Name/Titles: Nihris Last Born, The Dirge Singer, Breath Stealer, Honored Mother (To Derevi)
Gender: Female
Patronage: Transportation of the Dead, Derevi, Caves, Assassination, Poison, The manner of Death(She was once the Goddess of All Death but that was a long time ago.)
Parentage: Nihris Last Born came was born from the womb of Lymaeus like her five siblings were. She was the last of her family to crawl free of the earthen womb. First came Aldaril First Born, then came Mirra Second Born, then Nyxis Third Born, then Lloris Fourth Born, then Glissa Fifthborn, and last came Nihris.
Pantheon/Affiliation: Deity
Appearance: Nihris normally takes the form of a large Derevi, her children. The Derevi look like this,
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Derevi heads are roughly human shaped but they do not have the same structures. Derevi eyes are larger and more light sensitive than human eyes but they are also less precise and paint a poor picture. Two ridges above and below the eyes can be pushed shut to protect them from the elements or overly bright lights. Above the nasal canals is a hollow horn-like organ that acts like a trumpet. The horn lets Derevi make sounds to help with echolocation and underwater sonar. Below the eyes are two pits that can sense heat which also help the Derevi in the darkness of their underground homes. Thier mouths are large and full of cutting teeth. Derevi heads can tilt back more than human heads and can either be socketed in a horizontal or vertical orientation.
Derevi have two 4 meter long wing fins that are linked to their upper and lower set of limbs. The upper limbs have one long claw finger that is not part of the wing, but are otherwise encased in the wing fins. The fins also include the upper part of the lower set of limbs, going down to around the knee level. The wings are heavily muscled and the Derevi can use them to fly or to propel themselves very quickly under water. When Derevi walk on land they use their two hind-limbs to stand on and fold their wing fins up so that they do not take up as much space. This posture leaves the claw finger ready to strike.
Derevi have three 4 meter long prehensile tails that emerge from the base of the spine. Thier tails are very strong and can easily break bones or constrict tightly. Each tail has a spike at the tip and a venom sack inside. The spikes inject their venom into prey species and are retractable. The tails also can scoop up items for fine motor skills and are much more useful than the wing fin claws there. Derevi venom is a potent paralytic neurotoxin. It causes excruciating pain instantly and then rapid paralysis and death within minutes.
Derevi lower limbs are like human limbs in that they support the body in an upright position. But their lower limbs are shorter than humans and more heavily muscled. They end in four -clawed feet that can close with a vice grip. Two clawed toes point forward and two clawed toes point backwards. When they stand upright on two legs Derevi are about 2 meters tall.
Derevi have slimy skin that is covered by a thin layer of mucus. If their skin dries out it cracks and can develop painful sores. Their skin is tough though and not easily broken.
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Because the Derevi are not liked or accepted by humanity Nihris does take other forms. She favors a thin female human body with silver hair and grey skin. Nihris doesn’t have eyes in her human form and she wears a dirty grey robe that she pulls down over the place where her eyes would be. She doesn’t care about human aesthetics and her body is stick thin and not a work of art or beauty. Sometimes she rides on the back of a grey horse with a white horse and a black horse beside her. The white horse is for Miphas and the black for Sharzunates.
Centres of Worship/Places of Power:
Nihris is not a goddess that very many people worship. The goddess of a race of ‘monsters’ and the act of death, she is not very popular. There are a few shrines to her on the surface of Lymaeus but not a lot of them. When people grow old they often leave offerings at her temples hoping that she will take them to Hevas and not to Malebazus when they die. Beneath the surface and in the hidden cavern lakes where the Derevi dwell Nihris is worshiped differently. To the Derevi she is still the Honored Mother who gave them life and they worship her above all other gods. But the Derevi don’t build temples and so even where she is worshiped there are not very many holy sites. Nihris is most powerful in her underground realm beneath the surface of Lymaeus.
Servants, Prominent Followers and Worship Base:
Nihris doesn’t have very many human servants. Sometimes humans will pray to her when they feel death coming and want to plead to go to Hevas or want to die painlessly. She is sometimes worshipped by assassins and warriors with a darker bent because she does bring death but they are few.
