Orcus, Demon Prince of Undeath

The Blood Lord, Tenebrous, Lord of the Undying

The Demon Prince of Undeath, also known as the Blood Lord. He takes some pleasure in the sufferings of the living, but he far prefers the company and service of the undead. His desire is to see all life quenched and the multiverse transformed into a vast necropolis populated solely by undead creatures under his command. Orcus rewarded those who spread death in his name by granting them a small portion of his power. The least of these become ghouls and zombies who serve in his legions, while his favored servants are cultists and necromancers who murder the living and manipulate the dead, emulating their dread master. Orcus is a bestial creature of corruption with a diseased, decaying look. He has the lower torso of a goat, and a humanoid upper body with a corpulent belly swollen with purulent rot and decay. Enormous bat-like wings sprout from his shoulders, and his head is like the skull of a goat, the flesh nearly rotted away completely from it. In one hand, he wields the legendary Wand of Orcus. Orcus holds a great rivalry with The Raven Queen, Matron of Ravens, who he seeks to destroy so he might claim her Spark of Divinity and her control over Death. Orcus also holds great enmity for Vecna, the Whispered One, who first stole the secrets of lichdom from Orcus's palace in Thanatos itself.

Divine Domains

Death

Divine Symbols & Sigils

The skull-topped mace that is the Wand of Orcus.

Tenets of Faith

"Promise your soul to Orcus, eat of his flesh and drink of his blood, and through him you will gain life everlasting. Mercy is a luxury that none are worthy of; suffering and torment are the fuel that will empower Orcus' ascent. The worshippers of Orcus will overwhelm the world in a tide of undeath and even the gods will perish." Clerics of Orcus are in charge of promoting necromancy, pain, torture, undeath, and the destruction of all that is good. They pray for spells at midnight. Their colors are red and black, although bone white is often used as decoration. Most of his faithful are called Skulls.

Holidays

Unhallowing - The holy days of Orcus are the nights when both moons are new. When both moons are at their darkest, worshipers of Orcus are required to either create an undead creature or to bring a corpse to other Orcus cultists so that an undead creature can be made. The vilest ritual in Orcus's already vile faith is the Unhallowing. This ceremony has no set date, but involves sacrificing a paladin to Orcus and creating a self-loathing undead creature from the remains.

Divine Goals & Aspirations

Destroy the Raven Queen and claim her Spark of Divinity, transforming himself into the God of Death and the Undead.
Find and punish Vecna for the theft of the secrets of lichdom, for they granted him too much free will.

The Wand of Orcus

The ghastly Wand of Orcus rarely leaves Orcus's side. The device, as evil as its creator, shares the Demon Prince's aims to snuff out the lives of all living things and bind the Material Plane in the stasis of undeath. Orcus allows the wand to slip from his grasp from time to time. When it does, it magically appears in wherever its master senses an opportunity to achieve some fell goal. Made from bone and obsidian, enchanted to be hard as iron, the wand is topped with the skull of a magically enlarged skull that once belonged to a human hero slain by Orcus. The wand can magically resize to better conform to the grip of its user. Plants wither, drinks spoil, flesh rots, and vermin thrive in the wand's presence. The wand is so steeped in the necrotic energies of its master that any creature other than Orcus that attempts to wield the wand without his blessing is instantly slain, becoming yet one more zombie in the Demon Prince's undying horde.

Divine Classification

Demon Prince

Religions