Raze
Titles: The Razor, Alakasha
Domain: Vengeance, Hatred
Symbol: A metal mask
Sphere Granted: Dark
Alakasha, known since her ascension as the Razor, was once a young Dark Elf who mistakenly fell in love with a human on the surface world, far from her subterranean home. Their love, while true and pure, was short lived, for the human villagers became distrustful of the Dark Elf in their midst. Late one evening, a mob gathered around the two. The mortal she loved, afraid for his life, denounced and betrayed her, and Alakasha was drowned in a lake outside of the surface village. Legend does not attribute her resurrection to any divine or demonic power. Instead, Alakasha’s loss was so great and her thirst for revenge so powerful that it manifested as pure raw emotion, giving birth to the Aspect known as Raze. Throughout the following decades, Raze would take her vengeance on those who had wronged her. As her legend grew, so did her influence. The betrayed and scorned whispered her name and donned her iconic iron mask as they honed their hatred against those that had wronged them. With every prayer the Aspect of Vengeance grew stronger. With every betrayal vindicated, the Razor found herself more powerful. As she dispatched revenge on the last of the villagers who had murdered her, with her followers chanting her name, Alakasha ascended into true godhood.
While Raze is worshipped by any who have been betrayed or crossed, it is undeniable that the lion’s share of her followers hail from the Dark Elven nations. Much of the Dark Elven race believes that human betrayal led to the shattering of the true Thalan into its many sub-races, and thus Raze’s story symbolizes their distrust of the surface races. Raze is seen by non-Dark Elves as the instrument of their vengeance and often the betrayed give her offerings, hoping for her blessing and aid to right the wrongs they perceive as having been inflicted on them. Unlike most of the celestial beings, Raze was first and foremost an Aspect, a creature of pure, raw hatred. Her disdain for those that betray is dwarfed only by her hatred for those that love, a scarring of her mind given to her by the mortals that betrayed and murdered her while she was mortal.
Raze’s teachings are more than simply “eye for an eye”; for what is left when vengeance is achieved? Retaliation for betrayal, restoration of pride and retributive justice are common themes within her dogma. Raze’s followers are among the most devoted of any god’s, for there are few desires greater than the ever-burning, all-consuming need to extract retribution. Although Raze is the patron of the Dark Elves, she will accept faithful from all races. Her clerics often assist those who seek revenge, and her champions are often the means by which they achieve it.
The Church of Raze is most prevalent in the Dark Elven nation of Antioch, but she also holds a influencing seat in the Dark pantheon and, as such, smaller churches in her name can be found in the shadows anywhere the Church of Darkness calls home.
Contents
Appearance
The Razor is not one for pomp or pageantry. She appears on the realm of mortals as a Dark Elf, clad in tight black leather armour, covered by a cloak of pure shadow. Her black pointed ears are the only tell of her subterranean heritage, as her face is always covered by a cold iron mask, her symbol of vengeance and hatred. In times of combat Raze opts to stay to the shadows, employing her assassin’s skills to remove her enemies from the battlefield. She wields only a simple silver stiletto which, when used, injects every known poison of the mortal plane into the victim. Death by the Razor’s hand is slow and agonizing.
Tenets
Five things a Raze follower should do:
1. Seek vengeance upon those who have wronged you. It is your obligation to Alakasha and yourself.
2. Fan the flame of hatred and hone it to a fine edge. Use your hatred to fuel your passion and achieve great things. It is the razor in your hand and your greatest weapon.
3. Vengeance is a blank face; it cares not for ethics or morality. Carry your mask to remind you of this.
4. Death is not always the ultimate revenge. Be elaborate and inventive. Your methods are a testament to your service to her.
5. Those that seek vengeance must be willing to take action by their own hand. If they are unable and require your assistance, they must be willing to make great sacrifice.
Five things a Raze follower should not do:
1. Expect retribution without cost. Your mind, body and spirit are tools to worship her. Sacrifice them to achieve your vengeance.
2. Forgive or forget. Those that forgive or show mercy insult Alakasha. Offer them no aid and show them no respect.
3. Let the laws of man or nature stand in the way of achieving vengeance. You are accountable to no one save Raze and yourself.
4. Deliver false vengeance for personal gain or profit. If they have not truly wronged you then they are unworthy of the Razor’s edge.
5. Allow yourself to succumb to love. It is the ultimate betrayal and undermines both your hatred and vengeance. Relinquish it at all costs.
Celestial Heaven: The Wasteland
Raze’s Celestial Heaven is a vast barren wasteland choked by an acrid grey fog that spans as far as the eye can see. Cracked barren earth crumbles beneath one’s feet, and the feeble red light of a dying sun that hangs limply in the darkened sky provides almost no illumination at all. There is no life here but the Razor herself and any of the Spirits sworn to her. Nothing else exists on this plane. The only break in the utter desolation is a single accursed lake, which imprisons and forever torments those whose slights against her have earned the greatest measure of Alakasha’s wrath.
Unlike the other Gods, Raze does not promise her followers that their souls will be lifted up into an eternal paradise upon their deaths, and as such, this new and terrible existence hardly comes as a surprise. The Goddess of Hatred is simply incapable of caring for her followers, and those who swore to vengeance knew that nothing good awaited them in death. The sacrifices they make in the pursuit of vengeance are eternal, and when they ascend, that hatred will be all they carry with them into Raze’s realm. It is their meat and their drink, their faith and their soul. All that remains for them are the Pools of Retribution.
When a Spirit stares into one of these small pools, their vision is cast onto the mortal plane, where they bear witness to a mortal experiencing some form of a significant betrayal. While they cannot command the mortal or even be overtly heard, the greater impressions of what they are saying can be felt by their subject on an unconscious level. Those that catch a mortal in a particularly vulnerable state and whose poisoned words influence their emotions enough may become the catalyst that leads the mortal down a path of bitter vengeance. This is the sole lot for those not favoured by the Razor, to be the means by which her hatred is slowly bled out into the world.
Realms Within The Wasteland
- Sorrowmere
A thick and suffocating grey fog surrounds this body of water, growing ever more thick and acrid as one approaches its shores. The pitiful cries and mournful whimpers of the lost souls trapped within the lake’s black waters are the only other sound that accompanies the otherwise gentle lapping of the lake’s waves upon the shore. This penumbral lake, its waves thick like ichor, imprisons the spirits of those who have been slain by the terrifying black rites practised by Alakasha’s faithful. Raze herself resides at the centre of Sorrowmere, floating above as she watches over the souls who twist and turn within its obsidian waters, trying to claw their way out. Whenever a new damned soul is delivered unto Raze, shadowy black hands rise menacingly from the pools and drag the soul into its depths.
- The Cloak of Shadows
For those who have been granted the power to become one of her Chosen, their service unto her does not end in death, for their spirits and power belong to Alakasha. These spirits are always guided towards Alakasha directly, for they have a greater purpose than simply wandering this blasted landscape.
Once the Spirit of a Chosen has knelt at the foot of their Goddess, she reaches out and transfigures them into a single blackened thread, so dark it drinks the light like a man lost in the desert drinks water. Then Raze skillfully weaves the thread into her shadowy cloak, whereupon they join in congress with all other Spirits that have earned her favour. From an umbral void, they offer guidance and advice when the Razor asks for it and raw power when she needs it. Should Raze require even more from them, she can simply pluck one of the threads free, manifesting the Spirit into a new, more suitable form. Most commonly, these are the Unholy Warriors that her clerics summon, but occasionally they take the form of a withering array of celestial servants.