Ethedok

Fan art of the broken symbols of Ethedok and Vordo, by Cyarna Trim.

**Ethedok, the Endless Shadow**, was the god of darkness and winter, and one of the deities that founded the world of Exandria.

At some point before the Schism, thousands of years before the Calamity, a mysterious and powerful entity called Predathos came to Exandria, and was able to consume both Ethedok and Vordo, another deity. This caused the rest of deities, as well as the elemental titans, to join forces to create a prison for Predathos to ensure it would not harm them or anyone else.

As of 843 PD Ethedok was nearly forgotten, and other gods had control over their divine portfolio. Only a few documents in Vasselheim acknowledged the existence of the two devoured deities, but the authorities of the Dawn City wanted to keep that knowledge hidden and forgotten, not only to maintain the faith of the followers of the Prime Deities, but also to protect Predathos's prison. Thus, when Janina, Baryn Vestisho, and Arnold Drot of the Grim Verity stole those documents, Vasselheim sent judicators to chase those who possessed such dangerous information.

## **Appearances and mentions**

* Campaign Three: Bells Hells
	+ "Axiom Shaken" (3x43), mentioned only
	+ "Faith or Famine" (3x60), mentioned only

## **Trivia**

* This article uses "they/them" pronouns for Ethedok until further confirmation of their gender expression.
* According to the documents, Ethedok was the first of the two gods Predathos consumed.
* With the exception of certain authority figures in Vasselheim, the only ones who know of Ethedok's existence are members of the Grim Verity and now Bells Hells (except Dorian Storm) and their new allies (Deni$e and Prism). Bor'Dor, a member of the Ruby Vanguard pretending to be the adventurers' ally, also learnt about the Endless Shadow, but he died without spreading knowledge about them.
* When Ethedok existed the different deities hadn't separated yet between Prime Deities and Betrayer Gods and still worked together. Planerider Ryn, in her conversation with Bells Hells, theorized that given their divine attributions, the Endless Shadow would likely have aligned as a Betrayer God.

* Ethedok's portfolio seems to have been taken by other gods after their demise: nowadays, Zehir is the god of darkness and the Raven Queen is the goddess of winter. Since it is known that the Matron of Death took her own portfolio from her predecessor but that other gods kept her from claiming all the functions of said deity, it is likely that the first god of death became the god of winter after Ethedok until his own demise, while their control over darkness could have been claimed by Zehir either directly after the Endless Shadow was devoured, or when the first god of death died (if he had, indeed, claimed it), before the Raven Queen could claim it herself.
	+ Although it is not confirmed, it is possible that Ethedok used to have a connection with the Shadowfell, since the realm of the current goddess of winter there, Letherna, is a frozen place within a plane of gloom and darkness.

## **References**

1. ↑ See "Axiom Shaken" (3x43) at 3:02:19.
2. ↑ See "Axiom Shaken" (3x43) from 3:02:19 through 3:04:50.
3. ↑ See "Axiom Shaken" (3x43) at 2:38:01.
4. ↑ See "Duskmeadow" (1x57) at 0:57:56.
5. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 24.

**Art:**

1. ↑ Fan art of the broken symbols of Ethedok and Vordo, by Cyarna Trim ([[[Exandria: An Intimate Appendix - Ruidus and the Gods]] source]). Used with permission.
2. ↑ Fan art of the Raven Queen, the current goddess of winter, by Mikael (source). Used with permission.