Vritra

Alignment: LE

Pantheon: Major Deities

Areas of Concern: Tyranny, Chromatic Dragons, Slavery, Torture, Conquests

Domains: Death, Destruction, Evil, Law, War

Subdomains: Undead, Torture, Corruption, Devil, Kyton, Tyranny, Slavery, Blood

Favored Weapon: Spiked Chain, Spiked Gauntlet, Dragon Pistol

Symbol: Skeletal dragon head with a spiky crown, in the middle of a pentagram

Sacred Animal(s): Drake

Sacred Color(s): Blue

Obedience: Using a sapphire-bladed knife, inscribe symmetrical cuts into the flesh of another creature—preferably an unwilling sentient being you own or hold dominion over. The blade may be solid sapphire or forged of metal and edged with serrated sapphire fragments. Devout priests of Vritra take pride in crafting elaborate daggers made entirely of sapphire. Drain the victim’s blood into a bowl of bone made from the skull of a sentient humanoid. The amount of blood drained is up to you; you don’t have to drain so much that you make the creature weak or too useless to serve you. Use the bowl of blood to draw a large pentagram on the ground. Kneel within the pentagram and concentrate on the glory you will bring to Vritra’s name. Gain a +4 profane bonus on saving throws against electricity effects.

Lore: Many stories exist about Vritra. Many portray him as a mortal cursed into a dragon, but in fact, it was quite the opposite.

Vritra has always been thought to be a blue dragon, but there has been some debate between spoilers due to a certain glean of Vritra’s scales as well as abilities not generally held by a blue dragon.

Through his blood, Vritra acquired the power of shapeshifting, using it to eat the young spawn of a noble King and taking its place, turning into such a babe. After time passed, he eventually became king of the realm and started terrorizing his citizens, imposing harsh taxes and controlling his nation with an iron fist, torturing publicly and killing anyone who dared resist his rule. It didn’t take long for Vritra to expand his horizons and cast his gaze upon other nations, and thus Vritra started invading different neighbors, assimilating them through violence and tyranny, eventually gaining so much in power that he became a demi-god. His reign of terror continued up until he faced Siegfried’s nation.

On a battlefield against the giant man of iron, Vritra was forced to turn back to his dragon form to face Siegfried in battle, and after a fierce battle with the man, Vritra was defeated, losing a large part of his divine power as the hero bathed in the dragon’s blood. Siegfried thought he was done with the beast, so he buried it and left. Contrary to what Siegfried thought, Vritra wasn’t fully defeated.

Through the power he acquired over the years, Vritra had a contingency in place in case he died, which turned him into a powerful dragon lich.

Divine Fighting Technique: See Zon-Kuthon’s Flensing.