Xael, the Witherer
"I will win. Whether it takes a decade or a million million years, I will win. To fight is to only delay the inevitable: me."
God of entropy and apathy, Xael is the void of emotion and hope that mortals find when they believe themselves truly beaten; Xael is the End of Ends, the Darkness at Time's Edge.
Whereas Laianath is the representation of all things natural end and the natural cycle of death, Xael is the manifestation of entropy unbridled. To crush and consume all thoughts, emotions, and ideas into one horrible void is Xael's will, and they shall see it done. When hope is lost and misery is rampant, Xael is given strength. Xael's most devoted followers feel no pain, no emotions, and seek only to welcome all into their apathetic existence, and usher in the death of light.
Depictions, Symbols, and Names
Xael was most often depicted as a lanky, humanoid creature with flesh made of ever-shifting and sobbing faces that moved about and lost and regained form as though they were no more than a slime, bound partially in armor of black metal. Often, these depictions show the very world around Xael giving way to nothingness, the very presence of the Witherer breaking down the laws and ideas of the fabric of the multiverse. Stories tell that entire armies would wither and lay their arms down, losing all hope upon sight of Xael's horrid form, and how their shifting flesh would envelop and absorb all into its entropic mass. Xael's symbol is the Entropic Mark. It is an intricate cross with curving threads coming from its peak, meant to represent the dismantling of reality with Xael at the heart. Xael was known by many names, and even referred to more as an event than a being on occasion: Xael, the Witherer, the End of Ends, the Darkness at Time's Edge, the Void, Light-eater, and Death of Hope. In Aasveig, it is called Ginnunggramr.Ancient Home
Xael was the lord of the Grey Wastes, a plane of grey land and grey sky devoid of all emotions and thoughts nestled amongst the debris of Accorion. Here, Xael's ancient manifestations roam, waiting to unleash entropy once more upon the multiverse, horrid creations of apathy and void given form. Where exactly Xael made their home within the Grey Wastes, no one knows. Many believe that they had no true home, for they sought no change from the grey nothingness.Worship Distribution
Xael exists in every mortal heart, for they are the apathy behind compassion, the atrophy behind life. In the passing of time, Xael grows stronger. Xael has few conscious worshippers---though they do exist---but instead seeks to corrupt hope and determination in every mortal, immortal, and beast and force all to kneel before the will of the Witherer. Xael's conscious worshippers tend to gather in any place where there is great suffering, even if it is only a perceived suffering. Whether they are war-torn villages, plague-ridden kingdoms, or shantytowns in cities, any place where hope dies and anxiety, despair, and fear grow are ripe breeding grounds for Xael's worship, for they offer release from those emotions and an end to all suffering.Champions of Xael
Champions of Xael are known as Entropic Wills. They are often named during or in the wake of times of great suffering and change, prophets and actors of apathy and entropy set to pounce upon weaknesses of spirit and government to bring about desolation. Entropic Wills do not create, only corrupt. Their followers and creations are all borne from the decay of something else. Two Entropic Wills are known today:- Destrian, Voidborne. Believed to have first unleashed the entropic magics that created the Draconic Wastes, led Xael's Void on Emaxus. Wielded the Sliver of Eternity, a weapon capable of rending open rifts to the End of Time.
- Shatter, Endbringer. Led Xael's endless Withered hordes to bring all of Xaecreotis to kneel. Believed to have worked with Laaelum and Narvox to undo the connection of Dathanra to the Boughs of Sylthereth.
Divine Domains
Xael is the god of entropy and apathy. They seek the end of everything---space and time, emotion and struggle. They corrupt those who seek an end to their suffering, and offer power to those wholeheartedly committed to those who seek the End of Ends.COMMANDMENTS OF XAEL
- None can resist the void. Even with hundreds, thousands of years, all things waste away. Only the void remains.
- True peace, true enlightenment is the absence of all things. Our goal is a righteous one. Make them understand.
- Even stars die. Rush not the Witherer's plans. In the end, Xael will win nevertheless. Ours is the will of the universe.
Xael's Holy Symbol
Methods of Worship
Xael is worshipped through decay and destruction. Whether it is outright death or the corruption and perversion of people, places, and things, Xael's will is enacted in atrophy. Those who truly worship Xael purge themselves of all emotions, embracing apathy so that they may enact atrophy without compunction or complaint. Those empowered or corrupted by Xael become cold to the touch. Their blood turns a deep blue, and their internal organs begin to change and slow in function. They become like living undead, removed from all that is right and natural.The End of Ends
A prophecy exists of Xael returning---being the one and only god prophesied to do so---at the end of time. What remains of it reads as follows:Sole inheritor of the End of Ends, Xael returns to claim. There, at the End of Time, The Witherer comes to maim The threads of space, the flow of time Withered, all in their name.It is unknown if there are more verses to the End of Ends prophecy.
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