Lamashtu

Lamashtu is the mother and patroness of many misshapen and malformed creatures that crawl, slither, or flap on, above, or below the surface of the world. Her unholy symbol is a three-eyed jackal head, which may be represented in many ways, and her sacred animal is the jackal.  

Appearance

Pictures of Lamashtu portray her as a jackal-headed woman, with a third vertical eye in the center of her forehead, heavily pregnant, with feathered wings (like a raven's), a snake's tail, and taloned feet like a vulture's). She is often depicted carrying her two deadly blades, Redlust and Chillheart: the former is of fire, the latter of ice. Her head may vary depending on the nature of her worshipers: gnolls preferring the jackal head, medusas a snake's, harpies a hawk's, and so on. She is often depicted surrounded by countless adherents, with a single individual rising above the rest.  

Possesions

She always carries her two blades Redlust and Chillheart. Redlust is a blade composed of pure Hellfire. Chillheart is a blade made up of Ice-magic. These blades have the ability to grow and shrink from the size of a falchion to that of a kukri.  

History

Lamashtu was once a mighty demon lord who became the first such entity to achieve true godhood. In ages past, she was allied with Pazuzu, though the exact nature of their alliance is often disputed by scholars of demon lore. Some say they were lovers, others say siblings, or simply convenient allies. What is known for certain is that she lured an ancient god into her territory and beset him with swarms of demons and other monsters until he was weak enough for her to attack. By defeating him, she ripped his godly domain over beasts from him, beginning an ancient vendetta with his protégé, Desna. This imbued the demoness with a small amount of his divine power.   Pazuzu was enraged by this shift in power, and as Lamashtu returned from that battle he betrayed and attacked her. He wounded her terribly, but her new-found divinity allowed her to survive; they have been dire enemies ever since. Lamashtu's vendetta against him is only equaled by Desna's own vendetta against her.   Lamashtu learned the "art" of creating demons from the torture of a Horseman of the Apocalypse, whom she had taken during her wars against Abaddon. Once she coupled that knowledge with the use of her own body to gestate the demons, she birthed the vavakia, a true masterpiece of the art of creating demons.   It is claimed by many monstrous humanoid races that she was their first progenitor and creator.  

Relationships

Lamashtu, in a stance befitting her demonic origins, considers all other gods her enemies. She is aware of Desna's hatred of her due to the murder of her mentor, but treats her as beneath notice. Despite this widespread animosity, she focuses her attention on growing her cults and expanding their reach, as well as the birthing of new and hideous monstrosities. She has an odd view of Shelyn, whom Lamashtu would love to capture and twist into her own monstrous vision of beauty. Needless to say, the faithful of Shelyn find this an abhorrent and terrifying concept.   Urgathoa and Rovagug are, with Pazuzu, her greatest enemies. The Lamashtan–Pazuzu war is old and bitter: Lamashtu is the more powerful, Pazuzu the more focused on the campaign. The war is often fought by minions of the two demon lords but can escalate, causing much collateral damage, but neither side has gained a significant advantage yet over the other.   Lamashtu is not actively at war with other demon lords, and does not seek to conquer the Abyss. She does have rivalries with some of them, and is said to have others as her lovers. The latter group includes Baphomet, and Socothbenoth, who claims to have sired children with her. Nocticula makes her opposition to Lamashtu clear and, in return, Lamashtu is well aware of Nocticula's murderous ascent to power.   She is allied with the Goblin Hero-Gods.   Lamashtu once had a tryst with the archdevil Typhon, the first ruler of Avernus. This may have led to Typhon's destruction, as it displeased Asmodeus.  

Realm

Lamashtu's realm is Kurnugia, the largest layer of the Abyss.  

Providence

Lamashtu's favor manifests as violent dreams, the appearance of sudden deformities, or unexplained pregnancies that often result in the painful (and sometimes fatal) birth of a deformed child. Worshipers who displease her may give birth to a "perfect" child, such as a human or halfling, nightmares, or welts. They may also find themselves infertile or unable to achieve sexual satisfaction.  

Servants

Lamashtu and her deranged faithful hold creatures of deformity, monstrosity, and virility in high regard. Clerics in her service often call shemhazian demons and other Abyssal creatures into their service. Her divine servitor race are the swaithe demons, foul creatures that incite animals to attack civilized society.  

Unique

• Bloodmaw: This hideous yet powerful and cunning yeth hound has one green eye and one red. He relishes the promise of carnage and a good hunt.
• Yaenit: These slavering, monstrous hyena-demons resemble corrupted hound archons with gangly limbs and deformed hyena heads. They love maiming and killing in Lamashtu's name.
• The Yethazmari: Appearing as an enormous jackal, standing 14 foot tall at the shoulder with smoking eye sockets, black leathery wings and a snake for a tail, the herald of Lamashtu brings terror and bloodshed. In its wake, the spawn of horrific and brutal trysts rise up to cause madness anew.
• Seven Witches: The Seven Witches serve Lamashtu in the Abyss. They are her favourite daughters: powerful demonic sorceresses.

 

Worshipers

Lamashtu's followers seek out deformity in themselves and in others, and perform scarring and mutilation on themselves and others. They detest traditional forms of beauty and seek to destroy or kill it whenever possible. Some intentionally make themselves more beast-like, with her non-human followers do the opposite to better blend in with the more civilized races. She is typically worshiped by races such as gnolls (who claim they were created when Lamashtu took a hyena as her consort), goblins, and medusae. Lamashtu is considered the creator goddess of many monster races who worship her accordingly, including lamias and morlocks.   Some sects, including the one outside the city of Saringallow, have developed the means to supernaturally impregnate humanoids, both men and women, with children of Lamashtu. Such births cause severe damage to the host. The monstrous babies may require care in a specialized nursery. This includes submergence in a mixture of blood, afterbirth, and the waters of Lamashtu.  

Church of Lamashtu

Lamashtu's church is scattered and lacks an overall hierarchy, yet it is rare for two priest's to come into direct conflict, as they recognize each other's shared devotion and the hostility visited by those outside the religion. Many demoniacs pay obeisances to Lamashtu as she is a demon lord as well as a goddess.  

Clergy

Her human priests generally wear a jackal mask (of leather or metal), a pair of swords or knives made to resemble Lamashtu's personal weapons, and a cloak of black feathers. Monstrous races wear much the same but typically forgo the mask.  

Temples and Shrines

Lamashtu is not usually worshiped in a constructed building, but rather a ring of stones, pillars, trees, wooden blocks, a pit in the ground, or a flat rock. Entrances into underground places of worship represent the entrance to the goddess' underworld domain. They typically are found on the outskirts of civilization, or in the true wilderness, and many are stained with blood and littered with the remains of failed births, and the victims of the successful ones.  

Demon's Bile

A magical disease created by Lamashtu and gifted to a vermlek follower, who was tasked with spreading the disease to the town of Saringallow and eventually the entirety of Scaelor. The vermlek was defeated however by a group of adventurers and all her followers were slain. Almost all of them...