Alignment: Chaotic EvilPortfolios: evil, bloodshed, chaos, destruction, terror Races: human, elven, tomanth, dwarven, dragon, ogran Animal Totem: locusts Physical Description: After the Storm Wars, when Nabrol ascended to power, all of the images and depictions of Nathel were destroyed in what were once his lands. The Inquisition destroyed whatever faces of Nathel were left in the lands he occupied during the Storm Wars. One statue was discovered on Galth Island, at an ancient, hidden temple to the Dark God, during the War of of the Undead. The ousting of Nathel's ressurected priests, and the extermination of the undead, destroyed the temple before the statue could be studied. History: From within the blood and evils of the Sister Worlds War, arose his first Chosen. Biding his time, and reveling in the destruction caused by the war, he made his prescence and his Church known during the Prizm Wars, after the raising of the Shield. Possessed of a formidable intellect, and a keen sense of Prophecy, he quickly forced the aid of Brigain to help further his ends. His priests sacrificed the weak and old, the diseased and the infirm -- not to him, but to his enemies. Believing that only the fittest would survive, he struggled against the forces of good in the aftermath of the Prizm Wars for millennia. A prophecy convinced the Dark God to go underground, allowing his enemies to grow complacent and weak, for nearly five thousand years. Amassing power in secret, growing steadily through slow acquisitions, he began his bid for power, seeing the coming of the Storm Wars. As the Age of Peace continued on after the Shaping Wars, he grew in the shadows until his name was a whispered remnant of the evils that had long since passed. As Gaeleth's surface shook in the force of the Oddity's power -- as it did each five millennia -- the world was thrown into chaos. Floods ravaged coastlines, volcanoes long dormant erupted, powerful storm systems altered the locations of fertile lands and deserts, and earthquakes toppled centers of knowledge and commerce. Chaos erupted, and Nathel's forces stirred from the shadows -- and struck. In one day, the Dark God's minions had taken nearly one quarter of Galanath, stripping nations of their rulers, blooding the nobility, enslaving the races, and destroying their defenders. Such was the cunning and savagery of the attack, that the forces for good spent a year reeling from the consequences, missing open opportunities to strike back because of the sheer terror and confusion Nathel instilled. His antipaladins brought to him all the treasures of fallen gods, and his armies brought to him all the treasures of fallen nations. Skillfully manipulating the lands he controlled, he squeezed every bit of wheat and warrior from the regions he controlled. The Druidic Circle was devestated, and the dragons at Nathel's control swept through the northern lands like a plague, seeking only those practicioners of the druidic magics. Carefully deployed rik-golems and massive drow strike forces wiped out whole races, adding fallen gods to the list of attrocities he committed. Unbeknownst to Nathel, his prized leader General Roreth found the God Slayer Giran Howel; making a bid for power, Roreth placed the devestating sword in the hands of the paladin Simon Luminar, and egged Nathel's avatar into battle with the first paladin of Yatindar. The treachery was complete, when Luminar slew the Dark God -- and then slew General Roreth. Nathel's death caused a ripple of chaotic energy through all of Gaeleth, slaying fully half of his priesthood, and destroying the Church of Nathel. Relic: Nathel's Relic had been kept in a secluded monastary deep within his original heartlands. Protected by the monks, it lay there for millennia, undisturbed. When Simon Luminar cleaved Nathel's avatar in half, the Relic shattered. Though half of his monks died in the wild surge of power from Nathel's death, the remainder -- armed with the prophecies of their Dark God -- gathered together the pieces of the Relic, and spirited them far away to the north. Church: The Church of Nathel operated through its Chosen only loosely. Nathel gave great freedom to his Disciples and his more powerful minions, provided they observed some key tenants of the Dark God: maintain secrecy, prepare for the signal, and cause as much damage as possible. When the signal came, the independant power mongers within the Church operated as though orchestrated, doing the best they could in their own names, but accomplishing so much more for evil and chaos in general. After Nathel's death, his remaining priests were forced to transfer loyalty and allegiance to the upstart archon-cum-god Nabrol. A small fraction of the priests (those aware of the Dark God's prophecies) escaped Nabrol to the far north, where they remained for five hundred years, building a power base in preparation for the War of the Undead -- and the attempt to ressurect their god. Clerics: Nathel's clerics were master bullies, whipping underlings into position with force and calculated malevolence. Capable of manipulating individuals, crowds of slaves, or armies of mercenaries, they were often charismatic killers. They officiated at the sacrifices to the weakness of other gods, and to the bloodshed in the name of Nathel. Generally resentful of the other branches of the faith, they often assassinated the other members of Nathel's armies in order to further their own gains. Specialty priests: Though the clerics handled the day to day planning and propogating of their own agendas, the specialty priests planned and propogated Nathel's agenda. Bound to the service of the Dark God by barbed chains of evil, they served their master both unwillingly and even unknowingly. Well under the thumb of the Master Manipulator known as Nathel, they developed major access to the spheres of All, Charm, Combat, Divination, Guardian, and Necromantic. They wound up with minor access to the spheres of Creation, Healing, Protection, and Summoning. The Dark God's touch emphasized itself through special powers: 1) the ability to cast searing soul (see entry below), 2) a base 15% chance to become invisible in the shadows, rising 5% for each level or the priest, and 3) all opponents that met the eyes of a specialty priest became paralyzed for one round, unless they successfully passed their save. Their inability to trust anyone, coupled with their inherant evil and Nathel's shroud, made them paranoid and patient at the same time. Working independantly of any greater power, they sometimes congregated together, firm in the knowledge that Nathel's will superceded their own, granting them at least marginal safety in numbers. Antipaladins: Originally leaders of the hordes of undead at Nathel's disposal, they became generals and leaders for the living hordes that slowly amassed in preparation for the Storm Wars. Their ability to detect good helped them ferret out spies for the northern nations, and keep Nathel's movements secret. Never working together, they served the Dark God admirably apart, engaging opposing heroes and leaders with eviscerating results.
Sphere: Necromancy Range: 5yds/level Components: S Duration: 1 round Casting Time: 1 Area of Effect: 1 victim Saving Throw: 1/2 Striking from the shadows, the specialty priests of Nathel would gaze deep into the eyes of their opponents. In that moment when their strength left them, they would raise their hands towards their opponent, and with shadowy red tendrils of energy rippling between their fingers, they would drain the energy of their victims into themselves. The energy drained could be added to the priest's own Hit Points, raising them above the priest's maximum Hit Points for one mark, after which time the energy faded. The spell siphoned one hit die of energy from its opponent (1d10 from warriors, 1d4 from mages, 1d8 from monsters, etc), for each level of the priest. Thus, a 15th-level specialty priest of Nathel could siphon 15d6 energy from a bard, 45 yards away. Any attack on the priest would take energy from the stolen Hit Points, until they were exhausted. If any of the stolen Hit Points were left after one mark, they would dissipate into the shadows, absorbed by Nathel. If the priest was attacked during the round in which he was draining energy, the spell ended. The Hit Points siphoned away from the victim slammed back into him, and the priest gained nothing. The victim would be incapable of attacking or defending for the remainder of that round, while his Hit Points diffused back into him. For this reason, specialty priests of Nathel often attacked lone victims, rarely using searing soul in a crowd. Next God from Gaeleth's Gods |