[center][h1]Nahash the Beguiler[/h1][/center]
[center][i]The Serpent, She who Tempts the Heart, Bringer of Hope, Lady of Eyes[/i][/center]
[center][i]Domains: Temptation and the Mind[/i][/center]

[center][h3]Powers[/h3][/center]
Nahash embodies the power of a serpent. Physically, she is quicker than any mortal snake, capable of striking and moving swifter than an arrow in flight. Where she truly excels, however, lies within the realms of deception, the mind, and her understanding of the heart.

As a product of her command of the mind, Nahash's affinity for both knowing it and deceiving it is peerless. Her abilities in predicting and tricking mortals are preternatural, aided by her innate ability to see into the hearts of others and read their desires. She is capable of crafting a grand and horrific variety of illusions and false sensations to aid in these manipulations; it is easily within her power to make sand taste as the finest meal to a starving man, or to provide a heavenly scent to the odor of truly vile beasts.

Lastly, within the Albino Gorgon's realm lies miracles that strike at desire. Although exceptionally rare, as Nahash prefers her own guile and minimal effort to the unnecessary exertion of such great power, Nahash holds within her abilities a particular command of miracles, wishes, and acts of divine will. Ranging from the subtle and insidious to the grand and alluring, Nahash is capable of fulfilling most wishes that a mortal could ever ask for, with the power behind her abilities growing as the end result is desired more. The rich king's wish for a little more wealth will produce relatively little in turn, while the poor peasant's dire need to survive will produce a fortune to last a lifetime.

Conquest, greed, pride, wealth, or a simple application of 'good fortune'; all are subject to her whims, and if the desire is truly monumental, then the end result will be monumental in turn, and Nahash will expect greatness (be it in great success or great tragedy) from those who are given such a rare gift.

[center][h3]Vulnerabilities[/h3][/center]
Nahash's chief weakness is in her reliance upon others for the performance of her truly physical, manifest miracles. Where most gods would be able to craft a grand landscape, raise monuments without the touch of a single mortal hand, and see the world consumed in fire beneath their burning breath, the Serpent's miracles are powered by the desires of mortals, and those she can accomplish on her own lie solely within her domains. To make the land fertile and prosperous is well within her power, if the desire is deep and desperate enough from settlers and the like, but it is not something she can provide on her own.

The greedy can be provided with great wealth, the prideful with beautiful features or an impressive construct, the wrathful with a blade to bite the necks of their foes, the lost and forlorn with the hope to live another day, another week; everything must stem from desire and temptation, be it preexisting or crafted by her cunning hand.

In terms of physical weaknesses, Nahash is simply not physically impressive compared to most gods. While it is true she can travel faster than any arrow, and her coils are deadly to most mortals, even 'mere' dragons and other such great creatures can overpower her in purely physical combat, to say nothing of gods and their crafts; it is not her realm of strength, and she seeks to avoid it if at all possible. Additionally, in tests of pure godly might, such as countering a miracle, she must be working within her own domains or feeding off of the hopes of a vast populous, such as protecting a city from imminent destruction, to compete.

[center][h3]Appearance[/h3][/center]
[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/G3E0ABi.jpg[/img][/center]
[center][i]('White Mamba', by Christina Bencina. Extremely good artist, definitely recommended.)[/i][/center]

Although Nahash will often take the simple form of a white, red-eyed snake, her 'true appearance' (as she sees it) is a cross between both her favored animal and what she considers her most 'interesting' targets, snakes and humans. She holds a deathly, inhumanly white pallor all across her body, save for in the beady red eyes of her serpentine hair, and in her strikingly red lips. She lacks human eyes, and the empty sockets are instead covered over by yet more alabaster flesh. Her vision is instead that of her dozens of snakes, viewing in every direction and often covering the upper half of her face.

