios, never mindful of the fact that to be granted his immunities, they must submit themselves entirely unto him. The Acolytes of Yigzavath are the only mortals who are considered either crazed, fearful, or just plain indoctrinated enough to serve such a horrendous deity. When he creates any sort of horrible illness or crawling abomination, the Acolytes are the ones who take them and unleash them upon whomever. Many who would see hardship done upon rival individuals or families are often given the perfect means to do so by Yigzavathās own desire to spread death and decay with abandon.
During the Cataclysm, the Acolytes had many opportunities to spread even more harmful diseases, but so much chaos was already taking place that they ended up simply relaxing for a while. However, after the Cataclysm ended, and the Silence began, they were left without the vital source of their work, Yigzavath. As time passed, they began to be hunted down by the newly formed Healers Guild, a party dedicated to the advancement of practical medicine, but more importantly, the eradication of all forms of unnatural illnesses. They had many supporting their cause, and cut a bloody swath through the Acolytes with their sheer numbers alone. The elite fell too, most burned to death like monsters. What few Acolytes remained went into hiding, and along the later years of the Silence's duration, faded into obscurity.
Region or Location
Yigzavath was the sort of God with minimal direct influence over Gaea, but still spread about in many small pockets around the world. Before the Silence, in most cities, there could be found entire sects of Acolytes in the most dilapidated of grounds, communing with their God through whispering vermin and the like. Yigzavath himself physically resided within an obscure, sinister cave known only as the Infested Workshop, where it is said thousands upon thousands of glass jars containing his creations rested on shelves of stone. The Acolytes were once privy to its location, but nearly all of their maps and instructions to reach it were burned before the Healers Guild could take them. Eventually, it was simply forgotten, just like Yigzavath, and the rest of the Pantheon.
Personality
Yigzavath is the subject of many Godsā ire, as they are to him for impeding his Acolytesā work on widespread occasions - at least, in a time before. Had he his way, the world over would be subject to his creationsā invasive wrath, yet why he desires such is very open to interpretation. He is meticulous, irritable, and very analytical. He is not one to confront his siblings directly, but rather take his ire out on their favored mortals, the severity of his anger correlating to how long and severely he would see them suffer. But towards his Acolytes, he was seen as much less of an angry being. In fact, as far as Gods go, Yigzavath associated with mortals directly, in physical form, more so than most of his kin.
Opinions
Kilgarrah
Yigzavath despises fire more than he does dragons, as it is a simple but effective weapon against many of his insects. Though dragons are very resilient beings, and he has tried on more than one occasion to wreak some terrible blight upon them, to varying but often meager success. Glass Heart was once a force to be reckoned with, but it has since faded during the Silence.
Naharguāul
The God of the ocean has not done much to earn Yigzavathās ire, though that never stopped him from creating things like scurvy and dysentery, and the horrible Sailor's Sorrow, which many seafarers and mainlanders alike agree "is not fun at all". For that, Nahargu'ul disapproves of the Filthmonger's existence, and the feeling has since become mutual.
Nahash
When Yigzavath created parasites that could permanently distort a manās sanity and warp their perception of the world, he cemented himself as one of Nahashās least favored brethren. Likewise, Yigzavath holds her in faint regard, and cares little if one of his diseases happens to strike her mortal plaything of the day.
Dormammus
Yigzavath holds genuine intrigue in what applications could be pursued if he and Dormammus were to cooperate. Though he doubts Dormammus holds the same thought, and even then, sorcerers have been a problem for him before, what with their incendiary spells and wards.
Iuppiter
Yigzavath detests Iuppiterās generally positive nature, contrary to most other Godsā opinion of him. Though generally speaking, he is rarely the direct subject of his ire since the skies are of little importance to a deity of worldly filth, and Iuppiter isn't the antagonizing sort. The two have collaborated before, on the creation of more pleasant insects to inhabit nature, though that was more to get Iuppiter to stop bothering the Filthmonger than to satisfy him.
Ha
All Yigzavath sees in Ha is another spout of fire to be irritated towards. He has annoyed the God of chivalry on some accounts as well though, having diminished or even altered the very definition of āchivalryā in some infected few.
Ashevelen
Ashevelen matters little to Yigzavath, though the two have annoyed each other in the past. Luck changing the direction of sway among his infected, often delaying their expiration, and thieves who stumbled in their line of work from bone decay and inflamed lungs. Luck is an aspect that irritates Yigzavath so.
Asivar
Yigzavath has plagued many mortals in the past. The often slow, sad, and colorless deaths they experience in the end all represent the opposite of what the Divine Huntsman desires most. Yigzavath cares little for how much bloodshed he robs Asivar of, however.
Kalla
Kalla represents the flourish of life, while Yigzavath represents its slow, fetid withering. As is to be expected, the two are on less than splendid terms, with Yigzavath considering Kalla to be an annoyance more than anything.
Kulorerstus
Yigzavath takes necromancy as a personal affront to his own work. His illnesses take time, emotional tolls, and proper planning to get the maximum effectiveness out of, so he prefers his victims stay in the dirt afterwords.
