Anthropia Deities (WORK IN PROGRESS, Assistance Appreciated)
#17 of Anthropia Adventures
The following is a work that heavily needs some work done to it, including editing, additions, and possibly reworking some ideas. If you would like to contribute, please help me out with some PM's, It would be appreciated.
The Gods: When humanity was destroyed, the original gods went down with them, and as the beast folk acquired self awareness and intelligence, new gods arose in their place. This article will detail the pantheon of the new gods for Anthropia.
When it comes to religion, the beast folk are not limited to one specific deity, if they don't want to be. They have the option to choose between worshiping a singular god, or multiple gods known as a Pantheon. Each god has their own version of the after life for taking the souls of mortals upon their death. For mortals who worship multiple gods, their choice in an afterlife is based on their Chief Deity, the primary god they pay tribute to. The other gods in their pantheon are merely those whom they acknowledge and respect, but their chief deity is the one they worship.
By ancient laws of the immortals, the Gods and spirits of nature are forbidden from directly interfering with the mortal world, but there are loop holes in this law. Mages who practice the art of Faith magic are able to create a portal within themselves that allows the power of the gods to manifest on the mortal plane. When such mages join the clergy, they act as the representatives of their gods. When they perform their magical arts, they are drawning upon the power of their deity, which can sway to belief of mortals who witness it in action. Because of this, the clergies of nearly every deity is always looking for Faith Mages (also known as Clerics) to join their ranks. Even a single mage can greatly bolster the people's faith by performing miracles in public.
However, it should be worth noting that the laws of the gods do not prevent immortals from using their powers in other realms of existance. A god's full powers are available to them within their home plane, while they are greatly reduced to only 40% power when visiting another god's realm. While occasionally the gods may have feuds with each other, challenging a god in their home plane is extremely risky, so they often choose to hold competitions within neutral outer planes where all deities involved are reduced in power.
Although slaves do, technically, have the ability to choose who they worship, it is somewhat traditional among slave owners to condition their slaves to follow the same faith as theirs. This is an effort to ensure that even in death, they will continue to own their slaves. Some masters have been known to use harsh means in an effort to force convertion among slaves that are captured later in life, but those who are born into slavery are usually raised from birth to adhere to their master's religious conduct. Of course, some worshipers choose to take a short cut, and simply hire a Dark Priest to perform a religious sacrifice, forcing the slave's soul to their lord's service.
In regards to what happens after a soul enters the afterlife, they obtain a form of immortality. A mortal's soul can die again in the afterlife, but it can not be permanently destroyed, unless it is killed by the god who rules that realm, where they are simply snuffed from existence. When a mortal "dies" in the afterlife, they are revived 24 hours later, able to resume their eternal after life. This means that even if a mortal's soul is devoured by a predator as food in the afterlife, it will simply regenerate itself, so the death was temporary.
In an effort to stop their realms from becoming over crowded with immortal souls, the gods have taken to a form of reincarnation, there is a finite limit to the number of souls that can exist within the mortal world. When the gods feel their realm is becoming too crowded, or if the mortal world is running low on available souls, they offer the chance for another go at life. The first draft picks are voluntiers who are willing to go back, but if not enough people are willing, the god may be forced to choose for them. There is usually a 100 year waiting period before any soul can be reincarnated, however, so there is no chance of someone dying and then immediately returning to life.
Those who are reincarnated have their souls completely remodeled. All memory of their former lives are stripped from them as they are placed inside a new body. Reincarnation can change your species and even your gender. There have even been cases where souls can obtain or lose Mage abilities through reincarnation, but the details on how or why reincarnation would effect one's connection to the mystic arts is still an unknown mystery. Perhaps magic really is a genetic thing, rather than spiritual, but then why do the supernatural seem to have such a powerful connection to it? Perhaps magical affinity is awakened by a form of higher enlightenment gained subconsciously at an early age, or being touched by the gods, but then why would the gods bless a mortal in one life time, and not consider them worthy in the next?
Whatever the case may be, reincarnation is often a subject of unease among mages who grow addicted to their power, but among non mages, it is seen as an opportunity to roll the dice and become one of the elite members of society.
If a soul is destroyed by a god, it opens the way for new souls to be created and born upon the mortal world. The gods have been known to punish severely disrespectful mortals by snuffing out their souls and creating new ones to replace them.
The gods, in their true forms are immense creatures standing far larger than any mortal. However, they do have the ability to control their size at will, and can assume a stature more comfortable to interacting with the mortal world. They usually take on their giant forms if they wish to show off their power, or if they are meeting with other gods.
Name: Deity's Name
Gender: Male or female?
Species: What species of beast folk is the deity?
Portfolio: What does the deity rule over?
