Demigod

**Demigods** are powerful, quasi-divine individuals that can be found in Exandria.

There are three types of cases in which someone is considered a demigod: in the most literal sense, a demigod can be born from the union between a deity and a non-divine being; another possibility is that a deity creates an immortal entity that isn't divine itself; last, there are individuals who, by gaining physical and magical power, are acclaimed as demigods among mortals.

## **Powers and abilities**

Demigods are empowered by magic that allows them to survive attacks that would have killed anyone else, and some of them cannot be permanently killed. Even those who remain technically mortal can experience an extension of their natural longevity.

Their power is such that some become lesser idols, granting magic to mortals in exchange for loyalty, favors, and adoration; precisely because of the quasi-divine nature of certain demigods, some have aspirations of godhood, insisting (like several other idols) on being treated as deities.

Some of the most powerful demigods cannot cross the Divine Gate by themselves, though they are not completely blocked by it, being able to enter or exit Exandria via conjuration magic.

## **Known demigods**

* Alyxian, the Apotheon: A mortal Ruidusborn human who was empowered by three different deities (Sehanine, Avandra and Corellon), and eventually became a demigod-like individual, although he disliked being called that.
* Uk'otoa, the Leviathan Lord: A creation of Zehir who was meant to control the seas in his name but ended up declaring himself a god and demanding worship, angering the Cloaked Serpent.
* Woden: A demigod of the storm that once lived among storm giants in the flying city of Tempestar, representing them in the Council of Seven Scepters.

Other entities known in Exandria are believed to be demigods, treated as such, or they're actively pretending to be:

* Desirat, the Twilight Phoenix: The fiendish flying mount of Asmodeus during the Calamity. Just as Uk'otoa, she is considered a "pseudo-god", so she could be a demigod like him.
* Quajath, the Undermaw: This worm-like scion of Torog acted as his scout during the Calamity. Just as Uk'otoa, it is considered a "pseudo-god", so it could be a demigod like him.
* Vesh, the Bloody Siren: This beautiful but dangerous entity from Issylra has had cultists and followers for centuries, as well as a realm of her own, but her true nature is unclear. She seems to have some connection to the fey, and some believe her to be a demigod.
* J'mon Sa Ord, the Soul of the Jeweled City: The mysterious and long-lived emperor of Ank'Harel is surrounded by theories regarding their origin and true identity, one being that they are a demigod in disguise. Although the Marquesian ruler (whose true form is that of an ancient brass dragon called Devo'ssa) has had four centuries to disprove rumors if they wanted to, they are still present in 836 PD.
* Eyvindr, the Eye of the Storm: This entity is worshiped by cyclops stormcallers as the first of their kind, who gave her only eye to see the devastation of each storm as if she was inside; these cyclopes touched by the Stormlord's perform rituals, gouge out one eye of each of their victims, growing stronger in the process. However, the Eye of the Tempest is actually a storm giant, posing as a demigod to earn the unconditional devotion of the stormcallers before sending them out as his own personal army to exact revenge on the Council of Seven Scepters.
* Some sahuagins are known to fall under the influence of aboleths and other aberrations that act as demigods for the sea devils to worship.

### **Related entities**

* Empyreans are the celestial offspring of deities, more divine than demigods, although without being gods themselves, and dependent on their parents.
* Despite not being considered demigods themselves, other divine creations (such as Sahyaadon, a spirit connected to the Wildmother, or Jourrael, a fiendish assassin of Lolth) can share the same type of origin.

## **History**

During the Calamity the human Alyxian, despite having been bullied most of his life (even being called the spawn of a Betrayer God by some), still wanted to defend the innocent. He asked for the blessings of the Moonweaver, the Changebringer and the Arch Heart, and empowered by them and their vestige, the Jewel of Three Prayers, he became the demigod-like hero that people called "Apotheon", and fought against the forces of the Betrayer Gods. During his final battle, defending a utopian city of elves and orcs, the Apotheon blocked an attack of Gruumsh the Ruiner, preventing the god from completely destroying the continent of Marquet. Although Alyxian survived the impact, its strength, combined with planar energy and the demigod's own connection with the strange influence of Ruidus created a prison, the Netherdeep, in which he spent centuries slumbering until he awoke during the 830s PD, when an agent of the Consortium of the Vermilion Dream extracted a sample of a strange substance produced in the Apotheon's prison. Conscious but not entirely sane, the hero of yore began to pray that someone would come to his rescue.

After the Divergence the Cloaked Serpent expected that his creation, Uk'otoa, ruled the Lucidian Ocean as his proxy, but the demigod started gathering followers, becoming the protector of the Ki'Nau and defeating their enemies, and demanding their allies to worshiping him as well as a god of the seas. Enraged by this, Zehir conspired against the False Serpent, and his followers defiled the idol's temples and sealed him beneath the depths of the Lucidian Ocean. Uk'otoa tried for centuries to be free of his prison, making alliances with other entities that had suffered similar fates, and forging warlock pacts so his followers would use their powers to free him. After much effort manipulating one of those warlocks, Fjord, even after he stopped following his orders, the Great Leviathan was released in 837 PD. However, his former follower, now a paladin of Melora, used a boon granted by Zehir and the help of his own friends, the Mighty Nein, to seal Uk'otoa again after defeating him in combat.

