Khemozh (kem-oaj)

The Hex Maiden

Khemozh, the Goddess of Decay, Destruction, Curses, and Bad Luck, is one of the Olcrid, the evil-aligned deities who make up the Dark Pantheon. She was born from a union between the Nisme Helī and the Elder Being Divone, the Defiler, who sought to pervert and corrupt the queen of death's domain. Khemozh not only wants things to stay dead, she wants everything to decay and wither away to nothing, leaving naught but the Void in its place. Heli has reluctantly shared her domain of Hades with Khemozh, though the two inhabit separate realms within that plane and rarely come into contact with one another.
Khemozh does not have many priests in the world, and does most of her work through her direct monster disciples. She is the matron of hags and all those who deal in curses and ill fortune. She also employs sentient fungi, similar to myconids, to spread their spores and help destroy entire cities or worlds. Her proclivity for curses and foisting bad luck upon people has resulted in adventurers superstitiously trying to ward off her effects. Those who carry coins with Ádh'Ri's sigil, usually have these tokens embellished with some permutation of "stay away Hex Maiden" to protect themselves from the bad luck associated with this deity.

Divine Domains

Death

Divine Symbols & Sigils

Sigil: skull with crossed iron nails in it

Divine Symbol: staff, or embalming tools

Tenets of Faith

• Life, especially sentience, must be snuffed out wherever it festers.
• All things wither and die, one should accelerate this process in others.
• Suicide is a noble death, as it brings about the decay and emotional destruction necessary for the universe to continue.
• Hexes, curses, and other dark magic are the best tools against your enemies. If you cannot beat them in their mortal form, curse their spirit that you may dominate them for an eternity.

Physical Description

Identifying Characteristics

Khemozh is generally depicted as a skeletal, almost mummy, figure with dusty cloth hanging off limbs and other body parts. The body, including the various cloth wrappings, is covered in all types of fungi and is surrounded by a cloud of all-consuming spores. Not many accounts of this deity exist, as most who meet her tend not to survive.

Portrait art by me using HeroForge

Divine Classification

Olcrid

Religions

• Dark Pantheon

Alignment

Neutral Evil

Realm

Hades

Parents

Helī

Divone