Insignia: The holy / unholy symbol of the god
Appearance: What they look like in their true form. Deities in Anthropia are colossal beings, yet have the power to shrink themselves to interact with mortals easier.
Abilities: The divine powers of the deity
Dogma: What their religion focuses on
Name: Haklistan
Gender: Male
Species: Megaladon Shark
Portfolio: Slavery, Pirates, War Ships, Aquatic Warfare, International Trading, Sea Storms.
Insignia: A shark's fang with two cutlasses crossing behind it with the blades facing upward, similar to a skull and cross bones.
Appearance: In his true form, Haklistan is a monstrously sized giant. An anthropomorphic shark standing at 150 feet tall. His body is sleak and muscled, making him far more agile than his immense height would suggest. He wears a colossal pair of sea green pants and tan leather boots with matching gloves, but leaves the rest of his upper body exposed.
Abilities: Haklistan possesses control over the seas and at a whim, he has the ability to summon terrifying storms that are strong enough to capsize frigate sized ships and obliterate entire fleets. He is also expertly trained in fencing, particularly with the use of a cutlass, rapier, or other manner of navy sword styles. Like all of the gods, he can alter his size at will, and does not need to appear as the towering creature he is.
Dogma: Haklistan is primarily renowned as the god of slavery, and his worshipers are often slave traders who own ships that are used to transport large amounts of slaves across nations for exportation. He is also quite famous among pirates and those who favor battling at sea. All around, he is considered to be one of the evil gods of Anthropia, as his worshipers are mostly focused on causing pain and misery to others.
Haklistan's realm in the afterlife is said by his worshipers to be a tropical realm clustered with various island fortresses. The sea is filled with slaver ships transporting prisoners to and from other fortresses to be used and abused. According to his religious texts, the fortresses and the ships are owned by his faithful worshipers as a reward for their service to him. The slaves in this world are comprised of the unfaithful worshipers who only pretended to follow his teachings, yet did not take it to heart. They also comprise the ranks of slaves who were sacrificed in religious ceremonies to appease their god.
There is a fortress and an island for each worshiper who achieved the rank of High Priest, the highest rank among his clergy. The title of High Priest is only bestowed to those who have the most knowledge about his religious doctrines, and who are tasked with guiding the rest of the clergy in their duties. The High Priest rules as the head slaver of these fortresses, with the other faithful worshipers being assigned as their workers.
Haklistan's own private fortress is located in the center of this world and not just anyone can enter it. The slaves within the fortress are personally owned by Haklistan himself, and the slavers who reside within the fortress are the most trusted and faithful of his worshipers who are personally tasked with tending to Haklistan's slaves, making sure his harem is always looking their best, and in peak condition to appease their master. To be permitted to work in this fortress is the highest religious honor a worshiper of Haklistan can achieve.
Despite the fact he is worshiped as an evil god, not everyone who pays homage to him are evil. After all, slavery is only his most infamous of charges. He is also the lord of international trade, war ships, and nautical combat. Sailors who wish to trade by sea, as well as navy soldiers who wish to defend themselves from attacks while on patrol often pay him tribute to ensure a safe passage across the water, even if they are not true believers. Because of this, even those who do not wish to partake in dark deeds and worship multiple gods include him in the pantheon, if they intend to do any sort of sea fairing exploration.
Among his Dark Priests and Priestesses, a sacrificial ceremony involves a burial at sea. A sacrificial altar is brought onboard a ship and sailed far out to sea. The victim is tied down while the ceremony is performed, complete with branding the victim with the insignia of Haklistan, a magical glyph which binds their soul to him in the afterlife. After the prayers and the branding are performed, the victim is bound with ropes attached to rocks and then tossed overboard to sink beneath the waters. If they don't drown to death, they will likely be crushed by the water pressure before reaching the bottom.
Name: Doquox
Gender: Male
Species: Poison Dart Frog
Portfolio: Death, disease, poison, stealthy assassination
Insignia: A human skull with green ooze dripping from the eye sockets and inbetween the teeth
Appearance: A black backside with a purple frontside indicating the god of death and poison. He dresses in a hooded, black robe that reaches to his ankles and flows around him like wisps of shadow. Strapped to the side of his robe is an account book that has the names and dates of mortals, listing when, and how they die. His body is quite skinny and shrivled, so in appearance, he resembles an elder in their late 70's, along with using a black walking cane adorned with a minature human skull as the head piece. He is one of the smallest of gods in his true form, standing only 13 feet tall.
Abilities: Doquox's skin secretes an extremely toxic venom. A single microliter introduced into a city's water supply is potent enough to kill the entire city. Because of this, Doquox has the power to instantly kill any mortal with a single touch, even a glancing brush is all it takes. In addition, Doquox has the power to become intangible, invisible, and inaudible to mortals, becoming completely impossible to detect as he makes his way through the world. He also has the ability to travel through time and space, effectively allowing him to tend to every single death simultaneously. He is the only god in the entire list who has the authority and power to directly interfere with the mortal world!
Dogma: Doquox has become the new lord of death, ever since the former lord of death known commonly as the Grim Reaper was destroyed when humanity was purged. He is the only deity among the entire pantheon that has authority to walk the mortal world, though he remains hidden from mortal perceptions constantly. His poisoned skin makes it impossible for any mortal to ever physicaly touch him, at least not without instantly dying on contact. Because of this, it is said to be impossible to fight him off, he only needs a single, glancing blow to achieve victory.
Doquox is not technically an evil god, but rather he is seen as a form of dark mercy. Without the lord of death, there would be no death. Mortals would continue to wither and age to a point where their body would begin to mummify itself, being too weak and brittle to move. It is said that he only makes himself perceivable to mortals right when they are about to die. He solemnly watches until they have reached a certain point of injury, illness, or exhaustion and then gently taps them with a finger, ending their lives.
Doquox is often regarded as a ferryman for the other gods, allowing the souls of mortals to ascend to the higher planes. However, he does have the estranged death worshiping cults dedicated to him. These cults are often misguided and beleive that the poisoned one desires to spread death and destruction among the mortal world. This is untrue, he kills and snuffs out life because that is his essence as the lord of death. He is not a sadist, not some blood thirsty murderer, he is a god that rules death, and must enforce it as is his station.
Doquox's version of the afterlife is called the Netherrealm, a place which is populated by what at first glance appears to be the undead, though this can't be the case, as they are techncially in a realm of the afterlife. Zombies, skeletons, ghosts, mummies, and shades reside in this realm. According to religious doctrine, the souls that live in Doquox's domain are gathered from the ranks of his own cultists, as well as those who do not worship the gods. Aethiests, having no divinity in which to claim their soul in the afterlife, are forced to wander Doquox's realm.
Within the netherrealm, there exists the City of the Dead, a massive kingdom in which Doquox rules upon his throne. Everywhere outside the kingdom's walls is obscured by Nether Fog, a purple fog that completely obscures the sense of sight, and distorts sound to make it seem echoed and coming from a distance. The souls trapped in the Netherrealm must successfully navigate the Nether Fog and find the City of the Dead. According to religious texts, those who are lost in the fog are tortured spirits who still have regrets or unfinished business in the mortal world. Only once they can lay their worries or fears to rest, can they finally locate the city and rest in peace as one of its citizens.
While trapped in the fog, these spirits are still reachable from the mortal world, allowing Necromancers and Mediums to contact them, either to help them find rest, or bind them into servitude. Once a soul has managed to escape the fog and make it to his city, however, they are beyond reach of such magic.
Sacrificial rituals performed by his Dark Priests and Priestesses are horrifically gruesome and involve not merely killing the victim, but completely mutilating them. They harvest bones, organs, and body parts to use as trophies or even reagents for more complex spells and rituals. A sacrificial altar is often adorned with crevices that allow the blood of its victims to leak down into chalices, or perhaps form an intricate glyph upon the ground. The blood harvested from these rituals is either consumed like sacramental wine, or stored away to be used for highly advanced highly advanced Necromancy. These sacrificies can last for long periods of time, as the clergy believe it is a form of enlightenment to experience the act of dying. They use drugs, magic, and other methods to keep the subject alive for as long as possible while they feel the life slowly ebb from their bodies. The ceremonies end when the subject finally dies from their injuries, as there is no set limit to how long the torture continues.
Name: Balana
Gender: Female
Species: Elephant
Portfolio: Stone, Soil, Mountains, Farming, Mining, Blacksmithing
Insignia: An elephant head surrounded by a ring of mountain peaks.
Appearance: Balana, in her shrunken form, is still pretty sizeable. She dresses with a lower set of robes, yet leaves most of her upper body exposed, revealing her E sized breasts. She wears beautiful jewelery carved from precious metals and gem stones in the form of rings, necklaces, bracelets, piercings, and head pieces. The robes she wears are earthly tones, being a muddy brown, with a green, leafy pattern coiling around it. She stands at 20 feet tall at the smallest, and weighing 3,800 lbs at the lightest. Her nose is quite long, reaching down to her belly in length, and is strong enough to be used as a fifth limb in battle, should she desire it. Her true form is a truly immense figure, being the largest of all the Pantheon. It is said that she reaches 20,320 feet tall, being around the same size as Mount Everest!
Abilities: Balana has the power to control stone, dirt, and metal. This means she can unleash some pretty heavy destruction in the form of earth quakes, destroyed crops, or broken weapons and armor. Mountains rise and crumble at her whim, and she can rearrange the landscape if she's in a creative or angry mood.
Dogma: Balana is the goddess of the earth, and those who work the fields pay tribute to her. Whether its growing crops, harvesting minerals, or forging tools, those who invoke the gifts of the earth revere her for their bounty.
Most of her worshipers are renowned for their strength, and come from very large prey species such as horses, rhinos, and elephants, herbivores that have the strength to till the land and enjoy its benefits afterward. However, working for survival is not the only way to honor her. She is also worshiped by those who own mine shafts, praying for a successful collection of gems and metals that they might sell for profit, as well as praying no unfortunate accidents occur while down in the tunnels.
Balana's version of the after life is said to be a lush paradise full of succulant crops, shady trees, plenty of wood for housing, and villages where the souls of the dead may enjoy this bounty.
Her worshipers usually prefer to sacrifice fruits and vegetables, which they claim feed their goddess in the spirit world. However, Dark Priests and Priestesses who worshiper her take this in a completely different way. As she is the goddess of the earth, they believe the best way to sacrifice people is to bury them alive deep underground. After marking them with the insignia of Balana, they tie up the victim to restrain them and then place them in a wooden box and lower them down into a hole at least 6 feet deep, before piling dirt inside and waiting for the subject to either suffocate. They perform their twisted prayers to her throughout the entire process, singing praising hyms as they shovel the dirt, and ignoring the pleading cries from the sacrifice below them. It is said, by those who witness it, to be one of the most overtly terrifying sacrificial methods.
Name: Aljira
Gender: Female
Species: Rabbit
Portfolio: Fertility, Heat Cycles, Mating, Birth, Pregnancy, Life, Creation of Souls.
Insignia: A fattened, obviously pregnant bunny girl rubbing her stomach and sitting inside a circle to rest.
Appearance: Aljira appears almost identical to her brother, Nalklan, except she is female. Her fur is a creamy white color, and she is usually naked, save for gold and silver bands that adorn her biceps, wrists, ankles, and thighs. She has six breasts which are constantly producing milk for young children to drink. The upper pair are C cups, the middle are B, and the bottom are A when in her smallest form. She stands at 4'0 tall, weighing a mere 70 lbs. Her true form stands at 60 feet tall, yet retains much of her sexy, femenine curves and charms.
Abilities: Her powers may not seem all that exciting, she's merely the goddess of producing life, after all. Aljira has the ability to increase fertility and verility in males and females, ensuring they produce as many children as possible. She also has the ability to create souls, possessing the legendary power known as the flame of life.
Dogma: If Doquox is the god of death, Aljira is his opposite, being a goddess that spreads life through the world. Although often mistaken for such, her worshipers are neither perverts nor sluts, Aljira is the goddess of impregnation, not simple fucking, That title belongs to her sibling god, Nalklan. While her religious ceremonies are known to include mating between worshipers, it is always in the interest of conception and producing new life, not as a base form of deriving pleasure. Her clergy is mostly dominated by priestesses, as females are the ones who go into heat, pregnancy, and birthing. Still, there are male priests who have been known to join her cults, as their ceremonies could not be conducted with just females alone. On average, there is about 1 male for every 4 females working in the clergy.
Among Aljira's faithful worshipers, it is a right of passage into adulthood that they undertake a breeding ritual, once they come of age. Those who are eligible are given a ceremony in which a male and a female, preferably of the same species, are paired together, and breed with each other atop a sacred alter. Once the ritual is completed, they are both considered recognized adults in the eyes of the cult, and the female is taken care of, to ensure the children are born healthy and safely. For obvious reasons, the females chosen to engage in these ceremonies are always in heat at the time. Because of this ritual, everyone who has been raised within her religion usually becomes a parent to at least one litter of children.
Because their goddess embodies reproduction, Aljira's clergy is one of the fastest growing cults on Anthropia, often producing new life to help replace the old that are usually picked off by hungry predators. Indeed, were it not for Aljira's power, the beast folk may have driven themselves extinct long ago. It is also because of this that Aljira's cult is responsible for more reincarnations than any other faith. Indeed, none of Aljira's worshipers have the privelage of eternal rest within her realm, they all must return at some point to bring new life into the world. Aljira tends to send 3 times as many souls back to be reborn than the other gods do, for it is her essence as the goddess of life and birth.
It is a religious doctrine among the priestesses of her faith that their first born daughter will be raised as another priestess for Aljira. Any daughters produced after that may live other lives, should they so choose.
Aljira's after life version is said to be a family paradise, where loving couples may live in harmony away from the rigorous trials of life. It is said in religious texts, that Aljira is the one responsible for creating new souls, if the gods extinquish any from existence. Wielding the legendary Flame of Life, a power sought after by mages seeking to achieve godhood for eons.
