God of Disasters and Disease

The Birth of Salamthur:

Laul, entirely dissatisfied with the peaceful nature of his first born son, vowed to have another. It is said that Laul descended to some of the darkest, most forbidden places in the Astral Plane; drawing on powers that even a God must be wary of. There it is said he harnessed the darkest of dreams and most furtive of whispers. Hollowing the skull of a long-dead swamp witch, fore-tellers of disaster, Laul brewed a foul concoction. Crawling from the brew was Salamthur, a powerful God that began to wreak havoc upon the Astral Plane and its worlds. Disease ran rampant, countries were swallowed by the tides and whole civilizations were overturned by the power Salamthur suddenly brought to the world. The Gods, dismayed at the thought of another God like Azguraal, who still railed against his chains, attempted to contain Salamthur also. However, the power of Salamthur had already been released, and attempting to contain the God made what he had released stronger. Plagues sweeping across worlds and cities on the brink of collapse, Salamthur was released in the hope he would bring some balance to a now dangerous Astral Plane. With Salamthur released, the aspects of his domain were brought under his control, lessened, but never truly gone and the universe was changed forevermore.

The Gods, Salamthur included, were fearful of what else may come about as a result of more Gods entering the universe. Iambulus proposed that the Gods entered a pact, no more Gods were to be born. Fearful as to what the entrance of new Gods would do, the pact was struck.

Appearance:

Salamthur, understandably, does not spend much time on Ianis. When he does however, and when he chooses to appear to mortals, a more sorrowful figure there has never been. Salamthur appears as a young, cloaked man clad in a wet, torn cloak that trails along the ground. Salamthur is long in the face and has about him an air of incredible sorrow, he has seen all that his birth has wrought. But what turns mortals away most of all is the empty eye sockets and endless, flowing tears.

Temperament:

Salamthur, above all else, is regretful. He understands that his presence in the universe causes the disasters that he is lord over. Salamthur does not wish to cause these things, but they occur nevertheless. He is a morose, mournful and despair-filled God. To him, everything is a mere distraction before the next disaster, an event that Salamthur can never prevent despite his best efforts. Mortals can attempt to pray to Salamthur to guard against any disasters, but such prayers only add to the Gods despair. Salamthur hears every prayer, but can do nothing to fulfill them. Outside of his sphere of influence, Salamthur can provide aid to mortals, but often sees no point.

Worship:

Worship of Salmthur is almost universally a futile task. He rarely fulfills prayers and cares little for the direct affairs of mortals, preferring instead to spend his time lamenting his inability to prevent the disasters that come from his power. This does not stop prayers being offered to him however before and after something awful, such as a bought of Iron Blood. Salmthur will hear these prayers like any God and try to ease the pain he has caused, but often can’t. Very rarely particularly deranged individuals will see Salamthur as a kind of cleansing harbinger and worship him as a force of destruction. Salmthur does not encourage such behavior, but he is unable to truly prevent it, adding to his grief.

Salamthur’s First Appearance!

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