Despite her mostly human upper half and her chosen female identification, Nahash is an androgynous figure; she is lacking in any sexual characteristics, and her lower half is that of a monstrously massive snake which reaches a total of 30 feet in length. Nahash's upper half holds the proportions of a human who would be 7 feet in height with legs, and on the rare occasions that she takes a (mostly) human form, it is that of a woman of such a height, with hair as pale as her skin and eyes bearing the same red of her serpents.

Creations: None.

[center][h3]Worshipers[/h3][/center]
True, dedicated worship of Nahash is an uncommon and stigmatized practice, and for good reasons; Nahash is feared as much as any unknown being, and while there are many who whisper her name in times of desperation, those who truly admire and dedicate their faith towards the serpent and bear her name with pride are rarely trustworthy, and in many cases are not even allowed within the walls of a larger settlement when their faith is made public. As such, and to Nahash's great approval, many of the followers of the way of the Serpent conceal their beliefs and loyalties very well, save for in the privacy of like-minded company or those who seek Nahash's favor.

A favorite of Nahash's, the divided and hidden sects dedicated to her name will often act to see her will done in secret, be it her assumed wishes or direct communion from their deity. Leaders within these sects are labeled as Gorgons; their status is not acknowledged in any way outside of private areas and in rituals or ceremonies, wherein they are often dressed in imitation of the Serpent, carrying living snakes and painted as pale as the surface of the moon, decorated in scales. It is these individuals who claim to know Nahash's will, and sometimes even those who lie in this matter are granted her favor.

To serve Nahash is to dance amidst danger, serving as both vigilante protectors and saboteurs in equal measure, rightfully labeled as a danger to society and feared as an unknown.

[center][h3]Religion and Culture[/h3][/center]
Beyond her own people, Nahash's influence within the cultures and religions of the world is more often felt than acknowledged. While the Serpent neither desires nor resents the prospect of her name being known, her travels have taken her far and wide, and her lips have brushed against the ear of many a legendary figure, whispering to them secrets and promises.

In the common day to day, however, Nahash is most often felt in those she has indirectly, perhaps even unintentionally inspired. Schemers, travelers, and pilgrims all have prayers to Nahash on their lips more often than most gods, for it is known that she favors the ambitious, the bold, and the free spirits. Rogues and bandits who live deep within the wilds will also often pay her lip-service, believing that her attention will drive them to greater fortune and luck in their endeavors. Nahash's greater spheres of influence are not largely known, after all; to the greater populace, she is a trickster goddess, albeit a benevolent one.

Nahash's most common influence is not in the king or the dictator or knight, however. Rather, her touch can be felt within the prayers of the lost, the slave, and the beggar. It is a truly desperate soul that would place so much faith within her, and it is often such souls that get the slight nudge needed to set forth new and unforeseen chains of events.

Nahash's most prominent religious symbols are the snake, the coin, and the basilisk, though the latter-most is a mortal association; she has no godly power over any variety of dragon. Nahash, within stories told to children, is often depicted as a simple benevolent trickster, leading children astray but also returning them home safely. However, her tendency to tempt those who follow other gods has earned her absolutely no friends among either religions or the other deities that they surround.

[center][h3]Region or Location[/h3][/center]
Nahash's influence is one that refuses to be contained within any one region, and instead spreads through the land, touching most heavily upon towns and villages. A land that knows sapient life is a land that feels Nahash's touch, for her domains are that of both the mind itself and the ways in which it can be deceived.

[center][h3]Personality[/h3][/center]
Nahash seeks, above all else, to leave her mark upon others, and- through them- the world. To grow her legend, so that when she looks into the minds of all around the world, she will hear of her crafts-of freedom and imagination and desire- and know that she has inspired the world. She values ambition, be it for good or ill, and the will to see it through: Should Nahash's gifts be squandered, or fail to produce something spectacular, the hosts of her 'benevolence' will often find themselves the subjects of her enmity. There is no middle ground in Nahash's mind; to squander is to be worthless.

