Zehir

The Cloaked Serpent, God of Snakes

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For more information on all Betrayer Deities, see: Betrayer Deities

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A wanderer in the shadows and the creator of snakes and serpentkin, Zehir is the evil god of poisons, assassins, and darkness. The ancient serpentkin worship him over all other deities, dragging screaming offerings to their temples in his honor. Most of the Cloaked Serpent's worshipers were annihilated during the War of Repellence, and the rest are either suspended in self-induced stasis or hunted for sport by the servants of Torog. But perhaps Zehir is merely biding his time, waiting for the proper moment to unleash his hidden armies on the world once more.

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Physical Description

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Many forgotten temples were once built to the Cloaked Serpent, and within these chambers his image was embedded within much of the architecture. He is shown as a human body with six arms and a gargantuan serpentine head, fanged and frilled in aggression. Strands of thick, dark hair that sprout from his scaled body form layers of swirling shadow, obscuring his form.

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Divine Realm

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Zehir subverts and poisons Iolcus from the shadowed Towers of Night, hidden among the ever-shifting winds of the Astral Plane.

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Tenets of Faith

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• Keep your acts obfuscated and secret. The night is your greatest ally.


• Strike quickly and without reason. Blind the target with their own confusion.


• Kill slowly. Agonizingly. Or worse, make them enjoy it.

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Worshipers

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Zehiric clerics are most commonly drawn from the ranks of the vishkanya. High-ranking clerics are referred to as "low priests". In a society of serpentkin, being low is considered a positive attribute. The unholy gesture of Zehir is the sign of fangs, made with one's index and middle finger.
Zehir does not actively seek followers. He is mentioned rarely in religious texts, but does appear in some as a slayer of gods, something his church claims Zehir is not currently capable of doing. Clerics of Zehir are often themselves assassins, even if they lack skill. He is occasionally worshiped by some ruthless druids and rangers who wish to emulate his efficiency in killing. Druids of Zehir focus on serpents, often have vipers as their animal companion, and are not considered part of the organized church; they forsake all links to friends or family in order to draw themselves as close to Zehir as possible. As outsiders, they often serve as investigators or even assassins of traitors to the faith.
Zehir's methods are aggressive, yet subtle. He likes his wishes to be carried out quietly, but boldly, and does not forgive failure, though those who continue to please him can expect to be richly rewarded.

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Contacts & Relations

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Prime Deities

Zehir loathes Erathis and Melora, for he despises life, order, and love above all things. His surviving worshipers use poison and fire to undermine civilization and consume nature, hoping to infuriate both gods and cast Iolcus into chaos.

Betrayer Deities

The Cloaked Serpent has at most an uneasy relationship with Iolcus' evil deities. None dare to oppose him however, at least not openly, and Zehir keeps no relations of his own with other deities, save for his hatred of Torog born of feuds past. No Betrayer Deity admits to ordering him to assassinate someone, though there are few doubts that many of the gods have requested his services. Zehir seems to instinctively find his targets, although some believe that the orders come from some yet-unknown source.

Divine Traits

General Information

Alternative Name(s)
The Cloaked Serpent
Creator of Snakes
God of Snakes
The Great Serpent
Master of Poisons

Alignment
Chaotic Evil

Pantheon
Betrayer Deity

Areas of Concern
Assassins, poison, snakes

Favored Weapon
Kukri

Sacred Animal(s)
Snake

Sacred Color(s)
Gold, green

Symbol
Coiled serpent

Worshipers
Assassins, rogues, serpentkin, vishkanyans

Worshipers' Adjective(s)
Zehiric

Plane
Astral Plane - Towers of Night

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D&D 5e

Domains
Nature, Trickery

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Pathfinder 1e

Domains
Animal, Chaos, Evil, Knowledge, Scalykind, Trickery

Subdomains
Ambush, Deception, Espionage, Fear, Insect, Thievery, Venom

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Pathfinder 2e

Domains
Darkness, Naga, Secrecy, Trickery

Alternative Domain(s)
Delirium, Pain

Divine Ability
Dexterity or Charisma

Divine Font
Harm

Divine Skill
Deception

Cleric Spells
1st: Spider Sting
4th: Glibness
6th: Purple Worm Sting

Divine Boons

• Minor Boon
  You hide among the shadows of death. Once, when you would fail a Stealth check, you critically succeed instead. Zehir typically grants this boon for an extremely consequential Stealth check that could lead to an assassination, such as one that could get you into position to kill an important target, but rarely on a Stealth check to help you escape.
• Moderate Boon
  Your poisons are everlasting. If your Strike with a poisoned weapon critically fails, or succeeds but fails to deal slashing or piercing damage, the poison is not spent. The poison is still spent once successfully applied to a creature.
• Major Boon
  Death lives in your very blade. You gain the sneak attack rogue class feature, dealing 3d6 precision damage. if you already have that class feature, you increase your sneak attack damage by 3d6.

Divine Curses

• Minor Curse
  Zehir’s minions seek vengeance. Nonsapient serpents become hostile against you.
• Moderate Curse
  Hubris brings death. Your name and location are mentally projected into the mind of the closest Zehiric assassin, who is tasked with eliminating you.
• Major Curse
  ???