Natural 7

Three Twisted Gods

This is a post about a trinity of deities I've used to great effect in a recent campaign. I'll present some background information about the group, then describe each deity in closer detail. While they were once a close-knit alliance, the Twisted Three are now splintered fragments with their own goals, schemes, and concepts of morality. As deities, the Twisted Three all share the domain of knowledge.

Some questions to consider:

Together, as One

The Twisted Three were a group of scholars and researchers of the Old Empire. They sought ancient lore, secrets, and rituals that would serve the Emperor and his Right Hand. Over time though, the Twisted Three grew more self-interested in how to amass power for themselves. They learned of a horrible ritual from an ancient evil known as the First Vampire. This ritual taught them how to siphon divine energy into their mortal forms. All it cost was an angel's soul. And their humanity, of course.

They weren't always known as the Twisted Three, especially not in the time of the Old Empire. Back then they were simply Szet, Tises, and Thune. None of them ruled over the others; they were intellectual equals as far as any of them were concerned. The pursuit of infinite knowledge called to each of them, at first because they wanted to serve their Empire, but later because their greed became self-centered.

Steps 1-100 of Ascension

The ritual learned from the First Vampire is known as Threading Wings to Heart and Soul. Anyone who reads about it or studies the ritual itself will recognize it as utterly profane and evil. Nothing good could ever come from performing it.

To perform Threading Wings to Heart and Soul, you need to:

  1. Acquire a divine being equivalent to an archangel.
  2. Drain the divine being of its soul and magic using a combination of unholy devices and strange seals (described in detail in the ritual's original manuscripts).
  3. Deposit the divine soul within your mortal form.
  4. Tether the divine soul to yourself so that it cannot escape, ever.
  5. Survive the healing process.

When the ritual was done, the tethering of divine essence to mortal beings caused Szet, Tises, and Thune to change into Greater Beings. They called themselves Gods because they bore divine might, knowledge, and near-immortality. At the climax of this mutation, the First Vampire fled the scene and betrayed the Twisted Three: speaking to a fourth archangel about the ritual.

The Bad Stuff

The archangel, now called Scour, was too late to stop the ritual. She has sworn eternal vengeance on the Twisted Three for slaughtering her friends. Scour has bladed wings and fights using a combination of silver spears and arcs of golden light. Not even death will stop her from carving her friends' souls from the bodies of the Twisted Three. Unfortunately, the Twisted Three is exceedingly good at evading her. It would take external intervention to bring them together for a drawn out battle.

With the ritual complete, word quickly spread of the ascension. Eventually it reached the divine pantheon of real deities, who were rather miffed about the whole situation. Thune decided to smooth things over by betraying Szet and Tises. In exchange for Thune being forgiven for murdering celestials, she would use her newfound power to prevent any further attempts at divine ascension.

Through spreading rumors and perhaps some divine influence by the Trickster God, the three new deities gained divine names. In her betrayal, Thune also declared Szet and Tises to be the Twisted Two for their corrupt ways.

In dark circles, where the Unbidden Eye and Unspoken Tongue's voices are heard better than others, the Seraph is instead called the Untouched Flesh. Though very few have made the connection between the Seraph and the Twisted Two, those who do refer to the trio as the Twisted Three instead.

The Unbidden Eye

Formerly Szet.

(When describing these deities, they all appear as giant-sized)

Appearance: The Unbidden Eye appears to his followers as a cyclopean giant cowled by gray robes. He never speaks, instead he communicates through visions of distant realms and objects.

Symbol: Concentric circles surrounding strange eyes are generally considered to symbolize the Unbidden Eye, though some scholars debate whether obsidian eyeballs would be a better mark of the deity.

Followers: mutate over time into monstrous hybrids with many eyes and slimy gray skin, eventually becoming something like a Nothic as their pursuit of knowledge consumes their original form. There is no definite "leader" among the Unbidden Eye's acolytes. Most followers of the Unbidden Eye are solitary creatures, keeping to themselves, and rarely forming into groups. They tend to dwell in ancient ruins, sewers, or abandoned houses where they can focus on their studies.

Goal: to witness all things in the universe.

Tactics: placing "eyes" everywhere so that no secret goes unseen.

Ire: through an innate connection, the Seraph constantly places wards and seals around the Unbidden Eye and the Unspoken Tongue, preventing them from returning or leaving the material plane to visit other worlds and their followers.

Prophecy: a divine leader will rise up to reunite followers of the Eye and Tongue, drawing them from darkness into light to resolve the tension between the Twisted Three.

Gaining Reputation with the Unbidden Eye and his followers might involve:

Rewards from the Unbidden Eye and his followers could be:

Acting against the Unbidden Eye could cause:

The Unspoken Tongue

Formerly Tises.

(When describing these deities, they all appear as giant-sized)

Appearance: The Unspoken Tongue appears to her followers as a black robed woman surrounded by a shifting mass of black tendrils and smoke. She communicates almost entirely using telepathy. Very rarely will she use the true unspoken tongue.

The unspoken tongue, as a language, sounds like an overlapping chorus of every language in the universe combined with a few other odd sounds (glass shattering, water trickling, volcanoes erupting). Anyone who hears this language is able to perfectly understand the speaker and feels as though more than just idea, emotion, and intent are being communicated. Additionally, should the Unspoken Tongue deity wish it, anyone who hears the unspoken tongue language spoken may have their head explode.

Symbol: Inky tongues drawn on pale scrolls typically mark locations and books tied to the Unspoken Tongue. Statues and sculptures related to the deity will generally just include an uncomfortable amount of barbed tongues. Many scholars disagree on the true origins of the deity versus when the language was first used. Some consider the unspoken tongue to be the first language, and the Unspoken Tongue was the first deity to be willing to share its knowledge with others.

