Skelemonk

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Skelemonk

For the Quantol campaign setting.

Skelemonk (Intermediate God)
The Bonekeeper, Monk of Death, The Pale One
Symbol: Ten white skulls in a circle with a red pentacle in the center of the circle, on a black field
Alignment: Lawful evil
Portfolio: Death, the dead, the undead, murder, assassins, necromancers, necromancy, decay, evil monks
Domains: Assassination, Death, Deathbound, Evil, Law, Undeath
Favored Weapon: "Hand of Death" (kama)

Skelemonk was once a mortal who killed the previous god of death and took his place, he is now the deity of death and undeath. His dream is to have all of Quantol ruled by intelligent undead with the living bred like cattle and used as slaves, only to be eaten by undead when they are of no more use. He is popular among intelligent undead, especially vampires and liches. He is also worshiped by certain temples of evil monks. Skelemonk appears as a skeleton wearing a black monk outfit and a red headband. His eyesockets glow with an unearthly green light. He wields two kamas that look to be made of bone, they are wreathed in purple and black flames.

His church operates in secret, usually lairing in hidden catacombs or abandoned buildings. His clerics turn every corpse they can find or steal into intelligent undead using the Awaken Undead spell. They try to recruit aging spellcasters by offering to help them become liches, and often tutor evil spellcasters in necromancy. Every follower that dies will have their body retrieved if possible and turned into an intelligent undead. Many of his clerics and followers voluntarily become undead, typically by becoming vampires or liches.

Clerics of Skelemonk pray for spells at dusk, or "sundeath" as they call it. Their main holy day is the last day of the year, they hold a large ceremony to celebrate the death of another year and sacrifice people then turn them into intelligent undead. Anytime anyone of extreme importance dies, (royalty, nobility, great heroes, et cetera), they declare it a holy day and hold impromptu rituals or a celebration. Great prestige can be won in the eyes of the other churches if one church manages to convert the important person who died into an undead. Clerics of Skelemonk often multiclass as rogues, assassins, and/or prestige classes that focus on necromancy.

History/Relationships: Skelemonk was once a Half-Ogre monk who was part of an evil death cult. He became a vampire and learned necromancy. He eventually became a demigod and served the previous god of death. Then he pulled a coup on the death god and killed him, taking his portfolio and place in the Quantol pantheon. He has no permanent allies except for Galleyna, but has teamed up with other deities before to fight mutual enemies or to achieve mutual goals. His enemies include most good deities and those that are against undead, (particularly Quantola), and Adunor still hates him for stealing assassins from him.

Dogma: Do not fear death, it is a higher state of being. Bring all dead into the perfection of undeath. Slay the living whenever possible and "convert" them. Destroy temples of the gods of good. Do not destroy undead unless it is completely necessary. Help spread the use of necromancy magic and protect necromancers. Convince spellcasters to become liches and try to convert them to the faith of Skelemonk. Eliminate public officials and replace them with the faithful of Skelemonk so his influence will be far and wide.