Church of the Chained Obliterator
Official Church of Vvaal, the Bound Obliterator
Mythology & Lore
While Vvaal has no organized church or central congregation, his mythos has somehow remained oddly consistent across all of his followers and congregations across the eons.
It is believed that, in the beginning of all things when the Overdeity Atlas gave his life to form the Planescape and reality as it is known today, the three Primordial Gods were birthed from his corpse first as his children and inheritors of his awesome and omnipotent power...masters of Sky, Earth, and Water, these three brothers took to their new life with a similar zeal as their father Atlas had taken to his, and rapidly began to use their powers to forge and give shape to the reality which Atlas had given his divine life to birth...together, they forged reality into a coherent thing, a tangible structure that life could dwell within...and during this mission, the other Major Gods awoke one by one, vestiges of Atlas in smaller ways than the Primordial Gods but nonetheless shards of the Overdeity. Together, the Major Gods and the Primordial Gods had completely laid out the Planescape...given it shape and definition, and stabilized what was formerly naught but primordial chaos.
However, the followers of Vvaal believe that, unbeknownst to any of the Gods, there was a Fourth Primordial God that was birthed in the moments following the death of Atlas alongside his three brothers...a vast, infinite, and formless force born from the anguish and negative feelings of his father...a force which claimed dominion over oblivion, of endings, and death itself...but in a wholly different way than Molt would lay claim to it, later on. So, his followers believe, was Vvaal born...a formless, infinite hunger that represented the natural and inescapable oblivion that awaits all things, and all of reality...a force which had no cohesive form, cared nothing for worship, and only sought to unmake and slowly destroy all that his father and brothers had spent so long building and forging...a force that does not and cannot negotiate, cannot retreat, and is so vast and all-enveloping that his hunger is feared even by his godly brethren.
Uncontainable, inescapable, and possessing bottomless might, Vvaal was born and lurked unknowingly in all things, the representation of all Negative Atlen(Mana), and all negative feelings and emotions in the Planescape...a representation of infinite hunger, and a desire to consume and end.
In time, however, the Gods grew to fear Vvaal once they learned of his existence, and though his vast and formless body was all but impossible to contain even through the efforts of the Major Gods, a mighty war was waged nonetheless at the dawn of reality which saw the Major Gods war against Vvaal to contain his infinite hunger. So mighty was he, that even all of the gods together were barely his match...it took the full might of Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon, Moradin, The Allfather, and the now long-gone third primordial working in complete unison to hammer six divine Prime Trammels through the core of Vvaal's essence, bind the infinite hunger, and seal it away forever at the bottom of the Planescape itself.
Later, during the Age of Barbarity, countless eons after he had been imprisoned, Vvaal managed to break free of his divine prison and shatter the Prime Trammels which bound him thanks to the help of Hyldrin, The Unraveler, who herself invaded the prime material plane during The Advent of The Unraveler...again, the battle was terrifying and fierce, and even after Hyldrin, The Unraveler had been banished and sent back into Abbadon, the Major Gods warred against Vvaal to send him back into his prison...during this terrible conflict which saw the Material Plane and Ea itself forever scarred by the conflict, Vvaal was successfully sealed, though it took the full divine might of The Platinum Dragon and the entire pantheon of Major Gods to stay his terrible wrath this time as they lacked one Primordial God. However, in the conflict, Vvaal is said to have dealt Tet, The Adamantine Sage a terrible wound which he is even now recovering from.
Divine Origins
Vvaal's religion has no set origin, and his congregations tend to start when Vvaal himself works his way into the minds of his followers or those consumed by Nihilistic Misery...working his power onto their minds willingly or otherwise, Vvaal thus creates faithful and bids them spread his blasphemous creed to all Realities.
Tenets of Faith
Exalt him. Uncover, restore, and exalt forgotten shrines in his honor.
Destroy in his name. Obliterate, Destroy, and Raze all worlds, planes, and realities in preparation for the end of all things.
Feed him. Give power, siphon power, and give strength and life unto The Bound Obliterator until the time of his liberation arrives.
Honor him. Consume, corrupt, and destroy the shrines of other divines where possible to establish new shrines to The Bound Obliterator, and to honor his unholy name.
Ethics
Nothing is considered a more pious act to the followers of Vvaal than spreading his name, the destruction and consumption of all things, and offering up power to him, that he might escape his bonds. Whether it be living sacrifices, their own lives, or other forms of power be it blood, lifeforce, or some other power, his followers zealously seek to destroy, consume, and spread his unholy name to all corners of all Realities.
Worship
The primary and main way to worship Vvaal is to destroy, crush, ruin, and ravage all things in his name. To destroy things in the name of Vvaal is the most holy act one can commit, but spreading his unholy name through any means necessary is right behind it, whether that be through raising churches in his name, creating false idols for the unsuspecting, and doing anything to get faith in Vvaal.
Priesthood
His worshipers are typically savage monsters or mortal nihilists. They glory in destruction for its own sake and dismiss building and creating as a pastime for those too weak to destroy, consume, and offer up power to Vvaal. Some worshipers do so out of nihilistic misery, others out of self-loathing, and yet others through a simple, burning rage towards the universe. All are dedicated to Vvaal's destructive mission to consume all Realities.
He is the primary deity of the gnolls, troglodytes, and most trench mists, Vampiric Mists and other airborne and mist-like creatures consider him to be their creator-deity. Many monsters embrace his faith out of a desire to further his own goals while increasing their own awesome power.
In the terrifying realm of the Shattered Corridor, the runescarred madmen who dwell there eternally strive to cover the world in the same wild magic that wracks the land there, and to spread what they perceive as a divine gift from their god.
Many monstrous creatures and madmen see the Obliteration Reefs as manifestations of The Bound Obliterator, and seek to find a way to further the radius and power of those terrifying storms.
Priests of Vvaal wear fluffy and flowing coats dyed in strange, dark colors and hideous masks representing oblivion and monstrosity. Those who are foolhardy enough to follow such twisting destruction as The Bound Obliterator are often spurned, hateful, and chaotic souls who fall through the cracks of society. A bit of inherent madness left unchecked opens the door to the creeping Void that draws those who worship this entity. The characteristics of the Bound Obliterator’s influence are bouts of uncontrollable hunger, uncharacteristic aggression, and eventually violent mania. The higher acolytes of Vvaal, as part of their ritual of ascension and to show their true faith, often remove their eyes so they can peer through shadow and light with his boon. There is no structure or order to the priesthood of Vvaal; oftentimes the faithful operate alone as wandering zealots of his unholy name, while those who congregate into groups or flocks organize themselves purely based on strength and intellect alone. Only the smartest, craftiest, and strongest can lead the faithful if they are to survive and hide from the world, and the only way to rise in the ranks is by tearing down another.
The Bound Obliterator and his followers often deceive other sects into aiding their efforts by creating a false idol entirely. Its intent, as best can be ascertained, is to consume and destroy.
Church services are brutal and primitive, featuring sapient sacrifices, offerings, consuming, and breaking valuables to offer their power up to Vvaal.
Granted Divine Powers
The only powers granted to the faithful are those which directly contribute to their mission to consume, destroy, and spread his name.
Political Influence & Intrigue
The followers of Vvaal have been known to get involved in politics from time to time to the surprise of many, but they often do it only to trick those they meet into worshiping false idols that truly connect back to Vvaal, thus spreading his name to others who have no idea they truly pay homage to the Bound Obliterator.
Destroy and Deceive, so he may be free.
Type
Religious, Organised Religion
Alternative Names
The Bound, The Obliterators
Demonym
Bound
Divines
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