Why would paladins be boring in this world? I've already stated how some paladins exist in this world. For example, the Oath of the Arcane Paladin (my homebrew) is relatively common among the island of Lantanea, and extremely common in the Yikkan Goblinoid society. The Oath of Souls (my homebrew) are fairly common as followers of the Raven Queen, mostly in the Shadowfell that make sure spirits pass on to the afterlife.
Paladins and Clerics don't need to worship or serve a deity in any D&D world, especially in worlds with less/no deities (Eberron, Dark Sun, Ravnica, Tor-eal). A paladin character would be just as fun in this world as any other D&D world, IMO.
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Sheiohn Foulen: After the diaspora of the new race, the Felshen, and their reestablishment of psionics to the world in their "Sheiohn Foulen" (One-Mind Foundation). The Sheiohn Foulen is a sort of world-wide faction or alliance between almost all of the Felshen settlements. The main cities and towns that were part of the Sheiohn Felshen are connected telepathically through the Psiphoel, which allow them to communicate back and forth using telepathy instantly. The leaders of the cities and towns that are a part of the Sheiohn Felshen are elected through a telepathic vote in the Sheitharlin, the leader being designated as the Sheimos (Our-Mind). They live inside buildings carved out of marble, alabaster, basalt, dolerite, obsidian, and other colorful rocks, with windows created out of quartz and other crystals, varying between settlements. This building is called the Sheimoure (Mindcenter), and the Sheimos will be the representative of their settlement in the event that the Sheohn Foulen has a telepathic gathering for emergencies or war. They communicate with each other typically through underground tubes of Ihnzule (Telepathy Extension Crystals, the ones used in Psiphoels), which are privately used to communicate with other settlements' Sheimos when necessary.
Ordinary citizens of settlements that are a part of the Sheiohn Foulen live different lives from the typical individual of Tor-eal. They are much more connected with one another, not just in their own hometowns, but also with other citizens of different Sheiohn Foulen settlements. This is due to the Psiphoel-Chen, which each major city of the Sheiohn Foulen has at least 4 connected to their city in order to communicate with other cities. These allow anyone in these settlements that have telepathy to communicate long distance instantaneously with any other psionic creature within 60 feet of the Sehnzule (Central Ihnzule) that is connected telepathically to the Psiphoel-Chen.
The Psiphoel-Chen and the hidden Ihnzule-Chen that are used by the Sheimosé (plural of Sheimos) rely on the Ihnzule, which are the telepathy-extending psi crystals. Psi crystals were originally discovered by the Sheiohn Foulen when they met Alverixizyth, the ancient amethyst dragon who helped them master their psioinic powers. Alverixizyth taught them how to use telepathy and other psychic powers that they were yet to tap into, also teaching them of how to use psi crystals to help channel and empower their psionic powers. Though this dragon helped them discover their potential powers over psionics, they did not invent any of the innovations that are now common among the Sheiohn Foulen, Alverixizyth left that for them to master.
The Ihnzule are created by telepathically fusing a psi crystal together with a piece of Blue Zapphrite (sapphire crystal infused with magic lightning, created by blue dragons). This allows the Psi-Crystals to function without bonding with a living creature, and changes their function from granting telepathy to extending it. This creates an Ihnzule crystal, and their most common usage is in the Psiphoel-Chen. The poles of the Psiphoel-Chen are over 70 feet in height, spaced 60 feet apart, and typically have a path near them for easy access if repairing is needed. Smaller settlements typically only have one Psiphoel-Chen, if they have any, but they are often connected to other Psiphoel-Chen through the Sehnzule of other settlements in the Sheiohn Foulen.
Sehnzule are large psi-crystals that are kept in the same building as the Sheitharlin (Mindhouse-Beacons) and Sheidarr (Dream-hub). These buildings are called Senshei (Mind-Centers), and there is only ever one in any settlement that is part of the Sheiohn Foulen. Many homes and buildings are centered around it to gain access to the psionic enhancing powers that it grants, but its powers can be extended by Psiphoel kept inside the city. The main usage of the Senshei is for communication between individuals within the same settlement and within other settlements or Pseips (Psionic Rest Areas, found along the roads near Psiphoel-Chen). The Sheidarr is one of the most important aspects of the Sheiohn Foulen society, as anyone within the range of a connected Psiphoel-Chen will be able to go into a dream-hub as they sleep. These dream hubs are bustling, filled with many telepathic individuals (typically Felshen, but with the occasional Gem Dragon, Ceremorph, or Flumph), and they can either communicate in the Sehndarr (Central-Hub) or if they encounter someone in this dreamscape metaphysically or telepathically, they may enter a Velen-Cohm (Virtual Communication). This allows for them to link into a private dream-realm while still asleep. Centuries ago, the Sheiohn Foulen formed an alliance with the Gem Dragons of the Ruby Palace, and created a super tall tower Psiphoel to contact them.
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The Yikkan Contingent:The Yikkan Contingent is the international faction of Yikkan Goblinoids who are all allied together in purpose, serving the Yikare (replacement of the Weave of Magic). They worship and revere the Yikare, which is the source of arcane, divine, and primal magic in Tor-eal. Yikkan goblinoids find the number 3 holy, as well as 9, due to the types of spellcasting magic in the world. These types are all practiced by members of the Yikkan Contingent, but Arcane Magic is far more common than the other two types, but Divine Magic far more common in these societies than Primal. Psionics is hated and hunted by Yikkan Goblinoids.
The settlements that are part of this contingent are led by a Council of the Cord, which consists of three members, elected to each seat upon the death of the previous member in the specific seat. The Council of the Cord consists of one of each of the main types of goblinoids and each member must be a certain type of spellcaster, divided into three groups, each of which may only have one representative in a settlement's Council of the Cord. These are the three groups of yikkan spellcasters:
Cohs (Chosen Casters, such as Celestial Warlocks and Divine Soul Sorcerers)
Coohrs (Choosing Casters/Choosers, such as Arcane Trickster Rogues, Arcknights, Artificers, Eldritch Knight Fighters, Lore Bards, and Wizards)
Cohice (Choice Casters, such as Arcana Clerics and Oath of the Arcane Paladins)
Bugbears typically are Arcana Clerics, often being revering, devoted, and wise casters. Goblins are most often Celestial Warlocks, Divine Soul Sorcerers, Lore Bards, and Oath of the Arcane Paladins, being charismatic and heart-driven goblinoids. Hobgoblins lean towards becoming Arcane Trickster Rogues, Arcknights, Artificers, Eldritch Knight Fighters, and Wizards. The Cohice seat is most often filled by a Bugbear, the Coohrs seat is most often filled by a Hobgoblin, and the Cohs seat is most often filled by a Goblin. A member of this type of magic can focus on one of the three arts listed below:
Dehvoes (War Magic, evocation, abjuration, damaging and warding effects)
Booyehgs (Charm Magic, illusion, enchantment, conjuration, artifice, controlling, and other initially non-harmful effects)
Nevyihks (Life Magic, healing, necromancy, draining, and other harming/restoring magical effects)
Hobgoblins typically lean towards being Dehvoes, protecting their people and destroying enemies, Bugbears typically are Nevyihks, healing and performing other miracles among their people, and Goblins are most often Booyehgs, distracting and confusing enemies and spying on others. Though they typically lean towards these arts, any goblinoid may be a member of any group of caster, as well as a practitioner of nearly any art of spellcasting.
The three members of the Council of the Cord work together to protect, build, and otherwise be in control of their own settlement, and they represent their community in any discussions with the other members of the Yikkan Contingent. The Councils of the Cord from different settlements communicate using the sending spell to instantly communicate between each other, sometimes using sending stones if none of the members of the Council of the Cord can cast the spell.
Spellcasting citizens of the Yikkan Contingent must obey their ideology, or they are banished. The main parts of their dogma they must be convicted to are as follows, listed in order of importance:
Magic chooses, and can be chosen. Revere and serve the Choosers, Chosen, and Choice.
Destroy practitioners of psionics and all aberrations. Psychic powers are abhorrent and a pestilence upon the land.
Protect, and receive protection. Harm, and be harmed.
Do freely until others cannot freely do.
Uniformity is the foundation of all great societies.
Be wary of outsiders, but accept our own.
Self-sufficiency is crucial to independence and readiness.
Masters of the Yikare from any background are openly accepted.
Magic is how the world works, and our society must function off of it.
Due to these "commandments," Yikkan Goblinoids are fairly reclusive, not often interfering with the world around them, rarely even interacting with others, except for when they come across psionic or aberrant creatures. This leads to an ongoing rivalry between them and the Felshen, Verdan, Duergar, Ceremorphs, and Gem Dragons of Tor-eal, occasionally breaking out into all-out war. This has caused the event known by the Yikkan Goblinoids as the Purge of Psionics, which is more commonly known among Felshen and other humanoids as the Felyik Wars.
(I will update later on the Feljik Wars, which spanned many centuries, and was never truly resolved. Thanks for reading thus far!)
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Okay, I have made two more subraces for the Golmeng:
Prysmex
A Prysmex is a Golmeng formed out of a type of glass, such as typical, clear glass, obsidian, stained glass, or some other monochromatic glass-type. Their bodies are completely transparent, and like all other types of Golmeng, they do not wear clothing, as they have no reason to do so. Their "skeletons" are formed from enchanted crystal rods that glow, allowing these Golmeng to illuminate their bodies and places around them with a spectrum of scintillating colors and lights. This also allows for them to focus this radiant energy into a blinding cone of light.
Prysmex Traits
Ability Score Increase.
Increase your Dexterity and Constitution Scores by 1.
Transparency.
You gain resistance to radiant damage, as your physical transparency diffracts and scatters light.
Glass Form.
While you are not wearing armor, your base AC is 13 + your Dexterity modifier.
Glassworker.
You gain proficiency in the glassblower's tools.
Glow.
As an action, you may begin to shed light, emitted from your body. This causes a 10 foot radius of bright light, with an additional 10 feet of dim light, of a color (or colors) of your choice centered on you to be emitted until you end this effect as an action.
Blinding Cone.
As an action, you may create a 15-foot-cone of blinding light to be emitted from your hands in a direction of your choice. Each creature within this area must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against a DC of 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier, or take Xd6 radiant damage, where X is your proficiency bonus, and become blinded for 1 minute. On a successful save, a creature is not blinded and takes half as much damage. A blinded creature repeats the saving throw at the end of each of their turns, ending the condition on a success.
Once you use this feature, you may not do so again until you finish a short rest.
Jemlin
The Jemlin are the youngest subrace of the Golmeng, being created by the cooperation of the Felshen, Surfneblin, and Lantanean Artificers. Their bodies are formed out of lab-grown, artificial gemstones and crystals, and their brains and intelligences are formed out of psi crystals, as well as other psychic instruments created by the Sheiohn Foulen. Their bodies may appear as true gemstones, but they are actually magically-created artificial gems and crystals that are nearly worthless, but their psi crystal brains are expensive and useful, causing them to often be extracted upon the death of a Jemlin, as they are the source of a Jemlin's psychic powers. Their bodies can appear as any type of gemstone or crystal, from Sapphire, Ruby, Topaz, Quartz, Peridot, Diamond, Emerald, or other crystals and gems.
Jemlin Traits
Ability Score Increase.
Your Intelligence Score increases by 2.
Psychic Resistance.
You have resistance to psychic damage.
Gemcutter.
You gain proficiency in the jeweler's tools.
Resilient Form.
You gain a +1 bonus to Armor Class.
Telepathy.
You gain telepathy out to a range dependent on your Intelligence Score, as the more intelligent you are, the more powerful your psychic powers are. See the Psychic Telepathy table below to determine what the range of your telepathy is. If your Intelligence Score changes, so does the range of your telepathy.
Intelligence Score
Range of Telepathy
0-2
0 feet
3–7
15 feet
8–11
30 feet
12–15
60 feet
16-20
120 feet
21-25
180 feet
26-30
240 feet
Psychic Wave.
As an action, you may emit a pulse of psionic energy. Each creature of your choice within 5 feet of you must make an Intelligence saving throw, the DC being 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier. On a failed save, a creature takes Xd6 psychic damage, where X is your proficiency bonus, and becomes incapacitated until the end of your next turn. On a successful saving throw, they are not incapacitated and take half as much damage.
Once you use this feature, you may not do so again until you finish a short rest.
Okay, those are the two new subraces of Golmeng. I would appreciate thoughts, if you have any.
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A strange being dwells in the deep ether of the realms, a faint, spectral entity that snatches the spirits of the dead and pulls them through the Ethereal Plane to the Raven Queen's Fortress of Memories in the Shadowfell. This entity is an invisible, phantasmal conglomerate of the residual spirits of the deities that perished in the Great Sacrifice, who are known as the Sacrificed. The phantom being is called the Vistaesh, and was once the spirits of all the deities that perished in the end of the Catastrophe. It is now part of the cycle of life, whose role is to make sure that the souls of the dying make their way to the Raven Queen for Judgement, as well as filling the role of being the deliverer of souls to newborn creatures that have souls. The Vistaesh also has the ability to create souls using the remnants of its quasi-divine power when a soul is lost or destroyed destroyed, either from being lost permanently to the Punishment, is consumed by a lich's phylactery, manages to avoid passing on to the Afterlife, or any other way a soul is lost or destroyed.
Origin of the Vistaesh
When a deity dies in some way in the Forgotten Realms, their soul and body travels to the Astral Plane and it becomes petrified until it regains followers and is reawakened through a powerful act of magic. However, if a deity's spirit cannot make its way to the Astral Plane for some reason (such as when Karsus perished), it instead becomes a remnant of its previous self, called a Vestige. This is exactly what happened when the Great Sacrifice cut off the Inner Planes from the Outer and Astral Planes, as the spirits of the gods that died could not undergo the normal process of the death of a deity. Due to this, all of the hundreds of deities who gave their lives in the Great Sacrifice became vestiges and began to wander the Ethereal Planes without purpose. This left them without the majority of their previous power and stripped them of much of their will and consciousness. These dozens of vestiges did not have a purpose and were mere travelers and observers until the Raven Queen discovered these vestiges.
Shortly after the Great Sacrifice, the Raven Queen became overwhelmed with a flood of souls from the millions who perished from the end of the Catastrophe. She nearly was destroyed by this constant stream of souls, as she was in the process of reforming the Afterlife system. She began to try and reach out into the multiverse and find anything that could help her control the overflowing souls, and while doing so she encountered the vestige of one of the Sacrificed. She then realized how she could stop her destruction, and began to gather together all of the vestiges of the Sacrificed, and amalgamated them together into a single entity, combining together their weak, undying yet perpetual energy to cause them to amass this divine energy in a way that could be more easily utilized for her purposes.