Nihris is worshipped a lot by the Derevi. They were her children in the early days of her life and they have always had close ties with her. Nihris gave them gifts to live in a land where humans could not, the world beneath the surface. The Derevi still hold love for their mother and they willingly answer her calls to kill and steal the last breaths of humanity when she allows it. But they suffered when she fell long ago and no longer can flocks of Derevi blot out the sky.
The last supernatural servants of Nihris live inside the twin Gates of Nihris that lead to Hevas or Malebazus. The gates can talk and the metal they are made from can shift to form faces. No one is sure what these two spirits are but it is said that they will only open the Gates if Nihris orders it. She gave this authority to Aroesus when she swore fealty but she has reclaimed it now that he is dead.
Psychology:
Nihris is very rarely happy. She was happy once, when her brothers and sisters ruled over the world and she had not seen her children burned and massacred. Once she was called the Blessed Reaper for she only brought an end to people who had reached their time and she made death painless. But she has grown bitter over the long years and now only the lucky get to die in peace, most suffer before they die. Nihris cares for the welfare of her children, the Derevi and for her mother, Lymaeus in that order and she has sacrificed herself before to save her children from destruction. She believes that her brothers and sisters did a better job stewarding over Lymaeus and she has dreamed off the day when they could be freed. Nihris responds to most things with apathy and as long as the insular goddess is left alone she has left other members of the pantheon in peace.
History:
First there was Ventu and his creations. But Lymaeus (Like Gaia in Greek myths) lived in those days too, before she had become heartbroken with grief and pain. Before she had retreated into herself and spoke no longer. When she saw the children of Ventu she longed for children of her own and her longing birthed Titalarus. But he was so monstrous that even Lymaeus didn't know what to make of him. She tried again and her own children rose, elemental and powerful from within her own form. First came Aldaril First Born of Stone, then came Mirra Second Born of Water, then Nyxis Third Born of Storms, then Lloris Fourth Born of Fire, then Glissa Fifth Born of Forests, and last came Nihris Last Born of the Depths. Nihris became the goddess of death among her other traits and she created the twin Gates of Nihris to bar the way to Hevas and Malebazus so that the dead could not leave and the living could not enter before their time.
For many long years the children of Lymaeus claimed that their mother was theirs and ruled over Lymaeus and the lesser gods who also lived upon her. But Ventu tired of creation and he turned to destroy it. The children of Lymaeus joined their strength with Aerosus and his brothers to fight against Ventu and in the end they won. But when victory was won and the children of Lymaeus tried to return to their domains on Lymaeus Aerosus ordered them to submit to him and surrender their birthrites. They refused and he declared he would take it from them. And they fought.
Aldaril raised mountains and called on the stones for strength but he fell, Mirra fought with balance and illusions but they were pierced, Nyxis raged across Lymaeus but the sky rejected him and he fell, Lloris’ fire was quenched, Glissa was uprooted and cut down. Nihris called to her children and they flocked to her in a cloud that blotted out the sun. But they died in their thousands and when she tried to hide among them Aroesus broke open their caves and burned them.
Nihris sued for peace, begging that her children be spared. She offered to serve the new god king and was spared but the price was harsh. No longer would Nihris Last Born of Lymaeus be the goddess of death and no longer would the Derevi breed as they once had. When Aroesus demanded that no more Derevi be born Nihris obeyed but she denied her children oblivion, prolonging their lives so that they would not pass from the world. She survived and has continued in the role she has left in the world for her children still live and that is the most important thing.
Now Aroesus is dead and Nihris has lifted the restriction on the Derevi breeding, commanding her children to breed once more. Rumors say she gathers the most ancient of her children to take back Malebazus and free her brothers and sisters from lake Sharzunates..
Relationships:
Loves, hates, lusts, crushes, affairs, rapes, incests, zoophilia incidents with shepherd girls (always a Jovian favorite) and the like. Oh, and mere alliances and rivalries, as well. Probably fueled by the above.