The word can be pronounced either 'slau' or 'sluff', which both have definitions that fit very well with Slough's character. I've been pronouncing it 'slow' in my head, and I really need to fix that. On that note, here's an update to Slough's sheet. Made some expansions on description and domain. [hider=Rottenbone Slough] [b]Name:[/b] Slough [b]Alias:[/b] Rottenbone, Deepwood Ghoul, Ragged Deer, Atrophy, Woodland Hollow, Deer God [b]Gender:[/b] Definitively female. Were it not for her unique and regrettable state for existence, she would be able to successfully reproduce with male deer. [b]Domain (Portfolio):[/b] Life (Wilderness) [b]Domain (Portfolio) Description:[/b] A truly great power resides within the body of this beastly god. Though the vast and nebulous realms of intellect, magic, order, chaos, good, and evil command their own dimensions of influence, nothing is more fundamental to the universe than life itself. If not for living things, after all, the cruelest of devils could only play with pebbles, the most abstract of intellect would have no host, and the miracle of magic would never grace a single, wondering eye. In terms of magnitude, it is impressive even among the strongest of gods, but lies for the most part unused inside her frame, eating away at her from the inside out. The incredible life-force dormant within Slough leaks out in the form of the rot dripping from her body; from pools of it new creatures can emerge and new plants can grow. Soil infused with this rot becomes fertile, creating entire ecosystems over time without the slightest bit of cognition on Slough’s part. The mere contact of this rot with living things is in itself a game of chance, slave to no pattern or cause: its latent life energy might regenerate a creature's wounds, or like a cancer race through its body and create any number of mutations. In addition, Slough holds a connection to nature itself. If fleeing, Slough can disappear and reappear wherever its power has touched, and if there’s nowhere to flee its power will create a protective ‘womb’ around her to keep her safe. Like nature itself, Slough is highly impressionable. Other divine beings can, if the situation allows, imprint power onto her or attempt to alter her own nature with their powers. Therefore, like life itself, Slough can continuously evolve. Lastly, the power within Slough has one other outlet. It draws souls, regardless of location or age, into it, replenishes them, and leaks them back out into new living forms via Slough’s secretions. In effect, this is a form of reincarnation. Souls transmuted through Slough into new bodies retain no memory from their previous life, but gain instead a sort of scrambled soul signature that makes their manipulation by outside sources more difficult. [b]Alignment:[/b] Neutral Good [b]Personality:[/b] Slough is, as one might expect, little more than a beast. She seeks food to keep herself alive, and has no discernable ambitions beyond that. If she is even aware of her own godhood, it is only the crudest sort of understanding. Flighty and easily startled, she tends to flee at the first sign of trouble, and is comfortable only when surrounded by a tranquil nature—at least, as comfortable as one cursed with eternal suffering can be. Reflecting the wildness of nature, she is extremely difficult to control or even approach, but with a lot of time and patience a wise individual knowledgeable in the ways of animals and healing can gain Slough’s trust. [b]Appearance:[/b] Unlike most gods, Slough maintains a single form, which is in itself a curse far greater than her wiser fellows may ever bear. She is an exceptionally large deer, whose stringy fur is easily mistaken for moss, and who despite being female bears magnificent antlers. To say that she is emaciated is a vast understatement; most of the flesh in her torso, including all of her organs, is gone, leaving only hunks of rotting flesh and tufts of fur around her spine. Her face, too, is nothing but a skull, with eyes covered by strips of tender bark like bandages. Slough’s body is constantly rotting, exuding a foul-smelling black pus that oozes from her body. Simply living is a ghastly pain for [url=http://orig07.deviantart.net/aacc/f/2010/175/0/8/the_spirit_deer_by_sea_dragon.jpg]her[/url]. [b]Musical Theme:[/b] [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAD0BtEv6-Q]Take Flight[/url] [b]Description:[/b] Despite possessing one of the greatest powers in the known universe, Slough desires nothing more than to live comfortably and at peace in the world. Creating new life even without meaning to, Slough is an extremely valuable resource for other gods wanting to make new creations for fast-track those already in the works, but her nature prevents this resource from being accessible. After all, if empowered by another god, Slough can make life for them easily. Nevertheless, Slough is not capable of development on her own, and will depend entirely on the actions of gods, heroes, and mortals –whether indifferent, harmful, malicious, corruptive, transformative, healing, relieving, intellectual, or blessing- to shape its existence. It is not difficult to imagine the role of Slough among mortals. She is a fleeting myth, sighted once in a blue moon by the intrepid or the lost, but almost certainly renowned by any people with the slightest bit of fascination for and appreciation of the world they live in and their place in its natural order. The rather tribal idea of Slough as a living symbol for the living world, a sort of 'nature spirit', could no doubt inspire the average mind. The half-dead Woodland Hollow, though rarely an object of worship, could nevertheless amass a certain reverence, and to the most spiritually attuned, perhaps even serve as a primitive kind of guide. [b]Concealment Level:[/b] 1 [b]Detection Level:[/b] 1 [/hider]