Bastach

Sower of Sorrow, Reaper of Hatred

I collapsed to my knees, my strength deserting me as I began to understand the enormity of my loss. Our ancestral home burned before me, everyone I had ever called family somewhere inside. "I will kill him," I declared in a hollow voice, not truly feeling anything yet, but knowing what I would do. "Indeed, he is a cancer that must be cut out," the priest responded in a tear-choked voice from my side. Pressing a heavy hand into my shoulder, he added, "But we must be wary; we will end him because it must be done. If we strike in hatred, we voluntarily hand him the greater victory he seeks."

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Bastach is the only deity whose worship is outlawed in every culture and civilization, with the sole known exception of the orcs. His books are burned on sight, those who possess them executed. His holy symbol is forbidden from use in any context by common wisdom; none who do not worship him want to offer any moments of influence to the deity of sorrow, hatred, and anguish. Writings about him are kept under spell, lock, and key in libraries and places of learning, brought out only to teach students and citizens enough to recognize and avoid his worship. "Bastach take you," and variations on the same are the strongest form of cursing used in Tempax, and generally frowned upon except in the most extreme circumstances.
His goals and desires would be cancerous enough alone, but his preferences for how they come about make him especially insidious: he has none. Bastach does not care if his followers implement a plot which takes three generations or three hours to come to fruition, or if they simply act on impulse. So long as sorrow, loss, and lasting pain are sown by their actions, they can be assured their god watches in satisfaction. Worshippers of Bastach have been behind assassinations, rebellions, mass murders, and street muggings timed for maximum impact alike.
Any who find a symbol of Bastach are expected to immediately alert local organizations, as well as offer any assistance needed in weeding out and eliminating his influence in the area.

Divine Domains

Evil

Holy Books & Codes

The Tome of Action is generally burned on sight, yet copies are found in the hands of Bastach's worshippers as if it could be found waiting on any street corner. This book, always found constructed with materials harvested from sentient beings, consists of several hundred pages of prose extolling the value of self over other, of the individual over the rest of existence, and of the righteousness of bringing suffering and loss to others, that they may experience the deepest emotions life can offer them.

Divine Symbols & Sigils

A burning heart

Tenets of Faith

"Do unto others, always."

Divine Goals & Aspirations

Evil is selfish, to be certain, but Bastach's ways and worshippers go far beyond anything the root ideal of Bastach's domain would call for. He revels in pain; physical pain certainly, but his greatest joys are the deeper anguishes of sorrow, loss, hate, and shame. Bastach wishes for nothing more than to convert all mortals to a mass of emotionally-starved addicts of sorrow and hate, and then to turn them loose on the rest of existence.

Divine Classification

Deity

Alignment

Neutral Evil