Hilathu

The Disgraced Serpent, The Greedy One, The Cruel One

One of the Fallen Gods, disgraced, and in service to Shia, the God of Death.

Divine Domains

Former: Snakes and serpents of all kinds, summer, venom, poison
Current: The afterlife, the deceased, the journey to the afterlife, ghosts, vengeance, cruelty, sacrifice

Divine Symbols & Sigils

Snake skins, death masks, gravestones, travel tickets

Divine Goals & Aspirations

Hilathu was considered once to be the god of all serpents, encompassing and surpassing all other snake gods. When challenged by one such god he thought to be below him, he sought to eliminate the competition by bargaining with Shia for the power to kill his rival, offering the lives of all his followers as payment and to purposefully kill all the followers of his rivals.
As punishment, Shia has raised him into undeath after killing him, and Hilathu's mind is not his own.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Hilathu's body is heavily decomposed, mostly being that of a snake skeleton wrapped in shed skin. He lacks muscles, tissue, and organs almost entirely, long since having rotted away, except for his tongue and some connective tissue along his spine and jaw.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Hilathu had long since been caught in a battle for the position of the god of all serpents, a position that at the time, would have granted immense power over not only mortals, but other gods, possibly securing his position as a member of the big five. By becoming the god of all snakes, Hilathu's following by absorbing that of all other snake gods may have grown greater than that of Ferventi, God of Wolves. He found much resistance from the other snake gods and their allies, and began to use underhanded tactics by pitting the other gods against one another and then attacking when they were weakened.
When the other gods became aware of this, they began to unite against Hilathu. The threat of their combined might scared him, and he turned to one last and final resort- Shia, the God of Death. Hilathu begged Shia to name him the god of serpents, claiming that his power surpassed all others and he was deserving of it. Shia repeatedly shot him down on this, for Hilathu did not have the respect of many cults under the other snake gods due to his treachery. Hilathu continued to beg and make demands, and at one point offered all the lives of his would be followers if he was the serpent god for this power, claiming he was willing to give up everything that was 'his'. This was an another attempt at destroying the power of the other snake gods, as by offering the lives of all serpent gods' followers he would not only have killed his own following, but that of all the other snake gods as well. As he at the time had the smallest cult, his power would not have been reduced as drastically, but the other gods would be devastated and perhaps killed through this action alone. If not, easy for him to kill and claim the position for himself.
Shia saw through this trick, and was angered by the sheer audacity Hilathu had. The cruelty he would wreak upon the world and sacrifice thousands of lives for his own greed for power. For this action, Shia partially granted his request, saying he would forever be known as the God of Serpents. Hilathu was overjoyed at first, and quickly killed by the death god and raised into undeath. Shia then said to him that forever more, he was the disgraced God of Serpents, the Greedy One, The Cruel God. As further punishment, he was replaced as the god of his kind by a rival's heir, and his followers found to be complicit in his plan killed as sacrifices to the other gods. As insult to injury, Shia has complete control over his mind, forcing Hilathu to watch as a passenger of his own rotting body as he carries out Shia's will, often acting as an escort for the undead to the afterlife.

In the current day, Hilathu has proven to have been much more active than was previously believed, operating in the shadows to grow his cult significantly and begin pursuing allegiances with others against the pantheon, most notably, the Lunar Dragonflight. Despite extreme amounts of surveillance and control over Hilathu by Shia, he was still able to grow his cult and coordinate with them and his allies, culminating in escaping from Shia's binding magics entirely during the War of the Moon, and as his first act of freedom, Hilathu attacked and envenomated Fire God Vega, leading to his death.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Hilathu is primarily motivated by anger and revenge against the pantheon for his death, viewing his attempt to cause a genocide and mass sacrifice against other snake gods' followers as not only fair, but as just for the many past wars between them during his lifetime when he attempted to become the god of all serpents. He plans to restore himself as a god and destroy the pantheon and rebuild it in his image by killing all other gods and controlling them with the same magic Shia has used against him for millennia, forcing them to enact his will and to prevent any chance of revolt.

Social

Contacts & Relations

The Lunar Dragonflight is strongly allied with Hilathu and his own cult due to shared goals of upending the pantheon.

Speech

Formerly, like all gods, Hilathu could be understood regardless of language spoken or understood by the listener. Now, as part of his punishment by Shia, he is forced into silence and cannot speak, only able to respond by nodding or shaking his head in response to questions.

