Church of Kah'Dentu

Kah’Dentu - The Matron of Undeath

Death, Knowledge, Undead

The Matron of Undeath is an kinshin oni lord that reigns in the Shadowlands, who carved out her own domain with the power of her undead armies. The origins of her nature as an oni are still up for debate, some believe she used to be a vampire who cannibalised their own kin. Others believe that like many oni, she was previously a kami that abandoned her ward in the pursuit of more power. And there of course always exists the possibility she was always born an oni, destined to corrupt and sew terror. In either case, the nature of her spirit became so twisted and evil that it was banished to a place once known as the void, before it was birthed into the Shadowlands. There it festered, mutated, and changed for centuries until it was eventually allowed to return to the material plane.
Whatever Kah’Dentu had looked like before was lost to time. Her new visage was monstrous and a reflection of the evil she harboured in her heart. Unlike other oni however, she did not immediately engage with the despoiling of the material world. She feared death or being cast into the void once more and endeavoured on how to strengthen herself, to obtain a power great enough to defy the gods and death itself. She immediately sought out the other spiritual beings of the world, particularly the kami, and assaulted them and their wards. Taking from them what she could and consuming the kami themselves, empowering herself with their energies by feasting upon their souls and essence; stealing from them their knowledge and memory.
In her hunts, Kah’Dentu would raise armies of the undead or call forth the souls she had stolen to aid in her assault on the spiritual entities of the world.. Other oni sometimes also joined with her host hoping to accrue some level of power but Kah’Dentu was a selfish tyrant and just as readily devoured them as she did kami. But eventually these hunts diminished in quality and ease, her prey hiding or seeking help elsewhere; the knowledge they offered was redundant or limited. So she turned her attention to the Boneyard, and the slew of souls situated within. But this plane was not without its guardians and the reapers repelled Kah’Dentu who decided to retreat to the newly formed Shadowlands. Where she had once feared being banished to had since been reborn as a new home for the oni.
Since then, Kah’Dentu has carved out a domain within the Shadowlands, known as the Carrion Index, as she plots her next move. Scouring the maelstrom for lost souls, stealing knowledge from the other planes and in rare occasions brokering alliances with the other evils of the verse. Her servants span the planes as well, the lingering dead left in her wake further spreading her corrupting influence. She plots and schemes of ways to invade the Boneyard and seize control over the Well of Souls from Torukk and the spirits there in order to gain all the ancient knowledge hidden away.
Domains: Arcana, Charm, Darkness, Death, Destruction, Knowledge, and Punishment
Oaths: Conquest, Vengeance, Oathbreaker
Sanction Orders: Apostate, Marshal, Interrogator
Alignments: Neutral Evil, Chaotic Evil, Neutral

Symbols of Kah’Dentu

The holy symbol of Kah’Dentu is that of an open mouthed Oni-mask devouring screaming souls.
The favored animal of Kah’Dentu is the hyena.

History

Dogma

Home Plane

Kah’Dentu originates from the Spirit World where they once existed as a kami spirit, eventually moving to the material plane to guard a ward. Their evil acts gradually corrupted and transformed them into an oni. However, they were cast into the void for the heinous acts they claim they committed in defense of their ward. Once there she was transformed into an oni amongst thousands and began her rampage all over again upon her release. She eventually carved out a domain from within the void, now known as the Shadowlands, a place she could rule herself. Kah’Dentu calls her domain the Carrion Index, a myriad construction of libraries from across the cosmos. Here she hoards her collection of ancient magics, taboo rituals, and the knowledge the other deities deem forbidden.

Appearance

While Kah’Dentu once appeared differently before she turned into an oni, the knowledge of that appearance has been lost. In her current incarnation, the Matron of Death possesses dark, ashen skin paired with obsidian black eyes and glowing golden irises. Her frame is large and powerful with the strength of four arms, just as prepared to tear her foes to pieces as she is ready to scroll through ancient texts. She is said to clad herself in the tattered remains of robes from eons passed, interested in the lost and ancient secrets they might hold.

