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Aliases:
Mavelogue,
The Moon Maiden (rich nobles of Angor'tal)
Symbol:
Silver moon with black death's head
skull in center, with eyes of scintillating red
Worshippers Alignment:
LE, NE, CE
Skiasca
(ski-AHS-ka), as most deities in this sphere, were originally mortals,
or monsters in Skiasca's case. She was one of the greatest human champions
for evil during the time before the Great Cataclysm. When the lands of
Orphidia were in their peak, there arose three great champions, each representing
the great philosophies Good, Neutrality, and Evil. For each philosophy,
there were mortals who not only lived their beliefs, but had the capacity
to take that belief to a higher level.
Many people followed Skiasca into war
after war. As the body count and the number of worshippers grew, so did
her powers. Eventually, the three sides clashed in a titanic battle. So
great were the powers that were used during the fight, that all three champions
transcended into immortality. When that happened, the Great Cataclysm occurred
which changed the face of world.
Once life started to reach some semblance
of normality, Skiasca sent her avatar to the surface to find her new audience.
She was warmly received in the Underworld which was created during The
Cataclysm. The Goblin Hordes worshipped her with such fervor and abandon,
that she was the first deity to reach the status of Greater Power. Because
of that, her specialty priests and special worshippers are effectively
immortal. Their physical bodies can be destroyed, but they will return
after a time to a form that is equivalent to their power.
Since the last Underworld Invasion,
Skiasca and the other evil deities have changed their preparations for
the next Invasion. They've been slowly subverting the powerful and the
influential among Angorian society. So far, a lot of the rich, idle youth
have embraced some of the belief of Skiasca, but very few have made their
way into the true faith. She is currently deciding
what to do next, but her actions have
recently come under the attention of Soltuto, the God of Light.
Skiasca's Avatar
(Fighter 15, Thief 12, Cleric 22, Mage
19)
Skiasca
very seldom sends her avatar to the surface anymore. She feels that the
more she stays out of direct intervention the better. Her priests only
have a 1% chance of summoning her avatar on their behalf and only if they
are on a critical mission for the faith. If she does decide to send her
avatar, it appears as a strikingly beautiful woman with long, silver hair
wielding a jet black two-handed sword. Skiasca can cast spells from any
sphere or school.
If Skiasca kills a mortal, they will
immediately be raised, fully healed, and will be under the complete servitude
of Skiasca. Only the death of those beings will release them. They would
be more than willing to do sacrificial acts. Most deities are loath to
interfere, because if they do a service equal to the life-force of the
being destroyed must be granted to Skiasca.
Anyone who is affected this way cannot
be returned to being mortal by any means.
AC -5, MV 15, HP 275, THAC0 -10;
#AT 2/1
Dmg 3-18+18 (two-handed sword
+3, +12 Str, +2 specialization)
MR 75%, SZ L (8 feet)
Str 24, Int 19, Wiz 20, Dex 22,
Con 24, Chr 21
Spells: P 10/9/9/9/9/8/4 W:5/5/5/5/5/5/3/2/1
Saves PPDM 2, RSW 5, PP4, BW 4,
Sp 6
Special Att/Def:
Skiasca
wraps herself in a cloak of shadows when she wishes to hide from mortal
eyes and observe. This cloak bestows upon her a 90% probability of being
invisible while he moves or stands within a shadowy or dark place; it also
works similar to a cloak of displacement in that any missile or melee attack
aimed at Skiasca automatically misses the first time. She is armed with
a jet black two-handed sword of nine lives stealing, that steals a life
if either a natural 20 is rolled, or she hits by 7 or more points over
the armor class of her opponent. There is no save to the effect if a natural
20 is rolled, but a save versus death magic at -5 can be made only once
against the other special ability.
Skiasca is immune to all necromantic
spells and abilities. She can command any undead with sight and can also
command shadows and dark places as an unlimited version of Shadow Magic.
These shadow creations can stray no further than 120' from their source
of shadow or are dispelled immediately. All creations of Shadow Magic share
the following special abilities: AC -5, HD 9, HP 72. Their number of attacks
and damage is based on their shape. If she wants to, she can create up
to 9 tendrils of shadow. These tendrils can attack once each round and
do 10-30 damage and drain one point of Strength. These points can only
be regained through rest at one point regained each day.
