Eria the Stimulating
Saint of Desire, Assassination, Murder, and Poison
Titles: Saint Eria the Stimulating, Mother Fleshrend, The Seductive Death, Whisperwillow, The Lady of the Night, The Gruesome Geisha
Favored Weapon: Whip
Alignment: Void
Elemental Lord: Hannoxyn, Duchess of the Abyss
Obedience: Spend an hour poisoning your weapons and planning how best to beguile your current foe or target to get close enough to kill them. If you have no current foe or target, do so with your current allies.
Effect: You gain disguise self as an at-will extraordinary ability. A specific part of your body(Hands, Neck, Etc.) now functions as a Type I bag of holding - and increases in Type for every 5HD you have.
Divine Domains
Death, Evil, Trickery, Charm, Luck
Holy Books & Codes
The Sultry Tome of Screams
Divine Symbols & Sigils
A needle clutched horizontally between lips
Tenets of Faith
Never kill a stranger when you could kill a friend. Deliver each deathblow personally, and relish each dying breath against your skin.
Take what you desire, through trick or force. Devote yourself to your passions and make the possessions of the slain your own.
Let the hearts of others be your playground. Work through machination and manipulation to make toys of others.
Repay each slight against you tenfold. Take vengeance with your own hands.
A fair fight is not worth fighting. Let no tool nor advantage be beneath you.
Divine Goals & Aspirations
To uncover the past of Cynebald the Unseen and make him hers.
To turn all mortals into her faithful, through force or trickery.
To own all things in reality.
Followers & Priesthood
Much like her rival Cynebald the Unseen, Eria's faith is outlawed and considered forbidden by most every country on Zheng-Kitar - only a rare few countries tolerate their presence, and even then only because in most of those cases, Eria's followers have wormed their way into the government and have taken control of it in some way, or hold the ear of someone powerful who listens to their every command. Followers of Eria can come from any nationality or race - the only thing that need link them is the flames of burning desire...they are linked by their burning desire for MORE, as well as what is often rampant egotism - followers of Eria take what they want because of the simple fact that they want it, and they flock to Eria's faith drawn by the simple promise of getting those things. Her followers are experts at hiding themselves, and disguise themselves as any manner of things - from men and women of the night to politicians and simple merchants, Eria's followers lurk beneath every veil and around every corner - waiting and listening and befriending others to eventually lay them low and kill them and take all that was their as their own. They often craft entirely seperate personas and identities to hide who they truly are, changing appearance and mannerisms to better blend in and avoid suspicion. Eria's followers tend to dress provocatively and wear their beauty, sexuality, and looks as a potent weapon - they are fully aware of the attention they grab and use it to their advantage to beguile and charm others and bend them around their fingers. They also tend to be highly empathetic and sensitive to the emotions and feelings of others, a talent that many of her faithful put to use to learn the secrets, opinions, and dirty truths of those they are near, and to appear as friends to others so as to better engender faith and trust in them. Her followers, male and female alike, tend to wear long, needlelike Hairpins in their hair or keep them on their person as last-resort or undercover murder tools - quick to draw and quick to sheath, often coated in poison. They also tend to wear distinct and notable fragrances, colognes, and perfumes as well - they are fully aware of the power of scent in dredging up memories in the minds of others, so they tend to recreate the natural scents of other creatures to better reinforce their disguises or to better elicit unconscious friendship with a target for whom the scent of hay reminds them of home, for example. Her followers tend to band together into groups or gangs - as they are murderers and assassins of the highest order, they tend to form churches that double as convents, brothels, or other nondescript buildings during the day, preferably those that have or garner alot of foot traffic with a great number of people. They can form groups ranging from assassination guilds to murderous gangs and bands of thugs - both pursue their desires with equal abandon and venerate Eria with the act of sacred slaughter - death itself pleases both them and her, and in doing so they can further both their and her goals. They are just as likely to be found as wanderers, however - whether as wanderers who hide their identities and work as high-profile assassins, high profile thieves or tricksters who take what they want how they want it to even killers to the highest bidder or wandering murderers carrying out psychopathic and grisly killings - these lone members of the faithful are not uncommon, and are often accepted into the churches of Eria in any given area they arrive at as 'outside contractors' - treated with suspicion but respect.Ethics
Almost polar opposite to the faithful of Cynebald the Unseen, Eria's eternal rival, Eria's followers make no mistake about their intentions - they are often murders and assassins of the highest order, and even those who lean towards more thievery and concern themselves more with accruing more wealth and power hold no qualms about murder. The degree to which they take this belief varies - cults to Eria(Better known as "Mother Fleshrend" to these madmen) can sometimes be filled with crazed madmen who go about comitting horrific murders and gruesome assassinations in her name, believing that spreading such suffering and fear empowers and serves her ends. But regardless of zeal, faithful to Eria believe that their desires are law - the maxim of "Doing what I want when I say" is key to their faith, and they hold no qualms about charming or tricking or even sometimes taking what they want from others - they steal, beguile, trick, and murder to get what they want, and do so often. They are notorious killers, tricksters, politicians, men/women of the night, assassins, and thieves, and as they believe that death and the accrual of power and wealth is holy and sacred to Eria, each death done and each act of 'taking' or 'accrual' in her name furthers her goals - but most importantly, they do not believe in the art of