Shubb'Ki

The Crawling Rot, the ScarKing, the Reanimator, the Mutation Prince, The Sealed (a.k.a. Shibberus Kingslayer)

Shubb'Ki, also known as the Crawling Rot, the ScarKing, the Reanimator, the Mutation Prince and the Sealed, is the Travesty representing scars, corruption and filth. He is also seen as the God of Undeath, due to his love of eternal, renewable rot. It is said that he is the ancient enemy of Surm Tutdrug due to Shubb'Ki's creation of the The Ritual of the Living Pinion, a process that allows a mortal to become a Lich. Born when the first mortal inflicted pain upon themselves, and he who festers in the Eternal Bleeding, Shubb'Ki is most notable for being a part of the Triumvirate of Ruin, in which his fellow Travesties Kal Crist and Thija also hold membership. The connection between these deities is vague at best; everything has been theorised from Kal Crist and Shubb’Ki being lovers, to all of them being brothers and sister, to them existing a three parts of a shattered Travesty. Whatever the case, Shubb’Ki and Kal Crist are known to be highly protective of each other, going so far as to commit acts of war against other Travesties in an effort to liberate the other when captured. However, for whatever reason, this warmth does not seem to extend to the third member of the triumvirate, Thija. Shubb’Ki is a creature unlike any other in Apa Axas, a foul being bent on domination, death and corruption, but one that bares an infinite love for another kindred soul. Some scholars on Apa Axas find the story of Shubb’Ki hauntingly beautiful, a potential love story or story of friendship and family that transcends time, space and reality. However, most agree that the sheer level of carnage and death Shubb’Ki inflicts wherever he goes more than nullifies these positive traits, and he is rightly feared as one of the most disgusting and deadly beings to ever exist.

Divine Domains

While Shubb'Ki's main domains are scars, corruption and filth, he is also considered to oversee Hate, Suicide, Murder, Perversion, Shapeshifters, and Rats.

Artifacts

Shubb'Ki has created multitudes of magical items, all with corruptive effects. He finds that the greed of mortals makes creating cursed treasures a particularly effective method to corrode souls. His most prized artifact is known as the Talisman of Ultimate Evil. It is a small amulet that Shubb'Ki keeps on his person at all times. It is prophesised that Shubb'Ki will only use the Talisman on The Vida Quda, and it will corrupt her into an apocalyptic being known as the Endgod, who would undo all the Vida Quda had done, before tearing the universe in two. Whether this would actually work is unclear, however, The Vida Quda requested Surm Tutdrug to develop an equal and opposite Talisman of Pure Good to counteract the item, in case this event ever occurred.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

As with many of the Beacons and Travesties, Shubb'Ki can take many forms, depending on who he is interacting with. To The High Elven Pantheon, he is known as Shibberus Kingslayer, and takes the form of a middle-aged Elven man, covered in scars and foul pus, with a breath that rots the souls of those who see him within moments.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Shubb’Ki’s origins are unknown, but it is known that he was present for the God Severment, witnessing Kal Crist’s maiming at the hands (or more accurately, tentacles) of Retch and helping the King of Fear flee into the past. His origins are thought to be much earlier than this, however, as the cults of Shubb’Ki often state that the creature was born from the first self-inflicted pain, festered in the eternal bleeding, and was released as a travesty by the severement of gods. Although the exact nature of the God Severment is lost to time, it is theorised that the machine required a mass self-harming and suicide of The Clever Folk, and it was through these acts of self-abuse that Shubb’Ki was attracted to.

Social

Contacts & Relations

Shubb’Ki revels in the corruption of mind, body and spirit of mortals. These concepts are not metaphorical for worshippers of Shubb’Ki, particularly for the Adherents of the Meat God; there are said to be three trials to undergo in which to commune with Shubb’Ki outside of him appearing by chance to someone he finds amusing, interesting or capable of fulfilling an unholy destiny. The first trial is The Corruption of the Mind, in which the subject must read from The Barbed Tome; a grimoire of dark secrets that are said to darken any mind the foul words grace. The second trial, The Corruption of the Body, involves either a ritualistic scarring of Shubb’Ki’s sigil, a partial flaring, extensive tattoos or piercings or the willing exposure to the Fleshwarping disease. The third is the Corruption of the Spirit, in which the subject must either sacrifice someone they care for deeply, or an innocent life, in order to prove the subject’s perverse dedication. Then and only then will Shubb’Ki even consider speaking to the subject. It is rumoured that Shubb’Ki may bestow the Spirit of Corruption onto a supplicant who approaches him in this way, an avatar to whom Shubb’Ki bestows power for their own purposes, but it soon turns into a mockery of their purpose. For example, a man who dedicates his life to Shubb’Ki to save his family’s life may end up murdering them all over time. This wanton corruption has evoked the ire of all of the Beacons at one point or another, and is viewed by the Beacons as their most dangerous recurring enemy, and he is frequently sealed away, most notably in the Far Realm. Shubb’Ki hates the Beacons in equal measure, as they constantly thwart his plans, and revels in creating mockeries of their domains. Each of the Beacons have their own corruption; for The Vida Quda, Shubb’Ki created the Fleshwarp disease in mockery of her dedication to life as the Fleshwarpers are rampant out of control life at its most distilled form, for Feny Lekki, he created wyrd magic, and taught it to the Hags, allowing them to operate outside of Cegilune’s rules and terrorise The Feywild , for Gloom Mona, he created the Lycantropes, perverting the purity of the moon for his own amusement, and, for his most hated enemy, Surm Tutdrug, he created the first Lich, who in turn created the first artificial undead (the domain of peaceful spirits before this act) and disrupted Surm Tutdrug’s delicate balance of death. This act caused Surm Tutdrug to wage war against Shubb’Ki, and the rest of the Triumvirate of Ruin, in an event known as The War on Death, that led to Shubb’Ki’s first sealing. While the Beacons invoke most of Shubb’Ki’s ire, Travesties who earn his wrath are also at risk. For example, Shubb’Ki placed the idea to corrupt the island of Krop Tor in The Clever Folk’s science officer’s dream, killing Retch in revenge for removing Kal Crist’s eye. This action indirectly lead to the destruction of The Putric Isles. Shubb’Ki is also responsible for many other threats on Apa Axas, such as the Vampires , who act as his emissaries and aided in his War on Death, The Vile Veil that laid waste to much of Lucidity, and a range of deadly artifacts.