Nahash takes pride in her own cunning, and is fascinated by the simple power and change one can bring about with a proper command of language. She is capable of grand illusions that could throw entire cities into chaos, yes, but she despises blunt force applications of her abilities, and even applying her power to provide what her target wishes does not suit her tastes; she inspires and manipulates first and foremost, and would prefer to allow her targets to craft their own success or demise without her playing such an overt hand.

In the end, beyond her own personal ambitions, Nahash admires and values freedom, though her understanding of it is abstract, and change. Be it a peaceful utopia unseen in all of previous history or an all-powerful dictatorship which brings only suffering to its people, Nahash despises stagnation and the suppression to do as one wishes, and will work to change these systems with all of her subtle influence and cunning.

[center][h3]Opinions[/h3][/center]
Kilgarrah. The Honored Elder Dragon. the kin of serpents and the bane of the cowardly, favored patron of knights and slayers. In many ways, Nahash considers her role and that of Kilgarrah closely intertwined, mirrored forces that share interesting resemblances. She is well aware of Kilgarrah's temper and pride, and while she considers the idea of provoking him into a rage extremely enticing, she considers the aftermath much less interesting. She cautiously skirts the edges of his personal attention, but considers both his knights and his dragons to be extremely exciting prey, particularly those who carry sins and vices.

Nahargu’ul. Sweet Water, she has called him on occasions, for reasons that lurk only within the confines of her labyrinth of a mind. Although Nahash rarely has reason to interact with the Sea-Fiend, for there are few things that interest her beneath the ocean, she has frequently traveled over his domain aboard ships, or even of her own power, and has made a habit of throwing a handful of gold overboard at the beginning of her every voyage, a strange mixture of mockery and respect to the action.

Yigzavath. Perhaps one of the few gods that Nahash will bluntly refer to as a parasitic miscreant and petty leech. And also, she will admit, a thrilling challenge in the domain of wits. Few filthy things bother Nahash, for she knows and has admired the darkest thoughts of mortals, and has seen such things made manifest. There is no physical filth that she feels can compare. But there are also few things that can disgust the Albino Gorgon so wholeheartedly as Yigzavath's creations, and the intent behind them. His Acolytes are a frequent victim or target of her own schemes, most often from obscure directions that can be nearly impossible to trace back to her.

Dormammus, who holds power in the hand and grants a certain form of hope to mortals all of his own. In truth, Nahash views the craft of Dormammus with respect, or as much respect as she has given anyone, and finds his willingness to share the esoteric knowledge within his mind with mortals to be quite refreshing. The fact that some of her Gorgons have occasionally turned into giant snakes in imitation of her form is just an amusing bonus. Those who command the power he gifts are often figures of her attention.

Iuppiter. Of all the gods, it is the Lightbringer that has captured Nahash's unspoken sympathies. She, like the lord of the sky, finds her interest captured by the mortal life that scurries through about upon their playground world. She is also fairly certain that these mortals will one day die to a being, and she will be left without a soul to inspire and admire, just as Iuppiter will be without the adoring child and frightened man to inspire. In the meantime, however, she finds his tumultuous storms to be magnificent.

Ha. A knight apart from Kilgarrah, many of Nahash's views of the lord of laughter (as she has laughingly named him at least once) overlap with those she holds of Kilgarrah. Due to him being a far less temperamental figure than the dragon god, Nahash views the manner in which their domains overlap in a more favorable light: Often, it is said that she has nudged and whispered into the ears of smiths without inspiration, driving them towards the paths that see the artifacts they hold within their hearts completed.

Ashevelen. Although Nahash is able to find a peculiar positive note in almost any god, be it for the wonders they craft or their jovial nature, it is perhaps the Lady of Luck with which Nahash shares the greatest empathetic bond, alongside the Black Cat and the Horned Goddess. The Lady of Eyes finds Ashevelen's domain to be of particular importance to her meddling in mortal affairs, and is able to appreciate more than most the effects that simple luck and a healthy number of dark shadows can have in any scheme. She has occasionally asked for Ashevelen's aid in particularly momentous events that she has orchestrated; she enjoys being able to say that luck is on her side.

