Shame (Primordial)

*The preacher finished his sermon, and the congregation was dismissed. A few moments passed before a young cleric, a new convert to their religion, approached him with a quizzical look. The preacher smiled as she approached.*

*"Father, a question for you. You mentioned Occreos, the god of war, and how he had three champions in his service during the Demon Wars, but then went on to only describe two. Are you saving the third for a future address?"*

*The priest nodded solemnly before opening up his book. On the pages, sketched in ancient paints, were the faces of two heavily-armored orcs, with a third crossed out with a large black hash. Whatever name this champion had was erased, instead replaced by a character from the ancient script representing the word "Shame".*

*"His name was lost to time, my child," the priest responded. "Our ancestors write about this third champion, now only called 'Shame', who failed the great conqueror, Occreos. The story is written as this champion sparing an enemy general, believing his lesson learned, and that same general growing once more and enacting a genocide on our people. Occreos was furious, and the champion fell, finding solace in the only place that would take him: the fiery pits of the eight hells."*

*The girl's eyes widened.*

*"So he fell? Never to return?"*

*"The first bit is correct, yes," the priest responded. He looked up longingly to the depictions of Occreos in the stained glass ceiling, and the blank panel left where the champion used to reside. "But you know our teachings. Honor and glory can always be reclaimed. It will not be easy for Shame to redeem himself, but I believe Occreos awaits him with an open seat in his halls."*

## Shame, Fallen Warrior

Shame is a fallen champion of Occreos, the god of war. In a rare moment of vulnerability on the battlefield, Shame spared an enemy general who went on to commit egregious war crimes. Having lost all respect and honor in the eyes of his lord, Shame was banished to the eight hells, where he searched endlessly for a manner by which to reclaim his seat at the side of Occreos.

Centuries in the realm of fiends have made Shame ruthless and cold. He believes his only chance of redemption is to bring justice to the immoral conquerors of the Material Plane, but his methods have grown cruel and gruesome. He has equated carnage and torture with righteousness, and employs any individuals willing to bring his brand of justice to those he feels deserve it. Shame not only wants to prove himself worthy again to Occreos, but he wants to do so very publicly so that the world may know his name once again. The most common calling-card of his work is a mangled corpse impaled with a blood-red pike, an upside-down flag of Occreos flying from its handle.

Many of those who turn to helping Shame are prior or current followers of Occreos who want to make his court whole once again. While his plight may seem relatable on the surface, those who involve themselves more deeply with Shame's methods soon learn that he has been driven far past the point of redemption, and he is now nothing more than a self-serving murderer. Those in Shame's court often hide themselves secretly from the rest of Occreos's followers, having become a small sect within the religion that believe they are making their church whole again.

### As a Patron

Shame can be very open-ended - as a DM, you can decide whether he is just misguided and corrupted by the power of the eight hells, or if he truly no longer has a chance to be redeemed. This can be reflected in the tasks and relationship he has with his warlocks, eventually culminating into a final redemption quest to bring him back into the halls of Occreos, or a feud with the church for tarnishing their name. There is potential here for Shame to be the patron of a good-aligned warlock, a paladin of conquest or redemption, or even some cleric deities, depending on how you approach it.

Warlocks of Shame are often sent on missions to end feuds or conflict of malevolent entities, which on the surface, is the right thing to do. Something like clearing out a tribe of invading goliaths from a small town, toppling an evil military commander, or freeing an imprisoned group of freedom fighters so they may continue to rebel are all in the wheelhouse of Shame's asks. Where the morality lies, though, is in Shame's preferred methods. He does not just want you to kill an evil warlord, he wants you to make the warlord cry for his mother. He does not just want the freedom fighters out of prison, he wants someone tortured to find out where they are being kept. Shame is a firm believer in the ends justifying the means.

What's more, is Shame will ask his warlocks to make it very obvious that he is the one that sent them. Warlocks of Shame often wear inverted colors of the church of Occreos, and leave calling cards at each of their quest sites. Shame hates subtlety and deception; he wants it loud and clear to both the world and hopefully his former god that his work has been done. His usual warlocks are those that feel they have lost their honor or disgraced themselves - a patron of the exiled and the scorned.

### Pact Boons

* *Pact of the Blade:* a crimson pike with the flag of Occreos hanging from its handle upside down, and when you leave it impaled in a slain foe, you can conjure a copy of it to leave the first where it was.
* *Pact of the Tome:* a history book of old military commanders and their methods, with detailed descriptions of tactics for each spell you copy into it.
* *Pact of the Chain:* an armored pseudodragon with a brand on its tail, so that when you kill a foe, it can leave Shame's symbol burned into the corpse's head.

### Extra Gifts

* Shame realizes you need to defend yourself better against your foes, so as a reward, he has granted you Medium/Heavy Armor/Shield proficiency.
* When you slay a creature with your Pact Weapon, you can let loose a war cry, and immediately grant a teammate of yours a d6 inspiration die.
* When you are at your lowest, Shame can possess you and lead you to victory. Once per long rest, if an attack takes you below half health, you can enter a rage as per the Barbarian feature, but you have disadvantage on attack rolls against all creatures other than the one Shame designates as your target.

### Flavoring the Warlock

* Anytime I lose any sort of competition, I hang my head in shame. Whether this is a one on one duel or a simple drinking game in a tavern, the pain is the same.
* I loudly proclaim my own name when I charge into battle.
* Sometimes while I am sleeping, I will sleepwalk and stare wistfully into the distance somewhere.

### Plot Hooks

* *(Low Level):* a fort of hobgoblins have taken over the supply routes for a small town, and Shame wants you to inspire the townsfolk and lead an assault on their keep. However, in front of the townsfolk, the hobgoblin warlord begs for mercy, and Shame commands you to decapitate him in front of the people.
* *(Mid Level):* an exiled swordsman has found himself a war prisoner in a high security prison, and he has reached out to Shame for assistance. You are to break this prisoner out and free him, so that he may redeem himself - however, when you meet the guy, you realize he may not have been very sincere.
* *(High Level):* a solar of the god of war has recently been designated to ascend to his right hand, filling Shame's previous seat. Realizing this would eliminate his chances at redemption forever, Shame has brought you to the Halls of the War God to do battle alongside him against this solar. However, now, you must choose: do you side with your patron, or do you turn on him and end his eternal suffering?