Thija
Mistress of Pain, the Eternal Hurt, the Barbed Woman, The Torture Lord, The Hellsbound Hearted, The Torturer of Crimson, The Teacher of Lies, The Just and True, The Joyful Maiden
Thija, also known as Mistress of Pain, the Eternal Hurt, the Barbed Woman, The Torture Lord and the Hellsbound Hearted, is the Travesty representing pain, torture, and determination. She is one of the most feared, and widely worshipped Travesties, and her name is a painful whisper on the lips of mortalkind.
Appearing to some in the form of a heavily scarred human being woman, mutilated beyond recognition but held together by rusted machinery made up of agonising pistons and burning hot metal, while appearing as a mass of bloody barbed twine wrapped around an incomprehensible bulk of gore to others, Thija is one of the most horrific beings across the multiverse, let alone Apa Axas. Her name strikes fear into the mortals of Apa Axas, as her cult, led by her most trusted mortal agents, The Five Fingers of Thija, have terrorised the Seven Kingdoms for thousands of years, torturing countless innocents to death and holding hideous revelries, such as the Organ Harvest Festival, The Hand Solstice and The Slasher's Circus. Although she is mostly associated with pain, Thija is actually representative of all sensation, however, for whatever reason, she seems to take the most joy from inflicting the most primal of sensations.
Divine Domains
While Thija's main domains are pain, torture and determination, she is also considered to overse, Healing, Obstacles, Treachery, Experience, and Vultures.
Artifacts
The main artifact of Thija is The Book of Pain and Blood, a scripture detailing blood magic, and rituals dedicating to achieving new levels of experience.
Holidays
Thija has two holidays associated with her, although many mortals fear and dread their coming. The most common is the Organ Harvest Festival; a week-long festival that involves the drinking of blood, the murder of 37 children and the burning down of an innocent village.
The Hand Solstice is also a common ritual, taking place once a decade, and usually involves the recruitment of a new Finger of Thija.
Less common is The Slasher's Circus. Not much is known of this festival, other than it occurs once an age, and it is incomplete until a genocide has taken place.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Like many of The Beacons & Travesties, Thija appears in many guises. Some have said she often appears in the form of a humanoid woman, with many scars and painful implements covering her desicated flesh. Others say she appears as a mass of razors and bleeding flesh. However, her preferred form seems to be a six-limbed humanoid resembling a woman with razor-sharp metal spider-legs, covered in constantly bleeding, unhealing wounds and pale white skin.
In The Modern Wood Elven Pantheon, Thija appears as a carnival ringmaster baring puppet strings. She also appears as a spirit frost, and is made up of four aspects; The Torturer of Crimson, The Teacher of Lies, The Just and True and The Joyful Maide. She is invoked before a mercy killing, to ensure the dying soul is properly sheparded.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Thija's origins are shrouded in mystery, but it js known that she is a part of the Triumvirate of Ruin, alongside Shubb'Ki and Kal Crist. However, the exact nature of this bond is difficult to determine, and scholars disagree on whether this trio are siblings or some form of mutual political alliance. Despite the connection between these three deities, it is rarely, if ever, a friendly relationship, particularly in regard to Thija, who is seen by the other two as a leech and a traitor, as she was one of the key components that led to the sealing of Shubb’Ki, as she betrayed Shubb’Ki plans to the Beacon of Death, Surm Tutdrug and aided the Dead Dwarf to bring an end to The War on Death. Kal Crist held Thija personally responsible and has openly waged war on the Travesty of Pain multiple times because of it.
While Thija does not often play a starring role in the legends of Apa Axas, she often appears when her expertise is needed for a particularly brutal punishment. As the Beacons are often fuelled by positive energy and light, when the time comes when it is necessary for a more severe retribution, Thija is often consulted in order to more efficiently and creatively bring the pain. For example, when Zemer Epsh, Travesty of Fire, was taken prisoner after she had conspired to eliminate the Beacons and all mortal races with the aid of the The Rising Pyre, the Vida Quda enlisted Thija for a way to ensure that Zemer Epsh paid for her crimes, and Thija created the The Eternal Immolation, a curse that continuously burns and regrows the flesh of its victim, ensuring they remain in constant agony, and due to Zemer Epsh’s godhood, this cycle continues for eternity. Thija views these punishments are her greatest triumphs and revels in the opportunity to inflict pain on her fellow immortals.