Other Manifestations
Skiasca
tends towards other manifestations that can cause horror or insanity upon
those who see them. She has been known to touch those who do sculpture
or painting and then the resulting works have physical effects upon those
who see them. It is known that some statuary that she has contributed to
has caused blindness, deafness, dumbness, and even death upon those
who see them in their true form.
The Church
Clergy:
Priests, Speciality Priests,
Crusaders
Alignment:
LE, NE, CE
Turn Undead:
P: No SP: Yes C: No
Command Undead:
P: Yes SP: Yes C: No
Skiasca’s
greatest following is among the races of the Underground. The Orcs, Trolls,
Drow, and most other intelligent evil races venerate her to some degree.
Some just give her lip service while other go so far as to worship her
above racial deities.
Her faith has seen a great increase
in numbers among the Drow lately.
She has recently begun to expand her
worship among the idle rich of Angor in the guise of "The Moon Maiden."
The tenets of that small branch of her faith are a lot less cruel and heartless.
She has been trying to sway as many followers over to her true faith, but
has seen a lot of resistance in this area. She is not sure if it’s due
to the lack of human priests or some other reason. Her actions have recently
drawn attention from Soltuto, the God of Light.
Dogma:
Skiasca
teaches her followers that murder and chaos are a natural part of life.
They are told that to truly venerate her is to commit murder and other
vile unspeakable acts. Skiasca tells her followers, "To cause death
to others is the greatest joy one can feel. Each act of violence brings
you closer to me. Do what you can to put out the light and sway the masses
to the darkness. There, my caress falls upon those who would follow me."
Day-to-Day Activities:
Priests
of Skiasca are pledged to spread darkness and death wherever they go. They
tend toward those rulers who have a taste for cruelty and empire building,
but work their strife everywhere so as to not plunge the world
into great wars and give tribute to
Sauron, God of War.
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies:
There
are very few specific holy days for Skiasca. During the dark times when
the Underworld held sway over the surface, they held in favor the day that
they started their takeover and the day it finished. But since they have
been driven back underground, those days have no longer been considered
special. A blood sacrifice or valuable item is usually needed to
gain Skiasca’s attention. Most often, a Dark Day is called whenever a special
sacrifice or other special offering is made to Skiasca. It is always called
for on the dark of the moon. Special services are usually held then.
Major Centers of Worship:
Today,
most sacred spaces are deep underground in special temples built by the
Underground races. In the largest Drow cities, there can be found several
temples and shrines dedicated to her. Also, among the Illithid, several
large temples are known to exist. Her priests among the Illithid are known
to possess mental powers far beyond those normally known to their kind.
On the surface, her temples and shrines
are few and far between. One important temple is known to exist somewhere
in Phent, and another hidden deep in the Kledoo Jungles to the south of
Angor. Other that those and small shrines in cities where her priests have
the ear of the ruler, there are few other places for worship.
In Angor, those who venerate her as
"The Moon Maiden," have attempted to raise several small temples to her
and encourage her worship. Soltuto has told his priests to be on the look
out for such places, but no instructions have been given to stand against
them yet. He is unsure who is behind this "new" religion and is taking
a cautionary stance for now.
Affiliated Orders:
Skiasca
has not directly sponsored an order among the surface races. There are
known to be several such orders in the Underground. There, they hold the
main military might of her faith and only Crusaders are known to be a part
of some of them.
She does hold some sway upon The Night
Swords, a large band of strife spreaders who spread chaos and unrest everywhere
they go. A number of followers of Skiasca and other evil deities are known
to have worshippers in that group. Their true goal is unknown.
Priestly Vestments:
Her priests tend
toward black (naturally), with fringes of different metals that show their
standing in the church. Only gold and platinum fringes demote specialty
priests. Most other vestments are usually crude tools to cause
pain and suffering upon those sacrifices
and to catch their blood, which is an important part of the service.
Adventuring Garb:
Since
murder and mayhem are her favored tools, the adventuring garb for her priests
depends upon the situation. She encourages those who try any form of trickery
and deception. The only limitation that must be followed is that black
must be a part of the garb. That is a reminder that the darkness is the
key to their god and only through it can they find
their salvation.
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