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Zurvash
God of Animals and the Hunt
Animal, Night, Domination, Passion, Pain, Strength. Vicious Weapons.
Zurvash has been given dominion over all things that crawl upon the earth and fly through the skies -- and to him, man is just another animal, albiet a particulairly clever one. Zurvash's dogma denies the very existance of morality; his faith is one of indulgence, brutality and instinctive response. Zurvash is the patron diety of hunters, stalkers and evil rangers; his temples are located in distant wilderness areas secreted away from the public eye. His priesthood is charactized by license, but maintains a strict chain of dominance and submission, not unlike a wolf pack. The strong rule the weak until they no longer are able to assert dominance, at which time they are killed and devoured.
Zurvash's faith resembles that of the Multitude in many ways, but it is better organized and more philosophically grounded -- while the followers of the Multitude cheerfully embrace the idea that they are 'evil', Zurvash's children see good and evil only as concepts created by Immotian to cheat people out of the things that are worth having in life. The clergy is very active in the slave trade, and often acts as bounty hunters for hire, given their skill in forestcraft and hunting. They are also responsible for breeding many dangerous and predatory creatures (such as bulettes, panthers or otyughs), most of which they breed and torture to increase their feral rage, then release upon the world for their own amusement or for sport hunting.
Zurvash is revered by different names by many barbarian tribes, while others shun him. His touch has a socially destructive impact on a barbarian tribe, leading to increasingly bloodthirsty raids and acts of depravity on nearby communities, until the tribe is either destroyed or, at minimum, has alienated many of it's former allies. Priests of Zurvash don't care, being creatures that live in the present and rarely consider long-term consequences; all that matters to them is satiation of their most immediate desires. In this, they are acting exactly as Zurvash desires, becoming more and more like the savage beasts he believes all men to be.
Zurvash's holy symbol is a trophy necklace made of bones and teeth taken from all of the follower's greatest kills. He is Chaotic Evil in alignment, and his followers can be Chaotic or Neutral Evil. He offers his clerics the Domains of Animal, Destruction, Domination, Pain, Passion and Strength, and is militant in his intervention on their behalf. His chosen weapon is a set of bolas, usually with razor-wire binding them together.
Worship: Zurvash most favours the sacrifice of wild, predatory beasts on his altars, and also the remains of other sapient beings bested in fair combat. He is angered when his followers spare their fallen enemies, or when they show self-restraint in any situation that it is not in their immediate benefit to do so. He expects his followers to depend on their own personal might, and is angered when they rely on allies or summoned creatures (though illusions, as manifestation of magic, are fine). Animals are the only acceptable allies to Zurvash. Surrendering rather than fighting to the death angers Zurvash greatly, whereas cowing enemies grants favour in his eyes.
Blessings: Zurvash will clear any follower's mind, as well as imbuing them with a kind of berzerk anger, both when they prey and when the whim strikes him; this quality makes him a difficult god for conventional mages. For a more favoured follower, he will purify the body, deflect deadly blows, remove fatigue, replenish the spirit, lift curses, heal injuries and raise the dead, in the order of increasing favour required.
His more permanent blessings include increasing a folllower's toughness and agility, granting a preternaturally sharp sense of smell, mystical authority to command animals and a complete lack of scent. His most treasured servants are said to be blessed with constant regeneration of all injuries. Followers with claws and teeth are also said to be able to enchant them to bite deeper. Slashing wounds inflicted by the favoured of Zurvash are also said to bleed more profusely than normal.