Velkareth

The Maskless One

Velkareth is the god of secrets, deception, and forbidden knowledge, a silent sovereign whose name is never spoken aloud by his true followers. Once a mortal spymaster who erased his own existence from every record, Velkareth rose to godhood through deception so profound it rewrote reality. His power lies not in armies or divine wrath, but in what is not known. He is the god of leverage, silence, and the deadly edge of half-truths. His presence is never announced, it is discovered too late.

Appearance

The Maskless One is never depicted with a true face. In art, he is a figure shrouded in dark robes, his head replaced with a shifting mask, sometimes porcelain, sometimes metal, sometimes painted to resemble the observer. His hands are bare, but always gloved in shadow, and his shadow never matches his form. In some renderings, a single eye floats behind his mask. Lidless and watching, though no two depictions agree on its color. In symbolic art, he is often represented as an eye within a broken key, or a mouth stitched closed inside a mask.

Dogma

Velkareth teaches that knowledge is power, but secrecy is survival. Truth should never be given freely, only traded, twisted, or withheld until it becomes a weapon. His faithful learn that one lie well-told can shape nations, and that the greatest deception is the one that hides in plain sight. Masks are not falsehoods, they are tools. He is not a god of chaos, but of silent control. He does not demand loyalty, only discretion. To worship Velkareth is to live in shadows not out of fear, but out of choice.

Worship

Velkareth’s worship is secretive, complex, and widespread, though never openly. His shrines are hidden within libraries, thieves’ guilds, noble archives, and backroom dealings. His clergy are called The Faceless, and they wear blank masks or ink their faces with veils of script to show their devotion. No one speaks sermons aloud. His rites are performed through riddles, ciphered prayers, and symbolic exchanges. His sacred text is not a book, but a network. The Whispered Index. A collection of fragments, letters, riddles, and dead drops passed hand-to-hand. No one knows the whole, and anyone who claims to is lying.
His holy day is Veilfall, a night of absolute silence where followers trade secrets in hushed exchanges and perform subtle acts that may never be traced back to them. It is said that on Veilfall, Velkareth speaks directly into dreams, not with voice, but with understanding.

Relations

Velkareth is respected and feared, even by gods who despise his methods. Anwhe loathes him for unraveling law, but sees him as a necessary evil for his lies gives credence to truth. Aurora pities his worshippers for choosing shadows over healing. But Ashmedai finds his mastery of leverage admirable, and Nyxarion understands his silence as a form of divine obsession. He holds no loyalty, but he keeps every promise exactly as it was spoken. He is the only god who has never broken an oath, because he never swears one.
Some whisper that Velkareth knows the true names of all the Old Gods, and that this knowledge alone keeps him untouched. Others claim that even death avoids him, for to take him would be to unmask something older than divinity.

History

Velkareth was once mortal, a spymaster, a thief, a master of masks. In life, he uncovered so many secrets, erased so many truths, and orchestrated so many falsehoods that his own name was consumed in the process. It is said that he walked into the Hall of Charon, where the names of the dead are kept, and struck his own from the ledger before he died. His ascension was never recorded, because he made sure of it. No one remembers the exact moment he became divine, only that he was, and that he always had been.
Even now, some scholars searching through forgotten ruins or ancient scrolls will feel something shift, as if a page was removed, or a memory altered. That is Velkareth’s blessing, or perhaps his warning: If you know his name, it is already too late.

Divine Classification

Ascended God

Alignment

Neutral Evil

Realm

Axis

Honorary & Occupational Titles

• The Maskless One
• King of Thiefs
• The Whispering Viel
• Keeper of the Shrouded Blade
• Patron of Spies

Pathfinder Statistics

Divine Attribute: Dexterity or Intelligence
Divine Domains

• Darkness
• Secrecy
• Trickery
• Void

Divine Font: Harm
Divine Skill: Deception
Favored Weapon: Dagger
Cleric Spells: 1st: illusory disguise, 2nd: invisibility, 4th: vision of death

D&D 5e Statistics

Suggested Domains

• Knowledge Domain
• Trickery Domain