Stygios

== Stygios is, without doubt, the most hated god in existence. ==
Stygios is comparatively young for a god. He came into being long before the Age of Rebirth, but did not reach consciousness until it was starting. Stirrings in the darkness of the Plane of Night heralded the coming of the Shade Court. These motions pushed darkness out, straining against the planar membranes, forging a momentary link between the dark and the other realms within the Astral Sea. The strongest connection was with the Abyss, however, and the corrupt will of that world wedded with the night-stuff, forming a pocket realm of horror and pain beyond imagining. As horrible as the Abyss is, that place is actually, somehow, worse. Stygios was born in that nightmare world along with many other beings, and after he had eaten all of them, he tore his way free in search of more sustenance. Unfortunately, he has no true substance outside the Nightmare Shard, and must steal energies with which to supplement his fractured Akh. This defect in his nature, a nearly complete absence of the generative power that defines the gods, is a source of no small shame to him and results in disgust from other divine entities. His name, Stygios, is actually old Vahlan for shadow - as in an absence, a lack, or an unfinished form. The perception of him causes other gods disgust and shame in the same way the sight of one with extremely advanced leprosy frightens mortals. In a mortal, however, illness is a sign one needs help and not a sign of utter malignance. This is not the case for Stygios. The first god he encountered, who would have been a member of the Shade Court, made the mistake of showing him compassion. This was that god's one and only mistake. Stygios consumed him, Ren and all. There are those on the outer worlds who say he was not even a god until that moment. They say he stole his godhood by eating that first being. This may or may not be true, but he killed a god, a feat which has never been repeated even by himself. How is not known, though Nalf Starbreeze theorizes that it is because he was formed partially from the divine essence of Mor-Dun channeled from the Abyss, and Mor-Dun could have killed a god if he had been afforded the opportunity. It was this act that earned Stygios his most hated epithet: The Lesser Devourer. Mercifully, he has proven incapable of repeating his initial success at deicide.
Category:Deity
Category:Characters