In this process, she stripped away the lingering identity and twisted portfolios in order to finish this divine homogenization, and gave these combined vestiges into one single being, the Vistaesh. While these vestiges were individual beings, they were extremely limited in power, but with the Raven Queen combining them together into one united entity, their powers were more powerful and useful. She bound this being to herself, causing it to be the multiverse's transporter of spirits, brining the dead souls to her realm for them to the judged, as well as transporting reborn and newborn souls to the bodies of infant creatures that have souls, upon their birth. This eased the burden of the Raven Queen, allowing her to focus her portfolio and divine energy on maintaining the Afterlife system and continuing the Judgement of all those who die. Now, the Vistaesh funnels and snatches the souls, being the psychopomp of Tor-eal.
Features of the Vistaesh
The Vistaesh is an enormous incorporeal and invisible entity whose home are the unfathomably deep parts of the Deep Ethereal Plane. Due to it being a conglomeration of dozens of vestigial deities of all personalities and genders, it has no gender, no definable, physical form, and has no motivation or goals. Instead, it is a culmination of the whispy, ephemeral spirits of the Sacrificed ancient gods and goddesses. When one can view the entity, it appears as a colossal, translucent specter formed out of gray, cloud-like ether, only visible by those in the Deep Ethereal Plane who can see invisible creatures. Another way to view part of this quintessence of phantom energy is to be on the Material Plane or another part of the Inner Planes (excluding the Deep Ethereal Plane) and be able to see invisible objects and creatures while also being able to see into the Border Ethereal Plane when a Tendril of the Vistaesh arrives to snatch the creature's spirit.
The face of the Vistaesh is nearly featureless, with no nose, ears, eyes, hair, nostrils, lips, or any other defining features. It does have a mouth, but it is instead just a slight depression in its face's phantasmal form and serves no clear purpose. This "mouth" is perpetually twisted into a gruesome moan, that sends stunning pulses of sonic energy to creatures around it. Its "head" is not attached to a neck or body, and is not truly a separate part of its body, and is constantly tilted upwards towards the "sky" of the Ethereal Plane. It has no body, instead having the majority of its form being composed of twisting, ever-changing, impossibly-long, ephemeral tendrils that jut out of the back of the Vistaesh's head. These tendrils are directed by the Vistaesh, sent to snatch the spirits of the deceased. Few have ever seen the being's true form in person, and fewer have survived to describe such an encounter, but the general form of the Vistaesh is relatively well known across Tor-eal. This is due to the scrying sensors of divining mages, who have then recorded and drawn this entity and kept sketches and images of it in museums and libraries of the realms.
The Vistaesh is a quasideity with no agenda or personality. Instead of being a typical, sentient demipower that has its own goals, wants, emotions, and necessities, the Vistaesh exists in and of itself. It has no goals other than those "programmed" into its nature by the Raven Queen's reformation of its vestiges. It has no wants, other than to fulfill its purpose in the multiverse, also bestowed upon it by the Raven Queen. Unlike most deities and demigods, it has no need for worshippers to grant it power, even though it does have some followers, priests, paladins, and warlocks. It does not have typical emotions, though it has an innate desire to convey souls across the multiverse, and is driven to do its duty for the Raven Queen.
Purposes of the Vistaesh
The primary purpose of the Vistaesh is to transport and deliver spirits and souls throughout nearly all corners of the known multiverse, being the font of new souls when needed, keep the balance of the afterlife system, and catched the renegade spirits who have escaped its grasp. It uses its massive tendrils to do so, absorbing their spirits in order to transport them, creating new souls through an ethereal connection to a newborn creature, and snatch those souls it finds with its tendrils. When a creature that has a soul dies, the Vistaesh immediately detects where its body or remains are upon the time of its death, and immediately sends a tendril to this location to snatch its spirit. The Vistaesh is magically alerted of the precise position of any creature with a soul when it dies due to its quasi-divine energy, but is not omniscient with regards to the location of spirit after it leaves its body. Due to this, it is not impossible for a spirit of an individual to escape the tendril of the Vistaesh that was sent to collect their soul and bring them before the Raven Queen for immediate judgement.
Divinity of the Vistaesh
The Vistaesh is a demipower, a quasideity, and a demigod that is a compilation of hundreds of vestiges of the Sacrificed, and has vast and everlasting power over the forces of life and death. Due to this, it is revered and worshipped across the multiverse by multiple faiths and individuals. Followers of the Raven Queen venerate and honor the Vistaesh, seeing it as an essential part and mechanism of the afterlife system, especially followed by Shadar-Kai and Sharbolg of the Shadowfell. Other faiths that follow the Vistaesh are the Cult of Terror (cultists who worship the Abomination of the Punishment, filled with Conquest and Oathbreaker Paladins, Darkness Domain Clerics, Hexblade and Undead Warlocks, Phantom Magic Wizards, Whispers Bards, Berserker Barbarians and others), the Yikkan Contingent, and many other religious systems in the multiverse.
Those who worship or follow the Vistaesh are typically Clerics of the Life or Grave Domain, Oath of Souls Paladins, Circle of Midnight Druids, Long Death Monks, Phantom Rogues, Shadow Sorcerers, Undying Warlocks, and others who respect the balance of the afterlife and inevitability of death. Though there are some who honor or even worship the Vistaesh, at least as many, or possibly even more of those living in the Inner Planes are scared of and wish to avoid the Vistaesh. This is due to the widespread knowledge of the Punishment, which has been viewed through divination magic and taught of by proselytizing followers of the Raven Queen for centuries. Thus, nearly all of those who live on Tor-eal and the rest of the Inner Planes know of what will happen if they die, causing many of them, especially evildoers, to fear and attempt to avoid death.
Aversion of the Vistaesh
Due to the harshness of the Afterlife for those who manage to make their way into the Punishment due to being evil, many people seek to find a way to escape death or escape the Vistaesh, as they know what their punishment will be if they get snatched by the Vistaesh and judged by the Raven Queen. This gives evildoers much more of an incentive for attempting to avoid death than they did before the Catastrophe, especially as the Punishment grows worse and worse throughout the years as more people die. This has lead to a higher demand for spells and other types of magic that can extend the life of an individual (such as a potion of longevity) or trap their soul in another vessel so that the Vistaesh can't snatch them (such as a phylactery, soul gem, magic jar, or ring of mind shielding), or turn them into a free-willed undead creature (such as a vampire). This fear of death is what drove Zilya Brightstring (now known as Saint Zilya Darkcord) to betray her people and reincarnate Vecna, and is the same fear that drives the Vezyi, Fehntüm, Negpae, and other followers of Vecna and necromancy to seek out longer lifetimes.
Vecna is the nemesis of the Raven Queen, and his demipower known as Kossyeth is the archenemy of the Vistaesh. Kossyeth is an archallip that dwells in the Underfell and channels the souls of those who perish in the Underfell to Vecan and his phylactery and serves as his secret-keeper. This causes endless battles in the Shadowfell, between the Nemrav, Shadar-Kai, and Sharbolg of the surface of the Shadowfell and the Vezyi, Fehntüm, and Negpae of the Underfell. Though the Vistaesh has access to the spirits of every portion of the multiverse accessible through the Ethereal Plane, the Underfell is the sole exception to this. When Vecna returned and carved out his domain in the Underfell, he performed an epic ritual that cut off the Vistaesh's access to the Underfell. This prevents the Vistaesh from being able to snatch the souls of anyone in the Shadowfell, and instead allows Kossyeth to serve as the psychopomp of Vecna's realm. This causes some who wish to avoid the Punishment to make a deal with Vecna, becoming allowed to live in the Underfell as long as they do something in return for this god of undeath.
Escaping the Vistaesh's Tendrils
Though the vast majority the souls of those who perish are snatched by the Vistaesh and delivered to the Raven Queen's Fortress of Memories, it is possible to escape the tendril that is sent to capture your spirit. This is due to the fact that the Vistaesh is aware of where your body is when you die, but not your spirit. When you die, your spirit is stuck inside your body until the Vistaesh arrives to snatch it, or until your body manages to escape the body through one of the ways listed below. If you die and are wearing a ring of mind shielding, or have another item that would suck or trap your soul
The destruction of your body (through the disintegrate spell, incineration, and so on) releases your spirit.
The casting of the freedom of movement spell on your corpse, or that was active on you when you died, frees your spirit.
The casting of the release spirit spell releases your spirit.
The casting of the banishment spell on your corpse or being killed by an attack that had the banishing smite spell traps your spirit in a harmless demiplane until the spell ends, and your spirit is freed when the spell ends.
As an action on your turn while you are dead and stuck inside your body, you may make a DC 12 Dexterity (Mobility*) check. If you succeed on this check for the third time, your spirit is freed from your body.
Otherwise, your spirit remains in your body for 1 minute or until the Tendril of the Vistaesh snatches your spirit from your body. When your spirit escapes, you gain a flying speed equal to the walking speed you had before you died, and the only action you can take is the Dash action. You are incorporeal, invisible, immune to all damage dealt my corporeal creatures, and appear inside the Border Ethereal. You can still be targeted by spells and other effects that target creatures, but are immune to the grappled, prone, and petrified conditions. Your spirit appears as you did when you died, with the same equipment and clothing, but you cannot damage any corporeal creature.
Upon the death of a creature that has a soul, roll 1d20. The Vistaesh sends a tendril to snatch the spirit of this creature after an amount of rounds equal to this roll, arriving at initiative count 0 of this round, appearing in the Border Ethereal Plane. If the spirit of this creature is still inside its body when this tendril arrives, the Tendril snatches it and leaves one round later with the spirit. If the spirit of this creature is no longer inside their body when the Vistaesh arrives, it searches 100 feet in every direction, snatching any spirit it comes across. It searches another 100 feet in every direction this way for 1 minute, snatching any and all spirits it encounters during this time. This Tendril is not a creature, does not take turns, cannot be attacked or targeted in any way, and has no senses, except for being able to sense and snatch any spirit it runs into.
The spirit of a creature that escapes their body must outrun the Tendril of the Vistaesh, moving a total of at least 1,000 feet away from where their body was when they died over the course of 1 minute after the Tendril of the Vistaesh arrives. An escaped spirit can travel through the Ethereal Plane until it makes a deal with Vecna, a lich, or another undead/necromantic creature, are snatched by a Tendril of the Vistaesh, are killed, or transformed into an incorporeal undead (such as a ghost, specter, wraith, and so on).
Resurrection and the Vistaesh
If a creature is resurrected before the arrival of the Tendril of Vistaesh, by means of the revivify or other magic, the Tendril of the Vistaesh does not arrive to snatch its spirit, but instead grabs the spirit and resurrects it. If the body is undergoing the process of being resurrected through a raise dead spell or similar magic, the Vistaesh learns the position of its spirit, snatches it, and delivers it to its body to resurrect the creature.
Okay, that's the Vistaesh. I would love to hear your thoughts on it. It is quite a unique being. I can't think of anything like it in other D&D worlds or fantasy worlds. Thanks for reading, and I'll get more up on this world either tomorrow or later tonight!
Edit: Wow, just did a word count for this post. It's over 2,800 words. No wonder it took me so long to type.
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Though most of the deities and quasideities of the Forgotten Realms perished due to the Catastrophe (most with the Great Sacrificed), some survived, others were reborn in some way, and others emerged as new entities after this calamitous event. The main deities and demipowers that survived were those that lived in the Inner Planes, but not all whose abodes were in the Inner Planes were spared, some of them dying before the Great Sacrifice, and some dying afterwards, for example; Auril who was killed by the PRince of Frost after the Catastrophe, Sardior chose to sacrifice himself to protect the Inner Planes, and so on.
There are no longer hundreds of true deities or dozens of pantheons, as there were before the Great Sacrifice. There are also longer specific deities for different races and creatures, but some races do prefer specific deities and quasideities over others, such as the Yikkan Goblinoids who worship the Yikare, or the unseelie fey who revere Queen Umbra.
undead, secrets, selfishness, magic, avoiding death and fate
Arcana, Death
The Eye and Hand of Vecna
Vistaesh
—
transporting souls, life, death, the afterlife
Grave, Life, Order
A glass tendril
Yikare
N
magic, knowledge, progress
Arcana, Knowlege
A ball of tangled, arcane-blue yarn
* - homebrew subclass
Icaernei, the Prince of Frost
Also known as "The Biting Winter" or "The Time Freezer," Icaernei, the Prince of Frost, is the master of winter, cold, ice, and freezing time. He dwells inside a ginormous castle of ice, known as the Frozen Palace, that is found both in the Far North of the Feywild and Frostfell. He is a frostbitten archfey who has a longstanding alliance with the Gloam Council, a previous member of the council that has gradually been moving towards independence. He is a bitter and cruel deity who demands veneration from those who dwell in the cold parts of the multiverse. Most of his temples are found in the cities of winter eladrin in the Feywild and arctic elves of the North. His followers commonly range from white dragons, frost giants, genasi, and elves, but his worshippers are scattered across the known multiverse.
However, his portfolio is not only limited to ice and cold, it also includes fate and freezing time. This is due to his attempt to catch his runaway love, Sharaea, the first Daughter of Delight. She was the former fiancé of Icaernei, back when he was known as the Sun Prince, who grew tired of the Feywild and fell in love with a mortal adventurer. She feared for her safety and the safety of her new lover, and made a deal with the Raven Queen, who agreed to send them far into the future to allow the Prince of Frost to calm down back to his previous form. The other Daughters of Delight, who become the Sisters of Lament for centuries, eventually regained their previous forms and were recruited to the Society of Radiance by Queen Tinaria.
Icaernei is the son of Queen Tinaria, and after the end of the Catastrophe he became a member of his aunt's Gloaming Court in order to further his goals. He believes that if he manages to freeze time long enough, he can stop Sharaea from escaping his grasp. He has began to teach his followers how to master chronurgy magic and is preparing to preform an epic ritual to freeze time long enought to catch his long-lost love, which he practices yearly on the winter solstice. He plans to perform the final ritual during a Solar Eclipse, permanently freezing the moon in front of the planet long enough to cool down the planet enough to empower his time-magic, which he hopes will allow him to catch Sharaea.
Depiction.Icaernei, the Prince of Frost resembled an eladrin with icy blue skin, long white hair, and piercing, glacier-blue eyes. He continually gives off an aura of freezing cold and can transform others into ice statues with a glance of his eyes. He wears dark armor forged out of stygian iron, wields a bastard sword made of ice, and typically is bare-chested.
Holy Day. Icaernei's holy day, called the Pale Night, takes place on the winter solstice. As the sun sets on the day beforehand, he and his followers begin a worldwide ritual and prayer, which they use to extend the length of the day for an additional 24 hours, but with the planet only rotating once in these 48 hours. This slowed rotation causes the night to be colder than any other part of the year.
Dogma of Icaernei
Allow Icaernei's everlasting winter to numb the emotions that cloud your judgement.
Never let an enemy or betrayer to escape your wrath.
Dwell with ice and cold, as its permanence preserves all.
King Orivan, the Green Hunter
King Orivan, also known by the title of "The Spring Lord," is the king of the seelie fey and husband of the Summer Queen Tinaria of the Society of Radiance. He is the patron of rangers, green knights, dryads, spring eladrin, hunters, scouts, and others who wander the woodlands. He is the warlord of the Society of Radiance, commander of their armies and battle tactician. He dwells in the Palace of Senaliesse with Queen Tinaria, but often leaves to wander the woods and hunt.
His portfolio is of war, hunters, woodlands, and rangers, and he has many followers across the multiverse, particularly in the Feywild and Material Plane. His favorite fey are the Dryads, who make up much of his army, and he is also the master of treants, wood woads, and other feyish fauna. He is often worshipped by gnolls, elves, orcs, and other nature-devout races, and has many war and nature clerics among his followers, as well as hunter rangers, scout rogues, oath of the ancients paladins, and circle of land druids.
Depiction.King Orivan normally appears as a tall, attractive, muscular, green-skinned spring eladrin with hard, hazel eyes. He typically wields longbows while hunting, but dons an acorn-shaped shield and wooden longsword in battle.
Holy Day. King Orivan's holy day, called the Green Hunt, takes place on the vernal equinox. Those who worship him start the day by waking up early and embarking on a long hunting trip, catching all they can slay in one day and having a feast at the end of the day, eating all that they caught and sharing it with their relatives and friends.
Dogma of King Orivan
Hunt for all you need, not for all you want.
Protect the wildlands and innocent humanoids.
Allow the forests to grow and spread across the world.
Letherna, the Raven Queen
Letherna the Raven Queen is also known as the "Mistress of Death." She runs the afterlife system and makes sure every soul gets judged and kept track of. She was the main deity who managed to survive the Catastrophe, and has changed the least out of any of the other deities. She is primarily worshipped by Shadar-Kai, Nemrav, and Sharbolg, but is also venerated by many inhabitants of the Inner Planes, mostly good individuals who respect the balance of the multiverse.
Many of his followers are Grave Domain Clerics, Oath of Souls Paladins, Path of the Zealot Barbarians, Shadow Sorcerers, Hexblade Warlocks, and others like this. They make sure that there is balance in the multiverse and despise and destroy undead whenever they get the change. They are the nemeses of Vecna and his followers, and strive to counter them at any opportunity.
Depiction. Letherna, the Raven Queen typically appears as a bald-headed, slender-bodied, pale shadar-kai dressed in a shimmering-blue cloak. Her eyes are a harsh and stormy-grey, and she typically travels with a pair of ravens mounted on her shoulders.
Holy Day. Letherna's holy day, called the Reckoning, takes place on the anniversary of the day after the Great Sacrifice, which is also the start of the year. Those who worship her begin a tally of all those who have died in their settlement and deliver the record of those that have died to a raven by the end of the day, who then gives the records to the Raven Queen. She then creates an archive of the amount of deaths and compares them to the amount of souls she has processed in that region.
Dogma of Letherna, the Raven Queen
Death is the natural end of life. There is no pity for those who have fallen.
The path of Fate is sacrosanct. Those who pridefully attempt to cast off their destiny must be punished.
Undeath is an atrocity. Those who would pervert the transition of the soul must be brought down.
Summer Queen Tinaria, the Lady of Faeries
The Summer Queen Tinaria, also known as the "Bright Maiden," rules over the seelie fey as the leader of the Society of Radiance. Her husband is King Orivan, and she rules from the Palace of Senaliesse, where she holds meetings with the Society of Radiance. She is the lady of the fey, the bright sister of Queen Umbra, and mistress of summer. Her followers are typically elves, seelie fey, and those who revel in light and intense emotions.
Besides the fey, many of her worshippers are Eloquence and Glamour Bards, Light and Trickery Clerics, Dreams Druids, Sun Soul Monks, Devotion and the Ancients Paladins, Seelieborn Sorcerers, and Archfey Warlocks. They strive for joy, pleasure, and other bright and overwhelming emotions, and protecting the goals of the fey.
Depiction. Tinaria appears as a gold-skinned summer eladrin with gossamer butterfly wings and rainbow-colored eyes. She is typically dressed in a long, shimmering dress with a spectrum of brightly-colored sequins, and wears a shining crown composed completely of diamonds.
Holy Day. Tinaria's holy day, called the Bright Revel, takes place on the Summer Solstice. Those who worship her throw a huge party and parade, filled with drinking, dancing, music, and other exciting activities. All are welcome, and those who attend are encouraged to pursue the desires.
Dogma of the Summer Queen Tinaria
Follow your heart and your instincts.
Act now, or act never. Let your impulses and emotions rule.
Spread music, light, and joy across the world.
Dusk Queen Umbra, Lady of the Fall
Dusk Queen Umbra,also known as "The Mistress of the Gloaming Night," rules over the unseelie fey as the queen of the gloam council. She rules in the Palace of Night inside the deep feydark city of Oagemfell, where her council is held. Unlike Queen Tinaria, Umbra does not have a husband, but has had many children over the last millenium, the most notable of which are Ustar the Shadow, the father of whom is Vecna, Neifon, whose father is Lord Strahd, Calaera the Nightmaiden, the granddaughter of Glasya and Blooden, and Larya the Warmaiden, daughter of Nyphithys.
Besides the unseelie fey, many of her worshippers are Whispers Bards, Darkness and Trickery Clerics, Oathbreaker and Conquest Paladins, Gloomstalker Rangers, Unseelie Blood Sorcerers, Archfey Warlocks, and others similar to these. They strive in the darkness and are terrorizing nightmares.
Depiction. Umbra appears as a black-haired, darker autumn eladrin with a black-diamond crown and black-silk dress.
Holy Day. Umbra's holy day, called the "Deep Turning," takes place on the Autumnal Equinox. Those who worship her go out at night and revel in the woods.
Dogma of Dusk Queen Umbra
Darkness must rule.
Patience. We must have patience.
Anger, fear, and paranoia are the best motivators, and must be spread.
Saint Labellia
Saint Labellia, also known as "The Fair One," rules over the aquatic fey. She dwells in the warm oceans of the Feywild in a deep coral castle known as the Latallibelan Palace. Her followers are merfolk, nixies, and other aquatic feyfolk.
Besides the aquatic fey, many of her worshippers are Glamour Bards, Peace Domain Clerics, Monks, Ancients Paladins, Feywanderer Rangers, Seelieborn Sorcrerers, Archfey Warlocks, and Enchanter Wizards.
Depiction. Saint Labellia appears as a beautiful mermaid with long, pink hair, a turquoise-scaled tail, typically dressed only in pearl and coral jewelry. Otherwise, she does not wear clothes. While unclothed, Saint Labellia can strike any mortal dead in an instant.
Holy Day. Saint Labellia's holy day is called "The Day of Warmth," and it takes place during the end of the spring. Her worshippers try to spread joy, love, and beauty across the realms.
Dogma of Saint Labellia
Spread love, joy, and warmth.
Natural beauty is above all else.
Song and happiness must spread across the world.
Ubtao, the Wild One
Ubtao, also known as "The Wayfinder," is the master diety of nature and primal magic. He lives in Chult guarding the gate that keeps Dendar the Night Serpent from destroying the world. He is primarily worshipped by Chultans, Tabaxi, Saurials, and Grimlocks, but is revered by all who thrive in nature.
Besides inhabitants of Chult, Ubtao is also worshipped by Gnolls, Orcs, Barbarians, Nature Clerics, Druids, Rangers, Scout Rogues, and others who serve primal powers. His followers hate Yuan-Ti, and hunt down any that they find.
Depiction. Ubtao appears as a Chultan human wearing a cloak and hide armor made of dinosaur skin.
Holy Day. Ubtao's holy day takes place at the beginning of spring and is called "The Day of the Ancients." On this day, Ubtao's followers plant trees and gardens.
Dogma of Ubtao
Protect and nurture the wilds.
Respect the balance of nature and the maze that is life.
Destroy those who would harm nature.
Vecna, the Whispered One
Lord Vecna, also known as the "Master of the Spider-Throne," and the "King of Undead," is the deity of necromancy, dark magic, secrets, and avoiding death. He is the archenemy of the Raven Queen, as it is his goal to slay her and take complete control over the afterlife. He was restored to life by his second-in-command, the now Lich-Priest named Zilya Darkcord, and has many other demipower followers, like Kossyeth the Unknown, Zelkos the Fallen, and Elvara the Helmed. He also has two races of people that follow him, the Vezyi and Fehntüm, both undeath-bound servitors of the Master of the Spider-Throne, as well as allies with the Gloam Council of the Unseelie and the Nagpae. His home is deep within the Underdark of the Shadowfell, called the Underfell, where his races and people dwell.
Besides the races who worship Vecna, his followers typically consist of Liches and other Undead, Lore Bards, Arcana and Death Clerics, Spores Druids, Long Death Monks, Oathbreaker Paladins, Phantom Rogues, Shadow Sorcerers, Undead and Arcane Warlocks, as well as Necromancer Wizards. His followers all strive to avoid death and thwart the afterlife system.
Depiction. Vecna appears as a withered lich that has lost his right eye. He wears black and purple arcane robes, typically wielding the wand of orcus and a tome of the stilled tongue while sitting atop his spider-shaped throne.
Holy Day. Vecna's holy day takes place near the start of winter, beginning at dusk on the last full moon before the winter starts. It is called "The Night of the Watchful Eye," and on this is the only night of the year when Vecna allows his archmage followers to become liches.
Dogma of Vecna
Thwart the Raven Queen at all costs.
Practice dark magic and other occult acts.
Do all that you must to avoid the eternal death that is being snatched.
The Vistaesh
The Vistaeah,also known as the "Old One," is a "new" entity, only being present in its current form for the past 1,000 years. However, it did exist before this, as the many deities who eventually sacrificed themselves at the end of the Catastrophe in order to protect the world from an infernal incursion. The Vistaesh serves Letherna the Raven Queen, and is revered by her followers.
The Yikare,also known as the "Great Link," is also a "new" deity, coming into existence after the destruction of the Weave with the death of Mystra, but only gaining the status of being a deity after a few centuries of being worshipped by the Yikkan Contingent. After the death of Mystra, the Weave was shattered and slashed to pieces, and the remnants of its threads became the jumbled ball of magic that is the Yikare. The Yikare has a sort of sentience unlike any other being in the multiverse, only wishing for the progress of magic, society, and learning. It is mostly worshipped by Yikkan Goblinoids, but is respected and revered by nearly all practitioners of magic.
Though the Yikkan Contingent has a long fued and rivalry with the Sheiohn Foulen and psionics, the Yikare holds no such grudge. It does not discriminate based on race as long as they are not working to destroy or possess it. This has led to the Yikare's dislike of Beholders and other aberrations who wish to prevent or destroy magic, as well as the Yikkan Contingent's hatred of Vecna, who wishes to own the Yikare.
Depiction. The Yikare has no physical form and cannot take one. One who can see magic will view the tangled blue cords that make up the Yikare, but this is not the metaphysical representation of this deity.
Holy Day. The "Day of Progress" is the Yikare's Holy Day, taking place on the last day of the year. It is run by her followers, typically mages or Yikkan Goblinoids, and they record all the progress they have made this year towards the spread of magic and knowledge.
Dogma of the Yikare
Allow magic to spread across the world.
Protect all good practicioners of the Art.
Learn all that you can at all times and in all places.
Okay, that's it. Thanks for reading, and I would love to hear your thoughts before I make the huge section for Quasideities.
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Disclaimer:This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
In Tor-eal, there are much more quasideities and demipowers than there are true deities. There are different groups and types of quasideities, from Seelie Archfey, Unseelie Archfey, the Bleak Ones, the Celestials, and others that have whole casts of demipowers. Due to this, I will first list the general quasideities that don't fit into a separate category, and later posts will contain those "demipantheons."
The black profile of a vulture head dripping blood
Virem
LN
The Constructed One*
Forge, Order
A cube with coded symbols etched into it
* - homebrew subclass
** - subclass from Exploring Eberron by Keith Baker
Azraiv the Blessed
Formerly known as the Sword of Zariel, Azraiv is now a completely sentient and independent entity from their former owner. Azraiv still serves as Zariel's weapon, but has its own followers and worshippers now. It has clerics who protect and defend innocent people, warlocks who hunt down evildoers, and paladins who imbue and create sacred weapons.
The Sword of Zariel gained complete sentience after the end of the Catastrophe, absorbing the spirits of its perished allies. As the angels that were being lead by Zariel perished, their spirits were channeled to the Sword of Zariel and melded with its inherent goodness to grant it more power and intelligence.
Cazair the Cutting Edge is a spectral force, a new entity with no physical form. It was a cursed blade created by the Cult of Terror, who worship the Abomination. This blade was given sentience by its creators and its purpose is to corrupt the souls of the living, find hosts, and create even more nightmarish experiences to allow the Abomination to become more powerful. Cazair was so intelligent and manipulative that it was able to singlehandedly bring about the destruction of a nation and cause the Abomination's power to increase greatly. However, before Cazair was able to corrupt even more souls, the blade was destroyed by Zariel with a powerful strike of her blade, Azraiv.
Upon the destruction of the blade, the sentient spirit that was previously trapped inside the weapon was unleashed and freed from it being a servitor of the Abomination. This allowed it to pursue its own agenda, amassing enough followers to cause it to become a deity. In order to do so, it began making pacts with others, turning them into Hexblade Warlocks, gaining enough power to have clerics. Among Cazair's Darkness, War, and Trickery Cleric and Hexblade Warlock followers, it also has Zealot Barbarian, Whispers Bard, Oathbreaker Paladin, Bladeborn and Shadow Sorcerer, and Enchantment Wizards among its cult's ranks.
Appearance. Caizar the Cutting Edge is an incorporeal force, often appearing as an ephemeral blade to its followers.
Cylaera the Nightmaiden
The daughter of the Dusk Queen Umbra and descendent of Asmodeus, Cylaera is a scheming, hyper-intelligent, fey-fiend hybrid demigoddess of temptation, lust, and jealousy. Her father was Zarych, the son of Glasya and Blooden, who was later slain by Inferna. Cylaera dwells in an underground fortress built into a volcano in the Feydark, known as Firegloom Castle. She rarely dwells in it for long, though, leaving to travel the rest of the planes and seduce and corrupt mortals.
Like Icaernei, though Cylaera is not an official member of the Gloam Council, she does have an alliance with them and is no fan or ally of the Society of Radiance. She has the ability to shapeshift and cast many types of enchanting and illusion magic. This comes from her fiendish-unseelie heritage, gaining her shapeshifting abilities from her succubus/incubus grandfather, illusion magic from her mother, and enchanting magic from her grandparents. Due to her magical powers, she has many children scattered across the realms. Many of her children are leaders of her clergy, known as the Children of the Black Heart. She, and her followers, strive to spread mischief and salacity across the world and create chaos in the realms.
Appearance. Cylaera is a shapeshifter, so she typically is in any form of her choice, but she does have a "true" form. This form is that of a scarlet-skinned, devil-tailed, devil-winged, short-devil-horned, orange-eyed, attractive pointy-eared fiendish eladrin. She has fiery-black hair, speaks with a smooth-tongue, and typically wears seducing clothing.
Dendar the Night Serpent
Dendar is an ancient primordial, an elder evil who has existed since the dawn of time. Her followers are typically Yuan-Ti, but she does have followers among other humanoids and dragons, known as the Cult of the Basilisk. Her arch-rival is Ubtao, who guards the Gate of the Sealed Serpent, which protects the world from her escaping again.
Her followers believe that the world must be ended by Dendar in order receive eternal rest and balance. They feed Dendar through nightmares and terrorizing others, which they hope will eventually make her powerful enough to escape her prison, defeat Ubtao, and devour the world.
Her cultists are often Whispers Bards, Darkness and Trickery Clerics, Druids, Conquest Paladins, Assassin and Arcane Trickster Rogues, and others who terrorize others.
Inferna the Blazing is a strange demigoddess, appearing as a fiery, fiendish angel with flames flickering around her body and an aura of exhausting heat emitting from her heated form. She is an intense and fierce being, as well as being physically attractive, having a determined and driven personality, and an intelligent and inventive mind. She gains these features from her parents, who are the former archdevil, now archangel, Zariel, and Arkazan, the Erinyes War-Duke of Baator. She was born while Zariel was an archdevil, and quickly made her way up the cast of the infernal hierarchy due to her prowess with combat and battle tactics, gaining a high rank serving in the Blood War. If she had remained with the devils, she would still be in the Outer Planes with her father and the other devils.
When Zariel rose and was redeemed to her former status as a solar, she tried to convince her daughter Inferna to join her as she left Avernus, but Inferna turned her down. As a reward, Inferna was granted the status of Archduchess of Avernus by Asmodeus, replacing the role left void by her mother. She remained as ruler for decades, until she was nearly slain through an assassination attempt carried out by a lower-ranking devil, but that she discovered was orchestrated by Asmodeus. She then realized the hypocrisy and contradictory nature of the Devils and decided to abandon the forces of Baator. However, she did not rise and become a celestial, she instead chose to travel to the Inner Planes and discover her new self.
She spent years travelling the Inner Planes and observing the world to decide what to make of it. She did so for long enough to watch the chaos that came about at the start of the Catastrophe, seeing all of the death, suffering, and chaos that came about. This made her decide that the how she had been raised was incorrectly, that the teachings of the devils were a false dichotomy. She had been taught that the lawfulness and totalitarianism of the devils would create an orderly and perfect world, but what she saw contradicted this. She saw that their "order" led to chaos and suffering and determined that devils and their philosophy were a pestilence upon the multiverse.
Through her experiences, she shaped her new self around her new beliefs. She had been indoctrinated by her people, and decided to turn against all of her origins and create her own ideology. She stopped being Lawful Evil, and became Chaotic Good, and made her new home be the Elemental Plane of Fire. She is still a fiend, has amassed followers among humanoids, dragons, giants, celestials, and elementals, and formed a teaching of freedom, passion, and charity that is spread across the world by her champions.
Her "church" is known as the "The Followers of the Flaming Sun." It is her church, but they do not worship her. Instead, they revere and respect her as their prophetess and ideological leader, the creator of their doctrine and way of life. Among her followers are Artillerist Artificers, Storm Herald Barbarians (Desert), Circle of the Sun* Druids, Sun Soul Monks, Freedom*, Redemption, and Devotion Paladins, and Evocation Wizards.
Appearance. Inferna the Blazing appears as a orange-skinned, flame-haired, pointy-eared, attractive angel, with some other remaining fiendish features. She typically wears a scarlet dress that's edges seem to be made of fire, and wields a steel-shield and flaming warchain.
Karsus the Bloody
The ancient entity known as Karsus has existed for thousands of years, its origin now being unknown to nearly all of those who live on Tor-eal. He is known by multiple titles, from the "Mage of the Bloody Rock" to the "Master of Hidden Magic." He was a former archmage of an ancient empire known as the Netheril who attempted to save his people by killing and replacing the former deity of magic, Mystril. He temporarily became the deity of magic, but his hubris led to his nation's downfall and his death, becoming a vestige trapped on the Material Plane. Karsus has thrived in the years since the Catastrophe, as the lack of the previous deities has allowed his following to increase. He grants his followers arcane magic, forgotten secrets, and other obscure powers.
His followers are members of the Cult of the Blooded Boulder, and are typically practitioners of lost and obscure arts, such as Path of Wild Magic Barbarians, Lore Bards, Shadow Monks, Arcana and Conquest Paladins, Arcane Trickster Rogues, Wild Magic and Arcane Soul Sorcerers, Arcane One Warlocks, and Wizards. They vie for taking advantage of the Yikare and warping it under the control of their Master.
Appearance. Karsus the Bloody appears as a large boulder that is constantly trickling blood, and this blood erupts into a geyser as it speaks.
Keloke the Wright
The Rogue Quarton Modron, Keloke the Wright, dwells in the High City of Lantoin and now exists as a demipower. Though Keloke is not worshipped by his followers, they do devote themselves to his ideals and goals, and the sheer amounts of his followers grant him this demigod-status. He is an advocate of invention, progression, and intelligence. He also started the Coalition of Innovation, the Lantoin-based faction of artificers and artisans. Keloke is also known as the "Master of Artifice" and "Lord of Lantanea."
Keloke lived in the Mechanus as a member of the modron forces in the third-highest rank of the Modrons. He went rogue when Mechanus was being conquered by the devils, fleeing to the Inner Planes to survive. He arrived at Lantan, and was able to help the people there rebuild their nation after the Great Sacrifice destroyed many of their inventions. This is how he raised to his current state of respect and following, and is also part of the reason that Lanatanea has progressed so much in the last 1,000 years.
Appearance.Keloke appears as a brass quarton modron, who typically sits on a crafted throne with many gears, buttons, and levers.
Larya the Swordmaiden
Daughter of the Dusk Queen Umbra and Bane the Black Lord, Larya the Swordmaid is the twin sister of Cylaera the Nightmaiden. Also known as the "Warrioress of Tenebrosity," Larya is a strong, disciplined warlord that now dwells in the Shadowfell. Though she is the twin sister of Cylaera, they are fraternal twins with different fathers, and have very different personalities. While her sister is a chaotic, seducing femme fatale, Larya is a militaristic, scheming, regimented warrioress that formerly ran the army of the Gloam Council.
Her father, Bane, was slain when Vecna the Whispered One was reborn, as he killed all of the Dead Three in order to usurp them and absorb their power. She then decided to swear vengeance for her father and tried to convince her mother to go to war with Vecna and his forces, but she declined, and instead had a son with him, Ustar the Shadow. This lead to her abandoning the Gloam Council and traveling to a Domain of Dread in the Shadowfell, called Avatoch, where she began to train an army to crush her enemies. She even formed an alliance with the Raven Queen, as they share the goal of ridding the world of Vecna.
The followers of Larya are members of a cult known as the Legion of the Rebuking Blade, and is typically filled with Hexblade Warlocks, College of Swords Bards, War Domain Clerics, Battlemaster Fighters, Oath of Vengeance Paladins, Swashbuckler Rogues, Bladesinger Wizards, and other disciplined and intelligent characters.
Appearance. Larya the Swordmaid appears as a fatally attractive, tan-skinned, tall, red-haired, sword-and-shielded warrioress in plate armor with fierce yellow eyes.
Sehgawth the Maelstrom
Sehgawth is an elder kraken that has dwelt in the depths of the oceans since the world was known as Abeir-Toril, being created by the gods to fight against the Primordials at the dawn of time. Shortly after this great war was finished, Sehgawth entered a deep slumber and remained in an underwater lair for thousands of years, hidden from the outside world. It was finally reawakened in 591 AGS (After Great Sacrifice) by a sahuagin that escaped the dominating powers of the Aboleths and wished to free his race from the tyrannical rulers of the oceans. Sehgawth immediately erupted from its lair in a furious tempest, obliterating many krakens and aboleths, and beginning the new resistance among the ocean-folk known as the Rising of the Awakened Deep. Now, the Aboleths are at war with the giants of Klörvak and the krakenspawn, sahuagin, and krakens of the Rising of the Awakened Deep for control of the oceans.
Sehgawth is not evil, as it only wishes for the freedom of the oceans from the rule of the tyrannical aboleths. Its followers are kraken priests, Fathomless Warlocks, Tempest Clerics, Druids, Storm Herald Barbarians, Oath of the Open Sea Paladins, Storm Magic Sorcerers, and others connected with the raging storms of the deep oceans.
Appearance. Sehgawth is an oversized kraken, about 10 times the size of a normal kraken, surrounded by crackling electricity and booming thunder.
Sephal'yin the Purple Angel
Originally a powerful planetar servant of one of the Ancient Gods, Sephal'yin fell after the Great Sacrifice and was captured by illithids and became the first angel to undergo the process of ceremorphosis. This changed the previous celestial into a strangely angelic mind flayer, with a towering form and powerful psionic powers. This change transformed the planetar into a ulitharid, amplifying its abilities even moreso than before, causing it to become more than 20 feet in height. Its strange quasi-divine psionic abilities allow for Sephal'yin to travel around the Inner Planes to recruit followers to the Cult of the Pure Mind which is full of loyal sycophants and delusional power-hungry fanatics of psionic and aberrant powers.
Appearance. Sephal'yin appears as a huge mind flayer with angelic wings made of tentacles.
The Abomination
Also known as the "Fearmonger" or "Eternal Tormentor," the Abomination was created by the Raven Queen as an amalgamation of all the worst and most terrifying moments and experiences collected from nearly every individual that has died in the known multiverse from the last 1,000 years. As more people die, their awful memories are channeled into the Punishment, and the worst ones are absorbed by the Abomination, causing it to grow even more powerful. Its followers believe that if it grows powerful enough, it will be able to escape the Punishment and destroy the multiverse.
Though the dreadful entity that is the Abomination is merely a figment created from the worst and most awful memories and experiences, it has true sentience and power, and can contact those outside of the Punishment and grant them magic and gifts. This allows for the Abomination's Cult of Terror to have Fiend and Hexblade Warlocks, Darkness and War Clerics, as well as Barbarians, Path of Whispers Bards, Conquest and Oathbreaker Paladins, Gloomstalker Rangers, Arcane Trickster Rogues, and other members such as these.
Appearance. The Abomination appears as a gargantuan fiendish monstrosity with a 7-horned, draconic-tarrasquelike head, fear-inspiring red eyes, a horrifying scabrous body with an out-poking spine, and 4 colossal, monstrous legs. It has 3 spiked-tails, fierce, under-biting jaws, spider-leg-like appendages, and the ability to emit a furious roar from its black, annihilating mouth.
Ustar the Shadow
The shadowy empyrean known as Ustar the Shadow is the neutral evil child of the Dusk Queen Umbra and Lord Vecna the Whispered One. Both of these powerful deities are connected with dark, evil, and selfish powers, granting Ustar abilities of both his parents, but melded together into the ability to summon and control shadowy creatures and powers. He travels the multiverse on his mount, an Ancient Silver Shadow Dragon Death Cleric named Zarkala the Lady of Shade. Zarkala is the queen of Ustar's fortress in a Domain of Dread, known as the Chalice of Night. The Chalice of Night is made of obsidian, and is guarded by thousands of shadowy warriors.
His followers are typically those that practice phantom and shadow magic, such as shadow dragons, shadow mastiffs, shadows, nightwalkers, Phantom Rogues, Fallen Aasimar, Death and Phantom Clerics, and other casters. His cult is known as the Cult of the Nightshade and they wish to trap the world in a perpetual, magical night for all of eternity.
Appearance. Ustar the Shadow appears as a shadowy empyrean wearing blacksteel armor and a huge magical greatsword known as the Nightblade.
Ventra the Thirsty
This powerful nagpa archmage was transformed into a vampire by the Dark Powers of the Shadowfell. She now dwells in a Domain of Dread called Vaksufar that is filled with thousands of tortured souls that have wandered into her demiplane during the last hundreds of years. She forms pacts with those who wish to gain power in exchange for them guiding people to her new home.
Her followers are known as the Church of the Guiding Vulture, and is full of arcane casters, fanatic cultists, and power-thirsty nobles who are promised eternal life.
Appearance. Ventra the Thirsty appears as a grey-feathered nagpa vampire with a bloody beak. She can transform into a red vulture instead of a bat.
Virem the Cypher
The strange vestige known as Virem the Cypher, or sometimes just "The Cypher," has existed for thousands of years, but has only recently been discovered by the Archivists of Lantanea. Unknown to those living in the Inner Planes, this being has been known by a name beforehand, Primus the One and the Prime. Unlike the other Primus that was slain by Asmodeus in order to take control of the Modrons of Mechanus, this specific entity was dead long before the Catastrophe, slain by the ancient demon lord known as Orcus.
Over the course of the centuries, the vestige became forgotten by those living on Toril, as it lacked a purpose. However, with the deaths of may deities and other demipowers during the Catastrophe, it began to expand in purpose, and was warped into the new entity known as Virem. It was discovered in 763 AGS by the Archivists of Lantanea while they were creating the Grid, as it was tampering with the modems and creating coded messages. The artificers solved these codes and discovered that the Cypher was actually an entity that was trying to instruct them on how to improve their inventions. They began to revere it, even if they didn't understand it, and built a server specifically for it to communicate with them, known as the Dell of the Cypher.
Appearance. Though the Cypher has no physical form, it has a holographic form that appears as a face made out of coded numbers.
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Okay, here's a question for you all that are reading this. Do you think there should be a few more True Deities, as there are currently 10, or is it good as it is? At first I liked the current amount of them, but would like for there to be a celestial deity (Zariel, maybe?), possibly an aberration deity, or something like that. Any thoughts?
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I agree that there should be a few more True Deities. Maybe 12-15? I like the idea of an Aberration deity, though I don't know what domains it would be...Knowledge, maybe? I also agree with elevating Zariel to Deity status (Light and War?).
Also, did Laduguer and/or Deep Duerra survive? If so, they would definitely deserve a place in the Pantheon.
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Seven there shall be/In the halls of the eighth/Eights shall witness/Eight and eight and eight and eight/Blood of the father/Blood of the sun/Endless darkness/Day is done
Yeah, an aberration deity would probably be Knowledge and Mind Domains (Mind is from Exploring Eberron by Keith Baker. It's not official, but is the closest thing to an aberration domain). Zariel would be Light, War, and possibly Forge domains.
Laduguer and Deep Duerra may have survived, but if they did, they are not in the Inner Planes, and would be in the Outer Planes. This would cut them off from their clerics, so even if they are alive, they're not having worshippers on Tor-eal.
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Well, I mean one of the main ideas behind your world is the general absence of the divine and the demonic so I don't think you'd want to overdo it. Having said that, this is your brainchild so do what you like. If it doesn't work you can always change it later. It's not like this is the final draft or anything.
Personally, I'd say one or two more would be interesting, if only to get you off 10 - as a number it lacks mystique - but also because diversity makes things interesting.
When designing worlds myself I find it helps to try envision what purpose I want for the gods of the realm. If you have some ideas for the role of divine beings in this somewhat godless world then it will inform your decision. If you're still unsure, then definitely try out whatever you come up with and see where it takes you. As I said, you can always change it later.
I haven't quite said yea or nay yet, so I think 13 would be a good number. It's a few above 10 but not so much that you're getting too many. It has so many ill associations which would make for a good mystique that I think would fit your world. I would be wary about going beyond 13 for the reasons stated above but I'd probably stop at 15 at the absolute max. I think 13 deities would provide a diverse enough body of divine entities that could be used to expand your world, but not enough that they'd have the power to solve all its problems and perhaps one day pull back the barriers that surround the inner planes and combat the encroaching darkness.
Hope this helps
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Why would paladins be boring in this world? I've already stated how some paladins exist in this world. For example, the Oath of the Arcane Paladin (my homebrew) is relatively common among the island of Lantanea, and extremely common in the Yikkan Goblinoid society. The Oath of Souls (my homebrew) are fairly common as followers of the Raven Queen, mostly in the Shadowfell that make sure spirits pass on to the afterlife.
Paladins and Clerics don't need to worship or serve a deity in any D&D world, especially in worlds with less/no deities (Eberron, Dark Sun, Ravnica, Tor-eal). A paladin character would be just as fun in this world as any other D&D world, IMO.
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Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
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Sheiohn Foulen: After the diaspora of the new race, the Felshen, and their reestablishment of psionics to the world in their "Sheiohn Foulen" (One-Mind Foundation). The Sheiohn Foulen is a sort of world-wide faction or alliance between almost all of the Felshen settlements. The main cities and towns that were part of the Sheiohn Felshen are connected telepathically through the Psiphoel, which allow them to communicate back and forth using telepathy instantly. The leaders of the cities and towns that are a part of the Sheiohn Felshen are elected through a telepathic vote in the Sheitharlin, the leader being designated as the Sheimos (Our-Mind). They live inside buildings carved out of marble, alabaster, basalt, dolerite, obsidian, and other colorful rocks, with windows created out of quartz and other crystals, varying between settlements. This building is called the Sheimoure (Mindcenter), and the Sheimos will be the representative of their settlement in the event that the Sheohn Foulen has a telepathic gathering for emergencies or war. They communicate with each other typically through underground tubes of Ihnzule (Telepathy Extension Crystals, the ones used in Psiphoels), which are privately used to communicate with other settlements' Sheimos when necessary.
Ordinary citizens of settlements that are a part of the Sheiohn Foulen live different lives from the typical individual of Tor-eal. They are much more connected with one another, not just in their own hometowns, but also with other citizens of different Sheiohn Foulen settlements. This is due to the Psiphoel-Chen, which each major city of the Sheiohn Foulen has at least 4 connected to their city in order to communicate with other cities. These allow anyone in these settlements that have telepathy to communicate long distance instantaneously with any other psionic creature within 60 feet of the Sehnzule (Central Ihnzule) that is connected telepathically to the Psiphoel-Chen.
The Psiphoel-Chen and the hidden Ihnzule-Chen that are used by the Sheimosé (plural of Sheimos) rely on the Ihnzule, which are the telepathy-extending psi crystals. Psi crystals were originally discovered by the Sheiohn Foulen when they met Alverixizyth, the ancient amethyst dragon who helped them master their psioinic powers. Alverixizyth taught them how to use telepathy and other psychic powers that they were yet to tap into, also teaching them of how to use psi crystals to help channel and empower their psionic powers. Though this dragon helped them discover their potential powers over psionics, they did not invent any of the innovations that are now common among the Sheiohn Foulen, Alverixizyth left that for them to master.
The Ihnzule are created by telepathically fusing a psi crystal together with a piece of Blue Zapphrite (sapphire crystal infused with magic lightning, created by blue dragons). This allows the Psi-Crystals to function without bonding with a living creature, and changes their function from granting telepathy to extending it. This creates an Ihnzule crystal, and their most common usage is in the Psiphoel-Chen. The poles of the Psiphoel-Chen are over 70 feet in height, spaced 60 feet apart, and typically have a path near them for easy access if repairing is needed. Smaller settlements typically only have one Psiphoel-Chen, if they have any, but they are often connected to other Psiphoel-Chen through the Sehnzule of other settlements in the Sheiohn Foulen.
Sehnzule are large psi-crystals that are kept in the same building as the Sheitharlin (Mindhouse-Beacons) and Sheidarr (Dream-hub). These buildings are called Senshei (Mind-Centers), and there is only ever one in any settlement that is part of the Sheiohn Foulen. Many homes and buildings are centered around it to gain access to the psionic enhancing powers that it grants, but its powers can be extended by Psiphoel kept inside the city. The main usage of the Senshei is for communication between individuals within the same settlement and within other settlements or Pseips (Psionic Rest Areas, found along the roads near Psiphoel-Chen). The Sheidarr is one of the most important aspects of the Sheiohn Foulen society, as anyone within the range of a connected Psiphoel-Chen will be able to go into a dream-hub as they sleep. These dream hubs are bustling, filled with many telepathic individuals (typically Felshen, but with the occasional Gem Dragon, Ceremorph, or Flumph), and they can either communicate in the Sehndarr (Central-Hub) or if they encounter someone in this dreamscape metaphysically or telepathically, they may enter a Velen-Cohm (Virtual Communication). This allows for them to link into a private dream-realm while still asleep. Centuries ago, the Sheiohn Foulen formed an alliance with the Gem Dragons of the Ruby Palace, and created a super tall tower Psiphoel to contact them.
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Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
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The Yikkan Contingent: The Yikkan Contingent is the international faction of Yikkan Goblinoids who are all allied together in purpose, serving the Yikare (replacement of the Weave of Magic). They worship and revere the Yikare, which is the source of arcane, divine, and primal magic in Tor-eal. Yikkan goblinoids find the number 3 holy, as well as 9, due to the types of spellcasting magic in the world. These types are all practiced by members of the Yikkan Contingent, but Arcane Magic is far more common than the other two types, but Divine Magic far more common in these societies than Primal. Psionics is hated and hunted by Yikkan Goblinoids.
The settlements that are part of this contingent are led by a Council of the Cord, which consists of three members, elected to each seat upon the death of the previous member in the specific seat. The Council of the Cord consists of one of each of the main types of goblinoids and each member must be a certain type of spellcaster, divided into three groups, each of which may only have one representative in a settlement's Council of the Cord. These are the three groups of yikkan spellcasters:
Bugbears typically are Arcana Clerics, often being revering, devoted, and wise casters. Goblins are most often Celestial Warlocks, Divine Soul Sorcerers, Lore Bards, and Oath of the Arcane Paladins, being charismatic and heart-driven goblinoids. Hobgoblins lean towards becoming Arcane Trickster Rogues, Arcknights, Artificers, Eldritch Knight Fighters, and Wizards. The Cohice seat is most often filled by a Bugbear, the Coohrs seat is most often filled by a Hobgoblin, and the Cohs seat is most often filled by a Goblin. A member of this type of magic can focus on one of the three arts listed below:
Hobgoblins typically lean towards being Dehvoes, protecting their people and destroying enemies, Bugbears typically are Nevyihks, healing and performing other miracles among their people, and Goblins are most often Booyehgs, distracting and confusing enemies and spying on others. Though they typically lean towards these arts, any goblinoid may be a member of any group of caster, as well as a practitioner of nearly any art of spellcasting.
The three members of the Council of the Cord work together to protect, build, and otherwise be in control of their own settlement, and they represent their community in any discussions with the other members of the Yikkan Contingent. The Councils of the Cord from different settlements communicate using the sending spell to instantly communicate between each other, sometimes using sending stones if none of the members of the Council of the Cord can cast the spell.
Spellcasting citizens of the Yikkan Contingent must obey their ideology, or they are banished. The main parts of their dogma they must be convicted to are as follows, listed in order of importance:
Due to these "commandments," Yikkan Goblinoids are fairly reclusive, not often interfering with the world around them, rarely even interacting with others, except for when they come across psionic or aberrant creatures. This leads to an ongoing rivalry between them and the Felshen, Verdan, Duergar, Ceremorphs, and Gem Dragons of Tor-eal, occasionally breaking out into all-out war. This has caused the event known by the Yikkan Goblinoids as the Purge of Psionics, which is more commonly known among Felshen and other humanoids as the Felyik Wars.
(I will update later on the Feljik Wars, which spanned many centuries, and was never truly resolved. Thanks for reading thus far!)
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Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
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Okay, I have made two more subraces for the Golmeng:
Okay, those are the two new subraces of Golmeng. I would appreciate thoughts, if you have any.
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I just skimmed both subraces, and so far I love it! I will review it later.
When players get creative.
The Vistaesh
A strange being dwells in the deep ether of the realms, a faint, spectral entity that snatches the spirits of the dead and pulls them through the Ethereal Plane to the Raven Queen's Fortress of Memories in the Shadowfell. This entity is an invisible, phantasmal conglomerate of the residual spirits of the deities that perished in the Great Sacrifice, who are known as the Sacrificed. The phantom being is called the Vistaesh, and was once the spirits of all the deities that perished in the end of the Catastrophe. It is now part of the cycle of life, whose role is to make sure that the souls of the dying make their way to the Raven Queen for Judgement, as well as filling the role of being the deliverer of souls to newborn creatures that have souls. The Vistaesh also has the ability to create souls using the remnants of its quasi-divine power when a soul is lost or destroyed destroyed, either from being lost permanently to the Punishment, is consumed by a lich's phylactery, manages to avoid passing on to the Afterlife, or any other way a soul is lost or destroyed.
Origin of the Vistaesh
When a deity dies in some way in the Forgotten Realms, their soul and body travels to the Astral Plane and it becomes petrified until it regains followers and is reawakened through a powerful act of magic. However, if a deity's spirit cannot make its way to the Astral Plane for some reason (such as when Karsus perished), it instead becomes a remnant of its previous self, called a Vestige. This is exactly what happened when the Great Sacrifice cut off the Inner Planes from the Outer and Astral Planes, as the spirits of the gods that died could not undergo the normal process of the death of a deity. Due to this, all of the hundreds of deities who gave their lives in the Great Sacrifice became vestiges and began to wander the Ethereal Planes without purpose. This left them without the majority of their previous power and stripped them of much of their will and consciousness. These dozens of vestiges did not have a purpose and were mere travelers and observers until the Raven Queen discovered these vestiges.
Shortly after the Great Sacrifice, the Raven Queen became overwhelmed with a flood of souls from the millions who perished from the end of the Catastrophe. She nearly was destroyed by this constant stream of souls, as she was in the process of reforming the Afterlife system. She began to try and reach out into the multiverse and find anything that could help her control the overflowing souls, and while doing so she encountered the vestige of one of the Sacrificed. She then realized how she could stop her destruction, and began to gather together all of the vestiges of the Sacrificed, and amalgamated them together into a single entity, combining together their weak, undying yet perpetual energy to cause them to amass this divine energy in a way that could be more easily utilized for her purposes.
In this process, she stripped away the lingering identity and twisted portfolios in order to finish this divine homogenization, and gave these combined vestiges into one single being, the Vistaesh. While these vestiges were individual beings, they were extremely limited in power, but with the Raven Queen combining them together into one united entity, their powers were more powerful and useful. She bound this being to herself, causing it to be the multiverse's transporter of spirits, brining the dead souls to her realm for them to the judged, as well as transporting reborn and newborn souls to the bodies of infant creatures that have souls, upon their birth. This eased the burden of the Raven Queen, allowing her to focus her portfolio and divine energy on maintaining the Afterlife system and continuing the Judgement of all those who die. Now, the Vistaesh funnels and snatches the souls, being the psychopomp of Tor-eal.
Features of the Vistaesh
The Vistaesh is an enormous incorporeal and invisible entity whose home are the unfathomably deep parts of the Deep Ethereal Plane. Due to it being a conglomeration of dozens of vestigial deities of all personalities and genders, it has no gender, no definable, physical form, and has no motivation or goals. Instead, it is a culmination of the whispy, ephemeral spirits of the Sacrificed ancient gods and goddesses. When one can view the entity, it appears as a colossal, translucent specter formed out of gray, cloud-like ether, only visible by those in the Deep Ethereal Plane who can see invisible creatures. Another way to view part of this quintessence of phantom energy is to be on the Material Plane or another part of the Inner Planes (excluding the Deep Ethereal Plane) and be able to see invisible objects and creatures while also being able to see into the Border Ethereal Plane when a Tendril of the Vistaesh arrives to snatch the creature's spirit.
The face of the Vistaesh is nearly featureless, with no nose, ears, eyes, hair, nostrils, lips, or any other defining features. It does have a mouth, but it is instead just a slight depression in its face's phantasmal form and serves no clear purpose. This "mouth" is perpetually twisted into a gruesome moan, that sends stunning pulses of sonic energy to creatures around it. Its "head" is not attached to a neck or body, and is not truly a separate part of its body, and is constantly tilted upwards towards the "sky" of the Ethereal Plane. It has no body, instead having the majority of its form being composed of twisting, ever-changing, impossibly-long, ephemeral tendrils that jut out of the back of the Vistaesh's head. These tendrils are directed by the Vistaesh, sent to snatch the spirits of the deceased. Few have ever seen the being's true form in person, and fewer have survived to describe such an encounter, but the general form of the Vistaesh is relatively well known across Tor-eal. This is due to the scrying sensors of divining mages, who have then recorded and drawn this entity and kept sketches and images of it in museums and libraries of the realms.
The Vistaesh is a quasideity with no agenda or personality. Instead of being a typical, sentient demipower that has its own goals, wants, emotions, and necessities, the Vistaesh exists in and of itself. It has no goals other than those "programmed" into its nature by the Raven Queen's reformation of its vestiges. It has no wants, other than to fulfill its purpose in the multiverse, also bestowed upon it by the Raven Queen. Unlike most deities and demigods, it has no need for worshippers to grant it power, even though it does have some followers, priests, paladins, and warlocks. It does not have typical emotions, though it has an innate desire to convey souls across the multiverse, and is driven to do its duty for the Raven Queen.
Purposes of the Vistaesh
The primary purpose of the Vistaesh is to transport and deliver spirits and souls throughout nearly all corners of the known multiverse, being the font of new souls when needed, keep the balance of the afterlife system, and catched the renegade spirits who have escaped its grasp. It uses its massive tendrils to do so, absorbing their spirits in order to transport them, creating new souls through an ethereal connection to a newborn creature, and snatch those souls it finds with its tendrils. When a creature that has a soul dies, the Vistaesh immediately detects where its body or remains are upon the time of its death, and immediately sends a tendril to this location to snatch its spirit. The Vistaesh is magically alerted of the precise position of any creature with a soul when it dies due to its quasi-divine energy, but is not omniscient with regards to the location of spirit after it leaves its body. Due to this, it is not impossible for a spirit of an individual to escape the tendril of the Vistaesh that was sent to collect their soul and bring them before the Raven Queen for immediate judgement.
Divinity of the Vistaesh
The Vistaesh is a demipower, a quasideity, and a demigod that is a compilation of hundreds of vestiges of the Sacrificed, and has vast and everlasting power over the forces of life and death. Due to this, it is revered and worshipped across the multiverse by multiple faiths and individuals. Followers of the Raven Queen venerate and honor the Vistaesh, seeing it as an essential part and mechanism of the afterlife system, especially followed by Shadar-Kai and Sharbolg of the Shadowfell. Other faiths that follow the Vistaesh are the Cult of Terror (cultists who worship the Abomination of the Punishment, filled with Conquest and Oathbreaker Paladins, Darkness Domain Clerics, Hexblade and Undead Warlocks, Phantom Magic Wizards, Whispers Bards, Berserker Barbarians and others), the Yikkan Contingent, and many other religious systems in the multiverse.
Those who worship or follow the Vistaesh are typically Clerics of the Life or Grave Domain, Oath of Souls Paladins, Circle of Midnight Druids, Long Death Monks, Phantom Rogues, Shadow Sorcerers, Undying Warlocks, and others who respect the balance of the afterlife and inevitability of death. Though there are some who honor or even worship the Vistaesh, at least as many, or possibly even more of those living in the Inner Planes are scared of and wish to avoid the Vistaesh. This is due to the widespread knowledge of the Punishment, which has been viewed through divination magic and taught of by proselytizing followers of the Raven Queen for centuries. Thus, nearly all of those who live on Tor-eal and the rest of the Inner Planes know of what will happen if they die, causing many of them, especially evildoers, to fear and attempt to avoid death.
Aversion of the Vistaesh
Due to the harshness of the Afterlife for those who manage to make their way into the Punishment due to being evil, many people seek to find a way to escape death or escape the Vistaesh, as they know what their punishment will be if they get snatched by the Vistaesh and judged by the Raven Queen. This gives evildoers much more of an incentive for attempting to avoid death than they did before the Catastrophe, especially as the Punishment grows worse and worse throughout the years as more people die. This has lead to a higher demand for spells and other types of magic that can extend the life of an individual (such as a potion of longevity) or trap their soul in another vessel so that the Vistaesh can't snatch them (such as a phylactery, soul gem, magic jar, or ring of mind shielding), or turn them into a free-willed undead creature (such as a vampire). This fear of death is what drove Zilya Brightstring (now known as Saint Zilya Darkcord) to betray her people and reincarnate Vecna, and is the same fear that drives the Vezyi, Fehntüm, Negpae, and other followers of Vecna and necromancy to seek out longer lifetimes.
Vecna is the nemesis of the Raven Queen, and his demipower known as Kossyeth is the archenemy of the Vistaesh. Kossyeth is an archallip that dwells in the Underfell and channels the souls of those who perish in the Underfell to Vecan and his phylactery and serves as his secret-keeper. This causes endless battles in the Shadowfell, between the Nemrav, Shadar-Kai, and Sharbolg of the surface of the Shadowfell and the Vezyi, Fehntüm, and Negpae of the Underfell. Though the Vistaesh has access to the spirits of every portion of the multiverse accessible through the Ethereal Plane, the Underfell is the sole exception to this. When Vecna returned and carved out his domain in the Underfell, he performed an epic ritual that cut off the Vistaesh's access to the Underfell. This prevents the Vistaesh from being able to snatch the souls of anyone in the Shadowfell, and instead allows Kossyeth to serve as the psychopomp of Vecna's realm. This causes some who wish to avoid the Punishment to make a deal with Vecna, becoming allowed to live in the Underfell as long as they do something in return for this god of undeath.
Escaping the Vistaesh's Tendrils
Though the vast majority the souls of those who perish are snatched by the Vistaesh and delivered to the Raven Queen's Fortress of Memories, it is possible to escape the tendril that is sent to capture your spirit. This is due to the fact that the Vistaesh is aware of where your body is when you die, but not your spirit. When you die, your spirit is stuck inside your body until the Vistaesh arrives to snatch it, or until your body manages to escape the body through one of the ways listed below. If you die and are wearing a ring of mind shielding, or have another item that would suck or trap your soul
Otherwise, your spirit remains in your body for 1 minute or until the Tendril of the Vistaesh snatches your spirit from your body. When your spirit escapes, you gain a flying speed equal to the walking speed you had before you died, and the only action you can take is the Dash action. You are incorporeal, invisible, immune to all damage dealt my corporeal creatures, and appear inside the Border Ethereal. You can still be targeted by spells and other effects that target creatures, but are immune to the grappled, prone, and petrified conditions. Your spirit appears as you did when you died, with the same equipment and clothing, but you cannot damage any corporeal creature.
Upon the death of a creature that has a soul, roll 1d20. The Vistaesh sends a tendril to snatch the spirit of this creature after an amount of rounds equal to this roll, arriving at initiative count 0 of this round, appearing in the Border Ethereal Plane. If the spirit of this creature is still inside its body when this tendril arrives, the Tendril snatches it and leaves one round later with the spirit. If the spirit of this creature is no longer inside their body when the Vistaesh arrives, it searches 100 feet in every direction, snatching any spirit it comes across. It searches another 100 feet in every direction this way for 1 minute, snatching any and all spirits it encounters during this time. This Tendril is not a creature, does not take turns, cannot be attacked or targeted in any way, and has no senses, except for being able to sense and snatch any spirit it runs into.
The spirit of a creature that escapes their body must outrun the Tendril of the Vistaesh, moving a total of at least 1,000 feet away from where their body was when they died over the course of 1 minute after the Tendril of the Vistaesh arrives. An escaped spirit can travel through the Ethereal Plane until it makes a deal with Vecna, a lich, or another undead/necromantic creature, are snatched by a Tendril of the Vistaesh, are killed, or transformed into an incorporeal undead (such as a ghost, specter, wraith, and so on).
Resurrection and the Vistaesh
If a creature is resurrected before the arrival of the Tendril of Vistaesh, by means of the revivify or other magic, the Tendril of the Vistaesh does not arrive to snatch its spirit, but instead grabs the spirit and resurrects it. If the body is undergoing the process of being resurrected through a raise dead spell or similar magic, the Vistaesh learns the position of its spirit, snatches it, and delivers it to its body to resurrect the creature.
Okay, that's the Vistaesh. I would love to hear your thoughts on it. It is quite a unique being. I can't think of anything like it in other D&D worlds or fantasy worlds. Thanks for reading, and I'll get more up on this world either tomorrow or later tonight!
Edit: Wow, just did a word count for this post. It's over 2,800 words. No wonder it took me so long to type.
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Love it, and it adds a unique twist to death.
The fire giants made a gundam wheeeeee
Thanks! I already liked the afterlife system beforehand, but I think this makes is just a bit better and more solid. Any thoughts on the subraces?
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The subraces are fine, they would just need some kind of explanation if implemented into a campaign without this scenario.
The fire giants made a gundam wheeeeee
Deities and Demigods Part 1
Though most of the deities and quasideities of the Forgotten Realms perished due to the Catastrophe (most with the Great Sacrificed), some survived, others were reborn in some way, and others emerged as new entities after this calamitous event. The main deities and demipowers that survived were those that lived in the Inner Planes, but not all whose abodes were in the Inner Planes were spared, some of them dying before the Great Sacrifice, and some dying afterwards, for example; Auril who was killed by the PRince of Frost after the Catastrophe, Sardior chose to sacrifice himself to protect the Inner Planes, and so on.
There are no longer hundreds of true deities or dozens of pantheons, as there were before the Great Sacrifice. There are also longer specific deities for different races and creatures, but some races do prefer specific deities and quasideities over others, such as the Yikkan Goblinoids who worship the Yikare, or the unseelie fey who revere Queen Umbra.
True Deities
* - homebrew subclass
Icaernei, the Prince of Frost
Also known as "The Biting Winter" or "The Time Freezer," Icaernei, the Prince of Frost, is the master of winter, cold, ice, and freezing time. He dwells inside a ginormous castle of ice, known as the Frozen Palace, that is found both in the Far North of the Feywild and Frostfell. He is a frostbitten archfey who has a longstanding alliance with the Gloam Council, a previous member of the council that has gradually been moving towards independence. He is a bitter and cruel deity who demands veneration from those who dwell in the cold parts of the multiverse. Most of his temples are found in the cities of winter eladrin in the Feywild and arctic elves of the North. His followers commonly range from white dragons, frost giants, genasi, and elves, but his worshippers are scattered across the known multiverse.
However, his portfolio is not only limited to ice and cold, it also includes fate and freezing time. This is due to his attempt to catch his runaway love, Sharaea, the first Daughter of Delight. She was the former fiancé of Icaernei, back when he was known as the Sun Prince, who grew tired of the Feywild and fell in love with a mortal adventurer. She feared for her safety and the safety of her new lover, and made a deal with the Raven Queen, who agreed to send them far into the future to allow the Prince of Frost to calm down back to his previous form. The other Daughters of Delight, who become the Sisters of Lament for centuries, eventually regained their previous forms and were recruited to the Society of Radiance by Queen Tinaria.
Icaernei is the son of Queen Tinaria, and after the end of the Catastrophe he became a member of his aunt's Gloaming Court in order to further his goals. He believes that if he manages to freeze time long enough, he can stop Sharaea from escaping his grasp. He has began to teach his followers how to master chronurgy magic and is preparing to preform an epic ritual to freeze time long enought to catch his long-lost love, which he practices yearly on the winter solstice. He plans to perform the final ritual during a Solar Eclipse, permanently freezing the moon in front of the planet long enough to cool down the planet enough to empower his time-magic, which he hopes will allow him to catch Sharaea.
Depiction. Icaernei, the Prince of Frost resembled an eladrin with icy blue skin, long white hair, and piercing, glacier-blue eyes. He continually gives off an aura of freezing cold and can transform others into ice statues with a glance of his eyes. He wears dark armor forged out of stygian iron, wields a bastard sword made of ice, and typically is bare-chested.
Holy Day. Icaernei's holy day, called the Pale Night, takes place on the winter solstice. As the sun sets on the day beforehand, he and his followers begin a worldwide ritual and prayer, which they use to extend the length of the day for an additional 24 hours, but with the planet only rotating once in these 48 hours. This slowed rotation causes the night to be colder than any other part of the year.
Dogma of Icaernei
King Orivan, the Green Hunter
King Orivan, also known by the title of "The Spring Lord," is the king of the seelie fey and husband of the Summer Queen Tinaria of the Society of Radiance. He is the patron of rangers, green knights, dryads, spring eladrin, hunters, scouts, and others who wander the woodlands. He is the warlord of the Society of Radiance, commander of their armies and battle tactician. He dwells in the Palace of Senaliesse with Queen Tinaria, but often leaves to wander the woods and hunt.
His portfolio is of war, hunters, woodlands, and rangers, and he has many followers across the multiverse, particularly in the Feywild and Material Plane. His favorite fey are the Dryads, who make up much of his army, and he is also the master of treants, wood woads, and other feyish fauna. He is often worshipped by gnolls, elves, orcs, and other nature-devout races, and has many war and nature clerics among his followers, as well as hunter rangers, scout rogues, oath of the ancients paladins, and circle of land druids.
Depiction. King Orivan normally appears as a tall, attractive, muscular, green-skinned spring eladrin with hard, hazel eyes. He typically wields longbows while hunting, but dons an acorn-shaped shield and wooden longsword in battle.
Holy Day. King Orivan's holy day, called the Green Hunt, takes place on the vernal equinox. Those who worship him start the day by waking up early and embarking on a long hunting trip, catching all they can slay in one day and having a feast at the end of the day, eating all that they caught and sharing it with their relatives and friends.
Dogma of King Orivan
Letherna, the Raven Queen
Letherna the Raven Queen is also known as the "Mistress of Death." She runs the afterlife system and makes sure every soul gets judged and kept track of. She was the main deity who managed to survive the Catastrophe, and has changed the least out of any of the other deities. She is primarily worshipped by Shadar-Kai, Nemrav, and Sharbolg, but is also venerated by many inhabitants of the Inner Planes, mostly good individuals who respect the balance of the multiverse.
Many of his followers are Grave Domain Clerics, Oath of Souls Paladins, Path of the Zealot Barbarians, Shadow Sorcerers, Hexblade Warlocks, and others like this. They make sure that there is balance in the multiverse and despise and destroy undead whenever they get the change. They are the nemeses of Vecna and his followers, and strive to counter them at any opportunity.
Depiction. Letherna, the Raven Queen typically appears as a bald-headed, slender-bodied, pale shadar-kai dressed in a shimmering-blue cloak. Her eyes are a harsh and stormy-grey, and she typically travels with a pair of ravens mounted on her shoulders.
Holy Day. Letherna's holy day, called the Reckoning, takes place on the anniversary of the day after the Great Sacrifice, which is also the start of the year. Those who worship her begin a tally of all those who have died in their settlement and deliver the record of those that have died to a raven by the end of the day, who then gives the records to the Raven Queen. She then creates an archive of the amount of deaths and compares them to the amount of souls she has processed in that region.
Dogma of Letherna, the Raven Queen
Summer Queen Tinaria, the Lady of Faeries
The Summer Queen Tinaria, also known as the "Bright Maiden," rules over the seelie fey as the leader of the Society of Radiance. Her husband is King Orivan, and she rules from the Palace of Senaliesse, where she holds meetings with the Society of Radiance. She is the lady of the fey, the bright sister of Queen Umbra, and mistress of summer. Her followers are typically elves, seelie fey, and those who revel in light and intense emotions.
Besides the fey, many of her worshippers are Eloquence and Glamour Bards, Light and Trickery Clerics, Dreams Druids, Sun Soul Monks, Devotion and the Ancients Paladins, Seelieborn Sorcerers, and Archfey Warlocks. They strive for joy, pleasure, and other bright and overwhelming emotions, and protecting the goals of the fey.
Depiction. Tinaria appears as a gold-skinned summer eladrin with gossamer butterfly wings and rainbow-colored eyes. She is typically dressed in a long, shimmering dress with a spectrum of brightly-colored sequins, and wears a shining crown composed completely of diamonds.
Holy Day. Tinaria's holy day, called the Bright Revel, takes place on the Summer Solstice. Those who worship her throw a huge party and parade, filled with drinking, dancing, music, and other exciting activities. All are welcome, and those who attend are encouraged to pursue the desires.
Dogma of the Summer Queen Tinaria
Dusk Queen Umbra, Lady of the Fall
Dusk Queen Umbra, also known as "The Mistress of the Gloaming Night," rules over the unseelie fey as the queen of the gloam council. She rules in the Palace of Night inside the deep feydark city of Oagemfell, where her council is held. Unlike Queen Tinaria, Umbra does not have a husband, but has had many children over the last millenium, the most notable of which are Ustar the Shadow, the father of whom is Vecna, Neifon, whose father is Lord Strahd, Calaera the Nightmaiden, the granddaughter of Glasya and Blooden, and Larya the Warmaiden, daughter of Nyphithys.
Besides the unseelie fey, many of her worshippers are Whispers Bards, Darkness and Trickery Clerics, Oathbreaker and Conquest Paladins, Gloomstalker Rangers, Unseelie Blood Sorcerers, Archfey Warlocks, and others similar to these. They strive in the darkness and are terrorizing nightmares.
Depiction. Umbra appears as a black-haired, darker autumn eladrin with a black-diamond crown and black-silk dress.
Holy Day. Umbra's holy day, called the "Deep Turning," takes place on the Autumnal Equinox. Those who worship her go out at night and revel in the woods.
Dogma of Dusk Queen Umbra
Saint Labellia
Saint Labellia, also known as "The Fair One," rules over the aquatic fey. She dwells in the warm oceans of the Feywild in a deep coral castle known as the Latallibelan Palace. Her followers are merfolk, nixies, and other aquatic feyfolk.
Besides the aquatic fey, many of her worshippers are Glamour Bards, Peace Domain Clerics, Monks, Ancients Paladins, Feywanderer Rangers, Seelieborn Sorcrerers, Archfey Warlocks, and Enchanter Wizards.
Depiction. Saint Labellia appears as a beautiful mermaid with long, pink hair, a turquoise-scaled tail, typically dressed only in pearl and coral jewelry. Otherwise, she does not wear clothes. While unclothed, Saint Labellia can strike any mortal dead in an instant.
Holy Day. Saint Labellia's holy day is called "The Day of Warmth," and it takes place during the end of the spring. Her worshippers try to spread joy, love, and beauty across the realms.
Dogma of Saint Labellia
Ubtao, the Wild One
Ubtao, also known as "The Wayfinder," is the master diety of nature and primal magic. He lives in Chult guarding the gate that keeps Dendar the Night Serpent from destroying the world. He is primarily worshipped by Chultans, Tabaxi, Saurials, and Grimlocks, but is revered by all who thrive in nature.
Besides inhabitants of Chult, Ubtao is also worshipped by Gnolls, Orcs, Barbarians, Nature Clerics, Druids, Rangers, Scout Rogues, and others who serve primal powers. His followers hate Yuan-Ti, and hunt down any that they find.
Depiction. Ubtao appears as a Chultan human wearing a cloak and hide armor made of dinosaur skin.
Holy Day. Ubtao's holy day takes place at the beginning of spring and is called "The Day of the Ancients." On this day, Ubtao's followers plant trees and gardens.
Dogma of Ubtao
Vecna, the Whispered One
Lord Vecna, also known as the "Master of the Spider-Throne," and the "King of Undead," is the deity of necromancy, dark magic, secrets, and avoiding death. He is the archenemy of the Raven Queen, as it is his goal to slay her and take complete control over the afterlife. He was restored to life by his second-in-command, the now Lich-Priest named Zilya Darkcord, and has many other demipower followers, like Kossyeth the Unknown, Zelkos the Fallen, and Elvara the Helmed. He also has two races of people that follow him, the Vezyi and Fehntüm, both undeath-bound servitors of the Master of the Spider-Throne, as well as allies with the Gloam Council of the Unseelie and the Nagpae. His home is deep within the Underdark of the Shadowfell, called the Underfell, where his races and people dwell.
Besides the races who worship Vecna, his followers typically consist of Liches and other Undead, Lore Bards, Arcana and Death Clerics, Spores Druids, Long Death Monks, Oathbreaker Paladins, Phantom Rogues, Shadow Sorcerers, Undead and Arcane Warlocks, as well as Necromancer Wizards. His followers all strive to avoid death and thwart the afterlife system.
Depiction. Vecna appears as a withered lich that has lost his right eye. He wears black and purple arcane robes, typically wielding the wand of orcus and a tome of the stilled tongue while sitting atop his spider-shaped throne.
Holy Day. Vecna's holy day takes place near the start of winter, beginning at dusk on the last full moon before the winter starts. It is called "The Night of the Watchful Eye," and on this is the only night of the year when Vecna allows his archmage followers to become liches.
Dogma of Vecna
The Vistaesh
The Vistaeah, also known as the "Old One," is a "new" entity, only being present in its current form for the past 1,000 years. However, it did exist before this, as the many deities who eventually sacrificed themselves at the end of the Catastrophe in order to protect the world from an infernal incursion. The Vistaesh serves Letherna the Raven Queen, and is revered by her followers.
Depiction. Described here.
Holy Day. Same as Letherna's.
Dogma of the Vistaesh
The Yikare
The Yikare, also known as the "Great Link," is also a "new" deity, coming into existence after the destruction of the Weave with the death of Mystra, but only gaining the status of being a deity after a few centuries of being worshipped by the Yikkan Contingent. After the death of Mystra, the Weave was shattered and slashed to pieces, and the remnants of its threads became the jumbled ball of magic that is the Yikare. The Yikare has a sort of sentience unlike any other being in the multiverse, only wishing for the progress of magic, society, and learning. It is mostly worshipped by Yikkan Goblinoids, but is respected and revered by nearly all practitioners of magic.
Though the Yikkan Contingent has a long fued and rivalry with the Sheiohn Foulen and psionics, the Yikare holds no such grudge. It does not discriminate based on race as long as they are not working to destroy or possess it. This has led to the Yikare's dislike of Beholders and other aberrations who wish to prevent or destroy magic, as well as the Yikkan Contingent's hatred of Vecna, who wishes to own the Yikare.
Depiction. The Yikare has no physical form and cannot take one. One who can see magic will view the tangled blue cords that make up the Yikare, but this is not the metaphysical representation of this deity.
Holy Day. The "Day of Progress" is the Yikare's Holy Day, taking place on the last day of the year. It is run by her followers, typically mages or Yikkan Goblinoids, and they record all the progress they have made this year towards the spread of magic and knowledge.
Dogma of the Yikare
Okay, that's it. Thanks for reading, and I would love to hear your thoughts before I make the huge section for Quasideities.
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Just read both, and wow that was great!
When players get creative.
Okay, I finished the true deities. It's ready to be read and reviewed now!
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Main Quasideities Part 1
In Tor-eal, there are much more quasideities and demipowers than there are true deities. There are different groups and types of quasideities, from Seelie Archfey, Unseelie Archfey, the Bleak Ones, the Celestials, and others that have whole casts of demipowers. Due to this, I will first list the general quasideities that don't fit into a separate category, and later posts will contain those "demipantheons."
General Quasideities
* - homebrew subclass
** - subclass from Exploring Eberron by Keith Baker
Azraiv the Blessed
Formerly known as the Sword of Zariel, Azraiv is now a completely sentient and independent entity from their former owner. Azraiv still serves as Zariel's weapon, but has its own followers and worshippers now. It has clerics who protect and defend innocent people, warlocks who hunt down evildoers, and paladins who imbue and create sacred weapons.
The Sword of Zariel gained complete sentience after the end of the Catastrophe, absorbing the spirits of its perished allies. As the angels that were being lead by Zariel perished, their spirits were channeled to the Sword of Zariel and melded with its inherent goodness to grant it more power and intelligence.
Appearance. Azraiv the Blessed appears as a glowing blue longsword.
Cazair the Cutting Edge
Cazair the Cutting Edge is a spectral force, a new entity with no physical form. It was a cursed blade created by the Cult of Terror, who worship the Abomination. This blade was given sentience by its creators and its purpose is to corrupt the souls of the living, find hosts, and create even more nightmarish experiences to allow the Abomination to become more powerful. Cazair was so intelligent and manipulative that it was able to singlehandedly bring about the destruction of a nation and cause the Abomination's power to increase greatly. However, before Cazair was able to corrupt even more souls, the blade was destroyed by Zariel with a powerful strike of her blade, Azraiv.
Upon the destruction of the blade, the sentient spirit that was previously trapped inside the weapon was unleashed and freed from it being a servitor of the Abomination. This allowed it to pursue its own agenda, amassing enough followers to cause it to become a deity. In order to do so, it began making pacts with others, turning them into Hexblade Warlocks, gaining enough power to have clerics. Among Cazair's Darkness, War, and Trickery Cleric and Hexblade Warlock followers, it also has Zealot Barbarian, Whispers Bard, Oathbreaker Paladin, Bladeborn and Shadow Sorcerer, and Enchantment Wizards among its cult's ranks.
Appearance. Caizar the Cutting Edge is an incorporeal force, often appearing as an ephemeral blade to its followers.
Cylaera the Nightmaiden
The daughter of the Dusk Queen Umbra and descendent of Asmodeus, Cylaera is a scheming, hyper-intelligent, fey-fiend hybrid demigoddess of temptation, lust, and jealousy. Her father was Zarych, the son of Glasya and Blooden, who was later slain by Inferna. Cylaera dwells in an underground fortress built into a volcano in the Feydark, known as Firegloom Castle. She rarely dwells in it for long, though, leaving to travel the rest of the planes and seduce and corrupt mortals.
Like Icaernei, though Cylaera is not an official member of the Gloam Council, she does have an alliance with them and is no fan or ally of the Society of Radiance. She has the ability to shapeshift and cast many types of enchanting and illusion magic. This comes from her fiendish-unseelie heritage, gaining her shapeshifting abilities from her succubus/incubus grandfather, illusion magic from her mother, and enchanting magic from her grandparents. Due to her magical powers, she has many children scattered across the realms. Many of her children are leaders of her clergy, known as the Children of the Black Heart. She, and her followers, strive to spread mischief and salacity across the world and create chaos in the realms.
Appearance. Cylaera is a shapeshifter, so she typically is in any form of her choice, but she does have a "true" form. This form is that of a scarlet-skinned, devil-tailed, devil-winged, short-devil-horned, orange-eyed, attractive pointy-eared fiendish eladrin. She has fiery-black hair, speaks with a smooth-tongue, and typically wears seducing clothing.
Dendar the Night Serpent
Dendar is an ancient primordial, an elder evil who has existed since the dawn of time. Her followers are typically Yuan-Ti, but she does have followers among other humanoids and dragons, known as the Cult of the Basilisk. Her arch-rival is Ubtao, who guards the Gate of the Sealed Serpent, which protects the world from her escaping again.
Her followers believe that the world must be ended by Dendar in order receive eternal rest and balance. They feed Dendar through nightmares and terrorizing others, which they hope will eventually make her powerful enough to escape her prison, defeat Ubtao, and devour the world.
Her cultists are often Whispers Bards, Darkness and Trickery Clerics, Druids, Conquest Paladins, Assassin and Arcane Trickster Rogues, and others who terrorize others.
Appearance. Dendar appears as a colossal, terrifying serpent.
Inferna the Blazing
Inferna the Blazing is a strange demigoddess, appearing as a fiery, fiendish angel with flames flickering around her body and an aura of exhausting heat emitting from her heated form. She is an intense and fierce being, as well as being physically attractive, having a determined and driven personality, and an intelligent and inventive mind. She gains these features from her parents, who are the former archdevil, now archangel, Zariel, and Arkazan, the Erinyes War-Duke of Baator. She was born while Zariel was an archdevil, and quickly made her way up the cast of the infernal hierarchy due to her prowess with combat and battle tactics, gaining a high rank serving in the Blood War. If she had remained with the devils, she would still be in the Outer Planes with her father and the other devils.