Aljira's cult has no recognized Dark Priests or Priestesses. There is very little about her teachings that are open to be seen as dark or evil. Rather instead, her brother is the one that receives attention from evil cultists.
Name: Nalklan
Gender: Male
Species: Rabbit
Portfolio: Lust, Bastards, Debauchery, Sexual Fetishes, Hedonism, Sloth, Drunkeness
Insignia: A mockery of Aljira's insignia, this shows a rabbit boy inside a circle masturbating himself with one paw, and supporting himself with the other. His head is leaning back with the eyes closed and mouth open as if moaning in pleasure.
Appearance: Nalklan looks almost identical to his sister, Aljira, except he is a male. His fur, like hers, is a creamy white. He has a very girlish figure to him, at his smallest size reaching 4'0 tall, and weighing 70 lbs. As with his sister, his true form is 60 feet tall, yet retains much of its charming sleak build. He rarely dresses in any clothing, preferring to let himself be on full display, yet he does carry an assortment of luxurious trinkets to indicate he's different than regular beast folk. Silver and Gold bands adorn his biceps, wrists, ankles, and thighs. He wears a crown encrusted with a dime sized sample of each of the birth stones. Even in his smallest form, he is recognizeable by his great endowments, his balls being nearly the size of apples, and his cock reaching 10 inches in length, 2.3 inches in thickness, allowing him to pleasure species quite a deal bigger than him.
Abilities: Nalklan has the power over two base emotions of lust and sloth. He is capable of turning just about anyone into a lazy, horny, letch. Among his divine powers includes the ability to inflict people with exhaustion and weariness, so that the idea of a nap sounds better than work. He also has the ability to instantly send others into a fit of mind numbing, sexual arousal, so they are desperate to pounce and rut the nearest available partner. His rule over drunkeness also allows him to cloud the senses and disrupt the motor functions of others, sending them into a drunken stupor as they shamble around, oblivious to their actions, or even where they are. In short, Nalklan's godly powers resemble those of the school of illusion, tampering with the minds and emotions of others.
Dogma: Nalklan is Aljira's brother and is the embodiment of everything fools mistake her own clergy to be. A god of vice and sex, his worshipers are addicted to fulfilling their hedonistic revelry, with little interest in spreading life or settling down with a family. His worshipers are responsible for the biggest collection of whores, hedonists, and pleasure slaves ever seen in the mortal world. He is often viewed as an evil deity by those outside of his faith, yet those who worship him consider him to be a good deity who only wants his worshipers to be happy.
Despite the fact the gods are siblings, they are by no means allies. Aljira sees Nalklan as unresponsible and crude, while he sees Aljira as being too overbearing and restrictive. Why should such a pleasurable experience as mating be strictly used for rearing children, do you know how exhausting it is to raise one of those little brats, let alone 8 at a time?
Nalklan's worshipers are often lazy and would prefer to relax and enjoy themselves, than do any strenuous work. It seems the only real activity they can get riled up about is the religious ceremonies of the Nalklan cults, which are often comprised of an abundance of sex and alcohol until everyone involved blacks out, waking up the following morning in a daze as they try to remember what happened. For some, they even make a game out of it, trying to see how much they can remember from a drunken sex fest.
While most of Nalklan's worshipers are hedonists, not everyone of them are peaceful about it. Sure, some of the more generous worshipers may believe in providing pleasure for both them and their partner, but others are more selfish minded than that. Rapists and slavers also comprise the ranks of his followers, seeking to slake their urges regardless if their partners are willing.
With a god who teaches the art of self indulgence, you might wonder how a worshiper could perform something considered sinful in his eyes. Well, Nalklan finds hard workers and overbearing people to be annoying. He is constantly nagged by his sister for such actions. The regulations of Nalklan's worshipers states that there must be more pleasure in one's life, than stress. By their holy doctrine, they are required to take a moment of self indulgence for every strenuous activity they perform, and the pleasure must exceed the work load. If they spend an hour constructing something or moving a heavy object, they must spend two hours of hedonistic indulgence within a maximum of 48 hours time limit. Those who choose to work harder than they pleasure themselves are considered unfaithful worshipers, and it is a sin to allow one's stress levels exceed their pleasure levels.
Nalklan's realm of the after life is said to be a dimension sized brothel, where a soul's urges for sex, drink, and pleasure are all tended to. The unfaithful worshipers of his, who focused too much on work and responsibility, end up working as the whores and servants in this brothel, while the faithful worshipers are catered to.
In contrast to how Aljira has the largest rate of reincarnation compared to the other gods, Nalklan has the lowest reincarnation rate. Why should his worshipers have to endure the rigors of life all over again, when they can stay and indulge themselves? Nalklan seems to reincarnate only 1/3 the average number of souls that other gods do.
