Beltanor
God of Lies, Fear and Trickery (a.k.a. The Black Axe)
"Robin felt the air around him vanish as he was consumed by darkness. He was floating and all around him was nothing but blackness, nothing below nor above. He gasped for air clawing at his throat and chest. No matter how much his lungs pulled he was short of breath. His body stayed awake, somehow surviving despite his suffocation. Each moment was a new agony as his body ignored the impulse to pass out. Then he heard a new sound. Louder than his own tortured gasps, a weeping. It sounded like a woman...what was it?
Robin blinked and he was back in his home, as a child. He saw his brother kneeling low over a bowl of water surrounded by strange looking stones. When he saw his brother's reflected in the pool his face had been missing, erased. The memory was pulled away from him as Robin felt his mind dragged back into the darkness, suffocation renewing its hold on him. He saw a figure before him, his brother a young man with pointed ears and a thick mop of brown hair. He was shouting at Robin but the sound was missing. The rage on his brother's face made impotent by the silence, but the sound of the weeping continued. He looked away and another figure was standing with their back to him. A woman this time, human form with simple ears and a tight black braid of hair to her waist. Even though he had no memory of her, Robin knew this was his mother. She was the one crying. He fought to cry out but he had no breath in his lungs. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder.
business
Divine Domains
Beltanor, the Black Axe is the god of Lies, Fear and Trickery. His domains represent all things craven, selfish and twisted. Beltanor is also the god of all horned beasts excepting horned centaurs who fall under the divine protection of his brother Joth.
Paladins of Beltanor often fight for causes that are selfish in nature. Causes like personal greed, vengeance, jealousy or a simple desire to kill. Typically paladins of Beltanor will break an oath to another god before they swear their loyalty to him. A Paladin cannot swear an oath to Beltanor before they have broken service to another god. Although, from time to time Beltanor may promise a person he will grant them his divine power in payment for their service only to snatch it away as a sick joke leaving the person to die or spend their lives in exile or prison. (Note from Joe: Paladins who follow Beltanor are frequently Oathbrakers to other gods or choose from the following Oaths: Oath of Vengance, Oath of Conquest)
Clerics of Beltanor are rare. While He has the power to grand His divine favor to holy priests He does so only when a potential servant has gained enough power through duplicity and cruelty that it gains his attention. (Another note from Joe: Clerics who follow Beltanor frequently choose from the following: Trickery Domain, War Domain and Death Domain)
Warlocks of Beltanor are far more common than His clerics. These poor souls toil for His amusement through pacts made with His lieutenants in destitute service after being lured into a bargain that Beltanor may never repay. (One last note from Joe: Warlocks of Beltanor can currently choose pacts with only the following: The Fiend, and The Undying.)
Divine Symbols & Sigils
The Tramelic Order have taken to representing Beltanor over the centuries with a stylized depiction of a black axe. Although the illustration looks similar to a pickaxe the order insists that it is, in fact, an axe. Depictions of this axe can be found most frequently as graffiti on the temples and shrines of other gods. Specifically the Tramelic Order targets much of their vandalism towards temples of Joth. Due to the corrupting domains of Beltanor, holy symbols that are attributed to him are often artifacts from other gods that have been defaced with symbols of the black axe. This preference for defiling the artifacts of other gods has given followers of Beltanor a reputation of being vandals, thieves and general troublemakers.
Physical Description
Identifying Characteristics
Those who have beheld Beltanor with their own eyes often report a masculine figure dressed in fine white linen garments and shining golden adornments. However, when they try to recall the man's face they cannot. The face of Beltanor can only be recalled as darkness so deep it hurts to remember. As the memory ages, Beltanor's form changes into a grotesque slouching beast with towering horns and a body covered in moldy threadbare fabric adorned with tarnished and dented metals of poor quality. The face of Beltanor remains a mystery lost to those who are eventually driven mad by the memory of his presence.
Social
Family Ties
Twin brother of Joth
Divine Classification
Minor Pantheon God
Alignment
Chaotic Evil
Realm
Church/Cult
Children
Gender
Male
