Mahathallah
| Mahathallah | |
|---|---|
| (Deity) | |
| Titles | Dowager of Illusions; formerly Maiden of Mists |
| Realm | Voiporl, Hell |
| Alignment | Lawful evil |
| Areas of Concern | Death Fate Vanity |
| Worshipers | Alchemists, drug users, embittered dreamers, illusionists, outcasts |
| Edicts | Become an arbiter of reality, reject conventional wisdom as falsehood, capitalize on the ignorance of others |
| Anathema | Become too invested in mortal affairs |
| Cleric Alignments (1E) | |
| Domains (1E) | Death, Evil, Law, Trickery |
| Subdomains (1E) | Deception, Devil, Thievery, Undead |
| Cleric Alignments (2E) | |
| Domains (2E) | Fate, trickery, truth, undeath |
| Favored Weapon | Bola, net, and hand crossbow[1] |
| Symbol | Bejeweled skeletal hand and Eye surrounded by occult sigils |
| Sacred Animal | Dragonfly |
| Sacred Colors | Gold, ivory |
Source: Dance of the Damned, pg(s). 70–75 (1E) Lost Omens Gods & Magic, pg(s). 75, 132–133 (2E) | |
Mahathallah is a Queen of the Night, one of the female powers who followed Asmodeus into Hell eons ago during the Exodus. She was once a psychopomp usher: a handmaiden of the goddess Pharasma,[2] who was granted the double-edged vision of her own death. She fled Pharasma's side in terrible fear, wishing to avoid her fate.[3] Her unholy symbol is a single eye surrounded by mystic runes and a two-toned haze.[4][5]
History
As a psychopomp usher, Mahathallah was obsessed by how she was capable of seeing the ends of mortals but not her own end. She beseeched Pharasma, but her goddess said that only those who travel the River of Souls may learn their final fate.[5]
Mahathallah left the Boneyard and went to the Material Plane, where she located the last being to die and followed that soul along the River of Souls. Mahathallah took a particularly winding route along the River of Souls: by the end, all her shrines were rubble. As Mahathallah stood once more before Pharasma, the goddess revealed her final moment to her. Mahathallah, having not understood the fear of death of mortals and terrified by the sight of her end, fled.[5]
Mahathallah's wanderings took her to Xibalba, whose sahkils recall her passing with furious awe and proud scars, and the Material Plane, where she spoiled the destiny of planets. Her final destination was Hell: Asmodeus calmed her, and Mahathallah became a servant of Hell.[5]
Appearance
Mahathallah begins each morning in her original angelic form, but deteriorates during the day, until she is nothing but a skeleton at evening time. To disguise this transformation, she covers herself with numerous illusions, wishing not to be reminded of the fate that supposedly awaits her.[3][5]
Realm
Mahathallah rules over Voiporl, a desert of violet sand located between the infernal layers of Phlegethon and Stygia and contained entirely within a vast system of caverns. The deserts of Voiporl are home to giant serpents and dragonflies, in addition to witches, medusas, and undead who come there in search of wisdom.[6]
Providence
Mahathallah's favour takes the form of lucid dreams, euphoric visions, fires hissing like soft laughter, and temporary youthfulness. Her disapproval results in wicks that do not burn, skin wrinkles, ineffective drugs, and blindness.[7]
Followers
Mahathallah's followers meditate on metaphysical subjects and consider themselves above others in the multiverse. They use a perception-altering drug called adyton to commune with Mahathallah in her mindscape, called the Adyton after the drug; followers of great faith can harness their control over their body's blood and toxins.[8]
Her faithful have no clergy, congregations, monuments, or ceremonies, finding all such practices to be wasteful distractions. Their only pursuits are of fate-changing knowledge and powers through psychic journeys and closely held secrets. At other times, they tend to gardens, tell fortunes, and counsel others.[7]
Holidays
Followers of Mahathallah mark astronomical events as holidays, and celebrate the Absalom Reckoning calendar's leap day as Fateless Day—a day that they claim stops the River of Souls' flow and opens a secret path in the afterlife that bypasses Pharasma's judgment.[7]
Unholy texts
While Mahathallah does not have a universal unholy text, her followers share a vast repository of knowledge in the Adyton and contribute to it in journals known as "mysteries". Her most faithful followers spend much of their time there to study or teach distant visitors.[7]
The Mysteries of Salaur, a popular mystery of Mahathallah in Qadira, documents several hallucinogenic drugs and rites to Mahathallah, including an encoded formula for adyton. Its Keleshite author, Salaur, is said to have entered a perpetual state of near-death in order to explore the realm of Adyton.[7]
Relationships
Mahathallah has close ties to the other Queens of the Night: they mistrust each other, but will reluctantly side with each other against other devils. Mahathallah trades her mysteries of nature and the cosmos for Doloras' science and suffering in a distant, but mutually beneficial, relationship; while Eiseth considers Mahathallah too slow and patient. Regardless, cults of all Queens of the Night consider each other allies.[5]
Mahathallah is loyal to Asmodeus; it is claimed that without his protection, she would have been destroyed long ago. Mahathallah shares her interest in dark secrets with Barbatos and Geryon, and also shares prophecies with Barbatos.[5]
Among the sahkils, the sahkil tormentor Eil admits to owing Mahathallah numerous favours; Beiltod Goremouth holds a grudge against her; and the mysterious Agra acknowledges Mahathallah as her mother. Pharasma seems not to care about Mahathallah's betrayal, while the followers of Desna, Andoletta, and Immonhiel view Mahathallah's cult as hoarders of truth and corrupters of secrets.[5]
Soul anchors
Mahathallah's worshipers can corrupt the River of Souls to create soul anchors, which are items that preserve mortal memories in the afterlife.[9]
References
Paizo published a major article about Mahathallah in Dance of the Damned, p70–75.
For additional resources, see the Meta page.
- ↑ Sean K Reynolds et al. (2014). Inner Sea Gods, p. 328–329. Paizo Inc. ISBN 978-1-60125-597-6
- ↑ Amber Scott. (2013). Chronicle of the Righteous, p. 55. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-506-8
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 F. Wesley Schneider. (2009). Princes of Darkness, p. 33. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-189-3
- ↑ F. Wesley Schneider. (2009). Princes of Darkness, p. front inside cover. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-189-3
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 F. Wesley Schneider. (2015). Mahathallah, Dowager of Illusions. Dance of the Damned, p. 70–75. Paizo Inc. ISBN 978-1-60125-788-8
- ↑ F. Wesley Schneider. (2015). Mahathallah, Dowager of Illusions. Dance of the Damned, p. 71. Paizo Inc. ISBN 978-1-60125-788-8
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 F. Wesley Schneider. (2015). Mahathallah, Dowager of Illusions. Dance of the Damned, p. 73. Paizo Inc. ISBN 978-1-60125-788-8
- ↑ F. Wesley Schneider. (2015). Mahathallah, Dowager of Illusions. Dance of the Damned, p. 75. Paizo Inc. ISBN 978-1-60125-788-8
- ↑ Crystal Frasier. (2015). In Hell's Bright Shadow. In Hell's Bright Shadow, p. 5. Paizo Inc. ISBN 978-1-60125-768-0
External links
- Agrat bat Mahlat (real-world demon) on Wikipedia
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