Drakyss, God of Death
The Crow is placed in an obsidian medallion. Blood from the priest who is wearing it is applied to crow, representing the blood of the crow.
Alignment: Evil
Domain: Death
Favored Weapon: Priests for Drakyss tend to use the most ruthless weapons they can. Most tend to favor the morning star in their early years due to more control over the weapon. When the priests advance in years, they will sometimes switch to a flail due to the ruthlessness of the weapon. The only priest who uses nothing like these is the High Priest of Life’s End. This priest uses the weapon that Drakyss created. There are only two in existence, the one the High Priest wields and the one that Drakyss wields. All the sacrifices are used with this weapon. Drakyss prefers using his own weapon he created called a Denoria. This weapon is a wickedly curved blade that will easily cut through flesh and will cut through the soul as well. He holds all the souls of the dead victims sent to him in this blade, which brings the magical energy to the weapon. Anytime the magical energy is used, a soul is also used. In turn, this destroys that soul. This weapon is no bigger than a short sword.
Favored Race: Humans, Dark Elves
Favored Class: Assassin/Necromancers
Background Story:
Drakyss came in to being when the new gods killed the original god of the world. In a way to respect the original god, the god of good resurrected him but did not give him the power he once held. Since he was the first god to be killed, they gave him the power and domain of Death.
Achievements: This god brought the death of the most powerful Arch-mage who could have threatened the gods with his power. Using his minions and his own power, he was successful in dragging the mage to the Abyss and from there torturing him for thousands of years and finally killing him. Over time, Drakyss has gained the power to send the dead to walk the land of the living and can any day send his Death Army to rule the living.
Worshipping: In order to worship Drakyss, the High Priest of Life’s End must sacrifice a female virgin that is in her teens. During the Sermon, everyone including the High Priest must draw their own blood and put it in a bowl to offer to Drakyss as an oath of faithfulness to him. The main temple dedicated to the god of death is named after him, The Temple of Drakyss. The smallest temple that is dedicated to him is named Eternal Silence. There is a Shrine located somewhere in the world and the only ones who can find it are his followers. This Shrine is named Drakyss the Bringer of Darkness. Drakyss expects that his followers give him a life each year, marking their bodies with his holy symbol so their soul will be with him for eternity. If the follower fails in this, Drakyss takes that persons life himself. Also, the god of death must receive the first-born baby when one of his followers bears her first child.
Artifacts:Artifact that is sacred and was created by Drakyss: The Deck of the Nine Hells Over the course of time, Drakyss has learned how to leave his home in the Nine Hells and walk the land of the living. He soon realized that man would quickly come to make deals if they thought they would gain something out of it and he realized man would take risks hoping that they would gain the best of what happened. Seeing this, Drakyss decided to create something that will lure whoever he wanted and have them take a risk to where they will either benefit or he will or neither will. He then created the Deck of the Nine Hells. This deck consists of random cards that are always changing depending on who he is doing it to. When he appears, it is usually in a place that the group of adventurers has to go to. When the group appears, everything seems normal until Drakyss finally reveals himself. When he does, everything becomes pitch black and when the group can finally see they see Drakyss sitting down at a table. The cards are already laid out across the table; Drakyss sitting with his hands together on the table. There are enough chairs for everyone to sit at and each chair and flames underneath hold them up (along with the table).
Omens and Signs: A sign that is commonly used is when a Blood Crow (a crow that has blood bleeding from its body) comes to you and drops dead in front of you, its eyes staring straight in yours. This symbol represents that if you keep doing what you are doing, your death may be how it will end (ex: Going to fight a dragon, a Blood Crow will appear representing that you may die if you continue on to fight the dragon). If one proceeds even with the warning and they die, their soul is sent straight to Drakyss where he chooses what is to happen to you. Drakyss will also appear to you in your dreams if you are a faithful follower and provide you with what he wants to be done and who he wants you to kill (basically giving the follower a contract of who’s soul he want) or talk with that person to make a deal which depends on what he wants. This is often seen as a good omen to his followers but there have been cases where he appears to those who are not as faithful as others but do know he is a powerful god. If one were to go against their deal with Drakyss, he will appear to them in the Prime Material Plane and strip their soul from their body while they are still alive. Drakyss will also send Death Bats (skeletal bats) to a person to show as a thanking to those who hold their end of the deal. A warning he will send to show that he wants to make a deal with someone is to send either one or more of his undead warriors to that person, depending on how important the deal is.
Ceremonies/Holidays: The largest ceremony that everyone has for Drakyss happens after twenty years of when the new High Priest of Life’s End comes to power. This ceremony is when him/her is the sacrifice to the god, and the Priest sacrificing the High Priest takes his place. The main holiday that everyone who is a follower of Drakyss celebrates is called The Night of the Rashai. During this holiday, the people will gather in the Temple of Drakyss wearing all black cloaks and any mask that represents death (ex: a skeletal mask, a demon mask, zombie mask, etc.) or they will paint their faces. This holiday is held on the last day of the year to celebrate the successfulness in all the killings that took place during the year for Drakyss. The next day is held another ceremony that is called The Orshei. During this ceremony, the High Priest takes all the children and brings them to the altar. Drakyss will then enter their bodies one at a time. In the end, he will deem one the new High Priest when he grows to an adult.
Sects:
Shadow Walkers. This sect is for the assassins who carry out the killings that Drakyss wants done. Everyone who is in this sect is evil. Nothing can be questioned about what the Shadow Walkers do because they act in the name of Drakyss. There are three different ranks that the Shadow Walkers go by.
Night Stalker.
The Bringers of the Night.
The Shadow of Death.
The Shadow Walkers mark the bodies of their victims with the holy symbol of Drakyss and their souls are sent to the god, leaving only the skeletal remains of the body.
The second sect of Drakyss is called The Death Mages. Every mage person in this sect is evil. No one knows what these mages do because the god takes care to hide it from the people due to the problems that have arisen when he has the mages try to create life. There are two different types of Death Mages. The first type is called a Necromancer (the regular Necromancer from 2nd edition). The second type is called a Witch, which only consists of women (Necromancers only consist of men). The Death Mages rites are that they will bring into the world one of Drakyss’s minions (demons).
The last sect to Drakyss is called The Priests of the Dead. These priests are all evil. No one can question any of these priests due to the fact that they commune with the god. All the priests are called Priests of the Dead, but the High Priest of Life’s End. Together, all these priests run the temples, holidays, rites and ceremonies.
Aphorisms and Words of Wisdom: Hope is the denial reality
Noteable Minions of NPCs: The current leader of the Death Mages is in his prime years. His name is Delmear. The current High Priest of Life’s End is also in his prime years. No one knows his name due to the fact that they cannot call him by it. The leader of the Shadow Walkers is a newly made leader who is still a young female. Her name is Kirous Icecrusher. All the creatures of the dead or the Abyss is unique to Drakyss.
made by Christian Caredio
Type
Religious, Pantheon
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