Zon-kuthon
Dou-bral (a.k.a. "The Midnight Lord")
Zon-Kuthon is a twisted, cruel, jealous god who defiles flesh to bring pain and misery. He represents debilitating loss, consuming envy, emotional darkness, and ever-present pain. Unrepentantly evil, he finds only brief joy in the pain he causes others. His very existence is a corruption and parasite upon the universe. His alien mind constantly seeks new ways to oppress, humiliate, demoralize, and destroy others, but his true goals are incomprehensible. The Midnight Lord offers no great wisdoms, no promises of universal truth, and no guarantee of rewards in the afterlife.
Divine Domains
- Darkness.
- Envy.
- Loss.
- Pain.
Holy Books & Codes
The Umbral Leaves(link) is the grisly and unholy book of Zon-Kuthon, where the tenets and laws of his faith are detailed; it is written in blood on pages of flayed skin, sometimes in a single piece from the head of a victim, so that the face is the cover. Commonly, the text is written in human blood. The Umbral Leaves is a translation of the original work, written by a mad prophet of his Church, into Common.
Holidays
- The Joymaking: In an effort to concentrate the sensation of pain, this practice allows the wealthiest and luckiest of Kuthites to have their limbs and non-vital organs amputated so that they remain a helpless head and torso, destined to live the rest of their lives as the subjects of limitless torture.
- The Eternal Kiss: This annual sacrifice lasts eleven days and often involves using the victim's entrails or cries of pain as soothsaying tools.
Divine Goals & Aspirations
It’s possible that this bleak nihilism may be part of some more elaborate master plan unknowable to even his greatest priests, but so far the method and message is that existence itself is pain.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
As Dou-bral, Zon-kuthon was known for his beauty, but his body now resembles a work of art only to those like-minded individuals who find pain and torture to be the pinnacles of existence.
Although his exact appearance is said to often change, he generally is depicted as pale, gaunt, and often hairless. He is often depicted wearing leather clothing that exposes his many open wounds and body modifications. His lips have been removed, giving him a bloody, haunting grin, and hooks and piercings contort his face into revolting expressions, enhanced by the crystal which rests in the cavity where his left eye once sat. Atop his scalp, a vertical crown of spikes pulls his skin into a disturbing sunburst, and the back of his skull is completely gone, revealing his brain. His hands end in long, knife-like fingernails.
His appearance is simplified in most mortal representations of him, showing him as a pale, gaunt human with a single, significant wound.
Although his exact appearance is said to often change, he generally is depicted as pale, gaunt, and often hairless. He is often depicted wearing leather clothing that exposes his many open wounds and body modifications. His lips have been removed, giving him a bloody, haunting grin, and hooks and piercings contort his face into revolting expressions, enhanced by the crystal which rests in the cavity where his left eye once sat. Atop his scalp, a vertical crown of spikes pulls his skin into a disturbing sunburst, and the back of his skull is completely gone, revealing his brain. His hands end in long, knife-like fingernails.
His appearance is simplified in most mortal representations of him, showing him as a pale, gaunt human with a single, significant wound.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
- Age of Creation: Zon-kuthon was born as Dou-bral, half-brother to the goddess of love and beauty(link).
- His envy over her(link) talents led him to journey into unknown regions beyond the edge of the Great Beyond. There, he encountered something(link) that changed him for the worse, and when he returned, he had become a new deity of pain, suffering, and loss.
Gender Identity
Masculine
Social
Contacts & Relations
Zon-kuthon has little concern for the dealing of other deities. As long as he can play with his many toys, the Midnight Lord has no need for any alliances, wars, or diplomatic dealings. While often the target of vengeance from Good-aligned deities, Zon-kuthon himself does little to instigate conflict. That said, he is not above torturing followers of other faiths, and does so whenever possible.
Zon-kuthon nevertheless considers the goddess Sivanah(link) one of his greatest enemies, and she sees his use of shadow magic as corrupting and enslaving.
Zon-kuthon nevertheless considers the goddess Sivanah(link) one of his greatest enemies, and she sees his use of shadow magic as corrupting and enslaving.
Family Ties
- The only one safe from his evil ways is his sister Shelyn(link), though he grants no such immunity to her faithful. Of her, much remains unknown. Though not silent, her responses to her worshipers are infrequent and fractured, leading some to believe she’s traveling beyond the known planes in search of a cure for her brother’s ancient, yet still mysterious condition.
- Thron, the spirit-wolf that sired him has been beaten into submission and currently serves as his herald.
Divine Classification
Major deity
Religions
Alignment
Lawful Evil
Realm
Church/Cult
Children
Gender
Male
Ruled Locations
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