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Kraz
Neutral Evil
God of thieves and assassins
The mere mention of the god
Kraz is enough to strike deep fear into the heart of even the most stalwart
man. A dark god, shrouded in shadow and mystery, he is as unfathomable
as the night shadows he loves to inhabit, or as powerful as his avatar
of a tremendous pillar of flame. Kraz is the patron god of any thief
or assassin; he watches over any act of treachery and relishes in lies
and deceit. Kraz is the embodiment of every nightmare or troublesome
thought - he is not invoked to scare children into behaving, he is called
upon to threaten another man's life.
The Order of the Black Hand
is an incredibly secretive society, priests who have become adept at the
treacherous ways of thieving, and more importantly, assassination.
All authority in the Order rests in one man: the undead priest Glymych,
a cold and calculating villain who has not sacrificed his years and his
humanity in vain, for he is perhaps the greatest assassin and most powerful
dark priest that the world of Alina has ever known. From deep within
the Black Chapel - a great and evil edifice in the wilderness outside of
Bridgeville in the Kingdom of Stephen - Glymych issues his dark orders,
spreading shadow wherever he may, and the instilling the fear of Kraz into
the hearts of men.
Symbols: Blood, the shadows, a bloodied dagger, a black "x" on the door frame marking a victimArtifacts:
Legends: It is rather peculiar, but the most well-known legend associated with Kraz is that of the Immortal Darkness of Bridgeville, and lich-like theif that has inhabited the city for hundreds of years, declaring a one man war upon its Theives' Guild, and then upon the Black Chapel itself. As the legend is told, the Black Demon of Bridgeville was once a mortal thief, but was transformed into the perfect theif and assassin by Glymych and Kraz himself.
Lythuae
Chaotic Good
Goddes of Chance
The favorite patron of merchants
from all walks of life (particularly tavern owners), Lythuae is qickly
invoked with a roll of the dice or slipping out of a tight scrape.
A kind and benevolent deity, Lythuae is always associate with good luck
and fortune. Few things are fixed within the Lythuaen theology, even
the very countenance of the goddess herself, who appears to some as a beautiful
maiden, to some as a kindly tavern-mistress, to others as a wrily squirrel
or weasel. At least one temple devoted to Lythuae can be found in
even a fair-sized city, and within the kingdom of Ruûn they abound.
Inside, pray is heard as often as the clatter of dice - and often the sounds
are in conjunction. Priests of Lythuae are careful to control and
quick to point out that no worship of the goddess is ever directly destructive:
one cannot lose one's fortune (completely) in one sitting at a Lythuaen
temple. While the general thrust of Lythuaen aid is beneficial, the
goddess does not stand for fools who leap without looking, nor does she
allow that all luck is good, nor that good luck with always bring good
things.
The Lythuaen church as a
whole has very little structure, and what hierarchy does exist shifts constantly,
as each year a massive tournament is held in Rackash to decide the leadership
of the church as a whole. Games of chance are plied for three days
without ceasing. The winners (the survivors) are swiftly promoted
to the highest echelons of the Lythuaen chuirch, regardless of the past
experience - or lack thereof. The Lythuaen reasoning for this is
that anyone so lucky (and thus blessed) is on intimate terms with Lythuae
herself, and in the best position to lead the church. It is important
to note that cheating of any kind - particularly at games of chance - is
the most grievous of all sins in the eyes of Lythuaen priests, punishable
by death in Lythuaen temples, and by a severe thrashing elsewhere.
Men who have crossed the followers of Lythuae are swiftly cursed with the
worst possibly luck that doggedly follows them for the rest of their lives.
Symbols: The dice, A deck of cards, A blind-folded womanArtifacts: The Deck of Lythuae is akin to a Deck of Many Things - only many times more powerful (and thus more dangerous.) Over the centuries there have been many celebrated appearances of the Deck, but it has never remained in one place for long, as it spreads small touches of chaos acrossed Alina.
Legends: The greatest legend of Lythuaen lore is that of Hormaine the Untouched. It is said that Hormaine was such a lucky fellow that he tread across the front lines of battle during the Revolts against Baûl, delivering aid and food to his fellows. Through melee and torrents of arrows, nearly trampled by cavalry and skewered by legions of pikemen, Hormaine left five days of battle completely unharmed.
Zimtz
Chaotic Neutral
The trickster, favorite of Gnomes
No one symbol of the Zimite
faith remains for long, except the mask. Decpetion, trickery and
the constantly shifting nature of things are the things that Zimtz loves
most. A genderless, shapeless god, the most pious of Zimtz's followers
do not even use a name to refer to their diety, feeling that words, especially
a name, give their god too much definition. A true Zimite is akin
to the most zealous of anarchists, setting out to always cause disarray
an chaos wherever their path may take them. More moderate Zimites
simply take pleasure in deception and fakery of all kinds, wether benevolent
or harmful. The idea of control and divination is completely alien
to the Zimite theology: they jealously guard their ultimate freedom counter
to any controling force. Gnomes and their penchant for illusion find
a great deal to love of Zimtz and his wily ways.
The Zimite "church" is hardly
anything like most other people imagine - it is more accurately a loose
and consentual conglomeration of powerful Zimite priests to whom less powerful
priests tend to defer in theology and trickery in general. This loose
political order is constantly shifting and most priests take little stock
in its rulings unless it happens to suit their own whim and interpretations.
Most followers of Zimtz are solitary beings as they have little trust in
others, nor do they ever attempty to be trustworthy themselves.
Symbols: Masks, curtains, shifting sands and wavesArtifacts: The Mask of Zimtz is a tremendously powerful artifact that allows its owner to assume any shape conceivable, and to tell any lie so that all who hear it are utterly convinced of its truth. It has a nasty habit, however, of randomly abandoning its owner at the worst possible time, leaving them in the middle of a intricate tale or in most inconvenient form.
Legends: Zimite priests keep no records, as the past means as much to them as the future; even oral histories are quickly embellished to the point of absurdity or abandoned all together.
Mouvéz (moo-VAYZ)
Chaotic Evil
Goddes of torture and anarchy
The sadistic evil of Mouvéz
places the ruthlessness of Glor to shame and overshadows even the intensity
of Kraz - Mouvéz is the epitome of evil for evil's own sake, the
infliction of pain for personal pleasure and gain and the forsaking of
any sense of order. Pain is the central credo of the Mouvézan
church, either self-inflicted or the slow torture of others, there is little
difference. Mouvézan priests will stoop to any level to gain
torture victims whose blood they may spill, whether base trickery or elaborate
schemes.
Much like the Zimite church,
organization is very much forsaken amongst the followers of Mouvéz.
There is a tendency for Mouvézan priests to form small cells about
a particularly charismatic leader who with lord over them through physical
and mental domination, through pain, financial means, or whatever may avail
him - the point is to make one's followers suffer.
Symbols: The Scourge, the Noose, BloodArtifacts: In the hands of a Mouvézan priest, the Black Scourge is an unparalleled instrument of torture: having more an effect upon the mind of the victim than his flesh. In the end, however the Scourge consumes even its weilder in its hunger for pain.
Legends: