Anansi (5e Deity)

Compé Anansi "Mr. Nancy"

Alignment. Lawful Evil
Domains. Knowledge, Trickery
Divine Rank. Demigod

Compé Anansi or otherwise known as Mr. Nancy is a demigod of trickery, representing order within chaos and chaos within order. Anansi seeks power and wishes to ascend to the peak of godhood, a greater deity. He gathers power in any way he can, in the form of material wealth, magic items, knowledge, the faith of worshippers, the souls of creatures and his favorite, the power of others. Whether that be a potent magic user, a fallen celestial, a scheming aberration or the king of a whole nation, Anansi gets what he wants.

Public Face

Anansi or known to the public as Mr. Nancy appears as a tall male humanoid that wears an extravagant golden mask and equally as fine purple and gold silk suit. He moves with the grace of the noblest eldarin and speaks in tongues of not silver but gold. Often referring to himself in the third person Mr. Nancy speaks with a slow and very peculiar accent. He is never seen unmasked or without the intricate deck of cards that he carry's with him. He enjoys decadent pleasures and is largely whimsical in his mannerism, often dancing around conversations and speaking in flowery words. Mr. Nancy strictly adheres to laws and is very sentimental about his possessions. Most people get the impression that he is a friendly yet suspicious individual. Everywhere he goes rumors spread that if you want something Mr. Nancy can give it to you for a price that no one seems to know. Other then that not much else is known about Mr. Nancy. Little do they know how any who meet him fit into his grand scheme.

Origin

Rather than being born from a union of a god and mortal or the blessing of celestial grace by another god. Anansi or Compé Anansi as he was once called gained his divine rank by tricking the vestige of a long forgotten god and devouring the dying grace of the near powerless being. The vestige let out a final cry that echoed through the upper planes like a high pitched screech and alerted the beings that lurked thereof the god's fate. While it wasn't enough to grant him the divinity needed to ascend to godhood, his mortal being only able to take so much at once, it it was enough to make him immortal and grant him powers beyond that of most creatures and demigods alike.

Of Cults and Kings

Venerated as a god, Anansi doesn't have large temples of worshippers. Rather, his sects are organized in small secretive cults and powerful individuals who have made bargains with him for power, wealth and other selfish vices. He takes advantage of the weak and whispers sweet promises to them for their service. He turns many of his most devote followers into warlocks. None but a handful of his followers are not aware of it but Anansi, has the powerful ability to assert compliance to those that have sworn themselves to him, so strong is his ability to do so that those under his influence believe that they are of stable mind even if performing acts that would horribly violate any code or alignment they believe in. While Anansi is considered a god by his followers their allegiance to him is kept a secret with the only outward sign being a silk patch in the in the appearance of his holy symbol but even that is sowed into the inside of their clothing over where the creature's heart would be. In areas where Anansi controls whoever sits on the throne, in hidden alters or bizarre meetups, idols can be seen to in the form of statues in his image or busts of the golden-horned mask he wears. Many of the rituals performed in his honor are sacrifices or requests to trade, with Anansi always getting the better deal and almost everything being granted by him being temporary. Those that partake in such a ritual may receive a powerful magical item to achieve their goal, heightened physical or magical abilities to defeat their enemy, or some other transitory boon with Anansi being offered anything from a rare artifact to the souls of an entire village. Anansi dislikes being summoned, however, he can't resist a chance at more power and accepts most summons depending on what is being offered. While it appears that Anansi does very little in managing his followers he is often at the wheel of every decision and play made with each unusual request or small task making up a part of his quest for power.

Wanderer

Anansi's moves from plane to plane, spending most his time on the Material Plane and while he is almost never welcome in the darkest planes of evil or the brightest planes of good, it doesn't stop him from walking into those planes like he owns them. Tempting those he can use over to his side and often striking deals with those that can't help but say yes. His presence alone is enough to sour to taste of celestials and fiends alike, however, those that he has tempted over to his side are imbued with a fierce loyalty like no other.

Ill-Omen

It doesn't matter who you are, as long as you have power Anansi wants it. Gods are of no exception to this for Anansi and given the tricksters entrance into the realm of the divine and his behavior thereafter, it is no surprise that most gods want nothing to do with him. Many of the upper planes view him as an ever hungry parasite and at best a scheming pawn to keep an eye on.

Hoarder

Yet, of all that Anansi can be labeled as, no term fits quite as well as a hoarder, as he amasses mountains of power. Anansi desires anything he doesn't possess and has no scruples about taking whatever he craves, sometimes through overwhelming displays of his amassed power and other times through very careful manipulation, to make sure the item of interest ends up exactly where it needs to be over sometimes centuries of planning. Whatever the method, Anansi views each acquirement as a game and desires to experience the fun and excitement of each game to its fullest. Anansi knows every object or person in his collection and can track his "possessions" through the planes. Those who dares to steal from Anansi, or breaks a deal with him, will know no rest until a newer, harsher deal is made or their soul is consumed by his ever-hungry gullet.

Despite this, he can be bargained with to part ways with his precious possessions as long as he is being offered something he desires or see's to be of greater value. However, rare is it for items that leave his hands are not returned within the next few centuries, each item marked with his symbol bares a curse often designed to kill and sometimes designed to bring Anansi amusement, unless the new user passes the item and as such the curse to another creature the item returns to Anansi great hoard. A remove curse spell cast on one of Anansi's items only removes the items curse for a week before it returns. Though be aware, Anansi never freely gives away what he owns, and he gives up possessions only if doing so helps his hoard grow.

Anansi's Delights

It is said Mr. Nancy owns a magic shop that springs up in odd locations in the paths of travelers and adventures with deep pockets and virgin souls ready to be exploited. The shop is named Anansi's Delights written in a golden and eloquent lettering; within the shop itself, it is an immaculate setting, each piece of furnishing mastercrafted and displays of rare and exotic magic items line the walls of this single story shop. This shop whenever it appears is always manned by the smooth-talking demigod and can appear as fast as it disappears.

The True Keeper

While Anansi hoards a vast amount of magic items, none are so great as the very first Deck of Many Things, said to be far greater in power than the derivative decks that came after it, this wondrous deck of cards is whispered to have been created from the remaining divinity he could not consume, with the skin of a god and painted in the golden ichor that ran through it. Anansi refers to this deck as the royal deck and seldom grants anyone the right to draw from it preferring to allow them to draw from his common set often in exchange for information or favors. Anansi is bound to these cards and as such he is sometimes referred to as the true keeper.

Dealings - WIP

He is like the bibles adversary. Ask him for something and the cost is measured in cards drawn from his deck of many things. You may take no more than three cards from him and to take all three cards forfeits your soul if it isn't already promised away.

Design Note: Players can use the Archfey Patron's mechanics if they are playing a warlock with Mr. Nancy as their patron. Alternatively, they can use the much cooler and specifically made Anansi (5e Subclass) with patron specific invocations.

Design Note: Mr. Nancy is my own creation inspired by Mr. Nancy from the television series American Gods, he takes his name, his accent and presents himself in a similar fashion to Neil Gaiman's take the West African animism but the Mr. Nancy of my world draws on other sources such as the Volo's Morkorth, Supernaturals the Trickster and the Princess and the Frogs Dr. Facilier. I'd recommend watching the Mr. Nancy's slave ship scene from American Gods at least if you wish to incorporate him into your setting.

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