Major Deity
Deity of: Death,
chaos, pestilence, disease, torture, pain, cruelty and madness. The wrath
of the gods, the bringer of death.
Form: A hideous
half naked woman with rotting flesh, often with maggots crawling throughout
her flesh. Or; an sad, scarred woman in black. Bears the Soul Hook.
Colours: Brown and
black.
Cardinal Direction:
North, the direction associated in the Kendrish mind with cold and death.
Alignment: Chaotic
Evil is the most common alignment associated with Harpan, but there is
little in the holy books to support this popular image ('alignment' in
the RPG sense is not a feature of Kendrish theology). Chaotic Neutral
might be more accurate, and in some areas Harpan is even perceived as Neutral
Good. Consult your GM for local perception of Harpan.
Church and Following:
This goddess is the most feared and hated. Harpan, of ancient days,
was given the distasteful task of collecting the souls of the followers
of the Kendrish Pantheon when their time was up (and passing them on to
Holynem, the guide of the dead from the House of Kreav). Harpan, at first
reluctantly, took up this task. However, as ages passed, Harpan took to
the task with more enthusiasm.
It is Harpan that determines
the length and form of all natural deaths (but not violent ones). People
pray to Harpan for painless death and to be spared of the plague. Others
pray for the soon but slow death of one's enemies.
Few are loyal followers
of Harpan, but most pray to Harpan at some frightening point in their lives
- usually when terminally ill.
The loyal followers of
Harpan tend to be unsavoury sorts and fall into four sorts: the bloodthirsty
warrior bringing death, sadistic mages and the sick, mad and demented (you
may also add a few youth seeking to disturb their parents). The fourth
sort believes itself to be good in spirit, if not in action (see below).
Many priests have the philosophy
that the only behaviour that matters, is that when one dies. Only then,
they say, will one's true character be unmasked. Many in this church sink
to all forms of depravity, especially those involving pain.
Others in this church believe
they are good. These believe that in bringing violent and quick death,
they are sparing their deity from the task of carrying out this distasteful
duty (violent deaths result in the soul going directly to Holynem) and
spares the victims a long drawn out death.
In the mythology of the
Kendrish Pantheon, Harpan is treated not a pure evil, but more as a flawed
character with a terrible job.
Church and State:
Many lands oppress this church, especially those that lean toward the teachings
of Seandac. Many kingdoms, however, recognize the essential function of
this church and leave it unmolested.
Relations within the
Pantheon: There are three different levels of relations. The
first is between the followers of other churches and the followers of Harpan.
The followers of other churches, especially those the lawful and violent
churches love to attack this church.
The relations between the
churches themselves are more defined by coldness than outright hostility.
Priests are generally not fond of directly attacking the church of Harpan,
largely due to critically important but somewhat ambiguous position of
Harpan within the holy books. Still, other churches have been known
to carry out hostile actions towards the church of Harpan - more often
than not in order to stop actions being taken by the church of Harpan or
simply to please their own followers.
The deities themselves
are generally portrayed as being sympathetic to Harpan, but with the sense
of unease that one shows pity on those of poor fate. Oddly, there
are references in several places in the holy books of Venalena being Harpan's
closest friend and ally. That is almost never the case with their
priesthoods.
Harpan and Priests:
Like priests of Venalena, priests of Harpan usually study Lð (the
life element).Priests are devoted to their task and their ability to bring
death is renowned.
Disralx
-
Minor Deity, House of
Harpan
Deity of: Cruelty
to children.
Form: The archetypal
evil stepmother.
Colours: Brown,
black and red.
Church and Following:
Most come to pray for others. Spouses come to pray that their mate
will mend their ways and leave their children in peace.
This church is very active
in child prostitution - sometimes for and sometimes against.
Splaegna -
Minor Deity, House of
Harpan
Deity of: Pestilence.
Form: More or less
like a human flea.
Church and following:
The citizenry come to pray for deliverance from vermin and pests, such
as locusts, mice, rats, children, mosquitoes and fleas.
This is the only deity
outside of the house of Dorenne that is noted for any effect on animals.
Splaegna and Priests:
Any spell that heals or cures must be reversed by priests of
this church. No priest of this church can heal in any way, including on
themselves. This has the effect of adding to the number of offensive spells
the priest has considerably, but at the cost of losing the ability to heal
oneself after combat.
Daenaath -
Minor Deity, House of
Harpan
Deity of: Torture
and information extraction.
Form: A handsome
male in loincloth wielding the Needle of Ultimate Pain.
Church and Following:
Thieves, military men, government men, spies and sado-masochists all
visit this church in search of enlightenment. Sometimes very brave warriors
come to learn to withstand pain.
Daenaath and Priests:
These priests start with a [Torture] skill.
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