Beheerous
The Mind Plague, the Constant Flurry, the Devour Cloud, the Many Mouth, The Bringer of Rot
Beheerous, also known as the Mind Plague, the Constant Flurry, the Devour Cloud, the Many Mouth and the Bringer of Rot, is the Travesty representing mental faculties, control and command. Beheerous is not a singular entity, as is the case with many of the other deities, but instead takes the form of an infinite swarm of jagged, burrowing insects and other pests, all of whom can act independently.
When the mortals of Apa Axas first heard the haunting drone of the First Swarm of flesh eating insects bare down on them for miles around, they knew not what they saw, but they would knew the dread that would follow them. As their flesh was stripped from their bones, they could say but one word; “Beheerous”, or “The Many Minds of the Ravenous Choir” in the Old Tongue, and it is said that this swarm carried that name with them, endlessly devouring world after world after world. While this is a common take for explaining the origin of the Travesty of Mental Illness, Control and Command, however, the number of tales may just equal the infinite number of insects, rats, bacterium, stirges, snakes and other vermin that make up the hive mind known as Beheerous. While Beheerous may have multiple names that it refers to itself as, it has been granted several monikers on Apa Axas, such as the Mind Plague, the Constant Flurry, the Devour Cloud, the Many Mouth and the Bringer of Rot.
Beheerous is said to be less of an entity, but an infection upon Apa Axas, existing as a huge unstoppable swarm that seeks only to devour and convert. Those unfortunates who have come into contact with the unfettered presence of Beheerous are said to have been deafened almost immediately, with the sound of the presence being compared to a billion screams, the sound of a infinitely huge machine and the dreadful buzzing of every insect to ever exist, all at once. In fact, a popular tales claims that Beheerous acts as an afterlife for insects, and every insect who has ever died has joined the swarm, and some even say that insects who die from mortal involvement, such as being squatted or accidentally killed, will use Beheerous to claim revenge on their killers in the afterlife. This has led some paranoid communities to never kill insects, although this often leads to the death of the community anyway after their crops are devoured. It is thought that Beheerous has been responsible for all four of the Great Plagues of Apa Axas, but it is unknown as to the validity of this statement.
The threat of Beheerous is lingering and ever-present, as no single Beacon or Travesty has managed to prevent, or even slow, its rampage when it turns to mind to a target. Luckily for Apa Axas, and the multiverse in general, Beheerous’ glaring weakness is its lack of cohesion. With billions of chattering minds all pulling in different directions, it is nigh-impossible for Beheerous to form complex plans or even a general direction - the only force that can tame the swarm is hunger, an all-consuming hunger with no mercy of prejudice, and gods save you if you’re on the menu.
Divine Domains
While Beheerous's main domains are mental illness, control and command, they are also considered to oversee Unity, Thunder, Swarms, Insects and Calamity.
Artifacts
Beheerous' primary artifact is The Sundered Crown, a plain silver band that fits around the wearer's head. If the wearer has a high enough intelligence, they will be able to spread their consciousness into others, causing them to join a hive mind under the control of the wearer. If the wearer has a low intelligence, they will be instantly killed. It is said that those who die in this way are added to Beheerous's swarm.
Beheerous is also said to have created the Cubic Gate, but the methods to do so has never been established.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Beheerous is often depicted as an infinitely large swarm, although the nature of the swarm seems to depend on the artist. It has been seen to contain mosquitoes, locusts, stirges, rats, intellect devourers and bats.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
The origins of Beheerous are unknown, lost to the passages of time. Some say they are the result of a Clever Folk experiment gone wrong, others that they are a species of Far Realm conquerors who formed into a single hive-mind.
The first record of Beheerous was during the Aftermath of Retch, a turbulent era when The Putric Isles was without a leader for nearly six decades. This lead to one of the longest conflicts in Apa Axas's history, The Supremacy Conflict, a war of many factions vying for control of the archipelago.
In the worst days of the war, an Orcish Warlord Modgad the Vengeful kidnapped a human scholar named Nikhil Craggrip and forced him to develop new magical means for him to claim land in the name of the Orcs. Nikhil soon presented Modgad with a silver crown that would allow Modgad to spread his mind, giving his vast armies the co-ordination of a single Orc. In his haste, Modgad placed the crown upon his haste without considering his subject would have the gall to betray him. Nikhil had instead given Modgad The Sundered Crown, an artifact of Beheerous that would scatter Modgad's mind across all of time and space as it was absorbed into the swarm of Beheerous. Although thought lost, it is said that traces of Modgad's mind still exists within Beheerous, providing a rationale for Beheerous seeming hatred of humankind.
This encounter was detailed in a poem passed down by The Putrians, known as "The Betrayal of Modgad". Beheerous has been a common scapegoat since then, due to his association with mind control and pestilence. It is common amongst The Putrians to blame unpreferable results of elections on Beheerous, stating the population was under his command. He is also often blamed for the four Great Plagues, taking place in several eras, although, it is confirmed whether his presence was there or not.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
The motivations of a Travesty are unknowable and imperceptible to mortal understanding. However, Beheerous's actions in regards to The Path may shed some light on his motivations. It is said that Beheerous does not possess a realm of his own within The Marshes Betwixt, as Sporeplanus appears to exist 'underneath' the Marshes, and appears to be more of a resting place than a full plane. Instead, it acts a a vast cloud of insects and spirits, engulfing the lost. It then takes full control of their minds, bodies and spirits, adding them to its mass. It is theorised that he does this in order to amass an army large enough to wage war on The Heavenly Nexus. Followers of Beheerous claim that only a life of pure control can guide the path, and so seek to dominate all others around them. This leads of followers of Beheerous being isolationists, as they are usually unwilling to work with others to achieve their goals, believing all others should succumb to their whims. Many followers even wish to overthrow Beheerous itself.
Social
Contacts & Relations
Interestingly, cults of Beheerous less focused on reverence, but rather rivalry, with the aim of most patrons of Beheerous being to overthrow the Swarm and lead the unstoppable force for themselves. There are two famous examples of creature who had almost succeeded in doing so, and were fundamentally changed because of it. The first was Modgad the Vengeful, an Orc warlord who attempted to use The Sundered Crown to force the swarm into submission, but was absorbed by it instead. The second was the notorious multiversal criminal known as Curt Prices, who acts as the Emissary of Beheerous. Curt Prices was once a con-man and known as Grelys Foultongue, who was split into two beings by Beheerous after stealing the Sundered Crown. The Curt Prices half found himself in Mirikas, with his former self locked away in a Fey asylum. Curt Prices found he could multiply himself almost infinitely, with the original become stronger with each copy created. With an army of himself, Curt Prices attempted to overthrow the realm of Mirikas, but was stopped by a team of adventurers. His alternate selves were scattered across the multiverse as a result, in infinite different forms. You can be sure of one thing, however, that now, every universe in the multiverse has a Curt Prices, just waiting to emerge to cause chaos in the realm.
Relationships
Divine Classification
Travesty
Alignment
Chaotic Evil
Current Location
Species
Realm
Age
Unknown
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Sex
Unknown
Gender
Unknown
Eyes
Varies
Hair
Varies
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Varies
Height
Varies
Weight
Varies
Aligned Organization
Related Myths
Ruled Locations
Comments