Even among his Dark Priests and Priestesses, the act of sacrificing another person's life is made into a relatively pleasurable experience. The process involves giving the victim a final act of pleasure upon the mortal world. During the ceremony, they are treated to a feast involving freshly prepared food, strong drink, and even sexual indulgeance. Once the chosen sacrifice is too hazy minded to fully realize what is going on, they lead them to the altar for one final act of passion. The subject, usually being too drunk or horny by this point, doesn't realize their life is about to end as they are rutted upon the alter. One of the Dark Priests or Priestesses pleasures the sacrifice and right as the victim achieves orgasm, they plunge a dagger through their heart, twisting it and then ripping it free in a shower of blood. The sacrifice bleeds to death in a matter of seconds from the goery display while an explosive orgasm is the last sensation they feel before death.
Name: Prolkar
Gender: Shifter
Species: Shifter
Portfolio: Chaos, Change, Evolution, Mortality, Rebellion
Insignia: A clawed hand gripping the planet from above.
Appearance: Prolkar's true form is impossible to describe, because quite frankly, it has no true form. It appears however it wishes to, in whatever gender or species it desires. Its most common form when in its home plane, however, is a spastically shifting mass of souls fused together. This mass is nearly the size of the ocean itself, and many religious scholars have theorized that Prolkar's body is actually comprised of all the souls that pass through his realm!
Abilities: Prolkar's abilities are vastly unknown, but it has demonstrated a highly skilled affinity for shape shifting and has been able to manifest itself as whatever it desires, from beast folk, to inanimate objects. Some believe that as the god of chaos, Prolkar has some level of ability to warp reality itself, although only small levels of proof have been unearthed to show this. Those who claim to have receieved visions of alternate realities from him have all come from the ranks of lunatics so far.
Dogma: Prolkar is widely portrayed as an evil deity by nearly all citizens of Anthropia, even his own cultists tend to mistake him for being evil. However, there exists a select group of his so called "enlightened worshipers" who have become awakened to the fact that Prolkar is actually more good than the close minded peasants would believe. He's certainly not one of the pious and holy members of the pantheon, but he's by no means evil or corrupted.
The common members of his clergy are often psychopaths who believe their faith is a free pass to spread wonton destruction and madness across the world, which is likely why most people get the wrong idea about him. However, those who are considered his enlightened members have come to the realization that chaos is the very life blood of the mortal world. Without chaos, the mortal world falls into stagnation, all life on the planet would either die out, or live on for eternity in stagnation. Chaos is what allows people to evolve, it is the essence of change, the opposition to authority and fate. In a world that is ruled by order and law, we would have infinite, undying empires and societies, but in truth, we do not. Empires rise and fall throughout the centuries, and the laws of society are created and enforced by whoever garners the most power and support. Nothing lasts forever in the mortal world, the ideas of good and evil are completely up to speculation at best, and at worst, they are meaningless words invented by cowards afraid to embrace the passage of time.
The enlightened members of his clergy despise any concept of fate, destiny, perfection, or struggle to achieve immortality. They also despise weakness, submitting to the strong, or listening to what others think is best for you, for all of these concepts belong to the realm of Order, and deny the presence of Chaos. They have a deeply rooted belief that the strong survive and the weak perish, and they encourage everyone, especially the weak to fight for survival. No creature in this world was born as a powerful ruler or a dominating predator in the food chain, their ancestors fought and bled against their environment until they claimed their place in the world by force. They believe that evolution is still happening even now, and that only through conqueoring that which threatens you, can you set your species on the path towards victory.
Worshipers of Prolkar are never a good thing when they arrive into heavily populated cities, for it is almost always followed afterward by a rebellion or an uprising of the common folk and perhaps even the slaves. The enlightened worshipers operate in secret, they rally people and give them the means and encouragement to fight for themselves, but they leave it up to their own willpower to get the job done. If the people lack the courage or motivation to claim victory from their opressors, they were unworthy of survival in the first place. Likewise, if the ruler of the area is incapable of squashing the rebellion, it is proof their life at the top of the food chain has caused them to grow lazy and careless, and it was time for a more capable leader to take their place.
Thankfully, Prolkar worshipers rarely choose to launch such plans on a prosperous society, they enjoy it when civilizations actually thrive in their environment. Instead, they perform these actions among civilizations that they believe have grown weak and stagnant, hoping that their influence will allow the society to strengthen itself in an effort to stop the threat within its borders.
The sacrificial ceremony of the Prolkar worshipers is trial by combat. They do not strap someone down to an altar and kill them, they grant them a fighting chance against the cult. If the victim succeeds in slaying the cultist who intends to sacrifice them, they are worthy of life and offered the chance to join as an initiate of the clergy so they may further learn their ways. If the sacrifice dies, however, their soul is given to Prolkar as an offering.
