Ilxendren

Ilxendren was the patron god of the ixzan, as well as some of their sea-dwelling relatives, the ixitxachitl. The Demonray was their creator, hence why the ixzan were known as "spawn of Ilxendren".

"With Ilxendren's help, your bites may cripple even a dragon."

- Yzil, priest of Ilxendren.

Description
Ilxendren appeared as a huge vampiric manta ray with a wingspan. The Demonray's eyes were bright red and its tail was long, blue-tipped and barbed.

Personality
Ilxendren was supremely arrogant and scornful god towards almost all species not his own, demanding its creations to terrorize all marine creatures nearby and actively encouraging them to display wanton cruelty, caprice, and arrogance themselves. The one exception to this rule was aboleth, which he both feared and admired. Though it might help its patron race, little stopped it from wreaking havoc on them purely for the fun of it.

Powers
Ilxendren's avatar was a capable combatant able to move swiftly underwater and maneuver (albeit slowly) on land. His bite irresistibly sapped the energy from his victims and the spines on his tail were deadly on their own even ignoring their poison. It was completely immune to non-magical weapons and resistant to magical but blunt weapons, as well as illusions and water or earth spells, though it was vulnerable to fire magic.

Ilxendren's avatar could cast all spells that its priests could, in addition to casting abjuration, transmutation, evocation, and necromancy spells as a wizard would. It possessed several spell-like abilities it could cast once per day each, with a minute needed in-between casts, and each as an incredibly powerful caster; cone of cold, ice storm, wall of ice, and enervation. Once per day he could summon a powerful water elemental to do his bidding for an hour.

Ilxendren had the ability, referred to as his "Greatest Blessing" by his followers, to transform its worshipers into greater vampires.

Related Items
The Vestments of Ehjax were a collection of ixitxachitl holy relics created either by or for the First Prophet of Ilxendren and only usable by them, including the Miter of Ilxendren's Blessing.

Divine Realm
Ilxendren dwelt in a vast, malodorous lake somewhere in the depths of the Abyss.

Activities
Ilxendren sometimes dispatched his avatar to assist a capable group of priests and vampiric or mutant followers against a new and sizable population of other races, and more rarely appeared and attacked his own communities, either as a punishment for lacking aggression or because such an act was capriciously cruel in and of itself.

Relationships
Despite despising most other species, Ilxendren was allied with a couple of other deities, such as Kiaransalee, drow goddess of revenge and undeath. He and Blibdoolpoolp, the kuo-toa goddess were on relatively good terms, enough so that their respective patron races often lived together.

Much more common were Ilxendren's enemies, including most of the Dark Seldarine, incluing Lolth, Selvetarm, Vhaeraun, Ghaunadaur and Eilistraee, the duergar gods Laduguer and Deep Duerra, and the elven god of revenge Shevarash.

Worshipers
The priests of Ilxendren were, as to be expected, bloodthirsty beings of deliberate fickleness and malice. This did not preclude honest devotion to Ilxendren, but they had moderate limits on their clerical abilities, received no special powers from their god, and could only turn undead at a much lower level of potency than their priestly status would suggest. There were no weapon restrictions, although usually they simply used their natural armaments, and the only requirement to join besides being one of their kind was at least sub-average wisdom.

Ilxendren worship was nearly universal among the ixzan, who revered Ilxendren as their creator, the only exceptions being isolated enclaves of other cults. The common ixzan were dominated by the priest class, with mutants and especially vampires being revered as his favored to the point where even the bullying priests feared and deferred to their undead kin. Most cities forbade mutants from entering the clergy however, with the notable exception of the Corralline City, Malydren. Despite their numbers and supposed religious unanimity, clerical ixzans had to balance the competing, barely veiled threats of demanding council members and the rampant factionalism within the clergy, and so did not dominate their governments.

The patron god of most ixitxachitl was Demogorgon, the Prince of Demons, but the ixitxachitl of the Inner Sea were an exception. The Xedran Reefs, also known as the Holy Reefs of the Vitinar, were a shallow-water theocracy whose ixitxachitl showed an all-consuming zeal for the Dark Ray, and where all life revolved around his worship. The upper echelons of their society were the Vitanarate, including the temple-ruling vitans, city-ruling devitans, and the vitanar, his Holiness who ruled from the Holy City of Xedras. Vitanarate commands went unquestioned, for to fulfill their requests was to be a step closer to higher power and station, the vitans themselves hoping to be turned into vampires by the vitanar as the devitans and guards were.

Some ixitxachitl slaves in the Inner Sea, as opposed to the many that tried to escape, opted instead to convert to Ilxendren's faith in the hopes of being allowed the easier work within its temples.

Dogma
Ixzan revered Ilxendren as their creator, and their oligarchic theocracies were governed by the precepts of the Demon Ray, generally emphasizing the whimsical whim to hurt others.

Ixitxachitl values were similar, as could be seen in their treatment of their slaves, with a noted preference held towards the strong who preyed upon the weak. They experienced a marked change in behavior, since and continuing after the Twelfth Seros War, which they saw it as a Time of Tempering or Ilxendren's Tempering. Since that time, rather than performing rare raids, they continued throwing themselves into battle against incredibly low odds, believing the conflict to be a crucible with which strength and worthiness would be found, so any who left the reef either returned with spoils or not at all. The arrogance the faith encouraged could lead worshipers to overestimate their odds against other foes.

Though only 5% of the populace of the Xedran Reefs were priests of Ilxendren, all its ixitxachitl patterned their daily lives by its teachings (though it was unclear if they saw him as their creator). To receive an order or even attention from a devitan was akin to receiving it from the Dark Ray itself, and as far as any ixitxachitl was concerned, the vitanar was Ilxendren incarnate. By these rules only vampries among their race could rule, creating a clear distinction between the classes, and he also started the tradition that, should all the enemies of the Xedran Reefs not be slain within a century of a vitanar's rule, they were unfit in Ilxendren's eyes and had to abdicate the throne to a successor, one they themselves turned.

