Basic Information
ALIGNMENT:
Lawful Evil
GENDER:
Male
TITLE(S)/ALIASES:
- Set
- Father of Jackals
- The Burning Wind
PRIMAL ENERGY:
Red / Green
PORTFOLIO:
tyranny, evil, the Southron Desert, desert heat and winds
REALM:
Xoac keeps a barracks full of bestial warriors in Acheron
SYMBOL:
a cobra head with flared hood
FAVORED WEAPON:
The Obsidian Edge (scimitar)
FAVORED ANIMALS:
jackals, scorpions, cobras, carrion eaters
FAVORED MONSTERS:
Stingers, elder serpents
FAVORED COLORS:
brown, black
Distinctive Characteristics
Personality: A cold and calculating deity, Xoac is the jealous personification of evil. He always acts against the interests of mankind and the deities of good. Despite his loathsome nature, Xoac takes good care of his followers and will not willingly betray or abandon his people. Xoac is patient and organized, understanding that the most successfully laid plans need time to work. It was he who browbeat the other evil gods to serve him. Xoac is content to sit back and watch the world, serenely studying his enemies and noting weaknesses. He is quick to pounce on any opportunity guaranteed to bring him more power, however, and will stop at nothing to achieve what he most desires; the sands of the wasting desert to cover all the Land, and all otherworld beings subservient to him. It was Xoac who gave the sand shapers their purpose and power, and only in the highest levels were they aware that they were effectively his most powerful priests.
History: Back during the Uncivilized Times, Nephythys was once married to Xoac. She bore him one child, the saurian demigod Sebek. Xoac, who was called Set during that time, rejected the child and Nephythys, reasoning that it was her fault that she bore a monster. Inconsolable and desperate for a normal child, she attempted to seduce her sister’s husband Osiris. This was Set’s plan all along, and he took advantage of his brother-in-law’s weakened state to murder him. After Set killed Osiris, she abandoned him and her son completely and confessed to Mystique about everything. The pair took Osiris’s dead body and mummified him, bringing him back to life as a god of undeath. Displeased with this development, it would take Xoac another hundred years before he and his Hounds of Xoac were able to kill the mummy lord again. This time Xoac hid the body in the plane between planes and set his Hounds to guard it.
Xoac has disguised himself and his intentions behind a veneer of nobility for the Mazone. To the Hierarchs, he is Ratul, Deity of the Sun and the Wind and Ruler of the Sands. He has been made a part of their Triad of worship, in addition to the shadowy Tiwaz and the winegod Bach. His ultimate purpose in this is unknown.
Description: Xoac manifests his avatar as a wiry blackskinned human male with a cobra’s head, always fully flared. His eyes glow red and his fingers end in talons. He is dressed like the ancient sand shapers in a kaftan made of golden linens and carries an obsidian scimitar. He has a large venomous scorpion tail.
Manifestations: Omens from the Father of Jackals comes in the form of a carrion-eater, usually a vulture, taking an interest in the petitioner, or from a sudden blast of hot desert wind.
Kinships
Allies: The Saqra pantheon, the Triad, Maglubigek, Bargrikhul, Ilneval, Surtr, Selvetarm
Opponents/Rivals: The Allin pantheon, the Kupap pantheon, Kikanuti, Corellon Larethian, Moradin, Yondalla, Garl Glittergold, Lydia Puretone, Shekinester, Verenestra, Sehanine Moonbow, Alathrien Druanna, Mrrshaulk, Semuanya, Sess’inek
Relationships: Xoac has long tried to woo the Spider Queen Lloth, but she has resisted his attempts at alliance and more. He has managed to befriend Selvetarm. Xoac has also attempted to reach out to the Crawler Below, but has gotten nowhere with the creature. He continually denies and rejects the progeny he begat; Sebek, who split into the three reptilian deities Mrrshaulk, Semuanya, and Sess’inek.
The Church
The Church of Ra
Dogma: The ends justify the means, and life is a struggle to be won by the powerful and the ruthless. The weak have no place among the strong. Keep that in mind as you conquer and destroy. Loyalty to one’s comrades is an admirable trait, and in the end, when Xoac rules all those that have served him will be justly rewarded. Good is a lofty ideal, but the reality is that all are evil in one way or another. Do not be hypocrites like the good deities, but embrace your true nature. Elevate yourselves, for power is the only guide to true immortality. True power lies in the sands.
Core Worshippers: Evil creatures, assassins, blackguards, rogues, brigands, bandits, criminals, tomb robbers, wizards
Clerical Alignments: LE, LN, NE, N
Clergy Titles/Structure: Priests and priestesses of Xoac are known as jakkals, a deliberate mispronunciation of his favorite animal. Jakkal vestments consist of pure black kaftans with various colored belts and a small cobra (scarf) wrapped around the neck. The church of Ra is ordered by a strict hierarchy answering directly to the Spear of Darkness.
Titles for the jakkals include the Hatchlings (basic black kaftans), the Neolates (the belt is made of blue leather, the Snakelets (the belt is made of yellow leather), the Carrionfeeders (the belt is made of red leather), and the Spear of Darkness (the high priest, the belt is made of gold leather, and the priest is shaved bald).
Clergy Special Duties & Restrictions: Jakkals pray for their spells at night, whenever the land is darkest. Jakkals are not permitted to betray members of their order and must always work to promote the “brotherhood of evil”. However, they are charged to undermine the overthrow the worship and rule of the Allin pantheon, specifically any that are affiliated with the Mystic Sisters and Corrus.
Clergy Special Power: Jakkals gain the ability to cast the cantrip word of radiance as a reaction, and the damage dealt changes from radiance to necrotic.
Holy Days: The Church of Ra has no formal holy days. Rather, they perform their important ceremonies and sacrifices every time they achieve a major victory in the battle against the tyranny of good.
Chosen: Ebon. Aura of Hardy. Empathy anomaly. Boon of Planar Travel.
Shadows of Dakaron 