Harlak
Harlak, the Lord of Mortality, is believed to have created the mortal Races of the world. Once a member of the early Elven pantheon, he presided over mortality and the natural end of life. In the ages since his banishment, Harlak’s name has become synonymous with jealousy, entropy, and exile. Though publicly reviled and struck from Elven worship, his shadow lingers in secret cults and cultural memory.
Divine Domains
Harlak presided over the domain of endings: mortality, entropy, and the inevitable decay of all things. In Elven Creationism, he was the warden of natural death, guiding spirits from life into rest. After his fall, his dominion twisted into darker aspects: oblivion, corruption, famine, and forgotten memory.
Life & Death: Originally honored for ensuring that even immortals would know peace in eventual sleep, he later sought to claim death absolutely, binding all souls to himself.
Entropy & Decay: Everything that crumbles — cities, empires, even memories — is attributed to Harlak’s unseen hand.
Oblivion & Forgetfulness: Elves say that the memories they lose after millennia are “taken by Harlak,” who feasts on what is forgotten.
Cycles: Despite his exile, his worshippers argue that endings fuel beginnings, and that only through Harlak’s dark balance can renewal occur.
Artifacts
Relics tied to Harlak are exceedingly rare and often destroyed on discovery, yet several infamous items are spoken of:
The Codex of Final Night: A black-bound tome, passed in secret between cults, containing prayers and funereal litanies to the Fallen God. Pages are inked in iron gall, said to rot the hands of the faithless.
Harlite Shards: Unearthed from the Wastes, etched with runes of hunger and eclipse. Scholars of the University of the Occult consider them dangerous to handle, as those who study them too long begin dreaming of ash and horns.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Divine Goals & Aspirations
To Reclaim Dominion Over Death: Cultists teach that all souls must pass into Harlak’s keeping, rejecting the authority of other gods.
To Spread Entropy: His worshippers actively seek to unravel cities, dynasties, and memories ensuring that nothing endures.
To Guard the Lost: Guarding Harlak's ancient realm.
To Break the Silence: Cult texts speak of a promised “Final Eclipse” when Harlak will return from exile and impose death upon the undying.
To Balance the Cycle: Some secret sects hold a gentler creed, arguing that Harlak’s exile left the world imbalanced. By restoring him, life and death will be reconciled.
Comments