Chemosh
Chemosh
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| Alignment: | Neutral Evil |
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| Other Names: | Aeleth (Ergoth)
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| Symbol: | Yellow Skull |
| Celestial Symbol: | The constellation Goat’s Skull |
| Portfolio: | Nemesis, death, ravager, undead, Murder, false hope |
| Common Aspects: | A rakishly handsome man in a black robe or fine clothes with a small obsidian sickle
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| Colors: | Black and pale yellow |
Chemosh is the master of the undead and is representative of fatalism. Chemosh hates life, thinking it a gift wasted on mortals. He festers within the hearts of mortals, trying to get them to give up the shell of mortality and move on to the next stage in the soul’s journey. Chemosh tempts mortals with the promise of “immortality.” In reality, he is condemning them to an eternity of undeath as his slaves. This is Chemosh’s way of mocking life.
Chemosh opposes Mishakal, who stands as a champion of life, as well as the rest of the gods of good, and is often also in conflict with Chislev and Sirrion. One of his divine messengers is the Death’s Head Scorpion.
Chemosh was brought from Beyond during the time of creation to serve Takhisis. He alone was given the right to sit at the Hall of Soul’s Journeying to witness the passing of the dead. During the Age of Dreams, he gained a major foothold on the realm of Ansalon when he formed the Bone Warriors and the Bone Acolytes, who conquered in his name before eventually being destroyed. The Lord of Death taught Takhisis how to manipulate the souls of dead, a secret which she used for her own personal gain on stealing the world from under the nose of Chemosh and all the other gods during the Summer of Chaos. The spurned god was pleased to see Takhisis and her nemesis Paladine fall at the close of the War of Souls, after the gods returned to the world.
The Beloved of Chemosh
In the Age of Mortals, Chemosh chose to forsake creating more undead servants, and instead turned his attention towards the living. The dark god had tired of being served by mindless undead or doddering mortals on the verge of death, and instead formed the Beloved. Chemosh became infatuated with the mortal Mina, first stopping her from killing herself and charging her with the mission of rescuing the Death Knight Ausric Krell from Storm’s Keep, and then making her his High Priestess. Chemosh then had Mina recruit more Beloved and set his dark plans forward on the mortal world.
The God of Death planned to ultimately take control of the dark pantheon, and had Krell take ownership of a khas piece containing the spirit of Ariakan Ariakas to keep the goddess Zeboim at bay and unable to move against Chemosh. Chemosh then attempted to have the goddess serve him in taking control of the pantheon, however this came to naught when her own servant Rhys Mason and the kender Nightshade Pricklypear recovered the khas piece and gave it to Zeboim.
Chemosh and Mina began exploring the Blood Sea of Istar, and came across the Tower of the Blood Sea. The servants of Nuitaricaptured Mina and created an illusion to make the God of Death think that his lover had died. Chemosh was sent into a deep depression and mourned Mina, until a short while later Ausric Krell pointed out that he couldn’t see Mina’s spirit, which had been plaguing Chemosh. The god realised that Nuitari had deceived him and set further plans into motion. Chemosh then contacted Zeboim, asking her aid in rescuing Mina from Nuitari, in return for restoring Ariakan’s soul so he could live once more. Mina was returned to Chemosh at Castle Beloved, however the god grew irate, as he watched Krell try to train his Beloved into an army, but the undead refused to listen. Chemosh was further surprised when the Beloved all fawned over Mina and grew suspicious over her motives. His suspicion was further heightened, when he espied a set of black pearls on Mina, which she admitted were a gift from Zeboim. Chemosh was no longer totally enamored of Mina, and asked Krell to spy on his lover and tell him of any suspicious activity. Krell trailed Mina to the Shrine of Zeboim, hoping to catch her in the act of betrayal so he could inform his lord.
Krell in fact, did not learn anything from spying on Mina, but concocted a story about her being with her lover, which he told Chemosh to make him enraged with his lover. The ploy worked and on Mina’s return, Chemosh told her that he wanted nothing to do with her anymore, and she would be sent far away to train his Beloved. Krell then plotted to kill Mina, since he believed the god no longer cared for his former lover. Chemosh then wandered out to the grotto where Krell had spied upon Mina, and found the monk Rhys Mason there. He demanded to know what relationship Rhys had with Mina, but the monk would not answer him. Nightshade and the dog Atta soon arrived at the grotto to defend Rhys against Chemosh. Atta bit Chemosh, and carrying the blessing of Majere, her teeth caused him a minor injury. Rhys then struck the god with his emmide, also pushing him back. When a series of tremors occurred, Chemosh left the fight to discover the source, only to find that the Tower of the Blood Sea had been moved above the waves and that his servant Ausric Krell had been turned into a mortal once more. Chemosh then found Mina unconscious and surrounded by the entire pantheon of gods.
The Secret God
Majere revealed to all the gods that Mina was in truth a god of light, who had been duped by Takhisis into believing she was both a mortal and a servant of darkness. Chemosh was at first dismayed to hear this news, and then raced to the Tower of the Blood Sea to try and claim the artifacts contained within the Solio Febalas. Nuitari appeared and took great delight in telling the god that Mina had protected the tower and was sending her Beloved to guard it from all, since they answered to her rather than Chemosh. The god then plotted to seduce Mina back to him, so she could get him access to the treasures contained within the Solio Febalas, and be by his side in conquering the heavens. The god of death was then forced to swear along with his fellow gods that he would do nothing to sway, seduce or harm Mina.
After swearing the oath, Chemosh left his fellow gods to seek out his now mortal servant Ausric Krell. The God of Death still had uses for his servant, and decided to convert the human into a Bone Acolyte, in order to have him find Mina for him. He then created several Bone Warriors to serve Krell, and sent the foursome to track down Rhys and Mina in Solace.
References
- Age of Mortals (Sourcebook), p. 183
- Amber and Ashes, p. 11, 15, 19, 27, 31, 43, 76-81, 88-90, 103, 178, 215, 250, 256, 298
- Amber and Iron, p. 42-51, 77-82, 138-141, 241-257, 288-300, 305-307, 329-335, 352-355
- Amber and Blood, p. 18-42, 140-143, 163-171
- Dragonlance Campaign Setting
- Holy Orders of the Stars (Sourcebook), p. 99-100
- Knight of the Black Rose (Novel) pgs 29, 44, 275
- Knightly Orders of Ansalon (Sourcebook), p. 84