Solvik

**Solvik** (Pronounced: Soal-VIK) also known as the Lord of Hate, The Oncoming Night, and The Eternal Darkness is one of the most feared deities in all the lands.

## Personality

Solvik's motives seem to be erratic, and mysterious even to those in his faith save those he considers his most trusted. Ascension through the ranks of Solvikian religion is difficult, but to those who rise he rewards with dark secrets no mortal seems to be able to share the knowledge of. Solvik despises sight, and those that wish to appease him in the utmost often either cover their eyes with a mask of sorts or pluck out their eyes entirely in a wicked ritual of faith. To those poor souls who draw the attention of Solvik or his followers and make no attempts to appease his ideology find themselves as rivals for life. He does not forgive transgressions, and stops at nothing to punish them.

As a force of destruction and darkness, the very existence of Solvik is paradoxical; he was brought into existence by the creation of the Nether, but was the living embodiment of the void, the perfect nothing that existed before he was born. The emptiness that he originally reflected had itself been erased at the start of time, and he longs to return to the ancient calm of nonexistence. And so he seeks to disrupt order, bring down established systems, and undo everything.

## Worshipers

People turn to Solvik's dark embrace in order to forget, whether for pain at the loss of a loved one or bitterness of betrayal. Those who are blind, particularly blinded later in life by the cruelty or carelessness of others, often pray to him for guidance. Those who sink deep in depression also often pray to Solvik. Though they all know him to be dark and vindictive, they come to him anyway in the desperate belief that he and his clergy will give solace. Those who are consumed by bitterness, loss, and vengefulness venerate, or at least pay lip service to him in order to seek appeasement. Additionally, creatures who avoid or despise light, those who operated at night (like thieves and killers), and those with something to hide or bury pray to Solvik for guidance.

### Clergy

Clerics of Solvik are taught to keep accurate records of all the events around them, and are sometimes used as Historians for their diligent recordkeeping if those that seek them do not mind the dark price they must often pay for that knowledge. They pray for spells in the dead of night, and blindfold themselves during prayer.

## History

### Dark Speech

In ancient times Solvik created a primordial language of power that he used to spread fear, kill rival demigods, and collapse planes of existence. The knowledge of this language is a closely guarded secret to Solvik's clergy, and the only written text that describes how to speak it is said to be contained within the pages of The Book of Vile Darkness. Wars have been fought over the knowledge of this language, and it is outlawed in every major Kingdom in current times.

### Dark Secrets

Solvik is said to know secrets of hidden from almost every other being, or god. It is theorized that he is able to know everything written down, but many times it seemed that his followers contained knowledge not written in any tomes. One of the most commonly known of secrets that the clergy of Solvik know is the ritual to become a Lich.