Description
Although they are often depicted in a myriad of ways, more often than not a massive, hulking and multi-armed beast, the real Amphidromus was an average sized triton with blue, green, and black skin who might not stand out much at all in a crowd of Gylidders. Their prowess at hunting humanoids came from well-practiced skills, ranger magic, and an unnerving lack of hesitation when hunting.
They favored the spear and net, and are heralded by an eerie stillness in water, while their wrath comes with the scent of red tide. When Amphidromus appears to a servitor it is usually in the guise of a predatory aquatic animal, or a churning roil of blood in the water.
Personality
Amphidromus may have been born in an aethrin shell, but they were always something else. Entirely without empathy, compassion, nor a desire to serve others, this creature lives for nothing more than the hunt of sentient beings. They do not provide aid or succor - even to their most devoted followers - and instead lead by example, providing the worst sorts of creatures and people in Gylidd encouragement to feed their needs at the expense of others, and their mythos is full of clues on how to satiate those urges without being caught.
There is a very old painting of Amphidromus in the Cann District of Gylidd, in a museum known as the Dark Gallery. A black swatch with a shimmering figure rising from the deep, gorging itself upon the shallows, eyes rolled back in seeming ecstasy. Some interpret the eyes rolling back as the subjugation of empathy one must feel when they kill; at the very basic level the way one disassociates at the last instant to preserve their sense of self. Amphidromus is not just the nightmare beneath the waves, but the heart of murder itself, expressed by psychopathy.
Abilities
The Inaethri of slaughter is not as keenly focused on method or skill as others, and while their powers permit them a great capacity for death, their kills are always messy, brutal affairs surrounded by swaths of viscera. The strong, the focused, and the lucky have less to fear from the Eye of the Red Tide. Amphidromus' true powers come from the dread anticipation of their hunt.
Through masterful meditation upon weakness and uncanny perception, the most cultured Aethrin are separated from the safety and security upon which they rely. Amphidromus then chases them into the deep water (whether literal or metaphorical), and slaughters them at the peak of their horror. Their mangled bodies are left behind for others to find, to perpetuate the cycle of fear.
Worshippers
"You are right to run, but know this: I have been hunting you for years. I have ensured that no ally is close enough to save you. I know everywhere you will hide. On any other night, your life belonged to you. Tonight it belongs to me."
— A letter left for an unfortunate soul
Amphidromus' followers are intensely unique, solitary creatures, just as the Inaethri has always been. There are no organized religion, no temples or houses of worship, no congregations or masses. Worship of the Inaethri is a purely selfish affair, often consecrated in salt water (or with salt water, if no ocean is near). The powers granted by Amphidromus - and the wisdom of its horrible methods - are carefully cultivated through fearlessly observing and hunting predators in turn to steal their secrets.
Red Runs (New and especially eclipsed red moons), where the call to murder is especially hard to ignore, are instinctively felt by Amphidromans.
On very rare occasions, the believers will gather in mass to terrorize an entire city or dispatch particularly powerful prey, responding to the wordless call and restoring the sheer terror of their patron.
As an Inaethri, Amphidromus is purely
feared. The only way this murderous deity could be permanently destroyed is for Gylidders to overcome their fear of the murky depths - not just of the sea, but of the heart. Knowing the nature of aethrin, this is likely never going to happen.
Activities
Amphidromus is unconcerned with any activity other than the murder of the weak, and is drawn to locations where creatures feel isolated and fearful. The perpetuation of their mythos - nearly as old as the concept of the Inaethrid - is a byproduct and they waste no time on it.
That being said, the list of Inaethri who have been consumed by Amphidromus is long - as while the Eye of the Red Tide never kills in such quantities as would be necessary to remove their divinity - the predator is often drawn to the weakness that follows a battle between two deities, and is more than happy to render the loser an ignominous end as their immortality fades.
Divine Realm
The Sanguine Shore is Amphidromus' outer plane - an endless, shallow coastline covered in murky, disturbed water that only ever comes up to the waist on creatures no matter their relative height. Fear is perpetual here - creatures who choose to keep their heads above the water live in terror of what swims about their legs. Those who find themselves in the Sanguine Shore slowly begin to sink into the water as the terror mutates their personality from prey to predator, and eventually even the strongest soul becomes a beastly fiend that churns through the Red Tide's wake.
Possessions
Amphidromus carries no weapons, although they are known for wearing the skin of great prey, fashioned with pieces of the natural weapons of deadly predators.
History
Amphidromus comes from legends surrounding the first settling of Gylidd Syn Aethri in the Age of Faith. They were once a triton who developed a taste for blood and became a serial killer, haunting the docks and ports of the entire island and dragging unfortunates into the depths. After their death, the murders continued for centuries as other evil, solitary aquatic humanoids’ bloodthirsty ways were attributed to this one legend, creating an Inaethrid around Amphidromus that persists to this day. Amphidromus is the monster under the dock, the worst nightmare lurking just out of sight in the deep.
