Niuf (5e Deity)
Niuf[edit]
Alignment. Lawful Evil
Domains. Control, Stasis, Strength
Divine Rank. Lesser Deity
"Is this not what you wanted, father? I fight for women. I protect them and keep them safe. If only they could appreciate the work i do for them" - Niuf
The fallen son of Aba. He proclaims to love women just as much, if not more so, as his father. But his "love" is twisted. Having ever felt inadequate when compared to his shining and virtuous father in whose shadow he lived for too long, he snapped when two young women rejected him in favor of each other.
From this day, he slipped further and further into evil, ignoring the warnings of his father. While Aba stands in for women's rights and their freedom, Niuf can only tolerate them in a subordinate position. Not caring for the suffering he inflicts, he only lives to see the works of his father tarnished. Niuf sees it as his mission to subordinate and torture women wherever he holds sway. Although he barely believes his own lies, he claims women need a firm, male authority for their own good. He takes his madness even further, claiming he is the one to bring freedom and order to women, while teaching his priesthood to implement laws that subvert women's position in society and trap them in abusive relationships. His is the patron saint of abuse of every kind, as well as slavers and concubines. Especially the prayers of concubines are welcomed by him, for they allow him and his priests to play out their twisted desire of being seen as saviors of women. Many sinister and vulgar cursed items are said to be his doing, furthering his endless quest to hurt women and to corrupt men into misogynists.
Despite this, his priesthood enjoys popularity, since slavery or other forms of personal bondage, like serfdom are often widespread in medieval countries. Thus, many remain willfully blind to his evil. The priesthood knows that their enemies, women, outnumber them. Thus, they do everything in their power to foster strive and hatred between women. In each country they hold sway, the priesthood paints the neighboring nations as monstrous abusers towards their women and call for religious wars against the neighbors to implement the laws Niuf taught them. Whether the claims of abuse are founded in reality is of little concern to them. The priesthood only cares about the slaves made in those war, using them to turn war into a profitable enterprise for themselves and their cronies. In countries where their priests are forbidden to go, they disguise themselves as priests of Aba and pretend to be concerned with the rights of women, while working to subvert their position from within. Many female deities organize secret sisterhoods to fight his influence, if it is necessary with illegal, but never evil means. A mission that sadly finds only middling support by their male counterparts.
Niuf looks exactly like his father, something that disturbs both of them greatly. Despite his seemingly stoic and regal appearance, behind a masks of sanity lies a psychotic, envious and narcissistic man-child that comes to the fore when his superiority seems to be threatened. He has no divine wife or loved ones, for he could never tolerate a person as his equal or superior. In his realm, his exclusively male priests are reincarnated into a female body and are forced to do his bidding for all eternity. This is the only company he keeps, while the other slaves, prisoners and average followers in his realm slave away at great monuments in his glory. He feels entitled through his heritage and role to the respect of everyone who gazes at him.
- Story or quest hooks:
A prophet approaches the characters, telling them of a vision he had: a nation that enslaves their women and where children are little more than work beasts. The cleric pays adventures to go, points them to a place to sleep and ask them to try and change the ways of the people. If, however, the people will not change, the cleric demands that the adventures should still end this injustice. However not all is what it seems to be: The address of their lodging in the nation is a secret cult of Niuf and the characters are planned to be sold as slaves on a faraway market. In the nick of time, a sisterhood informs them of what is going on and that a priest of Niuf deceived them. And while there are certainly issues relating to women's rights in the nation, it is nowhere as bad as the prophet made it out to be. The character now are faced with ending the cult and trying to get back at the man who misled them.
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