[MitP; Deity] Caution: Mature Content

[ghost_warlock]

I was going to post this to the thread from the other day but, after going over it again, I decided it might need a disclaimer (particulary, the "Rites" section).

Vereor
The Unknown Darkness, the Source of Terror, the Dark Sun Rising
Greater Deity (Lawful Evil)

The deity of fear, Vereor teaches that every intelligent being holds a secret fear in their heart, a fear which can be used to gain power over them and, ultimately, control them. Vereor claims that, by following his teachings, his worshippers can unlock the secrets of these fears. Vereor is terrible to look upon, and the mere sight of his true, unholy form has the power to drive the viewer permanently mad. However, he usually disdains the use of this ability for its lack of subtlety. Thus, he keeps himself cloaked in thick, hooded robes with only four pinpricks of evil red light glittering unevenly within the hood of his robe. Still, he gains physical pleasure from the fear he inspires in others and so he often allows quick glimpses and subtle suggestions of his horrific form to those unfortunate enough to have personal dealings with him. He appears to do this for no other reason than the orgiastic pleasure he receives when their hearts start pounding and their stomachs clench in fear. The symbol of Vereor is four red dots arranged along an uneven line.
The power to inspire fear draws beings to Vereor from all walks of life. Likewise, many of his worshippers have been drawn to him after being bullied or otherwise experiencing a great fear in their lives. One of Vereor’s principle commandments is to seek out those who have inspired fear, and visit terror back upon them three times as terrible as that they originally wrought. In this way, Vereor paradoxically upholds bravery as a virtue – though he delights in watching such courage eventually wane or crumble.
Vereor teaches that fear is the original, and greatest, emotion. He teaches that every creature’s first thought is composed of fear – its first breath is released as a scream. Vereor holds that, to be true to your original, perfect being, you must experience, sow, and revel in fear. Furthermore, Vereor also holds life in a certain degree of reverence – a rare trait for a being as evil as he – but there is nothing truly virtuous about the matter. This preference for life is entirely due to the fact that the fear of living beings is so much more delicious than that of outsiders and planar petitioners.
A number of creation myths exist in circulation detailing how Vereor first came into being. Some claim that Vereor is the original inventor of fear. Others, however, claim that he was birthed when the first time an intelligent creature fell to the grip of panic. Perhaps, though, this sort of chicken-or-the-egg thinking is pointless for, in either case, Vereor is ancient beyond comprehension. His interest and presence on the Material Plane has waxed and waned in unpredictable cycles throughout history. Each time he focuses his attentions on the world of mortals, however, terror and insanity are the only result. Eventually, he will shift his attention to any of hundreds of other planes and worlds, but that shift could be decades, or even centuries, away.
Portfolio: Fear, revenge, darkness, insanity.
Domains: Darkness¹, Evil, Fear², Law, Madness¹.
Cleric Training: The training of Vereor’s clerics often takes place in one of two ways. First, applicants are locked in some infamous and terrible place where most would fear to tread, such as a tomb where undead are known to dwell. Often, they are given only the most rudimentary of supplies and allowed to wander, alone, and often in the darkness until such time as the church leaders feel the applicant has tasted true fear. Alternately, an individual who has, in the past, already been subjected to significant terrors, must seek out the instigator of this fear and visit horror back upon him threefold. Whatever the initiation, it is unlikely to end in the death of the applicant because church leaders monitor the entire rite from afar and usually intervene before the rite gets too far out of hand. However, as is widely circulated, death has been known to occur. The clerics of Vereor allow this rumor to spread and become exaggerated, if for no other reason than to push applicants along by invoking the fear of uncertainty.
Other than becoming clerics, several arcane spellcasters who revere Vereor enter the dread witch³ prestige class.
Quests: The clerics of Vereor constantly seek to draw the attention of their deity to the plane in which the clerics reside. Although little mortal magic is likely to result in the attentions or direct intervention of a deity of Vereor’s standing, and though they possess the knowledge the Vereor’s influence will likely lead to widespread terror and insanity (possibly even their own), church leaders seek these things regardless.
Other frequent tasks for church members are to, of course, bring the fear of Vereor to places where the god has not yet touched, or at least to places where the inhabitants have long rested securely without his fearful caress.
As with any temple, famed artifacts relating to Vereor and his portfolio are constantly being researched and quested after.
Prayers: Every instant of fear a being experiences is a prayer to Vereor. More specifically, his priests and clerics of Vereor also practice deep, hollow mantras as well as techniques designed to throw their voices to disturbing effect.
Temples: Temples to Vereor are typically in secluded, and sometimes “haunted” locales. As Vereor’s interest in a given plane wanes, some small or especially secluded temples seem to automatically become abandoned (in many cases becoming the eventual home of undead and other monsters). Likewise, as he focuses his thoughts and energies on a plane, these temples are re-inhabited while new ones spring up.
Rites: A certain, especially foul rite to Vereor involves the kidnapping of a child or other especially vulnerable loved one. While the family members squirm and search for the kidnapped child (sometimes being forced to cater to false ransom notes), the primary victim is subjected to rituals similar to those initiates to the temple undergo. All the while, church members seek to monitor and taunt all the victims of the evil rite. Although these rites almost exclusively end with the live return of the principle victim to his or her family, the child is usually scarred emotionally by the experience and is occasionally branded physically to mark them as a “Child of Vereor.”
With disturbing regularity, these “Children” eventually return to the church they were initially kidnapped by, or another branch of it, and end up becoming especially twisted leaders in the faith themselves.
Herald and Allies: Vereor typically sends a terror wight as his herald. He has many allies throughout the planes, including pit fiends and many other devils. He also has a fondness for ghosts who were killed in especially horrific ways and who have the horrific appearance special attack.
Favored Weapon: Spiked gauntlet.

¹ Described in Spell Compendium.
² Detailed below.
³ Found in Heroes of Horror.

Fear (New Domain)
Granted Power: Vereor teaches that all intelligent beings know the grasp of fear. Once per day, you can produce a greater terror effect. Using this ability adds the fear descriptor to any spell you cast. Creatures targeted by the spell modified by this effect must make a Will save (same DC as the original spell) or become shaken for 1d4 rounds; this is in addition to any other effects the spell might have. When this effect is applied to a spell that already has the fear descriptor, the effect becomes so potent that it becomes able to affect creatures normally immune to fear effects, such as paladins (although the subject still gets a saving throw to resist the spell's effect).
Add Intimidate to your list of class skills.

Fear Domain Spells
1. Bane
2. Scare
3. Fear
4. Phantasmal Killer
5. Nightmare
6. Symbol of Fear
7. Repulsion
8. Symbol of Insanity
9. Weird

[Hadrian_Emrys]

I do like the feel and flavor of this deity. The spiked gauntlet being the favored weapon is a cute final touch.

[ghost_warlock]

Thanks! The absence of a fear god/domain in D&D has annoyed me for a while now... Especially now that there's a Courage domain in the Spell Compendium. What good is courage if there's nothing to be afraid of?

I spent a while thinking about what weapon would be appropriate. I figured that, since the War domain wasn't in the mix it would have to be a simple weapon. With the flavor of the deity, it'd have to be something relatively small and concealable, yet kind of creepy to look at. And it'd have to be something sharp and pointy - like claws.

And since the net with fishhooks on hasn't been statted up and is likely an exotic weapon... ;)

[Cornugon]

An incredibly devious and evil read, full of nice little adventure ideas and mini-hooks. I do believe I shall at the very least use the fear domain, anything that can make a Paladin even have to roll a save vs. a fear effect is truly splendid.

[ExHunterEmerald]

Hmm, this is only encouraging me more to practice statting so I can make a monster that fits this perfectly...

[fangthane]

Here's a question... Given that this guy's clerics can cast Cause Fear and make a skeleton run for the hills, perhaps the Fear granted power could also specifically dictate that rebuking doesn't work regardless of other domains and that any creature normally able to be rebuked by an evil cleric/one with a particular elemental domain is turned instead?

In case you're going to tell me there's no elemental domain in Vereor's sheet, this is true - but you have to appreciate that people will rule 0 stuff and that kind of distinction would be helpful in adding some structure there.

[ghost_warlock]

Well, the greater terror effect can only be used once per day. And a creature has to be intelligent to be affected (Int 1+), effectively maintaining a skeleton's immunity.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I'm not really seeing the issue with the rebuking thing... And besides, clerics of Vereor would likely still channel negative energy, thus they technically couldn't turn undead and would have to rebuke them.

[fangthane]

Heheh I know, I was just sort of thinking about the flavour of a deity so horrific even the undead run in fear, despite the normal effect of an evil cleric's rebuke checks ;) I offer lots of options though, most bad - it's up to you to tell which are which :)

[ghost_warlock]

Updated for inclusion in Monsters in the Playground; please vote! :D

[Leperflesh]

This entry has my unequivocal and adamant

MitP vote: YES.

Well done.

However... I don't think the book should include one and only one new God. That's a bit strange. We need at least two or three more gods now. Everyone get cracking!

-Lep

[ghost_warlock]

Heroes of Horror only contains one new god. And, for some reason, it's a god of spite rather than fear. Wonder who came up with that idea... ::)

But I wouldn't be opposed to having some more deities in the book, it's up to the posters/voters, though! ;D