Unbeknownst to other races, there was a schism among the ixitxachitl faithful of Ilxendren. Rather than commit a sacrificial kamikaze, as was typical for a guard of the vitanar when its term ended, the rogue vitanar Qyxas managed to achieve greater vampiric status and maneuvered in secret against both the orthodox clergy and his own merfolk allies in Ilxendren's name. Though he had his own faithful, the need to keep himself hidden to avoid being killed for heresy meant he kept quiet.

The usual interpretation of Ilxendren's message, as preached by the orthodoxy, was to face and eradicate the foe for offening Ilxendren with their existence. The Qyxasian heresy taught that learning from one's foes so as to destroy them indirectly or from within was the key to Ilxendren's vengeance, and that commerce and dialogue with lesser races would ultimately allow for their subjugation. Given Ilxendren granted both spells, it apparently considered neither of these interpretations blasphemous.

Rituals
Given their bloodlust, clerics of Ilxendren enjoyed sacrificing sentients to the Demon Ray.

Temples
In ixzan communities, magic and charmed slaves were used to construct great pyramids that had some significance regarding their reverence of Ilxendren. At the center of Malydren's laggon for example stood the Ziggurat of the Abyss, which served as a grand cathedral for the Demonray and housing for most of the clergy.

Notable Worshipers

 * Bhylqex the Barbed, a mutant ixzan priestess of Ilxendren renowned for her unique power to launch spikes from her tail like a manticore.
 * Ehjax, First Prophet of Ilxendren who established the god's church in the Xedran Reefs.
 * Oksakex of the Sacred Visions, a vampiric ixzan priestess of Ilxendren, second in Malydren's clergy and known for falling into holy trances that left her uncontrollably shaking for hours at a time.
 * Ourqax the Crafty, Fifth Prophet of Ilxendren who desired a more conservative approach in response to the hasty ways of his predecessor.
 * Phyvvak the Crusader, Fourth Prophet of Ilxendren whose rash methods embraced Ilxendren's dogmatism like no other and caused thousands of deaths among their enemies at the cost of more than halving their own population.
 * Qaxdivak Spellshatter, a cunning, mutant ixzan priest of Ilxendren with high magic resistance and great cunning.
 * Qyxas, a rogue vitan of Ilxendren that sought to become Vitanar through secrecy and betrayal.
 * Shex, vitan representative of the vitanar.
 * Thysax, Second Prophet of Ilxendren and the Second Vitanar of the Xedran Reefs.
 * Vyqinak the Count of the Depths, former vitan of Ilxendren turned worshiper of Demogorgon and the most unusual Night Master within the Night Masks organization.
 * Wurupar, Third Prophet of Ilxendren and the Third Vitanar of the Xedran Reefs.
 * Yzil, devitan of Exzethlix and secret follower of the Qyxasian heresy.
 * Zekaqux Netherhaunt, ixzan high priest of Malydren, his name stemming from his undead nature and proclivity to swim in the deepest catacombs beneath Ilxendren's temple, born the year of Malydren's founding and transformed into a greater vampire by Ilxendren's avatar.

Ixzan
Given that much of ixzan history was passed down orally and had since been co-opted and turned into religious mythology by the priest caste, it was of debatable use as historical record. Even so, their lore spoke first of a Great Flood, which scatted the ixzan throughout the Underdark (attempts to verify it bringing mixed results) which was then followed by the Revelation of the Demonray, more than a century's worth of religious warring. Up until that point the ixzan had venerated various dark gods ranging from true deities like Panzuriel to demon lords such as Dagon or Demogorgon, but in the aftermath of that period, Ilxendren's clergy was by far the dominant religion.

In 602 DR, an avatar of Ilxendren transformed Phiaqiv the Lifeleech and Zekaqux Netherhaunt into greater vampires. Ilxendren did this again during the Time of Troubles, bestowing his Greatest Blessing on a young ixzan known among his kind only as the Ghost Ray. While his existence remained unconfirmed, even this was enough to threaten the existing power balance of Xendreth, him being the first to receive the gift since Phiaqiv and Zekaqux centuries ago. The Ghost Ray wisely chose to lurk in Malydren's deepest trenches, awaiting the right time to reveal itself.

Ixitachitl
Ixitachitl history seemed to mirror the to some degree Revelation of the Demonray. The general patron deity of the ixixachitl was Demogorgon, presented as a latecomer who adopted the mantas for unknowable reasons, their own myths usually presenting him as a savior power who brought magic to fight their foes. Early ixitxachitl societies within the Inner Sea had long worshiped various Abyssal lords and demonic powers in such a way that the militaristic rulership was distinct from the church.

This changed forever in the Year of the Stricken Star (875 DR) when Ehjax brought the Word of Ilxendren and his dogma from the Underdark. Having spent centuries fighting other races, the ixixachitl embraced the harsh revenge god as a way to regain strength and the capacity to protect themselves. The Xedran Reefs theocracy he created would become the longest lasting within Serôs. Interestingly the ixixachitls of Serôs refused to acknowledge that Ilxendren would have any worshipers other than themselves, including their freshwater cousins, and that even if such worshipers existed they would not need to hide and skulk in the Underdark.

Trivia
The Serôsian calender contained one month called Ilxenhunt or Ilxendren's March, the primary crusading month for the ixitxachitls as they raided some summer settlements and warmer waters while other races still lived there.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Queen of the Depths • The Sea Devil's Eye
 * Queen of the Depths • The Sea Devil's Eye