Tiamat (TEE-a-maht)
Tiamat, the matriarch of malevolence among dragons, embodies greed, vanity, and arrogance, epitomizing the strengths of evil dragons while evading their vulnerabilities. Her primary focus lies in proliferating evil, vanquishing goodness, and advancing the cause of chromatic dragons. Forgiveness is foreign to her, and while she occasionally indulges in the destruction of villages, her more insidious plots remain shrouded in secrecy, manipulated from the shadows.
Demanding unwavering respect, adulation, submission, and offerings, the Queen of Evil Dragons expects reverence and tribute from her followers.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Clergy, Temples and Worshippers
The majority of chromatic dragons, particularly blue and green ones, readily acknowledge Tiamat's supremacy, with approximately 95% of them serving her in various capacities. Those who deviate from this allegiance face a grim fate; their souls are consigned to eternal imprisonment within Tiamat's lair, secured behind a formidable pair of adamantine doors. Naturally, Tiamat's offspring, the grotesque reptilian beings known as the Spawn of Tiamat, worship her as their maternal figure. In addition to chromatic dragons and their spawn, Tiamat commands a significant following among humanoid servants, predominantly Dragonborn and other draconic hybrids like spellscales, dragon-kin, and half-dragons, along with some humans. While most kobolds venerate individual dragons as deities, the more astute among them who are aware of Tiamat may sway their tribes to worship her instead, considering her as their progenitor.Day-to-Day Activities
Clerics devoted to Tiamat are primarily engaged in two main activities: accumulating an ever-expanding hoard of wealth for the faith and undermining the influence of rival deities. Consequently, they spend the majority of their waking hours perpetrating a relentless series of thefts, assassinations, acts of vandalism, and arson. Within the temple, the clergy often subject acolytes to rigorous training, followed by deadly combat against each other in the name of their deity. It is not uncommon for these acolytes to eventually turn on their mentors before fleeing the temple, spreading Tiamat's malevolence further into the world. However, Tiamat generally prefers to personally select those who enter her service, often by imparting visions of her desires and instructing them to either achieve great feats in her name or to present themselves at the temple and succeed in her trials.Hierarchy
AAlthough she proclaims authority over all evil dragons, Tiamat's clergy, known as Wyrmlairds or Wyrmkeepers, are typically of neutral evil or lawful evil alignment. The church of Tiamat maintains a strict hierarchy, starting from the humble Custodians of the Copper Chalice and ascending through ranks such as the Defenders of the Silver Shield, Wardens of the Electrum Mail, Guardians of the Gold Scepter, Keepers of the Platinum Crown, Scales of the White Wyrm, Horns of the Black Beast, Wings of the Green Gargantua, Talons of the Blue Baatoran, Breaths of the Red Ravager, and ultimately the Dark Scaly Ones who oversee them all. The primary focus of Tiamat's priests is to amass wealth and undermine the influence of other faiths.Priestly Vestments
Humanoid priests of Tiamat don ceremonial attire consisting of a tight-fitting suit resembling scales. Naturally-scaled beings such as dragons forego this attire. For adventuring purposes, they commonly don scale mail.Temples
Temples dedicated to Tiamat are frequently constructed within the ancient abodes of deceased dragons. These sanctuaries are adorned with heaps of riches offered as sacrifices to the Chromatic Dragon. They are also fortified with traps to deter heretics and those lacking in faith. Few dragons maintain shrines to Tiamat within their own lairs, fearing that revealing the extent of their treasure might prompt the goddess to demand a larger portion.Rituals
Malevolent dragons mark significant triumphs by inflicting torture upon captives and perpetrating additional heinous acts in homage to Tiamat. Devotions to the Dragon Queen center on the vision of saturating the world with evil dragons, either subjugating or annihilating it entirely. Clerics devoted to Tiamat beseech for their spells as nightfall descends.Tenets of Faith
- Recognize that rival deities of all faiths and pantheons are inherently tyrannical, seeking power at any cost, despite their deceitful promises.
- Acknowledge the Dragon Queen as the sole force capable of defying the gods and toppling their despotic reign.
- Dedicate oneself tirelessly to the vision of a day when Tiamat shall expel the gods from Theras and establish her dominion over the world.
- Obey the commands of Tiamat without question and be prepared to offer oneself in her service as a willing sacrifice.
- Understand that the acquisition of wealth and magic is essential to attain the power necessary for overthrowing the gods.
- Respect and venerate all chromatic dragons as the offspring of the Dragon Queen.
- Anticipate the day when Tiamat ascends to her throne, with her draconic progeny serving as dukes and her clergy as their mortal vassals.