Thija’s story can be interpreted as a tragic tale; a tale of being overlooked by your family until one cannot take it anymore. However, most sympathy mortals might have for her is dashed when they witness the sheer level of depravity she has inflicted onto the world, inventing the concepts of pain, torture and trauma. Between that and the fact that Thija is responsible for the largest individual death toll on Apa Axas through agonising sacrifice, only a fool, a psychopath or a fiend would feel anything for the twisted barbed soul of Thija.
Gender Identity
Like the other The Beacons & Travesties , Thija has no set gender, appearing in many forms and guises. However, she is known as the Pain Mistress and Queen of Agony, so is often referred to as a female.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
The motivations of a Travesty are unknowable and imperceptible to mortal understanding. However, Thija's actions in regards to The Murky Path may shed some light on her motivations.
Thija is said to appear in The Marshes Betwixt in order to lure travellers to her domain, promising new sensastions they cannot comprehend. Her realm, The Museum of Mutilation is said to be made of endless machinery, rigged into the nervous systems of the souls she tortures, forcing them to experience endless pain while never becoming numb to the experience.
Social
Contacts & Relations
While Thija’s presence inspires terrible pain in mortals, and she enjoys this fact rather too much, Thija often requires the use of mortals (with facilities not ravaged by agony) in acquiring new souls to purifying with cleansing pain. She will often use her Pain Domain Clerics, and Devils to act as her Emissaries. These Devils often work independently, which Thija abides by, as long as they don’t step out of line. This is obeyed without question by the Devils, due to the Tether. Usually when a Devil dies, its soul returns to its home realm and simply reforms, but Thija created a machine known as the Tether, that forces Devilish souls to reappear in the Museum of Mutilation, primed and ready for Thija’s blessings. Thija uses this to continuous torture disobedient Devils to death, then simply resurrecting them allowing the process to continue infinite with the Devils aware and suffering the entire time.
Out of all of the Travesties, Thija is one of the most widely worshipped, with only of the most popular cults of any deity being The Five Fingers of Thija. These pain worshippers are often insane, and engage in acts of sadism against others and even themselves. While usually small and disorganised groups, every so often throughout history, five individuals will be born with an intricate scar of a spiral across the back of their heads. These five new-borns will grow up to become one of the Five Fingers of Thija; each of these children will grow up to inhabit an aspect of Thija and each will have their own specific role and title. The Thumb of Thija, representing the intricate dexterity of Thija’s cuts, shall become a Monk, trained in the Way of Shadow, while the Ring Finger of Thija, representing the loyalty and commitment Thija upholds with the concept of pain, is raised as a Warrior of Mercy Monk. Representing the rebellion Thija thrives on, the Middle Finger of Thija harnesses the power of the Trickery aspect of Thija, while the Graft Barbarian who becomes the Index Finger of Thija gains their power from others, and represents the renewal of lost souls Thija endeavours to adhere to, and lastly, the Little Finger of Thija is the favoured of Thija, and represents absolute faith, and is a Pain Domain Cleric. While these avatars have been recorded to be born all over Apa Axas, it is said that if they were to meet, Thija could pierce the world flesh of Apa Axas and feast upon the rotting corpse of reality. Most don’t believe in this myth, but all endeavours are taken to ensure that the Five Fingers never meet, just in case.
Relationships
Divine Classification
Travesty
Religions
Alignment
Neutral Evil
Current Location
Species
Conditions
Realm
Church/Cult
Age
Unknown
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Sex
None
Presentation
Female
Eyes
Varies
Hair
Varies
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Varies
Height
Varies
Weight
Varies
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
Ruled Locations
Comments