Hecate
The evil goddess of Fultar is Hecate, personification of spite, sadism, and, above all, chaos. She was the third child of Tya Nehru after the twins Hantithenus and Sennia.
Tya Nehra created Hecate to rule and guide the natural forces of the world to help and serve the twins, whose dominion was humanity; but that Hecate grew jealous of the throngs of adoring, fearful followers of her siblings and came to hate them and all they created. From the wild forces she was meant to domesticate she instead learned the power and intoxication of chaos, of impulse, of selfishness, instinct, and id; she abandoned her charge and sought shelter from her family in the lower planes among the demons and nameless dark powers, from where she tirelessly reaches out to corrupt the souls of Fultonians and work for the destruction of all that her hated elders create.
The followers of Hecate must worship their dark goddess deep under cover. There are special inquisitorial clerical units charged with the extermination of her followers and many paladins and other do-gooders make hunting a primary activity. Whenever found, they are invariably and publicly tortured to death: flaying, slow roasting, disem-boweling, and breaking on the wheel are all common fates of worshippers of Hecate. Often a whole neighborhood or village where a temple of Hecate is discovered will be razed, and its inhabitants, man woman and child, put to death, “just in case.” Fear and loathing of this goddess and her followers unite all other Fultonians.
Hecate’s sigil is the snake, and all poisonous creatures and plants are associated with her, as she is believed to have invented poison. For this reason the use of poison is not considered a means which is justified by any ends in Fultar. A murderer will be put to death, but a poisoner will be slowly and publicly tortured to death, possibly over weeks.
All things whose nature seems to include change is tainted by Hecate, goddess of chaos; Fultonians associate her with the moon, barking dogs, and even with butterflies and frogs.
Fultonians do not believe that all the devils, demons, and evil deminhumans and monsters of the world were spawned by Hecate; many of these forces are held to have existed before Tya Nehra’s creation of the world; rather, Hecate sought refuge with them after her rebellion, and it was she who showed them the paths into the world.
In ancient Fultar she was not as despised as she is now, pillars were called Hecataea stood at crossroads and doorways, and her face and torches could be seen above doorways to the homes of mages, to keep away evil spirits. In older representations, she was often triple-formed, with three bodies standing back-to-back, probably so that she could look in all directions at once from the crossroads.
Hecate has many symbols given her multiple sphere of influence, including the setting moon, the crossed torches, serpents, keys, dagger and a wheel.
The image above shows that, in ancient Fultar during the Years of Empire, she was rehabilitated and worshipped by the Emperor Agathocles. The Emperor put her and the symbol of the two torches on his coins, balancing on the hand of Hantithenus.