Holidays
The two most important daily ceremonies are the Tithing and the Rite of Respect:
The Tithing
This ritual involves offering a small portion of treasure to the goddess. The tithe is held in the priest's hands or talons, and upon completion of the prayer, the valuables may sometimes vanish (10% of the time).The Rite of Respect
This ceremony, conducted by non-dragons, entails a complex act of reverence performed in the presence of a dragon or other progeny of Tiamat.Physical Description
Identifying Characteristics
Tiamat reigns as the queen of evil chromatic dragons, boasting five heads representing the customary colors of chromatic dragons: black, blue, green, red, and white. Each head possesses the abilities of its respective dragon race. Her body is a fusion of diverse chromatic dragon forms, adorned with a multicolored hide. Additionally, her physique shares traits with a wyvern, including a lengthy tail adorned with a venomous stinger.
Tiamat has also been reported to manifest in the form of a dark-haired human sorceress.
Furthermore, Tiamat was among the initial deities to possess aspects or minor avatars. These Aspects may take the shape of potent renditions of her chromatic offspring or replicas of her quintuple-headed form.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Myths and legends
Vorel
Tiamat's emnity with Bahamut dates back to their creation, when Io made them; they were made with the intention of becoming complements and mates, but their personalities were too much at odds. Tiamat murdered Vorel, her eldest brother, and tried to frame Bahamut for the deed. Io realized who was truly to blame, though, and banished Tiamat from his presence. This myth is very close to the myth told by Bahamut that claims that Tiamat killed Io.The Violation of Tiamat's Lair
In one kobold creation myth, Kurtulmak owes his existence to an assault launched on Tiamat by an army of thieves shortly after she had laid a clutch of eggs. Badly injured and with her lair heavily damaged, she caused one of her eggs to hatch, thus creating Kurtulmak. The newly-hatched godling quickly began creating a defensive perimeter of traps and restoring the caverns. During the process, Kurtulmak found an egg of Tiamat's that had fallen away from the nest and, deeming it had been away for too long to ever hatch naturally, used his magic to cause it to hatch, thus producing miniature versions of himself: the first kobolds.The Banishment of Tiamat
Many myths claim that Tiamat lived for a long time on the Prime Material Plane, seeding it with evil dragons and dark magic. Eventually she was banished to the Nine Hells by Bahamut and a sky/sun god (perhaps Ixtaar or Helios).Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Tiamat possesses the ability to charm when the situation demands it, yet her self-serving, malevolent reptilian essence is unmistakable to discerning observers. She takes pleasure in the presence of male dragons and boasts numerous great wyrm consorts of various chromatic hues. While she harbors an insatiable greed for treasures, she prefers her devotees to present them to her as offerings rather than seeking wealth independently.
Social
Contacts & Relations
Like most other draconic deities, she is the offspring of the dragon creator deity Io. She is the eternal rival of her brother Bahamut, the ruler of the good metallic dragons. It is also hinted that her overt hatred toward Bahamut has developed, over a vast period of time, into a twisted lust for her brother as well. She dwells in Avernus, the first layer of the Outer Plane of Baator (also known as the Nine Hells).
Three Baatezu nobles (granted to her by Bel) serve Tiamat and command her armies on Avernus. Malphas leads 40 companies of abishai, Amduscias leads 29 companies of abishai, and Goap leads three companies of erinyes. With Pearza of the Dark Eight, Tiamat created the first abishai.
For a time, Tiamat has ambushed the greater gods Bane and served later Asmodeus in many campaigns until 335 AB, she was freed from her deal with Asmodeus. Tiamat is also the eternal rival of her brother Bahamut, ruler of the good metallic dragons. Even though she is in Avernus, she only stayed at Avernus for the role she plays for the armies of hell and the favorable deals she has. She is considered to be the Leader of the Evil Aligned deities of the Draconic Pantheon. In addition, many scholars regard her as the prime power of evil.
For a time, Tiamat has ambushed the greater gods Bane and served later Asmodeus in many campaigns until 335 AB, she was freed from her deal with Asmodeus. Tiamat is also the eternal rival of her brother Bahamut, ruler of the good metallic dragons. Even though she is in Avernus, she only stayed at Avernus for the role she plays for the armies of hell and the favorable deals she has. She is considered to be the Leader of the Evil Aligned deities of the Draconic Pantheon. In addition, many scholars regard her as the prime power of evil.
Titles:
Archdevil;Nemesis of the Gods;
Queen of Evil Dragonkind;
The Dragon Queen;
Queen of the Evil Dragons;
The Chromatic Dragon;
Nemesis of the Gods;
The Dark Lady;
The Dark Warrior;
The Avaricious;
Queen of Chaos;
The Undying Queen;
Bane of Bhamaut;
Divine Classification
Alignment
Lawful Evil
Realm
Children
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
Ruled Locations
| LG | NG | CG |
| LN | N | CN |
| LE | NE | CE |
Comments