The Black Stag

Give me your past, your joy, your sorrow, And I shall grant a brighter morrow. But heed this well, my price is steep, For what I take, I forever keep. -Excerpt from Bargain of Black Flame

The entity known most commonly as the Black Stag has a place in the mythology of many of Tairos' civilizations, both past and present. In these stories it is always portrayed as a lurking presence of dread that can be found in the deep woods, preying upon those foolish enough to enter its domain. These tales speak of desperate souls beseeching the Black Stag for power or an escape from their pain and the terrible price they must pay to strike such a bargain. Other stories cast the Black Stag as inescapable and inevitable hunger that pursues interlopers relentless, seeking to consume their flesh and their soul. Whatever the myth, the moral is always the same - you do not belong here, and there is a high price to paid for coming
Very little actual academic work exists regarding the Black Stag. The old College of Magic paid little mind to the ways of the woods and the powers dwelling there. What small fragments of knowledge that still exist today come from the Netherkin Compendium, itself just a collection of pieced-together accounts about specific demons known to dwell in Tairos. This brief entry labels the Black Stag as demonic entity that has found purchase in wooded realms and the backwater villages near them. While the entry is brief and full of conjecture by the its author, it does correctly detail the entity's delight in making bargains and consuming memories.

by Midjourney

The text does speculate on the entity existing in several regions of Tairos all at once. Frostmerite legends have a near-identical creature in their lore known as a Peryton and which occupies the same role in many of their stories. It prowls the frozen wastes looking for memories to feast on and fools eager to make bargains with it. The Gnomes of Carda had a story that still lives on inside the cogitors of the oldest Clankers about the Notion Thief. These anecdotes refer to a thing of black smog, invisible flames, wings of oil and ember horns who bargains for the intellect of their greatest minds. Drunken sailors exchange stories in Far Harbor's many taverns about the Ink Maiden, a siren inhabiting lonely islands who steals away the memory of home. Huddled elves in the fiefdoms near Melanthris warn against entering deep woods of Rylan for fear of angering Mornfëacaur Reminyesta, which very loosely translates to the Dread Merchant of Cherished Thoughts. Some believe that its one of the nightmare entities that walked across worlds with the Fae but if that's true it is no ally of theirs for they have their own tales of an impossibly tall stranger that feasts on their thoughts named Mr.Ripperstitch. Balmoral had tales of the Black Phoenix, an eerily similar spirit that offered twisted bargains to the Adamantite Kings as they lay on their deathbeds. Attempting to trade them more time in exchange for pieces of their soul. While the Balmoran stories are old, dating back to the earliest days human history, the most ancient of all potential references come from The Empire of Skyrir. The nobility who embraced Entombment (Skyrir mummification ritual) would ward their crypts against many foul creatures but in particular was supremely feared as the Seshemhapu, the Unraveling Angel. It viewed the entombed as gateways into the afterlife where it would seek out their resting soul and devour its memories.

by Midjourney

Today, it is rarely spoken of. After The Queen's Rebuke and the vast depopulation that followed, few cared to dwell so close to the isolated places where this being found purchase. In the populated cities such as Ghal Pelor, mention of this horror is uncommon. The only way it finds itself there is if it's carried in by true believers such as the many refugees seeking a better home. They bring with them their stories, their traditions, and sometimes their monsters. Often times that monster will take on a new form, one more suited for the urban forest it now hunts. Usually that means a shadowy figure that prowls the dark alleys and abandoned places, offering dark deals to some and devouring others... bones and all.
Only the few remaining druidic circles left in Tairos have speak of this thing as a real and present threat. They speak of thing that is neither divinity or demon, neither totem or ghost. Their warnings speak of the Black Stag, a presence that is not native to Tairos nor to any natural place. Druids of all totemic pantheons warn of a hungering darkness from beyond time, beyond the stars, with an unquenchable thirst for mortal sanity. It takes on various shapes, various identities, so that it can better masquerade as something more familiar, when in truth there is nothing more alien. Worst still, these druidic circles have not found a means of killing the Black Stag. Shattering it's physical form is often enough to sever its ability to interact with the mortal world directly though not enough to silence its whispers. Calling it home again is secret ritual that druids of all sorts work to scour from Tairos. It involves a bloody sacrifice of life, memory, and sanity. In return, it will often serve the caller for a time. However; the cost for summon the Black Stag is always high, and in the end it is always paid.

by Midjourney

Divine Symbols & Sigils

Usually crude charms or graffiti depicting horns or dark flames. The Black Stag has no preference, such symbols are acts of reverence or warning by mortals

by Midjourney

Physical Description

Body Features

The physical form of this entity is extremely mutable. Body features will vary depending on the version of itself it chooses to manifest as. However, there are some key features that translate from form to form in different ways. For example, fire is always part of its motif. As the Black Phoenix it is almost entire made of flame but in a humanoid appearance fire may simply be that of the cigarette it smokes.

Mental characteristics

Gender Identity

this entity seems able to manifest a physical form that displays whatever gender or gender combinations it chooses. It does not seem to hold any one gender core to its identity

Sexuality

The Black Stag has not displayed any form of sexual attraction in any of its known encounters

Morality & Philosophy

Bargains seem to be at the core of its philosophy. This is a trait it has in common with fae and demons though that seems to be more coincidental than suggestive of any shared heritage. These bargains are rarely made with targets of equal footing, instead it chooses to prey on the desperate.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

The primary motivation for this being is satiation of its hunger. While it has been seen consuming the flesh of living beings, it appears that the only thing that provides lasting relief is the eating of memories.

Divine Classification

Unknown

Honorary & Occupational Titles

• The Black Stag(Druidic circles and many other sources)

• The Peryton(Frostmere)

• Seshemhapu (Skyrir and Baradrad)

• Mornfëacaur Reminyesta (Lake Lunarch region)

• Notion Thief (Carda prior to its fall)

• Mr.Ripperstitch (Fae)

• The Black Phoenix (Balmoral, Frial, Lockland)

• Ink Maiden (Far Harbor)

• King of Hearts (dilapidated areas of Ghal Pelor)

• He Who Walks Behind the Rows (farmlands near Ghal Pelor and Homestead)

• The Rust Smith (Ghal Ankhar)

Quotes & Catchphrases

The Frostmerite poem known as The Bargain of Black Flame
In the heart of the woods, where shadows play, Lurks the Peryton, both stag and flame. With horns ablaze and feathers dark, A spirit of dread, a nightmare's mark.
In the silence of the ancient trees, It whispers secrets on a ghostly breeze. A bargain struck in the moon's pale light, For power untold, through the endless night.
Eyes like embers, a gaze that sears, It feeds on memories, on silent tears. A trade of tales, a feast of fears, In the darkness, it draws near.
"Give me your past, your joy, your sorrow, And I shall grant a brighter morrow. But heed this well, my price is steep, For what I take, I forever keep."

Known Languages

The Black Stag seems able to speak all known languages, or at least the languages of whomever it chooses to bargain with.