Prolkar's realm of the afterlife is fluid and always shifting. Instead of water, it has a massive ocean of fused souls that are constantly writhing, shifting, and grinding against each other. Over time, Prolkar's clergy discovered this abomination was actually their god, and that the souls of his worshipers joined with his body at the time of their death. Initially this frightened people into leaving the cult, but some of the more enlightened members discovered the hidden metaphor in such an afterlife and gradually began to open people's minds to the idea. All things are consumed by chaos when they become too weak or careless to survive. Only the strong are able to avoid chaos' insatiable appetite for long. In fact, this actually suits the members of Prolkar who are permitted to reincarnate. As the god of chaos and change, he despises the idea of a permanent body or fate, and so he has erected a test. The souls that comprise his body are allowed to return to the mortal world with a new life if they are able to separate themselves from the writhing mass of souls they have become part of. Such a task is not easy, however, for there are hundreds of thousands of souls all scrambling to freedom, climbing over each other, fighting and grabbing, it is a struggle only the most determined are able to achieve.
Prolkar's realm houses migrating islands which contain portals of reincarnation. Souls wishing to be reborn must break away from the ocean of souls and escape through these portals. But in addition to having to struggle against each other, these islands are always shifting both in appearance, as well as location. Even if you do manage to make it onto one of these islands, you're on a time limit to find and enter the portal before the island vanishes and you drop back into the ocean to be consumed once more. As a reward for those who successfully pass this test which would drive most people to the darkest levels of insanity, Prolkar allows the mortal to be granted one wish for their new life. Such a wish can be anywhere from choosing their own species, gender, social status, and even decide whether they will inherit magical abilities. Of course like all forms of reincarnation, the subject will have no memory of having their wish granted once they are reborn, but the promise of being able to choose one aspect of your new life is still a very tempting reward!
Name: Saldina
Gender: Female
Species: Asp
Portfolio: Wealth, Art, Music, Jewelery, Envy, Luxury
Insignia: A golden coin with a top down view of a snake's head and two sparkling rubies for eyes.
Appearance: Saldina chooses to spend most of her time relaxing in her vast wealth. She is usually coiled up and keeps her body adorned with jewelery of such fine polish, it shines when exposed to the light. Her arms and wrists have thick, gold bracelets with various gemstone colored embedded into the design. Several necklaces and amulets hang from her neck, hiding her naked chest, in place of a shirt. She even wears a royal crown with a finger length amythest embedded in the front. Her true form is roughly 70 feet long, and 8 feet thick. Even when coiled up, her very long body allows her to tower over most of the mortals who come to see her.
Abilities: Saldina's powers of wealth and luxury are difficult to explain, but one thing is certain, she has the ability to control luck and those who worship her are said to become vastly wealthy, as the clerics of Saldina perform their miracles, allowing her power to reach forth into the mortal world. Her power over art, music, and jewelery also allows for her worshipers to become some of the most talented artisans and musicians in the world. Astonishing all with their paintings, sculptures, synphonies, and gem cutting techniques.
According to her Clerics, Saldina has the power to produce music and art that is so dazzling, those who are subjected to it become lost in its beauty, falling into trances as they admire its work. This may account for many of her clergy possessing hypnotic capabilities, by using their powers to produce haunting melodies, and generating hallucinations into people's minds.
Dogma: Saldina is the goddess of luxury and those who worship her tend to decorate their homes with vast troves of artistic beauty and excessive wealth. A true worshiper will not settle for anything less than the finest garments, accessories, and living conditions their money can afford them, and they are always on the hunt for ways to improve their rank among society whenever possible. As they worship the goddess of luxury, they often tend to be lazy and hedonistic in their mindset. They prefer to have everything done as quickly and easilly as possible, despising long and tenuous hours of hard work. Many of them pay large sums of money to hire mages to craft enchanted artifacts that can accelerate the work loads, whether it be farming, cooking, cleaning, or whatever else.
Large manors with expansive hallways of portraits both depicting exotic places, as well as members of their family line are a common sight among Saldina's worshipers. They never go out in public without dressing themselves up in jewelery adorning their face, arms, and possibly their legs as well, depending on what sort of outfit they are wearing at the time.
The dark priests of Saldina have a very cruel way of performing sacrifices to their goddess. Their victims are transformed against their will into Golem servants made out of precious metals such as gold and silver. Walking about as living statues, they provide security to the dark temples, manual labor so the worshipers don't need to sully themselves, and visual entertainment as they are admired for their craftsmanship as living trophies.
Name: Albibdis
Gender: Male
Species: Scorpion
Portfolio: Rape, Pain, Humiliation, Guilt, Nightmares, Revenge
Insignia: A clenching paw with 3 iron nails piercing through its palm in a triangular pattern.