Relationships

Sir Morien, Goddess of Dogs

Enemy (Trivial)

Towards Hilathu

-5

-5

Frank

---

Hilathu

Enemy (Important)

Towards Sir Morien, Goddess of Dogs

-5

-5

Subversive

---

Relationship Reasoning

Morien has a dislike of Hilathu as she assumes that those punished by Shia or Mora generally deserve it and that Hilathu did not know his place in the divine plan of the Great God. The knights also frequently clash with worshippers of disgraced gods as continuing to worship such a god is often punishable by death by the word of Mora and Shia unless one repents. The Hilathu Cult is probably one of the Dogged Knight’s biggest enemies but the Knights are more preoccupied with fighting and warding off dragons. However, whenever the Cult of Dogs or Morien come across one or more members of the Hilathu Cult fighting often follows. They also offer a safe haven for those who leave the cult. Bringing up Hilathu usually leads to Morien letting out a scoff as she sees him as a failure. While Morien considers the disgraced god to be an enemy she considers him to be a trivial one as he is already being punished by Shia. The tale of Hilathu is often told by Morien and members of her cult as one of warning in succumbing to hubris.

Ana, God of Spiders

Enemy (Important)

Towards Hilathu

0

0

Subversive

---

Hilathu

Enemy (Important)

Towards Ana, God of Spiders

-5

-5

Subversive

---

Relationship Reasoning

Oddly, John seems to be one of her few genuine friends. However, many suspect the validity of their relationship as JL is a notorious trickster god while Ana and Nancy are infamous manipulators, leading some to conclude that the spiders have managed to trick John or John is trying to trick the spider. Some even think they are both trying to trick each other. JL claims he can tell whenever the spider gods tell a lie but there is no concrete information proving this is true or false. Others think that at some point JL simply saw what the spider gods saw within the branching roots of fate or that they wanted to take advantage of his large cult and influence and the fact that fireflies have a more favorable reputation than spiders. Either way, Ana and Nancy helped him in the past when he was mortal and he seems to trust them to some degree, it is at the very least in their best interest to keep him alive and popular for now. Joining the Cult of Spiders also comes with the benefit of the gods promising that they can change your fate or rewrite one’s destiny as needed instead of just being a slave to it like others outside their cult.

Nancy, Goddess of Spiders

Enemy (Important)

Towards Hilathu

0

0

Subversive

---

Hilathu

Enemy (Important)

Towards Nancy, Goddess of Spiders

-5

-5

Subversive

---

Relationship Reasoning

Before the fall of the god, Ana and Nancy actually approached the serpent and warned him of his possible fate before promising that they could prevent this fate and make him a weaver of his own destiny if they joined their cult. This only angered the god as they thought it to be a trick or ploy to gain control of his domains so they attacked them and ignored their warnings and currently harbor an immense spite towards the two gods. As they probably knew of his fate and reaction, making their approach a trick to ensure he would end up in his wretched state. He also views Mora and Shia as hypocrites because to him gods like Ana and Nancy can appear just as manipulative or “underhanded” as he is. A comparison that usually just leads to Ana laughing in response.

Nergalzeb, God of Flies

Enemy (Important)

Towards Hilathu

0

0

Honest

---

Hilathu

Enemy (Important)

Towards Nergalzeb, God of Flies

-5

-5

Subversive

---

Relationship Reasoning

Nergalzeb sees Hilathu as a prime example of what happens to those who do not properly respect life, death, and the gods that reign over them. However, strangely, Nergalzeb does not seem to view Hilathu’s fate as an undead serpent as a bad one. From Nergalzeb’s perspective Hilathu also fails to appreciate the gift that Shia gave him since his state of undeath allows him to experience the joys of all of life/death. Hilathu sees Nergalzeb as a disgusting kiss ass and Nergalzeb sees Hilathu as simply ungrateful and sad. The fly god will sometimes rant to the serpent about the beauty of rot, life, and death and sometimes the serpent can do nothing but listen and revolt at the similarities in the decaying appearance both entities share. However, Nergalzeb does not hate Hilathu, she only pities the serpent. However, this pity is coming awfully close to anger ever since he proceeded to upend the natural cycle of life and death during the War of the Moon. Clearly, Hilathu must be taught a lesson that he will feel down to his very soul.

Divine Classification

Minor God (Former)

Religions

• Burman Family
• Hilathu's Cult

Current Status

AWOL - Open revolt against the Pantheon

Species

Gods

Conditions

• Shia's Dead

Realm

Limbo

Church/Cult

Hilathu's Cult

Year of Death

7345

Circumstances of Death

Killed by Shia, the God of Death, for crimes against his cult

Spouses

Siblings

Gender

Male

Eyes

Missing

Aligned Organization

Hilathu's Cult

Related Historical Events

• 20020
  The way to Limbo is opened