Ksero

Ksero is the God of Disease in Ehldaron’s pantheon, and he is also known as “The Plague Lord”. A young God with a dangerous curiosity, Ksero considers himself more an academic and a scientist than the evil and dangerous force many consider him to be. He loves to experiment with different kinds of diseases, and while many of them can be horrific and painful, certainly not all his diseases result in death.   Ksero differs from most of the other Gods as he has never been interested in ruling or supremacy. He does not care for power, followers, or wealth, nor does he desire to be worshipped. The Plague Lord simply wants to create and spread his afflictions. In order to do this brute force is never used. Instead, Ksero works subtly and patiently. He observes, plans carefully, and then waits for the right time. It is the God of Disease's intelligence, rather than might, that makes him such a dangerous Deity.   ‘Aeternus Dolor’, also dubbed the ‘Green Plague’ by the common folk, is the latest and most well known of diseases attributed to Ksero. It is an excruciatingly painful version of the plague that results in certain death if not treated in the early stages, but it kills extremely slowly, meaning that those afflicted to it often suffer horribly for many years, unless someone mercy kills them, or they take their own life. The recognizable Plague Doctors, with their birdlike beak-mask and black robes, have so far done a good job of containing the disease. However, their presence often scares citizens of the towns and cities they come to help, and this often with good reason, as Plague Doctors only travel to place where there actually is a plague.     Beliefs and purpose   One of Ksero’s main driving forces is his curiosity for diseases. He loves to create them, adjust them, and of course, test them. This curiosity however has an underlying philosophy, as The Plague Lord believes that disease is a necessary part of growth. People in societies need to become sick in order to become stronger, to become better. The survivors of a disease end up better and more resilient. The ones that were too weak and died, would’ve done so anyways and would only be a burden on society.   While this explains the many diseases Ksero has created that can actually be survived, many wonder how diseases that mean certain death, no matter how strong or weak you are, fit in this narrative. While there are few defenders of Ksero, there are physicians that do like to point out that not every disease in existence has to be created by Ksero, although this is often met with the response that Ksero simply doesn’t care if people die. Ksero doesn’t really describe how society should be organised, what the role of the Gods has to be, or anything else. His belief that disease is a necessary evil is the only real core belief he has, all the rest is hardly his concern.     Followers   As Ksero is considered to be an evil God that only brings pain and suffering, he has very few followers. Even during the Ancient Time, Ksero did not really participate in the God Wars. Instead he and his small group of followers preferred testing out their creations on whoever drew their attention.   Because of his nature, worshipping the God of Disease is forbidden almost everywhere in current times. However, in rare occasions those afflicted with a terrible disease turn to Ksero as a last resort, and, or so the stories say at least, Ksero may from time to time actually respond to these desperate calls. Showing up on the deathbed of one suffering greatly, the young God may attempt to strike a deal: life for servitude. Should one accept the deal however, the poor soul will realise that they won’t die of their disease, but also that their disease won’t disappear either. They are doomed to serve Ksero for many years while suffering all the pain and other symptoms of their disease.   There are also others, often physicians and academics, that may share Ksero’s curiosity for diseases and start making and spreading their own, and/or believe they that disease is a way to become stronger and that they need to be spread throughout society. These men and women willingly start serving Ksero, and often they work alone or with very few others. These followers of Ksero are particularly dangerous, as they, like Ksero himself, are extremely smart and subtle, making them incredibly hard to track down.