Endrell

Introduction

Endrell is a god of contradictions. Hate and love, hope and despair. All of these fall within Endrell’s purview. One of the best words to describe Endrell is “mercurial.” His demeanor fluctuates depending on his mood. Catch him at the right time, and he is one of the most caring and hopeful individuals that one could hope to encounter. Conversely, if one were to encounter him at the wrong time, he can be spiteful and full of hatred for anything that crosses his path, or he can be wallowing in the depths of despair so crushing that it would cause a mortal to want to end their life.

Given his nature, there are often times when people are fearful of calling upon Endrell for fear of drawing his attention when he’s in the polar opposite mood from what they need. What happens when Endrell is full of hatred and someone calls for his blessing on a new love? Or what if someone seeking to destroy the object of their hatred calls upon Endrell when he is full of love? Endrell’s clergy provide no clear answers on this conundrum, but speak in esoteric platitudes about things being “As Endrell wills them.”

Regardless of what mood he is in, there is no doubting that Endrell is the one that both inspires and nurtures love and hatred, hope and despair. The loving bond between parents and their offspring; the hatred that drives a spurned lover to seek revenge on his former paramour; a mother lighting a candle in her window each night in the hopes it will lead her son home safe from war; the crushing despair of facing life without one’s soul mate lost to disease. These are the main things that Endrell presides over and indeed draws his power from.

Endrell most often takes the form of a Morphic with silver-tinged hair and eyes like deep black pools filled with despair, or hair as black as night and silvery eyes that dance with his love for all things. Sometimes his smile is quick and easy and filled with joy and hope. Other times he fairly oozes with the hatred he feels for all things. Conversely, his frown can be caused by the one he encounters losing hope and Endrell wishes for them not to, or his smile can mask a hatred so deep it would flay the very flesh from the bones of a mere mortal if he so willed it. It’s little wonder that even Endrell’s most ardent followers do not actively seek his personal attention except in the most dire circumstances.

The Church

Despite their patron’s mercurial and schizophrenic nature, and as a mirroring of it, Endrell’s church is both well-organized but also dysfunctional on many levels. This comes from some of his clergy members seeking to concentrate more on particular aspects of Endrell’s portfolio as opposed to others. This has led to many schisms amongst his followers over the years.

The Hopeful Dawn: This branch of his Endrell’s church focuses on his domain of hope. When all seems lost, followers of this branch are there to pick people up (both physically and metaphorically as the case may be), dust them off and show them that things will get better, there’s always hope, that no one is destined for a bad end if they but trust in Endrell. Not surprisingly, The Hopeful Dawn engages in numerous charitable works and it is by the very charity of this branch of the church and its adherents that Endrell’s words can reach the widest audience.

The Silver Lord’s Love: This branch of his church takes its cue from Endrell’s patronage of love. Their main focus is espousing the power of love and how it can overcome all obstacles. They believe that love can make a person become better and more than they might otherwise be without allowing that emotion into its heart. Though not as widespread as those of The Hopeful Dawn, adherents of this branch are also known for performing charitable deeds, though most often they seek to help couples or families down on their luck so that their love is not sorely tested by outside problems. This branch also often performs matchmaking services in some communities.

The Dark Lord’s Wrath: A much smaller branch to be sure, this congregation spreads the belief that hatred is a powerfully motivating force and should be held as the purest, most true of emotions. Though not as large as the other branches, they have a wide influence because The Dark Lord’s Wrath often serves as a clearing house for contracts involving revenge and assassination. What better way to foment and prove the purity of hatred than offering services to that end?

Night’s Despair: Smaller still than The Dark Lord’s Wrath, this branch serves primarily as a final stop for those that no longer wish to live. Many is the suicidal person that doesn’t have the mettle to end their own life. For a nominal fee, Night’s Despair will take care of that duty for them. Ostensibly they do it in the most humane fashion possible, though there are rumors that abound which say that the more a person pays, the less the “service” hurts…

A Priest’s Role

The role of Endrell’s clergy varies depending on which faction they belong to.

Clergy of The Hopeful Dawn seek to show even the most pitiful and downtrodden members of society that there is always a better tomorrow. They seek to save as many from despair as they can. This is often accomplished through charitable deeds, monetary help, or even outright martial defense of someone in need. Indeed, this faction’s clergy are the most militant of Endrell’s behind only those of The Dark Lord’s Wrath. For how can one have hope when they are in mortal peril? Many is a clerical member of this faction a stalwart defender of people beset by those who seek to do them harm.

