Deities of Valt pt 6

As a quick introduction, Tantori is a dark horse deity for me.  I created him to kind of fill out the Silduggan pantheon, and was surprised at the reaction he got.  Not only did the back story I created for him fit, every time his clergy has shown up in my games, my players have reacted with extreme fear and outrage.  Due to this, he rapidly became one of my favorite gods in the game.

Tantori (tan-TORE-ee)

The Betrayer, Lord of Machinations, the Traitor Priest

NE Lesser Deity of the Soulvoid

 

Pantheon: Silduggan

Portfolio: Betrayal, treachery, nihilism

Domain: None

Allies: Silduggis

Foes: Any non-Silduggan deity

Superior: Silduggis

Symbol: Special (see Vestments, below)

Worshipper Alignment: LE, NE, CE

Favored Weapon: “Nihil” (Quarterstaff)

Cleric Domains: Evil, Destruction, Planning, Trickery

Summary: Tantori is the god of treason, traitors, and betrayers.  In the hierarchy of Silduggis’s three part plan, Tantori is the divine embodiment of division.  He focuses his attentions on dividing the sentient races against each other, fomenting war and conflict wherever he goes.  He is a phenomenal liar, and one of the greatest orators in creation, which makes him doubly dangerous.  The mere existence of his clerics is enough to plant doubt in the minds of normal clerics as to the loyalties of their fellow clergy members.

History/Relationships: Tantori was once a mortal man, a cleric of Lolmoro.  He journeyed across the face of Valt, spreading the faith of his god behind him.  In his youth he fought against evil and protected the weak.  Later, he ministered to the sick and injured, educated the ignorant, and made himself available as a guide, both social and spiritual.  His advice was highly sought after by heads of state as well as religious figures.  He believed that in devotion to goodness before any specific deity, and gave aid to many religions besides his own.  Even today, many holy texts from a variety of religions contain scriptures originally penned by Tantori.

                In his later years, his wisdom was so great that even the gods sent minions to him to receive his counsel, or to test that this man was indeed as wise as his reputation stated.  There was no philosophical question he could not answer, no conundrum so great that he could not make peace with it.

                Silduggis came to Tantori, possessing a mortal peddler.  At first the people of the church were afraid, but Tantori calmly told them that any being could be made to see reason, to understand the power and the light of good.  He took the Nothing Eyes into his temple, to converse with as he would any other seeker.  He never emerged.

                No one knows what Silduggis said or showed to Tantori.  Whatever it was was so terrible, so mind-shattering, that Tantori abandoned everything in his life.  He appeared to the most pure of the priests on Valt, so that none would think his conversion a deceit.  He claimed that all he had been living for was a lie.  His new path was one of nihilism.  Truly, a man who had once seemed to understand everything had now turned to nothing.

                Tantori’s elevation to divinity followed soon after.  Alone among the Silduggan deities, he serves the Nothing Eyes in order to see the Dark One’s plans for no personal gain.  Once Silduggis destroys everything, Tantori would happily submit to his own destruction.

                The Betrayer has very little in the way of relationships with other deities.  He is devoted to Silduggis, but has no particular loyalty to Silduggis’s other followers.  Boneburn was once his friend, when Tantori was a mortal, and the Mongrel has made many attempts to persuade his friend back to peace and reason.  Thus far these attempts have been ignored.

Manifestations: A manifestation of the Betrayer is rare.  Like his clerics, Tantori spends his time infiltrating other divine hierarchies and betraying them from within, convincing them to turn on other groups or on themselves in futile conflicts.  Devils and archangels alike fear his influence, and are ever on their guard for him.

                Rarely he will appear to a particularly wise or spiritual mortal.  He inevitably attempts to influence them to turn from their path and embrace nihilism.  Very few of these meetings result in conversion, however, lending credence to the beliefs of the Inevitable Turn.  (See below)

                When he does appear, it is always as he looked in life: a human male in his late forties.  His hair is gray, and he is clean shaven.  His face is always knowing and sad at the same time, as if he knows that all mortal actions are futile, but he is powerless to stop them.

THE CHURCH

                The Tantorites are an oddity in Valt.  They do not accept clerics who are merely worshippers of Tantori.  To be a member of their clergy, one must have formerly been a cleric of a non-Silduggan deity who converted.

Priests: Tantorites

Alignment: CE, NE, LE

Classes: Cleric, blackguard (former paladins only), druid (blighter, former druids only)

Dogma: All that you know shall pass away.

Day-to-Day activities: Clerics of Tantori insinuate themselves into normal clergies.  (Usually ones that they were former members of.)  From there, they subtly manipulate things in small ways, in order to bring about the largest destruction.  Although they are very well coordinated, and stay in regular contact with one another, each member is largely autonomous.  They frequently use adventurers or lay members of the church as cat’s-paws.

                One nearly unifying trait is the spread of the rumor of the Osperi.  According to myth, the Osperi are relics from before mortals came to Valt.  Items of ancient magic or powerful lore, these artifacts are capable of inflicting great harm to the minions or agenda of Silduggis.  Rumor of their existence continues to circulate throughout Valt, despite there being no confirmed proof of the existence of a single one.  The Osperi are almost certainly a lie created by the Tantorites, but many believe in them anyway.

Worship Locations: None.  The church does not meet as a single entity.  Each of their members is a lone agent.

Affiliated Orders: None.

Apostasy: The Inevitable Turn is a movement within the Tantorite religion with no real organization.  About five percent of Tantorites are members, however.  Believers in the Inevitable Turn believe that as the god of betrayal and lies, when the last moment comes, Tantori will destroy Silduggis before destroying himself.  They may be of CN alignment if they wish, and have access to the Retribution domain.  Other than this, they have no major divergence from the practices and beliefs of other Tantorites.  Unlike other apostasies, there is no resentment between those of the mainstream religion and those of the Inevitable Turn.

Vestments: Tantorites wear the same thing as whatever kind of priest they are pretending to be.  Their holy symbol is the same as whatever god they previously worshipped, but blackened, scarred, and mutilated.  They frequently wear double sided holy symbols, with the regular one in front and the secret, defaced one on the hidden side.

Holy Days/Ceremonies: None.

Oath: The Oath of Conviction.  If a cleric with this oath is slain, he or she is consumed by the Soulvoid.  They may never be raised or resurrected by any means.  In exchange, their alignment is always treated as being the same as whatever deity they worshipped before converting to Tantori’s church.  The ability to mask their alignment in this way is a supernatural ability that can be suppressed at will.