Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Portfolios: antipaladins, evil, cunning, vampires, terror
Races: Human, vampires, undead
Animal Totem: sword spider

Physical Description: He is always shown as a pale man with dark hair, and dark brooding eyes. Whether shown in a picture, a statue, or just a sketch, the eyes seem to follow the viewer, boring into his soul, no matter how one moves. Dakis wears black robes over black scale mail, with ebon greaves and an elegant longsword of forge-blackened steel on his hip.

History: Just prior to the Storm Wars, Nathel gathered his power with secrecy and insight. Surveying his troops, and a great admirer of intellect and cunning, Nathel kept a close eye on the mortal known as Dakis Levai. Levai was one of the most lethal antipaladins Nathel had, more for his schemes and blackmail, than for his skill with the sword -- which was considerable in itself. Testing the devotion of his follower, Nathel cursed him with vampirism, and a loathing of the daylight. Dakis reveled in the curse, finding himself no longer hindered by mortal constraints. In the years that followed, Dakis Levai proved instrumental in Nathel's plans to crush the Karatikan Alliance as quickly as possible. When the countdown to attack reached one month, Nathel elevated Dakis to the state of godhood, giving him considerable power over the undead, and vampires in particular. Dakis took particular care with his priests, cultivating them from among those followers of Nathel that wished for more than the advancement of a cause. He gathered men about him that lived simply to fight against the forces of good. As the archon Nabrol looked on in growing envy, Dakis' secrecy and subtlety grew. Dakis and his priests would sew more terror with the bloody and public execution of one man than Nathel's armies would sew with their millions of weapons. Dakis would eventually take on Nathel's mantle of terror, surpassing the Dark God in his ability to strike terror into the Karatikan Alliance. When Nathel died suddenly beneath the onslaught of the Giran Howell, Dakis and the other gods subserviant to him were shocked. When Nabrol seized Nathel's power in the brief moment he had, the pantheon of Nathel found itself forced to worship Nabrol, or be destroyed. Dakis alone had the power and ability to outmaneuver the crazed archon that fashioned himself into a god; the God of Malevolence went underground, taking his deep-seated vengeance with him. Since that time, Dakis and his minions have continually striven to destroy the forces of good -- and paladins in particular. Dakis' deep-seated hatred for paladins and all they stand for have enhanced his cunning and terror hundreds fold. During the War of the Undead, the numbers of his followers grew somewhat -- more an aftereffect of the Inquisition, than anything else. After the War of the Undead, however, many of the truly evil undead that were left swarmed to Dakis' service. The vampires, in particular, swelled Dakis' ranks -- the god having once been cursed with the same affliction that had created them in the first place.

Relic: To protect it from mortal enemies and the paladins he loathes, Dakis had his minions develop traps and safeguards that are truly cunning. His priests found an ancient dwarven mine in the Mercine Mountains that had been abandoned before the Shaping Wars. Modifying the mine shafts and foundaries, they infested a mountain from the inside out with undead, horrifying spiders and their traps, and an army of fanatically evil warriors and assassins. The exact location of the mountain itself is unknown, though many other churches know the general mountain range. A number of paladins have thrown themselves into the maw of the mine, never to return. Dakis' Relic was the heart of the Second Crusade, which ended disasterously in the Mercine Mountains. The bodies of the crusaders were either left where they fell, or animated to defend the Relic.

Church: The mainstay of the clergy are humans, but the Chosen and his Disciples are all vampires. The church itself holds vampires in high regards, and treats sentient undead as equal members with mortals. The non-sentient undead are treated with contempt, and given the lowliest of tasks. The heart of the Church of Dakis is Mount Sonvirai, which is a closely-guarded secret within the Mercine Mountains. The massive church and monastary atop the mountain guards the entrance to the ancient dwarven mines that house the Relic of Dakis. The church itself is known as the Blood Awning, and the monastary is known as the Soul's Tithe. The Chosen and his minions serve Dakis directly, following their own whims of destruction when not ordered to tasks by Dakis himself. The sole purpose of the church is to destroy all that is good and holy. Profit, revenge, and self-promotion are welcome secondary goals within the church, but those who take too much emphasis from the Church of Dakis' primary goal are -- dealt with. Dakis' clergy do not work closely with any other god, but temporary alliances for secretive goals are not uncommon. Though the Church of Nabrol seeks to sew chaos, the Church of Dakis seeks to sew evil. Dakis' clergy see Nabrol's meddling as half-heartedly evil and unfocused, and do not appreciate them unless needed.

Clerics: The majority of the priesthood of Dakis actually consists of humans, hoping one day to attain the status of specialty priest. Many of them are cross-trained with other specialty classes, such as assassins, antipaladins, and necromancers. Rarely acting alone, they often form special cells within which they can work, acting as a team, and a coherent and terrifying whole. Dakis allows his priests to wear whatever armor they need, but their weapons must be slashing or piercing weapons that let loose a great deal of blood.

Specialty priests: Those priests that pass the tests of loyalty given by an Antipaladin Prelate, are allowed to take the final test of favor, the Ralakhannah. If the priest survives and keeps enough blood to live, then he can begin to study the secret holy books of Dakis -- and slowly transform into a vampire. 'Ralakhannah' means 'blood bonding' in old Nathelian. To survive, these priests must have Constitution scores of 14 or higher, and Wisdom scores of 13 or higher. Their fanatacism to evil limits their major spheres of access to All, Charm, Combat, Necromantic, and Summoning. They have only minor access to the spheres of Creation, Divination, Guardian, Healing, and Protection. Because of their fanatacism, Dakis rewards his priests well: 1) they can generate a fear aura at will that spreads out within twenty feet of the priest, and even sentient undead opponents must save versus magical spells or flee, 2) they can multiclass, taking the better Hit Die and experience progression table without the need to split their Hit Dice or experience, and 3) they gain the ability to make a death strike blow once per day -- victims take 1d6 points of negative planar energy for every level of the caster with a successful strike, healing the undead or harming the living with damage that cannot be regenerated short of rest, even by a heal spell. At 12th-level, the specialty priests of Dakis are given the option of becoming vampires; this is a requirement for further level advancement.

Monks: There are very few of these elite students of evil, but their presence is profound and deffinate within the Church of Dakis. Their discipline is held in awe, even by the immortal undead, and their dedication to evil is unquestioned. Working within a strict code that most would consider unethical, they fight one another within specially formulated rules. They pore over ancient texts and modern news to aid the other members of the clergy. And most importantly, they guard the secrets of Dakis' Relic.

Antipaladins: Evil where paladins are good, the antipaladins of Dakis seek to destroy all that is holy and lawful. Serving the purposes of Dakis, they quest to sew terror and evil wherever they can. The strong prong of the Church of Dakis, they are numerous and vile, bringing entire cities down into the depths of theft, murder, blackmail, and lawlessness.

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