The God of Pestilence
The merest sigh of this god washes epidemics across the land; when he exhales
from his rotting lungs, vile with consumption and a thousand other ills, a
fetid cloud of disease-laden filth carrying uncountable deadly plagues covers the
face of the earth. At his slight irritation, towns fall into ruin and
desolation. His anger can sunder societies. Although this greater god is a patron to all
forms of sickness and disease, lesser deities abound, each devoted to a
separate illness (such as Silver Death and the Magenta Rasp).
Plague Priests spread disease, death, and ignorance wherever they may go. They
afflict unwary victims with crippling afflictions and transport plague-ridden
vermin to peaceful, contented cities. They harvest the festering slime from
decayed corpses, greasing the door knobs and tools of innocents with sickening
corruption. These evil priests delight in bringing misery and despair to healthy
and joyous communities. The DM should only allow these wicked and depraved
clerics to be villainous NPCs.
Alignment: This deity is neutral evil, as are his priests and followers.
Minimum Ability Scores: Wisdom 9, Constitution 15.
Weapon Proficiencies: Plague Priests may employ all types of bows, the dart, scourge, scythe,
sickle, staff, and whip. These priests also favor a curious form of Y-tipped staff
(sometimes called a talon staff) which they use to transport fallen bodies of victims. The curving tips of
the talon staff slip easily under the armpits of prone victims, making them easy
to drag.
Dress/Armor Allowed: Plague priests always dress in a massive mantle with a tall cowl that can be
pulled up over the head to conceal their horrible faces. The color of the cloth
in which they dress always represents the favored hue of their patron deity.
Priests of the Black Death might wear heavy cloaks of darkest midnight, while
those priests serving the sinister Lord of the Yellow Plague would favor
saffron-hued robes.
High-level priests sometimes wear simple wooden masks painted a single solid
color to match their chosen raiment. Some even go so far as to wrap their limbs
in white bandages, making them appear like mummies. Besides this ceremonial
garb, the priests can wear any form of armor, favoring enchanted plate mail.
Nonweapon Proficiencies: Required: herbalism. Recommended: (General) any; (Priest) ancient history,
reading/writing, religion. Forbidden: healing, any Wizard, Rogue, or Warrior.
Role: Plague priests seek to devastate civilization and disrupt social order both
at the local level and on the grandest imaginable scale. Unlike the Stranglers,
who attempt to direct their priests to engage in selective ritual murders, the
priests of pestilence apply their art to humanity as a whole. Their victims are
peasant and noble alike, both easily subject to disease and the ravagings of
the worm. The priests are as indiscriminate in their victims as they are in
their methods.
Many Plague Priests are allied into a loose and secret confederation known
simply as the Ravens by some, or as the Scabrous Society to others. This
organization embraces the entire pantheon of plague gods, and all of them are devoted
(in principle at least) to the same goals: decay and dissolution of organized
society and human civilization. The Scabrous Society is further detailed in
Chapter Seven and makes for an ideal long-term nemesis in the campaign.
Spheres of Influence: Major Access to All, Animal, Healing (reversed forms of spells only),
Necromantic, Summoning, Weather. Minor Access to Combat, Divination, Protection
(reversed forms of spells only, where applicable).
Granted Necromantic Spells: 1st: undead alacrity, ebony hand; 2nd: none; 3rd: animate dead, cause blindness or deafness, cause disease, life drain; 4th: cause insanity, poison, plague curse; 5th: slay living, scourge; 6th: asphyxiate; 7th: mindkiller (TOM), wither; Quest: none.
Granted Powers: Plague priests are completely immune to all forms of disease, magical and
mundane. They can also lay on hands as a paladin of the same level, except they
can only use this power to harm, rather than to heal. Thus, a 10th-level priest
can inflict 20 hp of damage with a touch (once per day, no saving throw
allowed). Finally, the priest can also bestow a fatal disease with a touch (as the
3rd-level cleric spell cause disease, once per week for every five levels of experience).
In general, Plague Priests cannot turn or control undead, except when the
undead have been specifically raised from bodies stricken by disease. For instance,
if a necromancer animated the corpses of a dozen plague victims, then the
priests of Pestilence would be able to turn or command them. Similarly, Plague
Priests can only animate the corpses of those who have died from disease.
Other Limitations: Priests of Pestilence are reflections of their corrupted deities. Although
technically immune to disease, they have a horrid and disfigured appearance that
festers and rots as the priest advances in power and experience. These clerics
suffer a –1 penalty to Charisma for every level they advance; as their power
grows, they come to resemble decayed corpses, symbolizing the very dissolution
they try to promulgate. This advancing leprous condition is viewed by the priests
as a sign of divine favor, the sacred Kiss of their god. Not surprisingly,
they neither marry nor seek intimate relations; their priesthood is effectively
celibate. Their ceremonial high cowls, masks, linen wrapping, and heavy incense
help them conceal their odious appearance and odor when they move about in
society.
Possible Symbols: Mice, Rats, and other Vermin, Ravens, the Y-tipped Staff.
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