Dargoth, The Lord of Corruption, The Plaguebringer

In the time before the Gods ascended, there survived a Tae-esh-naree who betrayed his own brothers and sisters to the mortals' vengeance. As his kin were slaughtered about him, Dargoth bathed in their spilled blood, drank in the sweet, righteous fury of their killers, and vomited forth corruption and disease to spread among his attackers.

Maddened by fevers and wracked by insanity, they ran amok, killing their own kind as readily as they did their former masters. Only Dargoth offered remedy, as their pleas for aid were drowned in innocent blood. Ease their suffering Dargoth did, but at a price. From each of his victims he extracted a portion of their soul and ate it.

So, when the battles were done, the new gods discovered one of the hated Tae-esh-naree among them. Even as they rose up again to attack, Dargoth waved his hand and all the pestilential illness, the corruption of food, drink, and flesh that the vile Tae-esh-naree had tried to release upon their slaves came forth. With another wave of his hand, the tidal wave of slow, agonizing death was held at bay.

Dargoth spoke to the war-weary gods: "In me you will find release from the world's ills. In me you will find sanity to easy your madness. In me you will find hope to balance your despair, love to balance your hatred, death to balance your life. Without me... all will perish in beautiful, lingering agony until only one of you remains."

The gods of law saw that Dargoth held back the certain death that was the Tae-esh-naree's ultimate weapon. They bade him destroy that weapon in exchange for unwelcome acceptance. The gods of neutrality saw a chance to control Dargoth once this was done. They also bade him destroy that weapon in exchange for unwelcome acceptance. The gods of chaos raged, and demanded that all the divine strike as one to remove this abomination forever. But they could not bring themselves to cooperate as they had once against the fullness of the Tae-esh-naree. Separately, planning to destroy Dargoth once the weapon was gone, they too bade him destroy the vile weapon in exchange for unwelcome acceptance.

Dargoth agreed, but as was his purpose, corrupted the intent. He did destroy the weapon... by spreading it through the world and time, so that each disease, each illness, would afflict the mortal races. But not all at once. Not so long as Dargoth the Corruptor existed to gather each suffering being into his welcome arms and abate their pain.

"Dargoth" is actually a perversion of the original Tae-esh-naree name of this creature. "Dar" roughly translates to "Brother like self". The Plaguebringer's name when he was a Tae-esh-naree was "Gothe". In truth, Gothe was one of the rarest of creatures among the Ancients: A twin. His brother, Kayene, later became known as Darkayne.

Dargoth is a Dead God. After the Vow of the Gods, he was betrayed by his own High Priest - who some say was Asrexius when he was still a mortal man. Whatever the case, one of Avaryan's most cherished champions struck off his avatar's arm and drowned in his blood, while the other gods bound the weakened Dargoth in a prison they thought he could never escape from. Then their followers hunted down the last of Dargoth's faithful and either cured or, more often, killed them. Bael assumed much of Dargoth's power.

Ages later, Dargoth's avatar was accidentally released. For a brief time, he was the only god whose avatar existed on the mortal plane. His avatar provided a single portal that the Plaguebringer could work his foul arts through. Even this was not enough to save him. Vastly reduced in power, he was forced from the mortal world in a great battle, where the Dragonmage Karaman threw him through a magical gate to the outer planes and sealed it behind him. Wounded, Dargoth could not oppose the other gods and return. Most believe that his power faded over time, until his followers disappeared completely from the face of Avamor or were taken by Bael.

The abilities, rites, and customs of Dargoth's faithful have been obliterated by time and the efforts of Avaryan, Talamyr, and others. If any knowledge of this foul being remains, surely only Bael, or perhaps Kamarr, knows of it.

Favored Weapon: Spiked chain

Darkayne, Dark God of Magic

Darkayne is a Dead God, his avatar slain and his power dispersed long ago. The Dark God of Magic was originally one of the Tae-esh-naree named Kayene, and twin brother to Dargoth (who was known as Goethe when he was mortal). It is believed that when Darkayne, after his ascension to divinity, grew to resent his subservience to Kamarr. So he plotted and planned, slowly bleeing his own dark power into the leylines and nodes crisscrossing Avamor so that he could exercise his own influence over magic and those who worked it.

Kamarr discovered his plotting, for who could conceal such a plan from the Goddess of Magic and Secrets? Her wrath was terrible. Few records of that First Darkwar survive. Whatever the details, Darkayne was thrown down, his avatar sealed in a special prison built in the Sea of Dust where he would slowly rot away.

But not all of Darkayne's faithful were slain in that great purging. A few remained, slowly feeding their faith to fallen Darkayne. The God of murder and black magic slowly grew in strength, brought forth a plan to sunder his prison and rise forth again to challenge the Goddess of Magic. This plan came to fruition as the Second Darkwar.

Once again, his plan was known to Kamarr, who had already set in motion the tools that she would use to strike Darkayne down once and for all. Four artifacts of great power were used to destroy Darkayne's followers and slay the god himself. His remains were once again sealed in the Sea of Dust, his prison now his tomb.

Kamarr assumed Darkayne's portfolio of dark magic. Bael, ever the opportunist, assumed the aspect of Murder.

Darkayne's ruined temples are still found on occasion, though now they offer services to persecuted Baelites. Whenever such locations are discovered, Kamarr's faithful will surely arrive soon to erase this last vestige of the dead god.

Favored Weapon: Halberd.