the cold kill - they believe that each kill must be done up close and personal, close and gruesome, to better relish the suffering the kill causes. Most important to her followers is the tenet of "Never kill a stranger when you could kill a friend" - followers of Eria dislike dispassionate death, and this tenet simply means that they prefer to get to know their targets before they slay them - to get to know their names and families and lives, to get close to them and be trusted before they drive the dagger deep into their chest, to avoid suspicion by nature of their 'friendship' and to make their final kill easier. Once they kill a target, they believe in the smug notion of taking everything they own for themselves - and not just physical possessions, even family and the very lifestyles of the slain are fair game. They believe that the belongings of the slain belong to the victor...and often take it with glee. They are motivated by simple things, and often nothing is more sacriligious to followers of Eria than sparing a life or forgoing one's desires - it is the act of the kill that motivates them, as equally as it is the promise of MORE - wealth, power, anything. Hence, her followers are most commonly those either in positions of power looking to hold onto it, or those without looking to gain it - both are equally motivated to worship her and ply her faith - to follow her tenets and gain power for themselves and thus satisfy their desires at the same time. This makes them superb assassins and murderers, and they often band together to form guilds in cities they are found in to ply their murderous trade. Followers of Eria do not much care for a 'quick kill' - they prefer to spend time and build up a network of tools they bend to their whims by learning what makes them tick, their desires and thoughts, and using them against them to force them to do their bidding - they prefer to get to know a target, befriend them, and then drive the dagger home when they are cleared of all suspicion by the fact of their loyalty. They relish the personal kill, and will never strike until it is certain that they will be victorious - they take no chances on their kills and only strike when the odds are overwhelmingly in their favor. They also are terrible targets to enrage - they will stop at nothing to take revenge on one who wrongs them - no matter the time or effort it takes to enact such revenge. Though common, killing is not always central to their belief - many followers of Eria instead act as egotistical thieves or opportunists, taking what they want when they want it through any means - even killing.History
The history of Eria is one many would much rather forget - unlike Cynebald the Unseen, her history is well known to all. She is known to have begun her life as a lowly doppelganger many centuries ago, who killed the daughter of a powerful merchant family head in the Kingdom of Seoghar and took her place - born as the youngest daughter to the head of her house, she was last in line for the throne of her house, and her prospects looked grim indeed. But, after years of careful planning and hiding her intentions, Eria killed off each and every one of her 9 siblings in gruesome detail, each time perfectly constructing an alibi that exonerated her for her crimes - and when she and she alone remained, her father, at his wits end, saw no choice but to make her his heir - and several months later, he met his end in an unfortunate accident as well. At the head of her house, Eria rapidly seduced and beguiled the most powerful men and women in the city, both with the promise of her body, her aid, or otherwise - and once most of the city acted on her command, she set her sights on her next goal - and took the throne of the Kingdom of Seoghar by becoming one of the King's many concubines and beguiling him into writing his own children out of his own will - leaving his entire throne and possessions to her. Thus did Eria become the fabled "Blood Queen of Seoghar" - one of the country's most disgraceful Empresses who, despite the best efforts of her enemies, ruled unchallenged for decades. As one of the few saints who formed the foundations for her church while she yet lived, Eria formed an organization known as "The Whipcords" - agents of her will who served as an assassination organization loyal to her, that enacted her bloody will on the Kingdom of Seoghar - though the exact methods aren't known, they were assumed to have been thoroughly indoctrinated when they were inducted into the group, ensuring their constant loyalty. With the Whipcords at her back, she hid behind every face and every name in the country - as a Doppelganger, her nature was her greatest shield, and with it enacted brutal and bloody suffering on her people, taking their belongings as her own and furthering her own power and wealth while crushing her own people beneath her heel. And when she finally died of assassination, Hannoxyn, Duchess of the Abyss rewarded her life of beguilement and death by canonization into Sainthood. Even after her death, elements of the Whipcords lived on, the indoctrination holding even after her death as they spread her teachings to any who would listen and thus forming her church as it is known today - and though Seoghar has tried to wipe her from history, her name yet inspires fear and terror in the country's residents.
They may not be the quickest at what they do, but when time isn't an issue, they're the best killers around. They'll kill the target from the most unexpected angle and slip out unseen, avoiding all suspicion...nerve-wracking to be the one who hired them, sure, but just be sure to pay up when it's done. Others have made that mistake before - it never ends well.
Divine Classification
Elemental Saint
Alignment
Children
Example Divine Oaths
Oath of Vengeance: Rest at nothing until the target of your revenge is slain. Forego all creature comforts, amenities, and similar comforts until you achieve your vengeance. Let no act or deed be beyond your means to achieve this revenge, and never let the flame of vengeance fade from your heart until the deed is done. Make the target of your revenge suffer as much as you have.
Oath of the Assassin Never kill a creature without knowing their name first if they had one, where possible. Always take the belongings of the slain for yourself no matter their previous owner. Worm your way into the good graces of others so that you are trusted, to make the killing blow easier.
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