Relationships

Kah’Dentu is despised by most gods of the upper planes and many from the lower planes are wary of aligning themselves with her. The few alliances of convenience she makes never last. There is one amongst the gods however that does at least entreat with the Matron of Undeath. Galdaruhn has a desire for the preservation of the spheres and Kah’Dentu’s rather brutal tactics in acquiring knowledge makes her useful to him. With her pilfering of other realms for their forbidden texts, and the ancient knowledge of the souls she has consumed, Galdaruhn hopes by trading with her he can gain access to the same information. And put it to use in his goal of ensuring the continuance of the spheres.
Since her time being repelled from the River of Souls, Kah’Dentu has had to entertain herself in other ways. While she abandoned the material plane her hatred of the kami never subsided. This brought her into conflict with Hiku, who she sought to torture more than kill. Kah’Dentu used the knowledge she acquired from across the planes to curse the Matron of the Wind, practically imprisoning her within her own domain while blinding her to the realm she maintained outside it. There she suffers still, as Kah’Dentu had done in the void, cut off and alone. Perhaps she thought this torture would turn Hiku into an oni has it had done to her but instead, even in the face of the murder of her loved ones, Hiku remained steadfast. Kah’Dentu still maintains the prison of Hiku but grows ever more frustrated at the resilience of the Matron of the Wind.
With how the Matron of Undeath steals souls, consumes, destroys or enslaves them, she also finds herself at odds with the reaper. Torukk has a disdain for any kind of undead but there is an intense animosity between him and Kah’Dentu for how she has warped the natural cycle. He wishes to see all the spirits and souls she has captured released back into the River of Souls and for their memories to once again be washed clean. The reaper is ever vigilant in his defense of the souls that travel through the Boneyard and was among the few forces that repelled Kah’Dentu in her first attempts at taking control of the River Styx.
While they have never met, Kah’Dentu also has a keen interest in Shai-Yu Sen as another deity empowered by the souls of the dead. Unlike herself, they form a cooperative union and they likely hold much knowledge. The Matron of Undeath has a deep desire to take these souls from Shai-Yu Sen to expand her knowledge and further work towards her goals.

Temples and Shrines

Regions of Popular Worship

Followers

The followers of Kah’Dentu are almost exclusively those who have already seen the face of death once or are spiritual in nature. This ranges between sentient undead who have been risen from their grave like revenants or ghouls, all the way to vampires. Other oni and some kami also follow Kah’Dentu, idolizing the acts they supposedly performed while upon the material plane. The followers within each sect often practice some form of cannibalism to follow the way of Kah’Dentu; consuming flesh for the promise of power and knowledge.
The living that do pray to Kah’Dentu often do so for spiteful reasons. Some pray that their rivals or enemies are sent to the Matron of Undeath so that their soul might be destroyed or tortured by her hand. Grave-diggers and graveyard keepers sometimes follow her and pray that vile criminals and murderers receive similar treatments. Practitioners of the art of necromancy are also common followers as she is a goddess that does not scorn the use of the dead for personal gain.

Tenets

• Waste Not, Want Not. A lifeless body is no more useless than any other tool, use it to its full extent and ensure everything of value is extracted.
• Learn All You Can. Seek out the secrets of the universe, now matter how dark or perverse, for one day you will bequeath it to the Matron of Undeath.
• Hold No Secrets. Knowledge is something to be shared, especially to those who seek to plug their ears. Drown the nonbelievers in the truth of the universe.

Sins

• Beckon not the Flame. Do not indulge in the use of fire for its destructive power destroys what should be preserved, turns corpses to ash and books to forgotten memories.
• Being Led by the Blind. Mindless servitude is the death of wisdom, always question where you are going what you are doing lest you are led to your doom.
• Defiling the Great Archive. Knowledge is to be preserved and passed down, its destruction is a direct affront to the goddess. To destroy a book, erase a record or release a soul before its contents are known is the gravest of offenses.

Written by - Sithums

Type

Religious, Organised Religion

Official Languages

• Necril
• Shadowlands