Followers: paint the insides of their mouths black to mask the shriveling and wilting of their tongues. They generally refuse to speak, since some have been blessed (or cursed) with the knowledge of the unspoken tongue language and blessed (or cursed) to forget their native spoken languages. If they do need to communicate ideas without risking a head explosion, acolytes of the Unspoken Tongue have all learned a form of sign language. Most people are afraid of the acolytes, believing they deal in horrible sacrificial rituals.

The leader of the Tongue's acolytes is a clerical woman, Monaca de Laga, who has many strange piercings and short black hair. She leads the acolytes towards a better future, hoping to one day make the practice of researching ancient or forbidden languages a less reviled subject to the commonfolk. Monaca does not appreciate apprehension and makes her decisions quickly and without regret. She has no time to waste on the past.

There usually aren't more than 2d4 acolytes of the Unspoken Tongue in a given city, and far less in towns or villages. On a journey, you might meet a pilgrimage of 1d6 acolytes searching for a linguistically interesting ruin, or a shrine to the Unspoken Tongue. Traveling acolytes might be accompanied by 1d2 mercenaries, if the acolytes can afford it.

Acolytes typically wield kris daggers (the ones with the wavy blades) and light armor when traveling. They'd prefer not to fight, instead trying to talk their way out of a bad situation. However, if the Unspoken Tongue wills it, they are not afraid of using their mastery over language to fry someone's brain.

Goal: to read everything in the universe; to master communication.

Tactics: silence, patience, appearing weak so that they can move when the time is right.

Ire: through an innate connection, the Seraph constantly places wards and seals around the Unbidden Eye and the Unspoken Tongue, preventing them from returning or leaving the material plane to visit other worlds and their followers.

Prophecy: a divine leader will rise up to reunite followers of the Eye and Tongue, drawing them from darkness into light to resolve the tension between the Twisted Three.

Gaining Reputation with the Unspoken Tongue and her followers might involve:

Rewards from the Unspoken Tongue and her followers could be:

Acting against the Unspoken Tongue could cause:

The Seraph

Formerly Thune. Also known as the Untouched Flesh or the Unbroken Skin.

(When describing these deities, they all appear as giant-sized)

Appearance: The Seraph appears to her followers as a white-winged angelic figure. She speaks frankly and plainly, and values absolute neutrality over all else.

Symbol: Interlinked silver circles are often tied to the Seraph, though bladed wings are sometimes used as well. It is unclear if the Seraph has modeled her divine self after Scour, the archangel who swore vengeance on the Twisted Three for murdering her friends.

Followers: generally normal priests, though many of them are more afraid of the Seraph than they like to admit. The Seraph commonly sears away any of the inner clergy who might be interested in revealing the secrets of healing and medicine to someone "unworthy".

Most priests wear white robes with silver ribbons. Some of the high-ranking priests will wear a blade-winged medallion as their holy symbol, rather than the typical interlocked rings. Many priests drawn to the Seraph are drawn because they wish to learn how to heal people. Many priests who go down this path regret it, realizing how much the secret knowledge of various healing spells and rituals is coveted by the Seraph's churches.

The recognized leader of the Seraph's holy clergy is Draga Ebonheart, an divine-blooded tiefling (half-devil) who spends her time pilgrimaging between Seraphic temples and silencing those who would spread the secret knowledge of healing stolen from the Seraph. Draga is imposing, emanates an aura of fear and awe (at the same time), and has dipped her twisting devil horns in gold. She doesn't usually waste her time with new acolytes, instead she concerns herself with getting to know anyone who has been granted the secret gifts of healing knowledge (to make sure they don't also need to be silenced in the name of justice).

The average convent of Seraphic priests usually houses 2d6+3 priests, and 2d6 acolytes. Their chapels are defended by 1d6+4 knights trained to protect the secrets of healing. It is rare that more than one priest is required to travel (outside of a really powerful healing ritual, which takes 1d6+1 priests), and when any priest does travel they take an entourage of 1d4 acolytes, 1d2 knights, and 1d6 lesser guards. No one wants to get caught by bandits on the road and have to reveal the secrets of healing.

Goal: to heal everyone who needs to be healed, to let die anyone who needs to die. Maintain an equal balance of life and death.

Tactics: secrecy, holy seals, cultish organizations, melting someone where they stand.

Ire: the Seraph has never been able to forgive herself for what she, the Unbidden Eye, and the Unspoken Tongue did to the three archangels who died to raise them to godhood. She believes that justice must come eventually, but is unwilling to be the one to decide when to act. In the meantime, she obsesses over constraining the Eye and Tongue so that they cannot amass enough power to rise against her. This obsession makes it substantially harder for the Seraph to rationally focus on being a good deity.

Prophecy: one day, Scour will be brought before the Twisted Three and given the chance to make right what was done wrong so long ago.

Gaining Reputation with the Seraph and her followers might involve:

Rewards from the Seraph and her followers could be:

Acting against the Seraph could cause:

Final Thoughts

Big long post about three deities and a little bit of background knowledge to see my thought process. I used these three deities in my most recently concluded D&D campaign and I loved them! My players thought they were each very cool and had great flaws. Near the end of the campaign they were debating pretty strongly about helping the archangel Scour attack the Twisted Three, but eventually they decided to try a bit of diplomatic negotiation instead.

Fun tip: it can be shockingly risky to ask a deity, "Do you like your job?"

I know this was a longer post, so thanks for making it all the way to the end! See you next week!

Things on my radar: