Ishnamr, Soul Purifier

The Tormentor, Lord of Temptation, the Fiendfather

"IN THE END, EVERYONE GETS WHAT THEY DESERVE."

Ishnamr is the ward of the divine domain of Death.

He rules over the lower parallels and deals in penance and punishment. Specifically, his job is to purify blackened souls, to return them unto a state of neutrality so that they can be returned to the August God. It is a matter of pure coincidence that the most efficient way to do this seems to be to torture them, and it is a further coincidence that Ishnamr loves his job.

However, even as much as he loves his job, it's simply the case that there are too many damned for one fiend-god to punish. Ishnamr has many servants and punishers below him whose job it is to tempt mortals or deal with pettier, smaller souls, and he may occasionally send a hunter down to retrieve an escaped soul or a mortal who has been marked for death by Yuross or her followers. Ishnamr himself is more of a ruler these days, and personally torments only the most powerful of evil souls - tyrants, genociders, fallen angels, wayward fiends, overly ambitious demigods.

Deific Servants

Ishnamr has a number of Deific Servants, lower divine beings that aid him in governing parts of his divine portfolio. These gods may be worshipped alongside or instead of Ishnamr; those who choose to do so still receive his Boon (You Deserve This).

Azhokr, the Pyrekeeper

In the third lower parallel, Azhokr sustains the Pyre of the Unworthy - a field of undying bodies that burn with inky fire. The pyre is constantly fed new bodies as petty thugs and thieves die. Their blackened souls are purified in agony, and white smoke from the Pyre blots out the false red-grey sky above the field. Azhokr represents vigilance and mercilessness; his commitment to his duty is true and joyless. Azhokr has few followers, but there are some fanatical inquisitors and cultist zealots that see themselves as having a similar role to him in the material world.

Frissnamr, the Consumer

Frissnamr rules the second lower parallel. He is the demon lord of gluttony and the temptations of food and drink. He is the patron of great feasts and revelry, and even goodly people sometimes say a prayer to him when hosting parties that are meant to be especially raucous. Frissnamr is charged with purifying the souls of those who commit crime and wrongness in pursuit of addiction, and his methods are grotesque and unseemly. His goodly opposite is Sirkenzi, a deific servant of Ushius and patron of temperance and entertainment.

Bo, the Steward of the Unjudged

Additional Domain: Peace
Bo is the steward of Purgora , the parallel closest to the prime material plane. He is a well-dressed gentleman, human in appearance save for the occasional shine of crimson light within his irises. Purgora is home to those souls yet unjudged by Yuross or her servants; the ones who make their temporary home on this plane usually have souls of mottled grey, neither obviously pure nor impure. Bo's job is to keep the peace and stability of Purgora, the town of the slightly damned that shares a name with the parallel on which they live. He is also a keeper of secrets and silence, unjudging and unsympathetic.
Bo makes occasional jaunts to Kraynor to sniff out information on the past lives of his charges as he tries to find ways to help them move on from Purgora. This falls well outside his job description, of course, but unlike Azhok or the other fiends of the Lower Parallels, Bo sympathizes deeply with the lost souls entrusted to his care and domain. Rogueish inquisitives and masterminds sometimes honor him as a patron deity.

Kukrum, the Last Chance

Additional Domain: Trickery
Kukrum is the lord of the 63rd lower parallel, a long derelict and abandoned swamp of sticky fire and trees of bone. Long-dead gamblers, the lowest of the low, those who gambled and lost with the lives and fortunes of others - these are Kukrum's subjects. Or they were. Kukrum sits inert upon his throne, comatose, with a necklace of bleached knucklebone dice around his thin neck.
Once upon a time, Kukrum was a dastardly tempter of men and women upon the Prime Parallel, a silky voice that slithered in the dark from alley to alley, offering irresistible and damning offers to the downtrodden, ultimately recruiting them to Ishnamr's kingdoms of sin. But that was long ago, and the demon lord known as the Last Chance, the patron of scoundrels and cheats, the ultimate loan shark, the one you turn to when all others have abandoned you to the clutching darkness and crushing weight of debt - has long slept in his opulent palace, lulled to sleep by the echoing chorus of men gambling away their eternities.
Until, that is, a certain Creaker happened upon one of his holy symbols - a pair of hollow steel dice joined by a silver cord - and Kukrum stirred once again, for the first time in ages...

Art: Reaper from the Abyss by Matt Stewart

Favored Domains

Death
Grave
Order

Follower Boon - Sanctioned Punishment.

Followers of Ishnamr gain the Sanctioned Punishment. ability.

Sanctioned Punishment. As an action, choose a target you can see to make a Wisdom Saving Throw (DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus). If they fail, up to two allies that can see the target may make an opportunity attack against them. They have advantage on this attack. You can use this ability once and regain use of it after finishing a long rest.

Trivia

Some say that a small part of Ishnamr, in spite of himself, hopes for the redemption of the souls entrusted to him. Ishnamr thinks they are idiots.