Kalla. Like with Ashevelen, Kalla is one of Nahash's fellow deities with which she shares a genuine bond of empathy, and one of the few who she can spend great amounts of time around without eventually resorting to some sort of prank or trickery-- aimed at Kalla, anyway. She admires the wild diversity of Kalla's creations, and enjoys quick jaunts to admire such things. If there is a sour note to her relationship with the deity, beyond their disagreements, it is Nahash's quiet, unspoken coveting of Kalla's unique language. As the goddess of the mind, she prides herself on being able to communicate with almost any creature, yet even she does not grasp the Wild Language.

Asivar. Nahash strikes a strange interaction with most of her fellow deities, and Asivar is no exception on this matter. The Bloody Lord of War is one of the favored targets of Nahash's indirect interest; his presence is a danger, but what he promises with his mere presence is all too interesting. The endless bloodshed eventually grows dull and tiresome, but Nahash can always find a use for the instability, famine, and desperation brought about by conflict. If only he did not have his peculiar need for an abstract sort of [i]balance[/i].

Kulorerstus. Nahash would rather see any land which the Death God has touched burn before she sees him successful in his growth; his mindless undead and monolithic devotion to his domain are offenses of the highest degree to one such as her, who prizes the individuality and true chaos of life without restriction. The only individuals who catch Nahash's interest among the megalomaniacal god's creations are his Death Knights, Liches, and the Oracle. One cannot convince a simple zombie, but the thinking dead are as susceptible to her manipulations as any sapient.

Del Sombra. Yet another gem of genuine delight among the White Serpent's fellow deities, and an exhilarating fellow in a manner different from Kalla, closer to the likes of Ashevelen. She is one who regularly inspires Nahash's interest, and is a frequent target of both companionship and investigation. Secrets, lies, riddles, truth, all have passed through Nahash's lips, and all carry a great deal of weight to the serpent. She respects the Black Cat deeply. This positive outlook is doubtlessly helped greatly by the ego boost that is Del Sombra's own interest in her work.

Erisbili. Madness, perversion of the mind, an expression of its intricacies made manifest in errors. Indeed, this is the spirit of how the Serpent views her 'sibling' deity: A mistake, an error, and the highest of offenders against her domains. The god of madness is an ever-present thorn in Nahash's mind, and the perversion he represents is a thing even fouler than Yigzavath could ever hope to be, for few are so qualified to understand how intimately the mind is polluted by his influence, and none of them so qualified as the prideful Lady of Hope.
If there is a god towards whom Nahash can be said to act bullheaded, it is Erisbili and his 'petulant hypocrisy', as she would describe his ideas. She is uniquely equipped to understand the deity's mind and follow the pathways his thoughts take, for even the most warped mind falls somewhere within her domain, but she is far more interested in loathing him and setting her servants against his own.

[center][h3]Tales[/h3][/center]
There are many tales of Nahash, spread across a multitude of cultures, which range from vilification to admiration of the serpentine goddess, as befitting of the chaotic nature of her influence. Nahash is simply pleased to know that her name is recognized, and her lessons are learned.

[hider=The Maiden]
There once was a maid of no peer,
Whose heart and fate was quite drear,
For she lay in a snare,
within a lord's lair,
And she knew her fate- to bear an heir.

Until one morn a lone serpent did come,
And into her ear came its low hum.
It promised her freedom,
The death of a cretin,
And to its sweet voice she did succumb.

Upon a cold night the lord did draw near,
And the maiden did hate his dark leer.
She went for the kill,
His blood she did spill,
When she cut the lord from ear to ear!

