Velsharoon

Acererak by Adam Vehige

Velsharoon (pronounced VEL-shah-roon) is the Archmage and god of Necromancy. Velsharoon is a vain, selfish, petty, but very canny deity consumed with vengeance, obsessed with experimenting on living and dead beings, and unconcerned with the fates of lesser creatures. In many ways he continues to act like the mortal he recently was, albeit with far greater power at his disposal than before.

History

Velsharoon was once a lich wizard who, with the sponsorship of the deity Talos, managed to ascend to godhood.

Relationships

Although he nominally served Mystra, Velsharoon has since established a flirtatious relationship with Shar and an alliance with Talos. Velsharoon loathes Cyric and Kelemvor, for both routinely upset his plans.

Clergy and Temples

The church of Velsharoon is a new one, and what hierarchy exists is found within individual temples. Many clerics of Velsharoon spend their days in necromantic research, seeking to understand and expand the faith’s collective knowledge of life, death, and undeath. Most have created hundreds of undead servitors, some of them unique. When an undead creation has served its purpose, these self-involved researchers often brand the symbol of their deity on its chest and then order it to wander randomly across Abios. Other clerics of Velsharoon are involved in “support” activities for the faith--grave robbing, embalming, or teaching. A few of the more congenial low-level clerics sometimes cure the minor ills of the populace to bring in funding or worldly supplies for the church and to more easily gather information about its enemies.

Clerics of Velsharoon pray for their spells at midnight, when the secrets of the night are best unearthed. For a relatively young faith, the clergy of Velsharoon have quickly established a large number of holy days and rituals. The faith has yet to coalesce into a homogeneous creed, however, and widely varying rituals are found not only in different temples but within individual temples as well. Two rituals have become fairly widespread. The Binding of the Crypt and the Pact of the Everlasting are two rituals performed by powerful clerics, allowing them to return as an undead creature or be raised from the dead automatically if they are slain. Both rituals involve numerous other horrible incantations and the foul sacrifice of numerous good-aligned sentients. Prominent theologians of the faith claim that these rituals are merely the two of seven to be revealed by Velsharoon along a path to achieving immortality.

Dogma

Life and death are the twin faces of eternal existence. To surrender to either one is to resign oneself to obscurity. True power lies in the twilight zone between life and death. By seeking to explore and extend the mortal condition and form-even mortal life itself-knowledge of the world and its infinite complexity, is extended. Let no one interfere with the pursuit of such research, for the end result will more than justify the necessary sacrifices along the path. Knowledge is power, and knowledge of life and death brings power over all beings, living and unliving.

Divine Classification

Demigod

Honorary & Occupational Titles

• The Vaunted
• Archmage of Necromancy
• Lord of the Forsaken Crypt

Gender

Male

Symbol

A crowned laughing lich skull on a solid black hexagon

Home

Dweomerheart

Alignment

Neutral evil

Portfolio(s)

Necromancy, necromancers, evil liches, undeath

Domains

Death, Evil, Magic, Undeath

Worshipers

Divine disciples, liches, necromancers, seekers of immortality through undeath, Cult of the Dragon

Cleric Alignments

CN, LN, NE

Favored Weapon

"Skull Staff of the Necromancer" (quarterstaff)

Velsharoon by Gerald Brom