Nh'thielus

''“The Kholist church has discovered the existence of other worlds. If they exist, we must bring our vision to them, and flay the false flesh of their world to reveal the truth of Nh’thielus to them.”'' - Final sermon of archpriest Luric IV before his “transformation” Nh'thielus (PRONOUNCED : /'nəθaɪləs/ NUH-th-EYE-l-uh-s) is the old God of pain, suffering, and insanity. In its home world of Attunia, it is known as They of Many Mouthes, The Perfect, and the Great One. It is a malevolant God, whose fanatical followers seek to invade and turn Lorone into a hellscape where naught but suffering resides in the minds of sentient creatures. While its ultimate plans are not so cognizant, many of its cultists and maddened followers have a particular interest in the cultivation of psionics, as they see the power of the mind as the most profound way to inflict pain throughout the multiverse.

Description (And Divine Realm)
Nh’thielus rarely ever appears in their full true shape, typically only communicating via proxies, visions, and disembodied voices. Those unfortunate enough to see their true shape are certain to face their wrath, and will likely never be seen again as they will likely be taken by the God of Pain to be milked for every drop of suffering that can be extracted from them for all eternity.

Their inability to manifest in the Material Plane properly is also partially due to the sheer size of their avatar, as their physical form has bloated to the size of an entire plane of existence (effectively making their physical form their divine realm), making it impossible for their entire form to leave the demiplane that contains them; though proxies and fragments of their being are capable of leaving if desired.

Nh’thielus appears as a shapeless aberrant mass of gelatinous flesh, sprouting maws and tendrils across its form, with rows of teeth cascading within each mouth, with unblinking, bloodshot eyes down its many throats. Their insides are easily mistaken for a never ending series of caves, with walls of thick flesh and sinew, pulsating in time with deep, heavy breaths.

Inside of the titanic pain elemental resides an almost industrial assembly of mindless husks of various creatures, serving the God by torturing the countless victims they have confined to vicious surgical procedures, inflicting as much suffering and torment to these creatures as possible before they too are converted into these “husks”.

Relationships
(TBA due to heavy spoilers)

Worshippers (Lorone)
(TBA due to heavy spoilers)

Worshippers (Attunia)
"“To suffer is to learn, to learn is to understand, to understand is to know no fear.”""- Church of Nh’thielus, core doctrine"The church of Nh’thielus is a fanatical faith that believes mortal life as a whole is fundamentally flawed and that only pain and suffering can evolve the mortal body, mind, and soul. Most Nh’thielans were expert healers as a result, many keeping medicines, herbs, and other medical supplies on them at all times to treat life threatening injuries in the event a creature endures too much suffering or can endure no more, harkening back to the vestiges of the faith’s original tenets.

The most devout followers of Nh’thielus may even go so far as to inflict damage to themselves, be it physically (such as willingly sustaining injuries in battle), mentally (willingly exposing oneself to something they fear or find traumatic), or spiritually (doing something that disgusts or is in complete opposition to the nature of the individual). This is done to strengthen the Nh’thielan, making them less vulnerable to suffering and desensitising them to the different sensations of pain.

Worshippers of Nh’thielus believe that a mortal being can only sustain a limited amount of suffering until they reach a “transformation”, wherein they are no longer vulnerable to suffering of any kind, giving them a form of invincibility; with some even believing that they become effectively immortal due to their complete control over their physical and mental faculties. The most powerful Nh’thielans have been known to possess superhuman levels of tenacity, not even flinching when examining their own mortal wounds, allowing them to heal themselves in the fleeting seconds before their expiration. They also possess untold mental resilience, being all but immune to mental attacks.

It is for this reason that the many zealous members of the faith are known for their imposing demeanour regarding their faith, and even share an alliance with the churches of Maal’fas and Khol, as they all share a desire to invade and propagate their faith as much as possible. The most aggressive members, backed by the unholy aberrations (made of “transformed” fiends, celestials, beasts, and humanoids) spawned by their deity, believe that all life should know the joys of “transformation” as well and would go as far as to invade other countries - and most recently, other worlds - in pursuit of this goal. This goal is known as “The Grand Labour”, a duty to make all of lands in their world and others match the “vision” of their God, though in reality they are only allowing their God to gorge themselves on the suffering of others at a greater scale; though Nh’thielus not disapprove of how their religion has gained its own ideals over the milenia, and will make efforts to play in favour of their mortal followers.

The holy symbol of Nh’thielus is the image of a flayed hand. Many devout followers themselves flay some, if not all, of one of their hands as a sign of their devotion.

Pre-Divine Life
In time immemorial, among the elements of the natural world reside elementals that lived in harmony, all created by an aspect of reality that took shape in a physical form. Among these elementals were the pain elementals; entities that cause and consume the suffering of others to sustain themselves.

These pain elementals tended to be very small, approximately the size of one’s palm at most, therefore these elementals require only a small amount of suffering to sustain their existence. But, due to an unknown reason, one of these elementals gained a much larger appetite, and began to consume the rest of its kind, driving the other pain elementals to extinction until it became the physical embodiment of pain itself.

Over time, this elemental had tortured and consumed all of their kin, growing and bloating to a size beyond human comprehension with power and magic to match.

Divine Ascension
The apex pain elemental drifted across space, seeking out to torture and consume the suffering of all living life it could find. Eventually, it found the realms of the Gods themselves. It found the God of suffering and martyrs, Nh’thielus, and began to plot and scheme to consume the God as well. After a decisive battle, the almighty pain elemental defeated the God, consuming him and ascending to godhood.

The elemental quickly began to evolve, transforming the religion to suit their own desires. A faith that once took the suffering of others to protect their fellows became invasive and overwhelming, now seeing suffering as the key to saving all life from their imperfections, allowing them to evolve and grow to become more than mortal. The pain elemental continues to torture the concept of the God they consumed, taking their name as their own; Nh’thielus.