Mal

## **Titles**

Destroyer of Worlds, Lord of Madness, The Forgotten One

## **Description**

Mâl is a deity of madness, corruption and destruction, believed to have originated somewhere in the Realms of Madness. Most, if not all, of the other deities are believed to hold the creature as an adversary. He is believed to be a sort of anti-Maeros from another universe.

## **Mâl in the Divine Record**

Both the Divine Record of Psiannus and various hymns in the Songs of Power, sung by the followers of Eshalqua reference an entity of madness, fury, and horror known only as Mâl. While the Psiannite text speaks of the horrible deeds, it is only in the Eshalquan songs that any description is ever given.

> Silence now, oh frightened children -
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> terror walks, the valley shakes.
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> In the dark, cyclopean madness -
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> darkened crystal stirs awake.
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> Bloody vines will steal your senses,
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> tremors take your breath at night;
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> trust not in your own defenses,
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> seek no shelter, only flight.
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> Mâl is coming, Mâl is coming -
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> gather strength, and sharpen knife.
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> Mâl is coming, Mâl is coming -
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> if it finds you, take your life.
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The Divine Record attributes to Mâl the destruction of "innumerable worlds," asserting that the very presence of the entity is enough to cause the earth to shudder, the skies to become poisonous, and men to turn on one another with vicious, unrelenting passion. The most detailed of these stories records the following:

In those times, Mâl, the Destroyer of Worlds, transformed innumerable worlds into hideous replicas of his own, annihilating entire civilizations with his ravenous horde of Mâlites. Within these shattered lands, open plains were ruptured by mountains of serrated obsidian, calm rivers burst into gushing rapids writhing with jagged rocks and tentacled things, and lush jungles choked under a tangle of twisted, blood-soaked briars.

Those few, unfortunate creatures to survive the initial sundering became its maddened servants, slaughtering one another for its amusement. So great was The Destroyer's thirst for destruction that we, the gods, set aside our differences and banded together to end the rampage. Each of us brought our finest champions from among our followers, and in the darkness of the night sky we met the Mâlite invasion and destroyed wave upon wave of its horrors and minions.

In that place, whose very name we swore to forget lest it ever again be discovered, we bound the Lord of Madness with powerful magic and sealed it away to rot forever within its perverted domain. May it's prison hold for all eternity, and may it be known henceforth as The Forgotten One.

## **Deities Listed**

The several deities who are specifically listed as having been present for Mâl's imprisonment are described below:

* Grumgrush, who "withstood the greatest of the horde, and struck down The Destroyer, casting him into the eternal pit."
* Haddon, who "stood side-by-side with the gods, and called them shield-siblings."
* Soujous, who "gathered a force of bodies from a thousand realms, and saw the survivors home again."
* Psiannus: see below.

## **Self-Referencing Story**

Notably, this is one of only a handful of stories in the Divine Record in which the author, presumably Psiannus herself, refers to her own actions (though she provides no specifics about her role). Many scholars maintain that this only further amplifies the importance of it, and warn that the story is given as a warning to all, should Mâl ever surface again.

## **Church**

Mâlites are exceedingly rare, but among those few cults who do exist, Mâl is regarded as the only god in existence. Dark Druidic magic is common among worshippers, who seek to transform the world around them into a twisted domain, befitting their master's form. When such a cult is successful, their domains are often found overgrown with writhing, barbed vines known as bloodknettle and riddled with shards of obsidian or other dark-colored crystals which seem to grow out of the very ground itself.

There is no worship of Mâl outside of destruction, and where its followers practice their dark arts, animals, plants and even sentient beings are often transformed by the unleashed magic of madness.

Temples to Mâl appear as enormous bird's nests of briars and thorns, with a small opening in the roof, and a chunk of obsidian serving as an altar. Druids meditate each night, praying for the dissolution of Mâl's bonds. These hidden cabals wish only for chaos to descend upon the civilized world, so that all will be destroyed, and they might gain the favor of Mâl.

## **Important Rituals**

Since his imprisonment, there is little detail concerning his practices. Cultists transform their bodies to what they believe a Mâlite looks like, implanting thorns under their skin or wrapping briars about themselves. In extreme cases, they may also embed obsidian shards in their flesh, or armor themselves in it using twisted Wood or Yang magic