Nyxras (pronounced NICKS-rahs) is a pantheonic goddess commonly associated with hedonism, decadence, catharsis, and nihilism.
Chaskan pantheon
Nyxras (pronounced NICKS-rahs) is the goddess of hedonism, decadence, nihilism, and catharsis. She is widely associated with necromancers and the undead, and especially with the creators of intelligent undead. Nyxras' followers see the labors of life as distasteful or repellent, and therefore seek to force others to do their bidding for them. Many turn to the undead out of convenience, while others keep slaves or mind-control unwitting subjects.
Followers of Nyxras see cosmological or divine struggles as fundamentally meaningless and any involvement with them as pointless. To them, there is no purpose in life, no greater cause to champion, no way to tip the scales of the universe. From these views, they have developed beliefs that espouse the search for personal gratification as the only true motivation in life. Why make sacrifices for others, many ask, when you might not be repaid in kind? Why fight against the current when you could swim with it without exertion? There is nothing more holy to Nyxras than following one's own desires, the more decadent the better.
Hedonists and others who wish to fill all of their days with pleasure account for many of Nyxras' faithful. Though people from all walks of life follow the goddess, her devotees among the upper classes of societies around the world are perhaps the most widely known, in large part for their often debauched feasts and parties. Some of Nyxras' followers attempt to temper their indulgences, but most see no point in such arbitrary limitations - after all, if there is no greater purpose to be had, living one's life to the fullest is the true goal to existence.
Nyxras attracts many who seek personal gratification without regard for the consequences. Compared to the faithful of Tarhunz, who have a similar drive for power and personal gain yet restrain themselves from harming those who they would wish to rule, those drawn to Nyxras are much more likely to express a disregard for the lives of others. Necromancers commonly worship Nyxras, callously using the raised dead to further their own interests. Many alchemists follow Nyxras for similar reasons.
Some sects of Nyxras interpret the goddess as more of a deity of strong emotions and sensations than specifically one of pleasure. The most evil of these cults sometimes practice ritual sadism, body modification, pain worship, and cannibalism, though others are less extreme in their practices.
There are few churches of Nyxras, none unified or following the same doctrines. Those who worship Nyxras ultimately do so for their own benefit - her tenets, already somewhat loosely defined, are invariably stretched to justify the actions the one already wishes to take. Any significant church would only serve to limit the activities of those within it, and they are therefore broadly eschewed
Depictions of Nyxras can vary widely. Some cultures see the goddess as as primal figure who acts as she pleases with no restraint or subtlety, while others instead consider her to be more refined in her extravagance. Followers who favor the first approach usually portray Nyxras as animalistic, whether they see that as good or bad, while those who have adopted the latter position typically picture the goddess in an elegant humanoid form.
Edicts and anathema
- Edicts
- Enjoy existence to the fullest, surround yourself with luxury
- Anathema
- Allow another to withhold your pleasures, restrain your emotions
Khapeshan pantheon
Nakith (pronounced nah-KITH) is a goddess of hedonism, catharsis, hunger, and revenge. The goddess has an unusual status in the pantheon. Commonly known as the Half-Alive or the Serpent-Tarnished, she is believed to have been partially devoured by Apep in the first battle between the Serpent and the rest of the gods. Though she managed to escape, in her incomplete form she can no longer experience joy, satisfaction, or other sensations like she could before. Constantly driven by a hunger to recapture emotions she can no longer grasp, Nakith now seeks to devour the mortal world just as Apep does the divine.
There are relatively few devotees of Nakith. As the goddess is antagonistic to the order in which the other gods live, she is shunned by adherents of effectively every other deity, even those of Apep. To followers of the Serpent, Nakith is a defeated foe unworthy of any consideration, while worshipers of the Half-Alive see Apep as perhaps their greatest enemy for what he did to their goddess. Nakith's faithful see the world as theirs for the taking, something they deserve in compensation for the disregard the other divines showed to their goddess in allowing her to be consumed.
Temples and shrines of Nakith are usually found in hidden places such as under-cities or repurposed old tombs. Like other evil deities in the Khapeshan pantheon, she has no grand temple. Her clergy and faithful rarely openly proselytize, preferring instead to grow their number and expand their cults through more subtle means. The goddess is the patron of those that indulge to the greatest in all worldly pleasures while they last, while also the one that causes them to end, a deity of both feast and famine.
Nakith was once a neutral good goddess of plenitude, freedom, and forgiveness, but these domains were lost by her during her encounter with Apep. While nearly all of her followers worship her current form, a rare few still believe their goddess can be redeemed in the same way she would formerly have given absolution to others. These followers are extremely secretive about their views to the point that many consider the sect to be a mere myth.
Nakith is variously depicted as skeletal, emaciated, or in some other manner that conveys her status and constant struggle. She is often pictured wielding the knife she used in her failed attempt to defend herself from Apep.
Edicts and anathema
- Edicts
- Indulge yourself, take what is owed to you
- Anathema
- Allow another to withhold your pleasures, restrain your emotions, allow a slight to go unanswered
Taruhmite pantheon
Nema (pronounced NEE-mah), the Bringer of Hunger, is a goddess of famine, drought, salt, and poverty. Her wrath can be slow to manifest, as crops begin to fail and storehouses gradually dwindle then empty, but once in full swing she is no less dangerous than her peers, able to starve and depopulate any community.
Dead plants, a dearth of animals to hunt, and inedible, rotten foods are the most obvious signs of Nema's displeasure, but these are not the only ways in which she can deprive of resources those who anger her. She can salt the most fertile of fields and drive away the most endless of shoals, cutting off a community from its lifeblood. So too can she empty a mine of all its ores, leaving none left with which to trade, or shatter valuable obsidian, rendering it unusable to construct weapons critical for defense.
The oracles of Nema's church give sacrifices to the goddess with great regularity. A quarter of all harvests are burned in offering to the goddess, or more when her omens show signs of particular anger. Similarly, a portion of all valuables, whether acquired through mining, crafting, trading, or by some other means, are buried in secret caches across the Grievous Islands, left for the goddess and her alone. The outcast cults that worship Nema often attempt to uncover the goods these caches contain; if successful, they surreptitiously distribute them into unsuspecting communities so as to direct Nema's wrath as widely as possible.
As with other deities of the Taruhmite pantheon, Nema is given no appearance. Her omens commonly manifest as patterns in withered crops, skeletal fish washed ashore, or the loss of the ability to taste.
Edicts and anathema
- Edicts
- None
- Anathema
- None
Elven pantheon
Vanth (pronounced VANTH) is a relatively minor figure in the Elven pantheon, a goddess of nihilism, catharsis, and blissful ignorance. She is seen as the patron of those that choose to ignore the world in order to remain content. Unlike those that follow her interpretations in other patheons, worshipers of Vanth often live in poverty or squalor, eschewing any trappings of material comfort that would require effort to maintain. Vanth is typically seen as more neutral than evil. She has few clergy, as most of her followers see little use for notions like religious authority or guidance.
Vanth is most often depicted as a shattered figure, her body in jagged pieces like a broken pane of glass.
Edicts and anathema
- Edicts
- Forgo unnecessary possessions, express yourself freely
- Anathema
- Seek frivolous knowledge, seek creature comforts, restrain your emotions