Clerics of The Silver Lord’s Love serve primarily as matchmakers and marital counselors within their communities. They also perform charitable works akin to those of The Hopeful Dawn, but theirs are generally more aimed at helping couples remain together when there may be an outside force driving them apart.

Clergy of The Dark Lord’s Wrath are the most militant amongst Endrell’s followers. They seek to foster and spread the seeds of hate wherever they can find it. They do not always directly do so however. Often they are more subtle and use intermediaries. They also often work as agents for thugs and assassins seeking to work for hire.

The clerics of Night’s Despair serve primarily to assist those that require it with suicide. Some of the more zealous ones are also known to seek out likely individuals and attempt to drive them to suicide by enhancing any despair they may already be dealing with. They see suicide as the ultimate expression of despair and thus a great offering to Endrell.

There are “generalist” members of Endrell’s clergy that are not a member of one of the preceding factions. They try to embrace and represent all aspects of their patron. However, given the polar opposites they must try and comprehend, many of these clerics end up just as mercurial in nature as Endrell himself.

Most of Endrell’s divine casting clergy are clerics, though he does attract a fair number of oracles as well. A fair number of inquisitors draw their power from Endrell. These are usually associated with The Dark Lord’s Wrath and are actually most often employed as assassins or revenge artists whose fees go to fund the church. Conversely, a fair number of warpriests draw their power from Endrell, but these are generally associated with The Hopeful Dawn and seek out those most in need of their martial skills to deliver hope.

Adventurers

Endrell attracts a wide variety of adventurers, even if some of them are only transient in their devotion. Adventurers of all stripes call upon him when they are most in need of hope. Lost deep in the underdark with little hope of finding your way out? A prayer to Endrell wouldn’t hurt. Sailing through treacherous shoals to escape a pirate fleet? Wouldn’t be a bad idea to offer Endrell a prayer in hopes of not running aground.

Likewise, a good number of adventurers find themselves offering prayers to Endrell when they seek to harness their hatred to overcome their foes. A ranger faced with a band of orc raiders attacking his village will find himself asking Endrell to guide his hatred of his well-known enemy to turn back their assault. Even the most kind-hearted paladin might find hatred in his heart for those that would seek to slaughter innocents. It is Endrell that can best help channel this emotion to a useful end.

Endrell attracts mainly those of a more martial nature, including roguish types. Indeed, many of those types make a good living by performing nefarious deeds for pay as arranged for by intermediaries of The Dark Lord’s Wrath. Assassination contracts can be quite lucrative, but there is also decent money to be made in simple “revenge for hire” contracts that don’t necessarily include killing.

Clothing

The clothing of Endrell’s clergy varies by faction. The Hopeful Dawn and The Silver Lord’s Love tend to more bright colors and seek to adorn themselves in silver brocade or silver jewelry when feasible. They do respect their patron’s dual nature though and always make sure to at least have a bit of dark coloring in their clothing.

Those of The Dark Lord’s Wrath and Night’s Despair of course go the opposite way and generally drape themselves in clothing of black, deepest brown or dark grey. They do also respect their patron’s dual nature, even if they don’t particularly like it. This leads to them usually having a minimal item of a silver color on their person, even if it is only the silver in their holy symbol.

Holy Texts

“The Darkness That Comes Before” is the main holy text of The Hopeful Dawn. It lays out all the ways that despair can seek to insinuate itself into a person’s life, and all the ways in which a person shouldn’t give in to it, because there is always a reason to have hope, and no matter how bad things may seem, eventually hope will win through.

“The Affirmation of Adoration” is a treatise on the many aspects of love and how they can improve one’s life. It is the main holy book of The Silver Lord’s Love.

“Welcome to the End” is a small text that centers around helping those in the depths of despair recognize that it is time for them to end their mortal existence. Often outlawed in more goodly aligned societies, this book is the primary text of Night’s Despair.

“Feel My Fury” is the main text of The Dark Lord’s Wrath and pays homage to the glories of hatred and all the ways in which its purity can help an individual achieve their goals. Rumors abound of it hiding a number of code phrases that can be used to communicate discreetly with the members of this faction that one would like to hire an individual for nefarious purposes.