And so now I warn you my friends,
Of whom this arrangement offends.
Do not inflict,
A living so strict,
Or Nahash will see your life ends.
-Anonymous
[/hider]

[hider=The Wealthy Beggar]

It was in the darkness of a lone alley that a man knelt. His bones were weak, his clothes threadbare, but in his heart there was wealth. His hands lay clasped before him, and his hoarse and dry voice begged of the gods, "Oh please, dear gods, to any that might hear my call. I beseech you now, in this my darkest hour, speak to me. A sign, a blessing, that I might keep my life, that I might find my livelihood. Please, I beg of you, do not take everything from me."
"We have taken nothing, sweet beggar," crooned and hissed a voice in the night, "but perhaps I may give something still. What lies in your heart?"
The beggar was frightened, and as he realized what lurked in the dark with him, he became morose, and bemoaned his fate. "Is this my curse, dear gods?" he asked. "I know of your name, Nahash the Beguiler, and I know that down your path lies only further misery. Is this my doom, serpent?"
The god that lurked in the dark tittered, carrying the mirth of a young maiden and the voice of a sly snake. "This is not your doom, dear child of man," it assured him, "For you have been misled, and should only rejoice: I am the keeper of lost children, and the hope of the hopeless, such as yourself."
"I am not so hopeless that I would trust your words, snake," rasped the man, "You who have lied and swindled, fed greed, and brought death and misery."
"And you have not?" retorted the dark voice, freezing the man's anger and bringing a chill to his chest. Terror gripped him; The voice was low and dangerous now, a venomous hiss. "I know of you, William Baudry, and I know what lies within your heart. Envy, greed, wrath. A lust for that which is now lost to you, a doom of your own making. You made the path that you now walk, steeped in your failures and a victim of the spited."
"No, 'twas not I who did this, it was you!" cried William Baudry, cringing away from the darkness even as the fear grew deeper. The darkness knew of him, and in the voice there was only reproach. It was to his horror that the darkness grew darker still, and in its depths there was a glimmer of alabaster. With a hissing chuckle, a serpent emerged from the blackness of the night, foot by glimmering foot of pale scales and coiled muscle, and two glimmering red eyes pierced him with a knowing gaze.
"The hearts of mortals are fragile and fickle, and they will oft blame the dark and unknown for failures of their own making." it- she- hissed, slowly circling the scrawny man with the air of an amused predator, a bulk greater than a mortal snake striking fear into his all-too-mortal heart. "But it was not my greed that took your gold, nor my knife that stole your love, and you know this. It was the greed of men, the will of men." Ever so slowly, the serpent coiled around his frame, until its pale visage rested mere inches from his own. Her voice became a whisper. "And you only have yourself to blame."
The serpent's venomous words pierced through him as if they were arrows, and he grew limp in her grasp, his righteous anger leaving him in one heaving breath. There was now only the ache of age and loss. "I hate you, serpent, for you are right. 'Twas those who I slighted who took my love, and who ruined the fortune crafted from my trickery." The confession was as sour as any lemon within his mouth, but the fear in his heart was gone, and the weight that burdened it lessened.
"What do you wish for, lost child?" the serpent crooned, her tones the softest that William had ever heard, a tenderness that soothed his soul. Her eyes, like red gems set within ivory, were mesmerizing. "Speak from the heart, and I will know it to be true."
"Revenge, my lady." he spoke. The words were hollow and without passion.
Nahash's gaze pierced through his lie as easily as her hissing voice, and she gave his waning passion no sympathy, nor fuel. "You think this will give you peace, lost one? You delude yourself, as even you can see. Speak again, with the truth within you."
"Wealth, my lady."
The serpent's stare was dull and without remorse. "It is I that is the wise one between us. Once more, foolish grifter." she rattled, and William Baudry was silent for a time, before he spoke once more.
"I want to start again, my lady," he confessed, "and to get out of this place."
The Beguiler's ruby eyes gleamed, and her tongue flicked the air. "I sense the truth of this, honest fool. You have searched your heart for that which you truly crave, a means of escape from your wretched past, and you have found it within yourself to acknowledge this need. Very well." the serpent craned her neck forward, her head brushing against his neck with all the quiet, threatening presence of any dangerous being. Her flickering tongue tickled his ear, and she spoke to him in a low hiss.
"At the southern gates, you will find your freedom- your true wealth- awaiting your first step, William Baudry. Know that all is not lost to you, and the world still lies before you. Your livelihood shall be yours once again."
And so it was that the serpent released her hold on the body and heart of William Baudry, and inbetween one blink and the next, she disappeared from his sight, to remain unseen by the young man for years to come. A mere memory, though one permanently etched into his mind. A reminder of his past, a strike against his pride, and yet also hope for the future.
It was on the next night that the renowned bard and adventurer- and later Gorgon of the Lady of Many Eyes- William Baudry found his way onto the road.[/hider]