Appearance: In his true form, Albibdis stands at a massive 70 feet tall, but at his smallest form, he appears to be 12 feet in height, despite the fact many Scorpions are considered to be a small species of beast folk. He has a centaur body structure with four legs, and his upper torso has four arms. The upper set of arms are hulking in muscle structure and end in large pinchers with spiked insides that make them look as deadly as snapping jaws, while his lower arms are more humanoid in structure, allowing him to have the dexterity of a standard beast folk. The upper arms are nearly twice as long as his lower arms, and are primarily used for battle, while the lower arms are used for more common tasks. His tail in his smallest form is 14 feet long and ends with a straight forward stinger that might as well be a spear, for it is 3 feet long and can impale a victim clean through with a well placed stab.
His exoskeleton is midnight black in color, and his body is quite broad, with his chest being nearly 5 feet wide in his smallest form, with his lower body being just as wide and just as long.
Abilities: Albibdis's powers allow him to control pain in any form, whether it be physical, mental, or emotional. His Clerics that serve as his magical agents on the mortal world have been reported as using abilities that seem almost like voodoo, allowing them to transmit suffering through effigy's to the subject they represent. He is a master in the art of torture, a god without equal when it comes to knowledge of how to break one's spirit and body without killing the subject in the process. Some claim that he stalks the dream world on occasion, gathering "inspiration" from the darkest fears of the mortal psyche and then manifesting those fears into reality. The venom contained within his tail is very unique. It is not lethal, but it will place the victims in horrific, mind shattering agony for weeks on end. Subjects who fall prey to his sting have ended up begging for death within a matter of minutes after the injection takes place, and by the time it finally wears off, they have no memory of who they are, they know only blinding agony as they babble incoherently. According to rumors, even the gods themselves will suffer excruciating pain if exposed to his venom, yet they are capable of retaining their minds through the process.
Dogma: Albibdis is the god of suffering in Anthropia. Anything that causes anguish, whether it be physical or mental, belongs in his domain. A good portion of his clergy worship him in hopes that his dominion over such forces will bring divine vengeance down upon those who have wronged them in life. Indeed, his clergy often perform many ceremonies that are dedicated to the concept of revenge and making their enemies suffer for their transgressions. Among the non magical worshipers, this involves such things as constructing an effigy in the image of their victim and then destroying it in a number of slow and gruesome ways. For those who possess magic, however, it tends to get a lot more serious with the aid of spells that can transmit pain over large distances to a target of their choice, after constructing a similar effigy and using a personal belonging of the victim as a catalyst for the spell. The ability to inflict such agony without being anywhere near their victim causes many to fear and avoid the Clerics of Albibdis when possible.
Hoping to become closer to their lord, many of his more devoted worshipers perform self inflicted injuries upon themselves, or freely submit themselves to a few rounds in the torture chamber that most of his temples have constructed in the basement levels. Being able to embrace such pain without begging for mercy or dying is a sign of Albibdis' favor among his worshipers, and those brave enough to attempt it are held in great respect. Those who are able to endure the most amount of suffering often become Barbarian Reavers, and serve as the ultimate crusaders for Albibdis' teachings.
Such suffering does not always have to be physical either, although that is often considered the most satisfy way to deal out punishment for his less resolved worshipers. Torturing a victim's mind, pride, and public reputation are also acceptable methods of dealing with one's rivals. Often these punishments are humilitating and degrading, and preferably something which the victim either can not recover from, or will have considerable difficulty letting go. Kidnapping a subject and bringing them to the temple for public humiliation is common among such cases, and the victim will be subjected to a public gang raping, vulgar slurs being tattooed into their bodies, being abused and tortured by worshipers far below them in the social hierarchy, and any other method that is designed to break a person's spirit without causing too much harm to their body.
The sacrificial offerings of his dark priests are a gruesome and time consuming process. Once a month, they conduct a ritual to open a temporary gate way to their lord's realm. While there, he presents them with a single pitcher willed with the venom from his stinger, which they take back into the mortal world. During the sacrififical process, they force the victim to drink some of the poison, which may be rationed out if they have multiple sacrifices lined up. Once this is done, they tie the sacrifice down to an altar and leave the victims to writhe in agony for the next several weeks until their minds are destroyed, and then kill them as their souls are sent off to Albibdis' realm.
Name: Deity's Name
Gender: Male or female?
Species: What species of beast folk is the deity?
Portfolio: What does the deity rule over?
Insignia: What is their symbol?
Appearance: What they look like in their true form. Deities in Anthropia are colossal beings, yet have the power to shrink themselves to interact with mortals easier.
Abilities: The divine powers of the deity
Dogma: What their religion focuses on