When Zariel rose and was redeemed to her former status as a solar, she tried to convince her daughter Inferna to join her as she left Avernus, but Inferna turned her down. As a reward, Inferna was granted the status of Archduchess of Avernus by Asmodeus, replacing the role left void by her mother. She remained as ruler for decades, until she was nearly slain through an assassination attempt carried out by a lower-ranking devil, but that she discovered was orchestrated by Asmodeus. She then realized the hypocrisy and contradictory nature of the Devils and decided to abandon the forces of Baator. However, she did not rise and become a celestial, she instead chose to travel to the Inner Planes and discover her new self.
She spent years travelling the Inner Planes and observing the world to decide what to make of it. She did so for long enough to watch the chaos that came about at the start of the Catastrophe, seeing all of the death, suffering, and chaos that came about. This made her decide that the how she had been raised was incorrectly, that the teachings of the devils were a false dichotomy. She had been taught that the lawfulness and totalitarianism of the devils would create an orderly and perfect world, but what she saw contradicted this. She saw that their "order" led to chaos and suffering and determined that devils and their philosophy were a pestilence upon the multiverse.
Through her experiences, she shaped her new self around her new beliefs. She had been indoctrinated by her people, and decided to turn against all of her origins and create her own ideology. She stopped being Lawful Evil, and became Chaotic Good, and made her new home be the Elemental Plane of Fire. She is still a fiend, has amassed followers among humanoids, dragons, giants, celestials, and elementals, and formed a teaching of freedom, passion, and charity that is spread across the world by her champions.
Her "church" is known as the "The Followers of the Flaming Sun." It is her church, but they do not worship her. Instead, they revere and respect her as their prophetess and ideological leader, the creator of their doctrine and way of life. Among her followers are Artillerist Artificers, Storm Herald Barbarians (Desert), Circle of the Sun* Druids, Sun Soul Monks, Freedom*, Redemption, and Devotion Paladins, and Evocation Wizards.
Appearance. Inferna the Blazing appears as a orange-skinned, flame-haired, pointy-eared, attractive angel, with some other remaining fiendish features. She typically wears a scarlet dress that's edges seem to be made of fire, and wields a steel-shield and flaming warchain.
Karsus the Bloody
The ancient entity known as Karsus has existed for thousands of years, its origin now being unknown to nearly all of those who live on Tor-eal. He is known by multiple titles, from the "Mage of the Bloody Rock" to the "Master of Hidden Magic." He was a former archmage of an ancient empire known as the Netheril who attempted to save his people by killing and replacing the former deity of magic, Mystril. He temporarily became the deity of magic, but his hubris led to his nation's downfall and his death, becoming a vestige trapped on the Material Plane. Karsus has thrived in the years since the Catastrophe, as the lack of the previous deities has allowed his following to increase. He grants his followers arcane magic, forgotten secrets, and other obscure powers.
His followers are members of the Cult of the Blooded Boulder, and are typically practitioners of lost and obscure arts, such as Path of Wild Magic Barbarians, Lore Bards, Shadow Monks, Arcana and Conquest Paladins, Arcane Trickster Rogues, Wild Magic and Arcane Soul Sorcerers, Arcane One Warlocks, and Wizards. They vie for taking advantage of the Yikare and warping it under the control of their Master.
Appearance. Karsus the Bloody appears as a large boulder that is constantly trickling blood, and this blood erupts into a geyser as it speaks.
Keloke the Wright
The Rogue Quarton Modron, Keloke the Wright, dwells in the High City of Lantoin and now exists as a demipower. Though Keloke is not worshipped by his followers, they do devote themselves to his ideals and goals, and the sheer amounts of his followers grant him this demigod-status. He is an advocate of invention, progression, and intelligence. He also started the Coalition of Innovation, the Lantoin-based faction of artificers and artisans. Keloke is also known as the "Master of Artifice" and "Lord of Lantanea."
Keloke lived in the Mechanus as a member of the modron forces in the third-highest rank of the Modrons. He went rogue when Mechanus was being conquered by the devils, fleeing to the Inner Planes to survive. He arrived at Lantan, and was able to help the people there rebuild their nation after the Great Sacrifice destroyed many of their inventions. This is how he raised to his current state of respect and following, and is also part of the reason that Lanatanea has progressed so much in the last 1,000 years.
Appearance. Keloke appears as a brass quarton modron, who typically sits on a crafted throne with many gears, buttons, and levers.
Larya the Swordmaiden
Daughter of the Dusk Queen Umbra and Bane the Black Lord, Larya the Swordmaid is the twin sister of Cylaera the Nightmaiden. Also known as the "Warrioress of Tenebrosity," Larya is a strong, disciplined warlord that now dwells in the Shadowfell. Though she is the twin sister of Cylaera, they are fraternal twins with different fathers, and have very different personalities. While her sister is a chaotic, seducing femme fatale, Larya is a militaristic, scheming, regimented warrioress that formerly ran the army of the Gloam Council.
Her father, Bane, was slain when Vecna the Whispered One was reborn, as he killed all of the Dead Three in order to usurp them and absorb their power. She then decided to swear vengeance for her father and tried to convince her mother to go to war with Vecna and his forces, but she declined, and instead had a son with him, Ustar the Shadow. This lead to her abandoning the Gloam Council and traveling to a Domain of Dread in the Shadowfell, called Avatoch, where she began to train an army to crush her enemies. She even formed an alliance with the Raven Queen, as they share the goal of ridding the world of Vecna.
The followers of Larya are members of a cult known as the Legion of the Rebuking Blade, and is typically filled with Hexblade Warlocks, College of Swords Bards, War Domain Clerics, Battlemaster Fighters, Oath of Vengeance Paladins, Swashbuckler Rogues, Bladesinger Wizards, and other disciplined and intelligent characters.
Appearance. Larya the Swordmaid appears as a fatally attractive, tan-skinned, tall, red-haired, sword-and-shielded warrioress in plate armor with fierce yellow eyes.
Sehgawth the Maelstrom
Sehgawth is an elder kraken that has dwelt in the depths of the oceans since the world was known as Abeir-Toril, being created by the gods to fight against the Primordials at the dawn of time. Shortly after this great war was finished, Sehgawth entered a deep slumber and remained in an underwater lair for thousands of years, hidden from the outside world. It was finally reawakened in 591 AGS (After Great Sacrifice) by a sahuagin that escaped the dominating powers of the Aboleths and wished to free his race from the tyrannical rulers of the oceans. Sehgawth immediately erupted from its lair in a furious tempest, obliterating many krakens and aboleths, and beginning the new resistance among the ocean-folk known as the Rising of the Awakened Deep. Now, the Aboleths are at war with the giants of Klörvak and the krakenspawn, sahuagin, and krakens of the Rising of the Awakened Deep for control of the oceans.
Sehgawth is not evil, as it only wishes for the freedom of the oceans from the rule of the tyrannical aboleths. Its followers are kraken priests, Fathomless Warlocks, Tempest Clerics, Druids, Storm Herald Barbarians, Oath of the Open Sea Paladins, Storm Magic Sorcerers, and others connected with the raging storms of the deep oceans.
Appearance. Sehgawth is an oversized kraken, about 10 times the size of a normal kraken, surrounded by crackling electricity and booming thunder.
Sephal'yin the Purple Angel
Originally a powerful planetar servant of one of the Ancient Gods, Sephal'yin fell after the Great Sacrifice and was captured by illithids and became the first angel to undergo the process of ceremorphosis. This changed the previous celestial into a strangely angelic mind flayer, with a towering form and powerful psionic powers. This change transformed the planetar into a ulitharid, amplifying its abilities even moreso than before, causing it to become more than 20 feet in height. Its strange quasi-divine psionic abilities allow for Sephal'yin to travel around the Inner Planes to recruit followers to the Cult of the Pure Mind which is full of loyal sycophants and delusional power-hungry fanatics of psionic and aberrant powers.
Appearance. Sephal'yin appears as a huge mind flayer with angelic wings made of tentacles.
The Abomination
Also known as the "Fearmonger" or "Eternal Tormentor," the Abomination was created by the Raven Queen as an amalgamation of all the worst and most terrifying moments and experiences collected from nearly every individual that has died in the known multiverse from the last 1,000 years. As more people die, their awful memories are channeled into the Punishment, and the worst ones are absorbed by the Abomination, causing it to grow even more powerful. Its followers believe that if it grows powerful enough, it will be able to escape the Punishment and destroy the multiverse.
Though the dreadful entity that is the Abomination is merely a figment created from the worst and most awful memories and experiences, it has true sentience and power, and can contact those outside of the Punishment and grant them magic and gifts. This allows for the Abomination's Cult of Terror to have Fiend and Hexblade Warlocks, Darkness and War Clerics, as well as Barbarians, Path of Whispers Bards, Conquest and Oathbreaker Paladins, Gloomstalker Rangers, Arcane Trickster Rogues, and other members such as these.
Appearance. The Abomination appears as a gargantuan fiendish monstrosity with a 7-horned, draconic-tarrasquelike head, fear-inspiring red eyes, a horrifying scabrous body with an out-poking spine, and 4 colossal, monstrous legs. It has 3 spiked-tails, fierce, under-biting jaws, spider-leg-like appendages, and the ability to emit a furious roar from its black, annihilating mouth.
Ustar the Shadow
The shadowy empyrean known as Ustar the Shadow is the neutral evil child of the Dusk Queen Umbra and Lord Vecna the Whispered One. Both of these powerful deities are connected with dark, evil, and selfish powers, granting Ustar abilities of both his parents, but melded together into the ability to summon and control shadowy creatures and powers. He travels the multiverse on his mount, an Ancient Silver Shadow Dragon Death Cleric named Zarkala the Lady of Shade. Zarkala is the queen of Ustar's fortress in a Domain of Dread, known as the Chalice of Night. The Chalice of Night is made of obsidian, and is guarded by thousands of shadowy warriors.
His followers are typically those that practice phantom and shadow magic, such as shadow dragons, shadow mastiffs, shadows, nightwalkers, Phantom Rogues, Fallen Aasimar, Death and Phantom Clerics, and other casters. His cult is known as the Cult of the Nightshade and they wish to trap the world in a perpetual, magical night for all of eternity.
Appearance. Ustar the Shadow appears as a shadowy empyrean wearing blacksteel armor and a huge magical greatsword known as the Nightblade.
Ventra the Thirsty
This powerful nagpa archmage was transformed into a vampire by the Dark Powers of the Shadowfell. She now dwells in a Domain of Dread called Vaksufar that is filled with thousands of tortured souls that have wandered into her demiplane during the last hundreds of years. She forms pacts with those who wish to gain power in exchange for them guiding people to her new home.
Her followers are known as the Church of the Guiding Vulture, and is full of arcane casters, fanatic cultists, and power-thirsty nobles who are promised eternal life.
Appearance. Ventra the Thirsty appears as a grey-feathered nagpa vampire with a bloody beak. She can transform into a red vulture instead of a bat.
Virem the Cypher
The strange vestige known as Virem the Cypher, or sometimes just "The Cypher," has existed for thousands of years, but has only recently been discovered by the Archivists of Lantanea. Unknown to those living in the Inner Planes, this being has been known by a name beforehand, Primus the One and the Prime. Unlike the other Primus that was slain by Asmodeus in order to take control of the Modrons of Mechanus, this specific entity was dead long before the Catastrophe, slain by the ancient demon lord known as Orcus.
Over the course of the centuries, the vestige became forgotten by those living on Toril, as it lacked a purpose. However, with the deaths of may deities and other demipowers during the Catastrophe, it began to expand in purpose, and was warped into the new entity known as Virem. It was discovered in 763 AGS by the Archivists of Lantanea while they were creating the Grid, as it was tampering with the modems and creating coded messages. The artificers solved these codes and discovered that the Cypher was actually an entity that was trying to instruct them on how to improve their inventions. They began to revere it, even if they didn't understand it, and built a server specifically for it to communicate with them, known as the Dell of the Cypher.
Appearance. Though the Cypher has no physical form, it has a holographic form that appears as a face made out of coded numbers.
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Okay, here's a question for you all that are reading this. Do you think there should be a few more True Deities, as there are currently 10, or is it good as it is? At first I liked the current amount of them, but would like for there to be a celestial deity (Zariel, maybe?), possibly an aberration deity, or something like that. Any thoughts?
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I agree that there should be a few more True Deities. Maybe 12-15? I like the idea of an Aberration deity, though I don't know what domains it would be...Knowledge, maybe? I also agree with elevating Zariel to Deity status (Light and War?).
Also, did Laduguer and/or Deep Duerra survive? If so, they would definitely deserve a place in the Pantheon.
Seven there shall be/In the halls of the eighth/Eights shall witness/Eight and eight and eight and eight/Blood of the father/Blood of the sun/Endless darkness/Day is done
Savior/Sovereign/Saint Foresworn/Traitor/Trusted/Tortured Truthborn/Chosen/Cursed
Created by deities/Created by mortals/Created by powers unseen/Unheard of
Fate speaks of one/Fate speaks to none/Eternal shadows/Day is Done.
Yeah, an aberration deity would probably be Knowledge and Mind Domains (Mind is from Exploring Eberron by Keith Baker. It's not official, but is the closest thing to an aberration domain). Zariel would be Light, War, and possibly Forge domains.
Laduguer and Deep Duerra may have survived, but if they did, they are not in the Inner Planes, and would be in the Outer Planes. This would cut them off from their clerics, so even if they are alive, they're not having worshippers on Tor-eal.
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I think you have a really great world and history being thought up here and you displayed a ton of detail. Awesome read.
Thanks!
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Well, I mean one of the main ideas behind your world is the general absence of the divine and the demonic so I don't think you'd want to overdo it. Having said that, this is your brainchild so do what you like. If it doesn't work you can always change it later. It's not like this is the final draft or anything.
Personally, I'd say one or two more would be interesting, if only to get you off 10 - as a number it lacks mystique - but also because diversity makes things interesting.
When designing worlds myself I find it helps to try envision what purpose I want for the gods of the realm. If you have some ideas for the role of divine beings in this somewhat godless world then it will inform your decision. If you're still unsure, then definitely try out whatever you come up with and see where it takes you. As I said, you can always change it later.
I haven't quite said yea or nay yet, so I think 13 would be a good number. It's a few above 10 but not so much that you're getting too many. It has so many ill associations which would make for a good mystique that I think would fit your world. I would be wary about going beyond 13 for the reasons stated above but I'd probably stop at 15 at the absolute max. I think 13 deities would provide a diverse enough body of divine entities that could be used to expand your world, but not enough that they'd have the power to solve all its problems and perhaps one day pull back the barriers that surround the inner planes and combat the encroaching darkness.
Hope this helps