Malavisch

Malavisch
Titles	The Black Swan Master of Hell Author of Contracts
Type	Pantheonic deity
Areas of concern	Tyranny, law, beauty, contracts
Typical worshipers	Tyrants, merchants, bureaucrats, lawyers
Domains	Ambition, Duty, Fire, Glyph, Secrecy, Tyranny
Divine font	Harm
Divine skill	Deception or Diplomacy
Divine ability	Intelligence or Strength
Favored weapon	Spiked chain
Symbol	Inverted pentagram
Sacred animal	Black swan
Sacred color	Red and black

Malavisch (pronounced MAH-lah-vish) is the god of tyranny, law, beauty, and contracts.

Edicts and anathema

Edicts

Use the law to your advantage, follow the letter of the law, maintain an appearance befitting your status, rule your lessers, punish insubordination, show subservience to your superiors

Anathema

Disregard or break a contract, have a slovenly or unkempt appearance, perform labor or take risks that could be delegated to others, exchange knowledge or a possession for nothing in return

Description

Malavisch was always a deceitful deity, but he did not originally hold his current status amongst the divines. As the first creation was coming into form, Malavisch cleverly negotiated a contract with the god whose domains he now possesses, now known only as the Fallen as his name has been lost to history. Malavisch would become the servant of the Fallen, agreeing to act as his arbiter and deputy to oversee the newly-created inhabitants of the universe in exchange for inheriting the Fallen's domains upon his death. Of course, the Fallen agreed - he was divine, and he believed he could not die in any way that mattered. But Malavisch knew otherwise. He had seen Lotan lurking in the primordial chaos, and he knew an attack was inevitable. When Lotan finally struck at Socharin, his anger too great to possibly contain, the Fallen and Malavisch joined the other gods in driving Lotan back to the void. Malavisch and his superior fought back to back, protecting each other and striking as one. At least, until Malavisch vanished, knowing his contract did not require him to defend the Fallen. Left alone, the Fallen could not endure Lotan's attacks. He was consumed, struck from existence, his domains going to Malavisch as the contract was fulfilled.

At least, that is the story as told by the church of Malavisch. Others disagree, often vehemently - the notion of other gods having already been permanently killed by Lotan is heretical to most. Regardless, Malavisch has undisputed primacy of his domains now, his power great and his influence pervasive.

Malavisch embodies tyranny and the law. Rules, contracts, and the subjugation of the weaker under the stronger are of central importance to his faith. He teaches that all have a place in the natural order of things, and that the best action any can take is to find and remain in that place, in order to not invite further chaos into the world. Even as Malavisch's faithful understand they must pay deference to their superiors, they often continue to subtly attempt to undermine those above them, following the example of their god. After all, if one can be weakened or overthrown then surely they never deserved their position to begin with - insubordination is only an infraction if it fails.

Followers

Most of Malavisch's followers are those that already possess some degree of power. Tyrants, bureaucrats, and merchants are among his most fervent worshipers, as are others whose lives are tightly intertwined with legal codes. Neither Malavisch nor his faithful are trusted by most, even among those that worship the god. It is well-understood that even if they abide by terms to which they agreed, they will doubtless find ways to warp any contract to their advantage, if it wasn’t already written to be entirely in their favor in some subtle manner.

To Malavisch and his clergy, appearances are everything; one should always dress in accordance with their status in the world. To keep appearances is to keep control, and a failure to do so is to offer a hint that one might not be worthy of their place in the hierarchy of the world.

Church structure

The faithful of Malavisch are organized into an extremely rigid, hierarchical church. There is only one mortal church to Malavisch on Kishar, something not shared by any other faith - even the equally lawful and orderly religion of Harinna has schisms and multiple church structures. This centralization only occurred after the formation of Koritan in Y9414^*, as the new state claimed the divine favor of Malavisch.

