DAEMOTH
God of creation, politics, revenge, and winter
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Symbols: Bound wheat, caverns, snow, stone
Names and Titles: Daemoth, Lachmarum, Lord of the Fallow, Lord of the Hills of Vinramar, Lord of Winter
Abode: The Abyssal Throne
Enemies: Jharus
Vassals: Gallister, Gauren, Maruma’e, Volgothyde
Religious Organizations: The Eitharmos, the Etholchan Church, the Order of Illiantri, and the Urrothic Church
THE LORD OF WINTER
When Sowm, the supreme Creator, saw the finished work of Her primordial laborers, She was pleased. Her two sons She fashioned with air and clay wrapped around sparks from Salvendum's flame. These sons descended to the four worlds as emissaries to treat with the primordials on Sowm's behalf.
Daemoth was proud and charming then, a master of forms and words. But even in his immortal infancy, obsession and ambition ruled him, eventually driving him to murder his mother Sowm.
Since his exile from the four worlds, Daemoth has become engorged and mutilated by the Darkplane. Pustules composed of mortal souls bulge from his eternal flesh, and wisps of dark mist enshroud him like eon-spanning tendrils. His eyes are cold and his hands clawed with cruelty.
Daemoth has tried time and again to subdue the world to his will. After many failed conquests, he has resorted to more subtle means and found success. With the incredible growth of human civilization, Daemoth worship has spread to become the most common religion in Vinramar. Through its influence, his servants rise to power, extending his hidden reach like canker beneath the world's skin.
In the midst of the first war against the primordials, Daemoth imprisoned Rinshari, the most beautiful of the elemental laborers, in the Vice of Winter. By force she conceived his most powerful sons, the arch-demons Gauren, Iarmov, and Arrochimeir. From these three spawned the legions of fiends and monstrosities that populated the West of Vinramar in its infancy.
Last of all his broods, Daemoth fathered the daemons with Atiakha, the daughter of the moon. Their empire Mohtra became the longest-reigning nation in Vinramar's history before it fell into ignominy.
THE ETHOLCHAN CHURCH
Most devout among Daemoth's followers is the Etholchan Church, an orthodox sect that maintains ancient traditions from the daemon culture, and holds its own law above all others. Etholchans commonly preach in the street and hold worship services where believers drink animal blood and, once a year, sacrifice a firstborn child to the Lord of Winter. Nations like Arrochule, Motta, and Trentsmund, where the Etholchan church is prevalent, can be dangerous places for the followers of rival gods.
Etholchans believe in strong displays of devotion to Daemoth, including ceremonial dress, religious rites, and a code of fraternity that empowers its members. Their ritual dress is a tunic that laces up the front, worn with a purple girdle trimmed in black. It symbolizes Deamoth’s constant hold over the life of the wearer. The tunic and girdle are often worn in conjunction with other clothing, but are required dress for believers.
Etholchan temples are overseen by local priests, who are themselves subordinate to abbots, chancellors, and consorts. All of the Etholchan hierarchy answers to the Horrom, the seer and central figurehead of the sect.
Etholchan Priests
Domains: Blood, Darkness, Knowledge
Alignments: Lawful Evil, Neutral Evil
Type: Orthodox Dogmatic
Place of Worship: Etholchan temples
Holy Symbol: Onyx talisman