Del Sombra
Yigzavath is conflicted about Sombra. On the one hand, she has come to him on some occassions, gesturing for harmful effects to equip her various trap-filled dungeons. On the other hand, he prefers some level of privacy. To that end, the Infested Workshop is lined with bronze.
Thu-mmmok
Another deity that Yigzavath neither despises nor cherishes. The two worked together briefly to create scorpions and other minor insects to inhabit Thu-mmmok's desert, but since then, they have had little interaction.
Erisbili
Many of Yigzavath's creations insight dementia, hallucinations, and general uneasiness in their victims, which the mad god definitely approves of. While Erisbili holds Yigzavath in some regard, the opposite isn't exactly true, with the Filthmonger considering him more of a minor nuisance than anything. Still, he doesn't outright hate him, and that's enough to say on its own, these days.
Tales
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Hero
Name: Isabella Loyce
Age: 27
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Description: Isabella is a somewhat sickly looking woman, standing at a below average height and weighing slightly less than normal for women her age, with a very slim physique. She isn't the absolute picture of perfect health, with pale skin, sullen amber eyes, and unkempt black hair that may or may not have been washed in the recent years. She is always seen wearing the Acolyte robes that have been passed down to her from her forebears, as well as the iconic white mask that she wears out in the field.
Personality: Isabella is an odd sort indeed. She firmly believes that people must be put through the worst before they can achieve their best. To that end, she is very calm and analytical, and does her best to remain both polite and reserved, though she has been known to casually dole out criticism, even when itās not exactly desired.
Backstory: During the twilight years of the Silence, when things began to settle some and people became accustomed to the concept of a godless world, the last remaining Acolytes of Yigzavath became the targets of mass hunts by several parties, primarily the Healers Guild and several sects of preservation groups. The majority went into hiding, and what little faith they still had began to fade in most of their numbers. The very last two Acolytes, coincidentally a married and pregnant couple, took refuge in the only place their pursuers wouldnāt dare step foot in - Pecherās Valley, otherwise known as the Worldās Gutter. The only true refuge for lepers, rejects, and sick folk the world over. Drowned in refuse, held up by wooden shanties and piles of trash for miles.
The couple made the best of their situation, and ended up having their only daughter in the rancid dark of Pecherās Valley, and they named her Isabella. They clung to their faith in Yigzavath, hoping their loyalty to the Filthmonger would keep them safe. They sanitized their locale to the best of their abilities - though they had inherited the natural immunities of Acolytes of yore, they wished to take no chances with Isabella. They cared for her, tutored her, and instilled their doctrine within her. She grew up well, and fortunately, never became severely sick in all her life. In fact, her parents believed sheād developed the best immune system in the history of the Acolytes, and they were thankful for that.
But, it had to come to an end eventually. Isabella, twenty-three at the time, was witness to the fiery cleansing of Pecherās Valley at the hands of several parties - the Healers Guild among them, convinced that there was no hope for the inhabitants of the Worldās Gutter, and that they should be eliminated before the risk of them spreading their filth ever became a problem. Isabellaās father died in the event, and her mother succumbed to injuries sheād sustained not too long after they escaped from the valleyās end. Isabella was left on her lonesome, and in the wake of the complete destruction of her home, she opted to find a new one. One where she was certain she would never be disturbed. One that was catered specifically for Acolytes.
The Infested Workshop.
Isabella searched, and managed to find Yigzavathās worldly hovel after years traveling, following old maps and faded instructions. The cave was stocked with the Crawlerās old works, left untouched since the dawn of the Silence. Much of it was withered out of any usability, though some of the stronger projects happened to live on to that day. She took it upon herself to pick up where her God left off, clearing the dust, taking stock, reorganizing and whatnot. She claimed the Infested Workshop as her home, silently hoping that Yigzavath would simply turn up one day. To revitalize the Acolytes perhaps, or even adopt her as his apprentice, all to the end of bringing back the myriad creatures and plagues that the world had grown dismissive of, and so rightly deserved to face again, in her opinion.
And after months of taking care of the place, the Silenceās end will finally grant Isabellaās wish.
Motivation: Isabella wants several things. To live up to her parentsā wishes, fulfill their dreams of seeing the Acolytes returned to their former glory. To take her revenge against the Healers Guild and all else who razed her home. To serve Yigzavath and prove to him that she is a worthy apprentice. And she intends to work for her satisfaction.
Why have they been chosen as a hero?: Isabella probably wouldnāt be her Godās first choice as a hero. In fact, calling her a hero isnāt right at all. But, sheās all thatās left of the Acolytes, and all that Yigzavath has to work with at the moment, so go figure.
Equipment: Isabella carries a thin, pointed dagger with a compartment in the hilt, meant to fill the blade with any sort of poison or other harmful fluids. Itās a relic passed down to her from bygone Acolytes, and one of the very few that hasnāt been destroyed by the Healers Guild, or taken as a collectorās item.
Magic: The Acolytes of old were gifted with immunities to all the horrible diseases they spread, and the elite even served as walking hives full of ravenous insects, which they could command on their own. Isabella currently lacks the latter, but she has certainly inherited the natural resistances of her forebears.