• Name: Cyris Carnithrax Maximus
• Allegiance: Gods of Civilization
• Portfolio: Punishment, Endurance, Suffering, Martyrdom, Eternal Vigilance, Striving Against the Inevitable, Patron of Non-evil Undead
• Titles: Blessed Afflictor, Enemy of Entropy, Exalted Interrogator, General of Avernus, Guardian of the Holy Mountain, Praetor-Pontifex of Deckon Thar, Sacred Parasite, The One Who Endures, The Willing Whip, First Servant of the Iron-Faced God
• Symbols: A spiked crown of bone and iron; A skull encased in ice; A broken hourglass; A blood-stained rack; A nine-tailed scourge
• Worshiper Alignments: LG, LN, LE, TN, NE
• Core Doctrine: Enlightened rule by the dead is preferable to the misguided failures of the living.
• Edicts:
  • Oppose the works of Duvan’ku at any cost.
  • Teach the masses that undead are not to be feared.
  • Unearth and claim the powers of Ancient Nog for the order.
  • Oppose chaos, disorder, entropy, and criminality in all its forms.
  • Allow none to die without being made useful again (i.e. into an undead).
• Anathema:
  • Destroying a sentient undead creature.
  • Allowing a law-breaker to go unpunished.
  • Allowing those not of the faith to learn of Ancient Nog.
  • Allowing a servant of Duvan’ku to live.
  • Retreating from any battle or challenge, no matter how hopeless.
• Allied Faiths: Chauntea, Grimnir, Mask, Tyr
• Enemy Faiths: Duvan’Ku, Kelemvor, Talos
• Pesudonyms: Ilmater (historic), Loviatar (historic)

Base Requirements

• Races: Human, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Half-Ogre, Tiefling
• Base Class: Cleric
• Ability Requirements: Knowledge 14, Intuition 12, Fitness 12
• Alignments: Lawful
• Starting Cash: by class

Proficiencies

• Weapon Slots: By class
• Allowed Weapons: Any Sword that can be wielded in two hands, Any Flail
• Allows Armor: Chainmail or lighter armor. No shields.
• Bonus Weapon Proficiencies: none
• Required Weapon Proficiencies: none

• Non-weapon Slots: By class
• Available Groups: Spiritual, Academic, and Martial
• Bonus Proficiencies: Administration, Ancient History, Arcanology, Burial Customs
• Required Proficiencies: Ancient Languages (Noga)
• Recommended Proficiencies: Alertness, Battle Command, Ceremony, Dark Sense, Excavations, Fasting, Inquisitor, Law, Literacy, Mountaineering, Relic Dating, Tactics, Undead Lore.
• Forbidden Proficiencies: none

Priest Spheres:

• Major: All, Charm, Combat, Divination, Law, Necromantic, Numbers, Time
• Minor: Healing, Protection

Overview: The Blessed Afflictor, Praetor-Pontifex Cyris Carnithrax Maximus was once a mighty general and religious leader of the Noga, leading the vast undead armies of Nog in their conquests and gathering great sacrifices to be fed to Duvan’Ku in their attempts to awaken the ender of days. Eventually, Cyris saw the error of the Noga scheme to awaken Duvan’Ku and turned against his fellows, creating a sacred parasite to intercept and devour the souls meant for the Nogese deity. While Cyris was defeated and imprisoned in the temple of Duvan’Ku in Deckon Thar, the sacred parasite continued, delaying the awakening of the destroyer for tens of millenia.

During his millenia of rest, bound as an undead servitor in the temple of his enemy, the Blessed Afflictor continued to grow in power, strengthened by the souls captured by the sacred parasite, eventually becoming a minor god in his own right. While eventually freed, the Blessed Afflictor only won his freedom by the slow awakening of Duvan’Ku. Once free, the Blessed Afflictor withdrew to the realm of Baator, where he and his undead legions continue to strive to stave off the inevitable dissolution of the world. Since achieving his freedom, the Blessed Afflictor has managed to amass a small, but loyal priesthood, mostly in and around the city of Hillsfar.

Following the events of the Day of Black Sun, the Blessed Afflictor has absorbed most of the faithful of both Ilmater and Loviatar, greatly increasing the power of his church, though the temple in Hillsfar remains the center of his worship.

Description: The few priests of the Blessed Afflictor , while strictly lawful, have yet to establish a formal hierarchy or orders. As they largely hail from Hillsfar, they tend to be militaristic, dressing in chainmail topped by the red cloaks so common in their city and tall crowns made of bones and iron, which serve as their holy symbols. Those that have done battle directly with followers of Duvan’Ku prominently wear the broken holy symbols of their foes, displayed on belts, amulets, or chains.

Role-Playing: Priests of the Blessed Afflictor exist for one express purpose, to oppose Duvan’Ku, his followers, and his eventual awakening and destruction of the world. They refer to themselves as realistic optimists, simultaneously utterly bleak and truly hopeful, knowing that the end of the world is inevitable, but striving to delay it as long as possible. They are completely amoral, using any means to achieve their ends, and willing to sacrifice millions if it means prolonging the demise of the Realms just one more day.

Special Abilities:

• Priests of the Blessed Afflictor are well steeped in Nogese history and lore, and may choose to become Mystics of Nog, despite not being wizards (substituting priest spell slots for wizard spell slots when purchasing mystical abilities).
• Priests of the Blessed Afflictor are able to Command Undead, as a Cleric of their level.
• Priests of the Blessed Afflictor are totally immune to the effects of normal cold. Against magical cold effects (such as a cone of cold spell or white dragon breath), the priest gains a +4 bonus on his saving throws and suffers 2 fewer points of damage per die (minimum 1 damage).
• Priests of the Blessed Afflictor are immune to the paralytic touch of ghouls, ghasts, and similar undead. Furthermore, they get a saving throw vs. death to defend against the level-draining abilities of undead such as spectres, wights, wraiths, or vampires.
• A priest of the Blessed Afflictor of at least 8th level, automatically attracts a body of followers, both men drawn by his charisma and creatures drawn by the power of their god. These special followers arrive whether or not the priest has established a temple or base of operations. These followers will freely accompany the priest on his adventures and aid him in whatever way they can. These followers consist of 1 Wight, 2 Crypt Servants, 2 3rd-level Priests of the Blessed Afflictor, and 9 1st-level Fighters. The undead followers are intelligent and serve the priest of their own free will. They do not count against the limit on the number of undead that the priest can control. These followers are received in place of, rather than in addition to, the followers normally attracted by a cleric.

Special Disadvantages:

• Clerics of the Blessed Afflictor use the Specialty Priest chart for level advancement, rather than the Cleric chart.
• Priests and servants of Duvan’Ku hate the Blessed Afflictor more than any other being, save perhaps Grimnir who originally killed and imprisoned their god, and will attack priests of the Blessed Afflictor on sight.

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