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Chaotic Evil Female Deity of Torture, Sadism, and Masochism named Enkiromanchu. Is just one of many deities. I have been using short four to ten word sayings to represent the dogmas of the different deities. This goddess will probably not be used in many campaigns of my world, but I still need doctrines for her. I cannot think of any dogmas and beliefs her followers would live by. Please nothing graphic in response just vague sayings.
Start by thinking of greetings and farewells.
Perhaps they greet by biting each other's palms... somewhat of a mockery of another deity whose followers greet by kissing palms, but also in keeping with her sadism and masochism portfolios. You might say a brief greeting then exchange bites.
"Her kiss is pleasure, her kiss is pain."
To say goodbye, you might go with something similar
"May her kiss bless you."
Think about how Torture, Sadism, and Masochism are going to interact... while Sadism and Masochism can involve torture, they are far more about pleasure than Torture, which is about inflicting pain that someone does not enjoy, not for your own enjoyment, but to achieve a goal. Obvious signs of having been tortured in the past would be a sign of devotion... or having been used for devotion. With Torture as a portfolio, you might go with an epigram like
"Pain brings truth."
"It is in the tools of Enkiromanchu is wisdom found."
You might also toss in a few extra lines.
"Her lash is swift, her manacles sure" to express pleasure at a development... Enkiromanchu has blessed this.
"You bear the lash well" would indicate pleasure with someone's performance.
"Your stripes are nothing" would be an insult; it indicates that the obvious scars of devotion that they have are weak, faded, and weren't that serious to begin with.
Her weapon could be a whip -- doesn't need to do a lot of damage since the object is to prolong the pain. "By her lash..." could be a key phrase as well. Which edition is this for?
Debby
I'm curious to hear more about the rest of the pantheon and cosmology, OP.
My initial reaction was that this seems awfully specific for something that's supposed to be a full-fledged god, complete with clerics and followers. I know that over the years and supplements D&D (3.5 at least) acquired hundreds of potential deities for clerics, but it can be hard to work to all into a campaign meaningfully. From your initial description it sounds like this might be a better fit for a non-deity power, a Lord (or Queen) of the Abyss or something like that.
It's not impossible of course- the greco-roman tradation had dozens (if not hundreds) of deities beyond the big 12 or 14 everyone knows. But there's a reason that most people today don't remember the ancient Roman toilet gods.
How followers of this godling communicate seems to depend a lot on how accepted worship of her is among the populace at large. Is it something that's seen as weird or creepy but generally not prejudiced against? Or does it have to be hidden away? For the latter, I would envision a series of coded phrases that wouldn't attract attention to the uninitiated but which true believers can use to identify one another. Something that might sound like a normal question but is phrased in a very specific way to alert someone else to give the right response, if they know it.
Regarding dogmas and beliefs, I can really see two different paths to take (either or both could be in play). The god is basically a god of hedonism, and because she's evil she appeals to and has no problem with counting sadists among her followers. The second option is that she's just evil in the general sense, and inflicting meaningless pain on someone else is a way to court her favor and show you your devotion.
If you give me more info on how everything else shakes out, maybe I can help you more with the backstory.
What kind of old wives tales and country superstitions would crop up to ward off this goddesses attention (like the evil eye?)
I'm thinking something like raising your left arm above your head as if to ward off a blow.
Never exposing your naked back in public, and maybe in private too.
Offering your arms touching at the wrist (as if to be bound) to your betters/superiors as a sign of contrition or submission.
Public ritual whippings on holy days to placate the priesthood or goddess. Probably using ribbon to prevent injury in areas where this church has no real influence and true scourging where it does.
It is for 2nd edition AD&D. The deities are very loose in my short pantheon. I only include a short two to three portfolios, alignment, dogma, symbols, and choice weapon of the deity.Quote:
Originally Posted by Debihuman
Grecian-Istanbul
True Neutral male deity of commerce and monetary transactions. His choice weapon is a quarterstaff and his symbol is a cart full of rich produce. (although maybe I should give that to the agrarian deity instead)
Pix-Istanbul
Neutral evil male deity of selfish leadership, slavery, and piracy. His choice weapon is a cutlass and his symbol is a fist to the sky. One of his main dogmas is "build your own destiny" and "might makes right"
These are just a few of the many that I have created. All ideas are welcome.
If you have access to any Forgotten Realms material, I'd suggest looking at Loviatar, that setting's Goddess of Pain. There's also a wiki for the setting if you google "Forgotten Realms Loviatar." That might provide a good starting point for ideas of how a religion devoted to pain can work.