Mael

Maael "The Reaper" God of Murder, Decay, Disease and Undeath.     Maael - The Reaper, the Ice Lord “Everything dies. In time, all things fall before my scythe. So shall you.” Home Plane: Description: Draped in robes of darkness that stir and churn around him, cowering in fear then snapping in defiance, stands Maael. The flesh of his hand as it clutches the shaft of his twin ice bladed scythe “Wake”, is stretched thin over his bleached white bones. His face remains hidden behind a featureless white mask. Devoid of form, his gaze still seethes with all the malice of the foulest demons. History: Portfolio: Death, Disease, Famine & Vermin. Symbols: Maael’s symbol is that of two crossed scythes with a white face mask between them. Followers wear a white half face mask, representing to them how mortals exist on the middle ground between life and death. His followers also hold the rat sacred as it lives on death and entropy as well as spreading disease and contagion. Organization: Followers: Vermin Lords, Cancer Mages, Necromancers   Favored Weapon: Followers of Maael carry a scythe or sickle   Holy Texts: Barrister’s Three Confessions: While not a traditional holy text in the academic sense, the Three Confessions are none the less one of the most striking and vivid works of devotion and praise created by mortal minds in the name of a deity. Originally carved into the stone walls inside the cell of an inmate in the Granite Falls Asylum in a single night before the execution of a condemned inmate known only as Ciryan Barrister. The stone itself vanished from the asylum as the execution was carried out. No record of it exists to this day. However, since committing the nature of their profane beliefs and desires to the written word is abhorrent to followers of Mael, the Three Confessions remain a part of the rich oral tradition that followers of this dark god adhere to. The First Confession is Barrister’s explanation of who is and his life leading up to the night before his execution. He knows death is coming and welcomes it through the eyes of corrupted reason. The Second Confession details Barrister’s feelings on a life spent as a force of diabolical entropy, carrying out what he felt was a holy war against those who foster growth, and cultivate life. He explains his thought processes, describing his equation to murder as a religious act and the most sacred of sacraments. The Third Confession describes his elation at the thought of finally succumbing to the will of his god, while at the same time allowing his executioner’s souls to taste the same profane lust for death he felt, thus uniting killer and victim in the same act. Dogma: Everything dies. The weak, the strong, the innocent, the guilty. Nothing lasts forever, all things are flawed, weak and dying. They only reward, is the cold emptiness of the beyond. You can run from me, but in the end it is all futile. Harvest the souls of the dead and dying in my name and your frail existence in the mortal realm will not be wasted. Initiations & Rites: Aphorisms: “Do not seek death.” – A parting wish between followers. “For death seeks us all.” – A polite response. Role of Clerics: Formal Attire: Special Dispensation: Role of Other Classes: Myths: Celebrations & Holidays: Relics of the Faith: Planar Ally: Avatars: Avatars of Maael are horrors not even the most profane nightmares could produce. The bodies of those taken by disease, murder, vice are given their souls for a brief time to carry out their lord’s will. Their bodies resembling the state they died in. They carry with them the powers of that which destroyed them, those killed by disease spread contagion where they go. Murder victims are consumed with a psychotic sense of revenge. Relations with Other Religions: