Utiolth (3.5e Deity)
| Greater Deity | |
|---|---|
| Symbol: | a skull on a field of black. |
| Home Plane: | The Conquest of Death |
| Alignment: | Neutral Evil |
| Portfolio: | Death, Undeath, Shadow, Murder, Darkness, Caverns. |
| Clergy Alignments: | All Evil. |
| Domains: | Death, Shadow, Destruction, Evil |
| Favored Weapon: | A Longsword called Liferender. |
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Utiolth is the god of death and undeath, and as such is revered by many hidden cults throughout the land. Most of the common folk fear him, and he is hated by priests of Ashar, but many worship him, and his is the state religion in the Kumlichar Empire.
His home plane, the Conquest of Death, is a large wasteland covered by clouds and broken only by ruined cities and towns. It is said that for every town in the mortal world that falls and is never rebuilt, another appears in Utiolth's domain, but others say they have always been there, and yet others say that the towns are every townb that his ever existed, albeit ruined and decayed. Whatever the reason for their existence, these towns are filled with undead, and the traveller to Utiolth's domain should be wary of them. All the roads in Utiolth's domain lead to his Black Spire, where he sits and plots his evil schemes, so travellers should avoid the roads unless they have business with him, which is incredibly dangerous. Wandering mobs of undead wander the endless wastes, assaulting travellers and turning them into more of their kind. The only safe places are the roads, which all lead to the Black Spire.
Utiolth appears as a tall, handsome man, wielding Liferender in his right hand. His hair and eyes are black, and he wears black robes. His sword is made of black metal. Utiolth's servants are the souls of his worshippers, transformed into the faux-Celestial Reapers of Utiolth. When important things need to be done, he summons his Avatar, which looks like he is described.
The Black Spire of Utiolth is surrounded by a wasteland of bones, tombstones and monoliths poking out from the immense waste. The road is elevated so thst it is not crushed under the weight of countless piles of bones, but the whole place reeks of death. Eventually the person venturing reaches the black iron door of the citadel and knocks three times. Eventually the door will open, and then close, slowly and with the creak of ages. Then the person asking a favour will climb the 666 steps to the top of the tower, and ask their favour to Utiolth. The number of those who have survived this can be counted on one hand.
Utiolth has some divine servants - his wife, the Chaotic Evil Intermediate Goddess Ashana (Disease, Poison and Suffering), his son Atolnar (Lawful Evil Lesser God of Necromancy and Assassins) and Uurtru (Neutral Evil Lesser God of Shadow). His divine enemies include Ashar (Neutral Good Greater Goddess of Life, Agriculture, Farmers and Summer), Akassan (Lawful Evil Greater God of Industry, War, Pollution, Hatred, Slaughter and Tyranny) and Sylvus (Chaotic Neutral Intermediate God of Trickery, Rangers, Forest and Forest Creatures). He is known as the Dead King.
Dogma[edit]
Utiolth encourages human sacrifices amongst his clergy, and in the Kumlichar Empire hundreds of captives are sacrificed each day. The inevitable end of life is his chief philosophy, and a result is the morosity amoingst his most devoted clergy. They know that they will die, and as a result they accept their fate and show no fear in battle. But outside it, they are morose and apathetic about the world, jaded cynics who preside over the great sacrifices made in Utiolth's honour, only caring for the furtherance of their god.
Clergy and Temples[edit]
The temples of Utiolth in the lands of Westhome are hidden in cellars and under basements, in crypts and tombs where none have gone for centuries. The walls are sparse and undecorated. A sacrificial altar lies in the center, and corpses of past rituals lie on the floor. The ranking cleric sits on a throne, in imitation of Utiolth's own. They are not allowed swords by Utiolth's decree, so they make do with scythes, to symbolise the Reaping that they believe shall not be long in coming.
Utiolth's most loyal Paladins are known as the Knight of the Dead King]], and are proud of their despicable evil and dark god. They have been known to slaughter entire villages in the service of death, and are hated by the Order of the Shining Sword for their atrocities and hatred of life itself. They will kill anything living, even women and children, in service of their god, and often make sacrifices to Utiolth of those few they do take captive.
They can be assured of having a place at Utiolth's side when they die, as the most terrible and powerful Reapers of Utiolth.
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