Preferred Role: Elder God
Sphere: Harshness, including the aspects of suffering, challenge, and obscured knowledge.
Appearance: A massive ancient throne of obsidian. It is covered in carvings of strange runes, and is adorned with curving barbed spikes resembling buttresses. The head of the throne features an elaborate engraving of mortals dying in horrible ways. From on the seat of the throne comes a constant piercing keen of absolute agony, which can be heard from miles away, and constant streams of bright crimson lifeblood, which spill over the throne and run off. As the blood spills into the crevasses of the carved runes, they glow with a bloody luminescence. Surrounding the throne is a menagerie of infinite size. The menagerie contains a specimen of everything that ever exists, will exist, or has existed, in every possible state it was ever in or would ever be in, though all of them are stained in blood both fresh and old. The objects in the menagerie constantly move about with no apparent rhyme or reason. At any moment, some of them dart toward the throne at the center, moving at various speeds, and strike the space directly above the seat, drawing renewed splashes of blood, accompanied by an intensified burst of screaming. The entirety of the god is shrouded in unnatural darkness which obscures the menagerie, with an oasis of bloody runic light surrounding the bloody throne.
Description: The god Arathea, usually known by the name The Malevolence, is the cosmic force of destruction and hardship. While not an evil god, it is a very cruel one. It exists to counterbalance the constructive forces of reality, providing opposition to forces such as evolution and mortal advancement, which would otherwise spiral out of control and cause life to gain an undue advantage. Arathea is the embodiment of pain, suffering, and misfortune, and seeks to cause such to mortals. It seeks to provide threats to heroes and civilization, but rewards them for overcoming hardship. It also seeks to obscure knowledge and keep secrets hidden. Arathea is not often worshipped, as it is viewed as a god of ill fortune. Its symbol is a scimitar made of silver, with a jagged sawlike edge a grip menacing with sharp spikes, and a dark opal set into the pommel. It often chooses to appear to mortals as a pale, dark haired young maiden, bloodied, bruised, and often carrying grievous wounds, with eyes of liquid void. Arathea's godly essence is located at the center of its presence, and any who might seek it must journey through the halo surrounding it to the center of the maelstrom. Arathea is poten psychically, and often peers into the minds of lesser beings. Its mental presence is accompanied by the same wail of piercing agony. Arathea does not often commune with mortals, but prefers to speak within dreams or by visions with mortals who are experiencing extreme pain and suffering. This can lead to practices of soothsayers who practice self-harm in order to glean knowledge from the god's visions. Arathea prefers self-sacrifice to appease it, and may give its favor to those who embark on a pilgrimage, wherein one journeys bare of material artifacts to the harshest of environments available and roams the area, beating creatures encountered to death with nothing but one's body. Arathea wanders ceaselessly through reality, driven by its chaos and pain. It has the ability to drift through space, heedless of the forces of the world. As it speaks mentally, runes glow corresponding to its words. It seeks balance above all else. It is somber and forlorn, with an air of resigned acceptance. It is often harsh and bitter, but is wildly unpredictable.
And finished.