New Demigod: Cas

If the PCs search Jonah’s study, they find a collection of books worth roughly 300 gp and a masterwork set of quills and inkwells worth roughly 80 gp. In addition, they find a few scattered coins totaling 27 gp inside the desk’s storage compartments. If the PCs read through his papers, they can find a reference on one of the property deeds that mentions the barn’s former owner as being one Anderton Rollings. A successful DC 18 Knowledge (local) check or a successful DC 21 Knowledge (history) check enables a PC to recall something about a man named Anderton Rollings, a local farmer, being linked with some dark god in the time after his disappearance from Eastbrook about ten years ago. The PCs should gain experience appropriate to an EL 5 encounter if they succeed in dissipating Jonah’s essence. Each PC should also receive a bonus XP award of up to 100 XP, depending on how they handle both the townsfolk and the scribe’s ghost. Unless they leave Eastbrook immediately, however, the story won’t end there. Jonah Parsons will return in 2d4 days, just as eager as ever to renew his hunt for his own flesh and blood. If the PCs agreed to hear him out, and believes that his baby daughter might indeed be some demon-spawn, then this encounter is but the fi rst act in a much longer story. How it plays out is up to the DM—and, of course, the players.

Demigod (Neutral Evil) Also known as the Lord of Spite, the Red Grudge, and He Who Balances the Scales, Cas is the demigod of vengeance and of spite without end. He is the moose-headed god who nurses rage and fosters frustration. The scattered priesthood of Cas maintains that beneath the veneer of civilized folk lies the accumulated fi re of all the injustices he or she has ever suffered, just waiting to be released; that all secretly worship Cas, even if only in their deepest, truest subconscious. Legend maintains that Cas was once a mortal man (a farmer, if such tales are to be believed), and that he lived in quiet peace with his friends and neighbors for many years. Then some unfortunate happenstance caused a rift with his fellows in the community—one that eventually claimed the lives of Cas’s entire family. Due to social politics, the offenders were never properly punished. In his rage, Cas appealed to the higher power in whom he had always believed. But when that higher power denied his appeal for justice, legend says that the sheer power of Cas’s rage and will was enough for him to exalt himself, by means of some cosmic force, to divine godhood. After slaking his thirst for vengeance on the town that wronged him, Cas transformed into the freakish deity of spite he is today.

Portfolio: Spite, vengeance.

Symbol: A rack of blood-tipped antlers.

Domains: Destruction, Pain, Spite, Strength. The Pain domain appears in Book of Vile Darkness; the Spite domain is new and is detailed on page 126.

Cleric Training: The Lord of Spite is perhaps unique in the way that he gathers his fl ock. Although many cults devoted to his worship do exist, Cas prefers to come to those who seem to call out to him with their private thoughts and repressed urges. The soundless laments of those who seek vengeance for wrongdoing are as clamorous gongs to the ears of He Who Balances the Scales, and he is drawn to them even more than he is to those who already revere him and revel in his purpose.

Quests: Cas cares most for the repayment of dark debts. He will go to great lengths to ensure that his followers do their utmost to fulfi ll that end. When they do conjoin, his followers form cabals devoted to a single, specifi c end. Once that end is completed, they often disband until the next time their hunger for revenge is aroused. The Lord of Spite expects a would-be suppliant to complete a quest of her own before being indoctrinated fully into his congregation. Such quests always revolve around the subject pursuing some unfi nished business for which she harbors great rage.

Prayers: Prayers to Cas are almost always spoken only after the supplicant has worked herself into near-hysteria with the pain and frustration of unrighted wrongs. It is understood that the Lord of Spite wishes to hear the pain in a worshiper’s voice: The greater the anguish, the more inclined he will be to reward the prayer in some way.

Temples: Shrines to Cas are usually deeply personal affairs, and many individual worshipers don’t maintain a specifi c place in which to pray. As a deity of secrecy and hidden pain, Cas actually prefers that most of his worshipers keep him nowhere but bottled up inside their own souls, where he is free to stoke the embers of their rage and discontent. When an actual temple to Cas does get built, it is usually in a quiet, unassuming location, far from the prying and judgmental eyes of others. Cas’s temples tend to be small and secret places of primal instinct and emotion, light on pomp or decoration and heavy on the accumulated energy of men and women with rage to spare.

Rites: The rites that Cas’s worshipers perform are not somber or complex rituals. They are Bacchanalian affairs, primal and pure—the congregants working one another into a state of frenzy, screaming out orgiastic diatribes in the demigod’s name. The idea behind the rites of Cas’s congregation is not catharsis but preparation for upcoming work to be done in the demigod’s name. The church of Cas teaches that true catharsis comes only in righting a festering wrong.

Herald and Allies: The herald of Cas is a Huge devourer (Monster Manual, page 58) with 36 Hit Dice and a number of special abilities befi tting its status. The foul thing makes off with the trapped soul of whomever it was sent to destroy or receive as an offering to Cas. If the devourer has a name, no one has ever learned it. It is simply (and effectively) known only as “the herald of Cas.” Cas is known to prefer working directly with those who revere him and seek his aid and strength. On rare occasions, he also works with evil outsiders of all types.

Favored Weapon: Heavy mace.

Avatar of Cas CR 25

Male demigod NE Large outsider (avatar) Init +11 Senses tremorsense 60 ft. Listen +26, Spot +31 Languages Abyssal, Common, Druidic, Infernal, Sylvan telepathy 100 ft.

Illus. by Daarken

AC 35, touch 21, flat-footed 2 Combat Expertise, Dodge,

Mobility hp 665 (35 HD), regeneration 5 DR 15/cold iron and piercing Immune ability damage, ability drain, energy damage, energy drain, death magic, death from massive damage Resist cold 30, fire 30 improved evasion SR 2 Saves Fort +31, Ref +27, Will +26 Speed 60 ft. (12 squares), fly 100 ft. (perfect) woodland stride Melee ebon rod +51/+46/+41/+36/+31/+26/+21 (2d6+21 plus 2d6 fire and 2d6 vicious/1–20) or Melee gore +47 (1d+12 plus 2d6 fire) and 2 claws +42 (1d+12 plus 2d6 fire) Space/Reach 10 ft./10 ft. Base Atk +35/Grp +51 Atk Options Great Cleave, Power Attack, Spring

Attack, Whirlwind Attack, favored enemy human +10, favored enemy good outsiders +, favored enemy evil outsiders +6, favored enemy monstrous humanoids +4, favored enemy magical beasts +2 Special Actions Cas’s avatar can freely exchange a prepared ranger spell for any spell that has to do with cursing the target (bestowing penalties and the like) or deception Ranger Spells Prepared (CL 10th): 4th—animal growth, commune with nature, summon nature’s ally IV, tree stride 3rd—command plants (DC 1), diminish plants, plant growth, repel vermin (DC 1) 2nd—hold animal (DC 1), protection from energy, snare, spike growth (DC 1), wind wall 1st—entangle (DC 17), jump, longstrider, pass without trace, speak with animals Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1th):

At will—bestow curse (DC 22), command undead (DC 20), detect magic, enervation (+42 ranged touch), gaseous form, invisibility (DC 20), permanent image (DC 24), polymorph (DC 22), vampiric touch (+47 melee touch) 1/day—grant one wish (to any nondivine, nongenie creature) Abilities Str 35, Dex 24, Con 33, Int 1, Wis 22, Cha 26 SQ camouflage, hide in plain sight, swift tracker, wild empathy +2 (+24 magical beasts) Feats Cleave, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Dodge,

EnduranceB, Great Cleave, Improved Critical (mace),

Improved Initiative, Mobility, Power Attack, Spring

Attack, TrackB, Weapon Focus (mace), Whirlwind Attack Skills Appraise +34, Bluff +3, Concentration +31, Craft (all) +20, Decipher Script +20, Diplomacy +25, Handle

Animal +2, Hide +27, Intimidate +3, Knowledge (history) +27, Knowledge (nature) +24, Knowledge (religion) +2, Listen +26, Move Silently +27, Profession (all applicable) +24, Sense Motive +36, Spellcraft +24,

Spot +31, Survival +36 Heat (Ex) The avatar’s red-hot body deals 2d6 points of fire damage whenever he hits in melee or, when grappling, each round he maintains a hold. Possessions Cas’s avatar carries the ebon rod of ill will, a minor artifact also known simply as the rod of Cas. This

Large +3 vicious heavy mace deals both bludgeoning and piercing damage and acts as a bane weapon against any opponent who has ever injured Cas. See the full item description on page 134. The avatar of Cas, demigod of spite

What stands before you is a tall, crimson-skinned figure with the head of a moose, and a rack of blood-soaked antlers jutting from his skull. His eyes are deep pools of black, which smolder with a crimson spark of malignant intelligence. The figure’s torso and arms are those of a hairy, muscular man, but his lower half is like a minotaur’s, ending in legs with cloven hooves. The menacing figure brandishes a large mace with an antlered head much like his own.

A sinister blend of man and beast, the Lord of Spite appears in a form that combines humanoid cunning with bestial fury. He stands over 12 feet in height, and his vast antlers stretch some 8 feet from point to point. Cas carries an enormous heavy mace, stained black and topped with antlers of its own.

Combat

Cas’s avatar is a terrifying foe in combat. He relishes the thrill of the hunt and delights in enemies’ fl eeing battle so that he can stalk them at leisure. He usually uses his mace, the ebon rod of ill will, and gleefully charges into melee. He sometimes feigns weakness or an inability to hit opponents in order to lure a group of foes close enough for him to unleash a devastating attack combining both his Whirlwind Attack and Power Attack feats.

Power Attack: Cas’s avatar uses his Power Attack feat intelligently, often switching back and forth from round to round between landing the maximum number of blows and dealing the maximum amount of damage per blow. He can subtract as much as 35 from his attack roll and add as much as 70 to his damage roll.