Presumably at some point between 512 and 612 PD, Tempestar was destroyed above the Lucidian Ocean, and its storm giant society scattered. Until then this flying city-state had been the seat of the Council of Seven Scepters, in which the demigod Woden represented the local highborn. However, after the fall of Tempestar Woden abandoned the storm giants, as well as his position in the Council. As of 836 PD the demigod's throne remains empty, and his Scepter of Wodensdottr is kept in the vaults of Jovatthon (the city-state of the cloud giants, and the new seat of the council). Although Woden hasn't come back, the current leader of the storm giants, Sea Dreamer Galadawna, hasn't claimed Woden's possessions or responsabilities despite being present in each meeting since he left.

In 836 PD it was known that some demigods, among other entities, were imprisoned floating through the Astral Sea, presumably after failing to travel between Planes of Existence.

## **Trivia**

* In the real world the most famous demigods in popular culture are the offspring of gods and mortals (very prominent in mythologies such as the Greek and the Roman); however, the term also covers other cases, such as weaker deities, deified heroes, or non-human entities reaching some form of enlightenment. Exandrian demigods seem to take inspiration from multiple sources, given their miscellaneous origins.
* In 5th Edition rules demigods are supposed to be unable to hear and answer prayers, or grant magic to clerics, but this isn't true in Exandria, since it has been established that any entity powerful and worshiped enough can have clerics.
* If Alyxian can be used as an example, even in their last years as mortals, weakened by old age, those that had become demigods still retain some of their strength and magic.

## **References**

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 See *Call of the Netherdeep*, p. 7.
2. ↑ See "The Mighty Nein Reunited Part 2" (Sx74) at 4:59:41.  Uk'otoa can't be permanently killed.
3. ↑ See "Omens Above" (3x19) at 0:33:22.
4. ↑ See *Call of the Netherdeep*, pp. 65–152. Alyxian was born at the beginning of the Calamity, but he was also present during some key moments, such as the assault on the Betrayers' Rise or the Battle of the Barbed Fields, hundreds of years later.
5. ↑ See "Dangerous Liaisons" (2x37) from 1:16:34 through 1:17:21.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 17.
7. ↑ See "Talks Machina: Campaign Wrap-up" (Sx31) from 1:27:25 through 1:29:03.
8. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn*, p. 27.
9. ↑ See *Call of the Netherdeep*, pp. 7–14. On multiple occasions the narrative defines Alyxian as a demigod, but the hero himself did not feel worthy of it, nor of the title of Apotheon, allowing people to call him that just because it seemed to give them courage to fight alongside him.
10. ↑ See "The Mighty Nein Reunited Part 2" (Sx74) at 2:41:54.  Matt confirms Uk'otoa is a demigod.
11. ↑ See "Dangerous Liaisons" (2x37) from 1:16:06 through 1:16:34.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting*, p. 125.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn*, p. 221.
14. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 31.
15. ↑ See "*Talks Machina* #89: 'Dubious Pursuits'" (TMx89) at 0:37:16.
16. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 32.
17. ↑ See "*Talks Machina* #89: 'Dubious Pursuits'" (TMx89) at 0:37:16.
18. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn*, p. 40.
19. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 33.
20. ↑ See *Call of the Netherdeep*, p. 81.
21. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting*, pp. 88–132.
22. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn*, p. 235.
23. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn*, p. 222.
24. ↑ See *D&D: Monster Manual*, 5th ed., p. 130.
25. ↑ See "The Search For Grog" (Sx42) at 4:37:00.  The Forgotten Empyrean of the first god of death was left trapped in Pandemonium, not being able to leave without his father's help.
26. ↑ See "Call of the Wild" (3x41) at 1:56:59.
27. ↑ See "Punishment and Politics" (2x87) at 0:40:33.
28. ↑ See *Call of the Netherdeep*, p. 141. "He's full of Betrayer's blood, I heard."
29. ↑ See *Call of the Netherdeep*, p. 213.
30. ↑ See *Call of the Netherdeep*, p. 133.
31. ↑ See "Dangerous Liaisons" (2x37) from 1:16:06 through 1:16:34.
32. ↑ See "Dangerous Liaisons" (2x37) from 1:16:34 through 1:17:21.
33. ↑ See "*Talks Machina* #89: 'Dubious Pursuits'" (TMx89) at 0:37:16.
34. ↑ See "The Mighty Nein Reunited Part 2" (Sx74) at 1:41:25.
35. ↑ See "The Mighty Nein Reunited Part 2" (Sx74) at 4:58:51.
36. ↑ Tempestar fell "centuries ago", so at least 200 years ago; storm giants can live around three centuries, and there is at least one from Tempestar, Galadawna, that still lives, so presumably it happened during her lifespan.
37. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn*, p. 10.
38. ↑ See *D&D: Dungeon Master's Guide*, 5th ed., p. 11.
39. ↑ See *Call of the Netherdeep*, pp. 182–184.

**Art:**

1. ↑ Fan art of Uk'otoa, a demigod, by Clara (source). Used with permission.
2. ↑ Fan art of Lady Vesh, by Mikael (source). Used with permission.
3. ↑ Depiction of a vision of Alyxian, the Apotheon, by Andrew Mar from *Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep*, p. 34. This page contains unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Wizards of the Coast Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
4. ↑ Fan art of the final strike against the False Serpent, by Danielle Weires (source). Used with permission.