Ubellur: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:04, 1 August 2023

Every locked door restrains an idea, a secret that wishes to be free. Provide us with the keys, Ubellur, so that we might unleash them.
—Prayer to Ubellur found etched on the walls of a Darklands cave near Kur

Ubellur (pronounced OOH-bell-orr) is a pantheonic deity commonly associated with forbidden knowledge and dangerous secrets.

Chaskan pantheon

Ubellur (pronounced OOH-bell-orr) is a god of madness, forbidden magic, and dangerous secrets.

Ubellur speaks whispers in the shadows heard only in the back of your mind, the ones that push you towards questions best left unanswered. His chosen are disparate, ranging from mad priests who are aware of their faith to inventors and mages who suddenly find sparks of inspiration to build terrible new creations. He toys with his followers and enemies alike, pushing them against each other to create ever more discord.

Though equally as interested as Lotan in bringing about chaos and destruction, Ubellur works in more subtle ways. Gradual pushes over centuries, little nudges that have cascading effects, small changes that spiral out into consequences few can foresee, these are Ubellur’s methods. His followers rarely have anything more than an inkling at the broader effects their actions will have, but perform them all the same in the mad belief that it will bring some terrible glory to their god.

Stories of Ubellur's origins and relations to the other gods never seem to agree on most of the details. The most widespread legends tell of how he was born from the disagreements of the other gods when they began to create the universe, a process he quickly joined in himself - on the surface following the same overall goals and plans, but in reality subtly planting the seeds of future chaos.

Despite their common reputation, not all of Ubellur's worshipers are violent cultists. These are the most visible, of course, even as they try to remain hidden - their penchant for terrible and bloody rituals, often performed under cover of darkness in public places, provides proof of their existence even as their identities remain secret. In some places, such as particularly depraved parts of the Darklands, they drop their furtiveness entirely. But Ubellur's most dangerous followers are more subtle. They are the ones in positions of authority, the ones with the means to slowly nudge the course of the world towards a terrible outcome while none suspect their involvement.

Many of Ubellur's devotees work against each other, sometimes knowing of the other’s faith, often not. To their god, it is irrelevant if his followers fight amongst themselves. If anything, it only brings greater chaos.

Ubellur's holy text is a massive tome called the Manuscript of the Veil. Only fragments of this text are known to his followers. The rest was forgotten long ago, its only complete copy either destroyed or lost. Recovery of the Manuscript is a task some worshipers of Ubellur take to fervently, under the belief that it contains knowledge that will grant them great power and insight.

Depictions of Ubellur vary across cultures, seen by different peoples in hundreds of different ways. Most commonly, however, he is depicted as a butterfly with torn wings, or sometimes an empty hooded cloak, held in shape with no visible occupant.

Edicts and anathema

Edicts: Sow chaos, secretly push the world towards death and destruction, research dangerous and forbidden magic
Anathema: Allow order to rectify unstable situations, constrain your studies to acceptable matters

Laurentian pantheon

Ubilai (pronounced OOH-bih-lie) is a god of lost causes, undeath, caves, and the dangers that lurk out of sight. He was originally a very different god, one of structure and order, but these aspects were taken from him along with his body when he was defeated by the other deities of the pantheon. Today Ubilai is a relatively minor god with only a small following. Still, he remains theologically important for providing Skohsla the motivation to destroy the world.

When his body was stolen from him and torn apart, it is said that Ubilai was forced to seek another mode of existence, in doing so creating undeath. Many of his followers are necromancers or undead creatures. Amongst both his followers and those opposed to the deity, necromancy is thought to require Ubilai's direct involvement - the fact that it remains possible to raise the dead shows that the god's influence on the mortal world, while reduced, still remains.

Ubilai is also closely connected to caves and the underground world. As his flesh became the soil, delving below ground makes one more susceptible to being swayed towards the god. Many geographical features in the Laurentian landscape are associated with Ubilai, from mountain ranges to lakes to the vast expanse of the northern tundra.

Ubilai is usually depicted as a haggard, often greatly injured figure. Sometimes he is shown as skeletal or necrotic, his form barely holding together.

Edicts and anathema

Edicts: Create undead, live underground
Anathema: Defile the natural world, especially caves and stone formations

Elven pantheon

Urusthe (pronounced ur-OOS-thi) is a god of madness, forbidden magic, dangerous secrets, and the mysteries that lie in outer space. In the era of elven history during which the aeroliths were constructed, some cults to Urusthe set off into the darkness of the cosmos in search of the secrets shrouded there. Today worship of Urusthe tends to be stronger amongst Redemptionist elves than in other movements, but it remains fringe in all communities.

Followers of Urusthe are generally looked upon with trepidation, but they are not outright ostracized as his devotees are seen as more dangerous to themselves than to others. They do not widely seek to cause direct harm to their surroundings or to those that do not worship their god, though at times their experiments and drive for knowledge at all costs result in unforeseen and sometimes disastrous consequences.

Urusthe's holy text, the Manuscript of the Veil, survives in its most complete form amongst his followers in the Elven pantheon. Most of the text was lost long ago by those that worship his interpretations in other pantheons. The esoteric and largely incomprehensible text is read and re-read fervently under the belief that it contains buried nuggets of wisdom, available to those that devote themselves enough to its study.

Urusthe is typically depicted as an empty hooded cloak, held in shape with no visible occupant.

Edicts and anathema

Edicts: Research dangerous and forbidden magic, pursue knowledge of the mysteries of outer space, spread forbidden knowledge
Anathema: Constrain your studies to acceptable matters, interfere with views of the night sky

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 |symbol = Butterfly with torn wings
 |sacred_animal = Butterfly
-|sacred_colors = Black
+|sacred_colors = Gray
 }}
 '''Urusthe''' {{Pronunciation|ur-OOS-thi}} is a god of madness, forbidden magic, dangerous secrets, and the mysteries that lie in outer space. In the era of elven history during which the [[Aerolith|aeroliths]] were constructed, some cults to Urusthe set off into the darkness of the cosmos in search of the secrets shrouded there. Today worship of Urusthe tends to be stronger amongst Redemptionist elves than in other movements, but it remains fringe in all communities.