Betrayer Gods

The **Betrayer Gods** are the Creator deities who chose not to fight against the Primordials during the Founding. Vecna is also typically grouped with the Betrayer Gods, despite not being a Creator.

## **History**

### **The Founding**

The gods who brought life to Exandria are called Creators. When the Primordials came to retake the world during the Founding, the gods disagreed on their course of action. Those who would later become the Prime Deities wished to fight back against these forces. The Betrayer Gods preferred instead to let the world fall into chaos so they could start again elsewhere and left their creations behind. The Prime Deities gifted the people of the world with arcane magic so they could protect themselves without the direct aid of the gods. With this gift, the people of Exandria not only destroyed the Primordials but banished the Betrayer Gods to other planes that would serve as their prisons.

### **The Age of Arcanum**

The prevalence of arcane magic gave rise to the Age of Arcanum, during which the people of Exandria became arrogant and challenged the gods. Inspired by the ascension of The Raven Queen, Archmage Vespin Chloras, seeking power, released the Betrayer Gods from their prisons. However, the long imprisonment had twisted the deities who had once built the world, and they now sought to corrupt and destroy it. They betrayed Chloras, enthralling him, and built the dark city of Ghor Dranas from which they could wage war on Exandria. They began with a brutal attack on Vasselheim, which survived, albeit with heavy casualties, thanks to the intervention of the Prime Deities. However, the damage was much more far-reaching; seeing the destruction in Vasselheim, the people of Exandria began building weapons and magical items that could kill gods and went to war.

### **The Calamity and the Divergence**

The Calamity was a war between the Prime Deities and Betrayer Gods, and many of their mortal creations perished in battle. The world they had once created together was permanently scarred, and only a third of the population survived. The Betrayer Gods were banished again to their realms, but the Prime Deities chose to leave as well, believing their involvement in Vasselheim had been a precipitating factor. They implemented the Divine Gate, which prevented all of the Creators, Betrayer and Prime alike, from physically entering the Material Plane. This event would later be known as The Divergence.

### **Vecna**

*Main article: Vecna*
Vecna was a mortal archmage who became a lich during the Age of Arcanum. He and his former lieutenant Kas the Bloody-Handed destroyed each other in battle prior to the Calamity. For centuries, he gathered followers, and ascended to godhood during the time of Vox Machina. Vox Machina sealed him behind the Divine Gate shortly afterward. From that moment he started being considered a Betrayer God, and his symbol was magically included in certain monuments honoring these deities, such as Betrayers' Rise.

### **The return of Predathos**

During the apogee solstice of 843 PD, Ludinus Da'leth's plan to release Predathos from its prison culminated with the activation of his Malleus Key, releasing a beam of energy that started damaging the magical cage around Ruidus. While the process was very slow (possibly thanks to the sabotages made by Caleb Widogast, Beauregard Lionett and Bells Hells), this raised deep concern among all the deities. One of the Betrayer Gods, Asmodeus, sent at least one of his champions, Teven Klask, to Exandria, in order to help the gods' cause, even helping the followers of the Prime Deities if necessary. This devilish warrior confirmed that all the main gods of the Exandrian pantheon had declared a partial truce to deal with the common threat posed by the Red End.

When Fresh Cut Grass asked Evontra'vir about a possible future in which the gods faced the worst outcome, the Great Tree of Atrophy showed them a vision of a lattice shattering and beings made of shadow and light (the Betrayer Gods and the Prime Deities, presumably) being chased away by the red light of Predathos.

## **Deities**

All of the Betrayer Gods are evil-aligned.

## **Allies of the Betrayers**

Beyond the main group of the Betrayer Gods are a number of lesser deities, demigods, and idols that are connected to their cause:

* **Archdevils**, who despite having their own individual agendas are under the service of the Lord of the Nine Hells
* **Demon lords**, who despite their differences made alliances to fight the Prime Deities during the Calamity
	+ **Orcus**, the Demon Prince and god of undead, usually called a servant of the Betrayer Gods but sometimes identified as a Betrayer God himself
* **Desirat**, a fiendish phoenix that acted as mount for Asmodeus
* **Luthic**, a cave goddess allied with Gruumsh the Ruiner (possibly)
* **Quajath**, a fiendish giant worm that acted as scout for its creator, Torog
* **Vesh**, the Bloody Siren, occasionally connected with the Betrayer Gods or even considered one of them

## **Trivia**

* The Pantheon of Exandria is taken from the Dawn War Deities, with the addition of Sarenrae, a *Pathfinder* deity. The Betrayer Gods are the evil-aligned deities from this pantheon.
* The lesser deities allied with the main Betrayers are sometimes called Betrayer Gods themselves.
* Since their cults are not as widespread in mortal societies, the Betrayer Gods are even more eager to have champions of their own to help them influence Exandria in a more direct and active way.

## **Notes**

1. ↑ It is not clear if Luthic has active presence in Exandria. While orogs, a type of orc created by her influence, do live in this world and appear in *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, Luthic is never explicitly mentioned, and the Critical Role sourcebook doesn't specify if the orogs use only the stat block from the *Monster Manual* or also the lore tied to it.

## **References**

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 12.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 27.
3. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 11.
4. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 13.
5. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, pp. 13–14.
6. ↑ See "The Endless Atheneum" (1x106) at 1:17:39.
7. ↑ See "Breaching the Emberhold" (1x06) at 1:23:20.
8. ↑ See "Vecna, the Ascended" (1x114) at 5:26:00.
9. ↑ See *Call of the Netherdeep*, p. 68.
10. ↑ See "Bloody Flowers" (3x67) from 4:26:11 through 4:27:20.
11. ↑ See "Roots Between Worlds" (3x74) at 3:30:09.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 26.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 28.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 29.
15. ↑ See "Beneath Bazzoxan" (2x66) at 2:14:41.
16. ↑ See *Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting*, p. 56.
17. ↑ See "The Temple Showdown" (1x11) at 4:21:40.
18. ↑ See "Escape from the Underdark" (1x13) at 0:23:30.
19. ↑ See "Voice of the Tempest" (1x90) at 1:26:11.
20. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 31.
21. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 113.
22. ↑ See *D&D: Monster Manual*, 5th ed., p. 247.
23. ↑ See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 32.
24. ↑ See "*4-Sided Dive*: A Very Special Six-Sided Dive" (4SDx14) at 0:28:01.  Matt suggested Vesh when Emily Axford asked for a "stupid" Betrayer God, so it's possible that in the places she's worshiped as a goddess she's considered part of the Betrayers, or even that she's related to one of them.
25. ↑ See *D&D: Dungeon Master's Guide*, 5th ed., p. 10.
26. ↑ See "Voice of the Tempest" (1x90) at 1:26:11.
27. ↑ The entry for the Arms of the Betrayers says "before the Calamity, eight of the Betrayer Gods" crafted those weapons, possibly implying that at that point there were already more than eight deities on the Betrayer Gods' side, or possibly just excluding Vecna, who only became a god centuries later. See *Explorer's Guide to Wildemount*, p. 30.
28. ↑ See "*4-Sided Dive*: Why, Matthew?! Why?" (4SDx15) at 0:11:30.

**Art:**

1. ↑ Holy Symbols of the Betrayer Gods, by Claudio Pozas (source). Used with permission.