Holy text

Malavisch's holy text is the Transcript of Malavisch v. Agents of Lawlessness. Written as a transcript of a mock trial between Malavisch and a series of unnamed enemies, this lengthy text is usually published as a set of thirty tree hefty tomes. In the trial, Malavisch systematically undermines and disproves the arguments of his opponents, while simultaneously demonstrating the superiority of his own ways. Among Malavisch's faithful, the Transcript is often read to give guidance on how to approach legal matters, and particularly on how to argue a case in a court.

Relations

Malavisch's followers have an oppositional relationship with most other religions. All that encourage chaotic behavior that disregards the law are especially inimical, and none more so than Marya's faith. The faiths of lawful deities, however, tend to be seen rather favorably by Malavisch's clergy. They find frequent allies among the devotees of Hasamel and Nisaba, and sometimes even with those of Socharin. Opinions towards Harrina's faithful ranged from passive dislike to a surprising degree of friendliness, at least until Malavisch's church became inextricably intertwined with the modern state of Koritan - relations between the two religions are now extremely negative.

Depiction

Malavisch is often depicted as a humanoid figure with four ram’s heads - one looking forward, one behind, and one each to the right and left. In some simpler representations, he is pictured as a humanoid man with two spiral goat horns. Malavisch is always portrayed as having a calm demeanor and wearing fine clothes, often with his left hand raised to his chest, palm facing out, holding a scroll containing a contract in the other.

Variations by pantheon

Pantheon	Name	Notes
Aserdian	Mothallah	Mothallah (pronounced moth-AH-lah) is a god of vanity, contracts, and false bargains. He attracts those seeking wealth, beauty, and immortality by offering such boons, but always with hidden repercussions. Mothallah is a seductive force that drives the vain towards evil, stoking their narcissism until they commit crimes against their communities, families, and friends in search of mortal good looks and wealth. His portfolio includes immortality for similar reasons, as he is thought to tempt the aging with immortality by offering the "gift" of eternal life with one hand while hiding the consequences in the other. Mothallah is perhaps the only god of the Aserdian pantheon that is thought to be cosmologically dangerous. Through offering immortality to mortals, his designs would interrupt the cycles of death and rebirth that drive the world, causing untold yet doubtless catastrophic consequences. Making peace with one's mortality is seen as a way to drive Mothallah away from the material world, allowing it to continue to grow and shift without remaining stagnant. Temples and shrines to Mothallah are usually located in out of the way places, in secluded locales where his faithful can worship without drawing attention to their practices from those that fear the consequences. Unlike his rather more fantastical depictions in other pantheons, in the Aserdian pantheon Mothallah is always depicted in a mundane manner, simply as a well-dressed figure displaying obvious personal wealth. Other parts of his portrayal are shared across pantheons, however. For example, Mothallah is frequently pictured with his left hand raised to his chest, palm facing out, holding a scroll containing a contract in the other.
Chaskan	Malavisch	In the Chaskan pantheon, Malavisch is that patron of those that use the law to their advantage, especially when they are also the same people that write the laws. He is the tyrant that can always find a legal justification for his actions, and the merchant that hides exploitative clauses in their impenetrable contracts.
Hellean	Rhadamanthus	In the Hellean pantheon, Rhadamanthus was historically seen as a more neutral god, one tied to the enforcement of laws and contracts. He was connected to merchants, including both unscrupulous ones that would twist contracts to their advantage and honest ones that simply did their diligence to ensure they had the backing of the law. Since the rise of the church in Koritan, this side of Rhadamanthus was rapidly dropped in favor of the worship of Khalkeus. Today Rhadamanthus plays a very similar role in the Hellean pantheon as he does in the Chaskan pantheon, though there remain a not insignificant number of non-evil followers of Rhadamanthus in the nations of Hellea.
Dwarven	Katharn	In the Dwarven pantheon, Katharn is a god of inflexible leaders, those that continue to demand compliance with laws that have become harmful. He is not widely worshiped in the Dwarven pantheon, though he does play an important theological role as a foil to Hurra.