[hider=The Serpent's Bite]

Among the miraculous armaments that have fallen into human hands over the ages, several can claim to have passed through the hands of the Albino Serpent herself. Nahash is not a deity of war by any measure, but she is also hardly one to stray away from necessary violence. Her nature is reflected in the insidious weaponry she wields and has gifted upon mortal creatures in the past, weaponry that slays the mind as much as it does the body, mirrors that reveal the soul and all of its imperfections.

Of these weapons, the most [i]blunt [/i]is-- of all things- a bladed ring. An intricate design of steel, the ring is intended to cover the entire finger as though it were the plating of a gauntlet's digit, with a sharp talon capping the tip of the finger. Bearing no outward insignia of its creator and numerous runes of a long-dead language upon its interior, this piece of wicked jewelry bears it allegiance through its name and its effect: [i]Mind Shear[/i].

It is said that the Mind Shear was created in defiance of those who could claim to be stalwart-- and stagnant- until the stars grew dark, whose stubbornness and inhuman defiance blinded them to all divergence from the path that was laid for them. Its usage was first demonstrated against a greedy dragon who longed for greater treasures. Indeed, the glimmer of gold was the sweetest of pleasures to the Hellkite laying within its caves, but it was paralyzed by one of Nahash's greatest tools and most stubborn of enemies: Fear.

Simple fear held the dragon in place where morality could not, for it knew that to seek more was to bring wrath upon itself. All words were simple noise to its closed ears and paranoid mind, and for many long years the Albino Serpent had whispered fruitlessly. Naturally, the birth of Nahash's mostly reluctantly-wielded blade demanded a test subject, and in her mind there was but one choice.

And so it was that the greedy dragon was visited a final time. And when the dragon hissed its final denial to the Serpent, his tongue was cut, and his words were silenced. Nahash vanished as if wind in the midst of his rage, her speed carrying her far away from the enraged lord of treasure.

It is said that its rampage left hundreds dead, its fear and paranoid misery-- and all restraint- lost as swiftly as its tongue, a weeping wound in its mind that denied any of its secrets to its host; Indeed, the great dragon could not even remember [i]why[/i] it had denied its basic urges.

It went to its death without ever learning the truth of the Mind Shear: As it shears scale as easily as flesh, so to does it shear the mind's inhibitions. Those who feel its kiss will forget the nature of their fears, their restraints, unless they are protected by a greater power.

From then on, the Mind Shear saw many victims, but relatively few at the hands of Nahash. Although she was initially pleased by her creation, Nahash came to be disgusted by the blade as her understanding of the mind deepened, and free will's value deepened in her mind. She was no longer interested in the easy solution which it provided.

And yet, even such a disgusting weapon has its uses. A motivator, a bringer of chaos. And so, she cast it carelessly into the mortal world, where it saw use in the hands of scheming nobility, volatile cults, and tyrannical lords for many decades.

With the coming of the Cataclysm and the resulting Silence, the ring slipped back into Nahash's resentful hands, where it now awaits a new bearer.
[/hider]