ANGRA MAINYU (AHRIMAN)
Ahriman, Elder God, The Wicked One, leader of demonic hordes. His aim is ruin and destruction...ignorance, harmfulness and disorder are his characteristics. He is the balance to his brother, Ahura Mazda, Creator and God of Light on the world Mazda made. Ahriman is the sum and total of all things evil and perverse on their world, the demon of demons, dwelling in an abyss of endless darkness in the north. His aim is always to destroy the creations of his brother, and to this end, he follows behind the creator's work, seeking to spoil it. As Mazda creates life, so Ahriman creates death; for health he produces disease, for beauty, ugliness. This is the balance he maintains, a necessary thing. Ahriman himself is cruel, brutal, war-like, aggressive. Like his twin, Mazda, he too has children, born of himself, almost like fragments to aid his purpose. Much to his anger, his frst son, Aeshma, rebelled, seeking his own path. Azhi Dahaka, however, embraced his path eagerly. Dahaka is a figure with three heads, six eyes, and three jaws. His body is full of lizards, scorpions, and other vile creatures. He desires to unpopulate the world Mazda made. He is currently imprisoned in Mount Demavend, foiled in his attempt to extinguish the sacred Flame.
Ahriman employs many beings to aid him in his undoings and miscreations...Druj Nasu, the corpse demon, who is the personification of the spirit of corruption, decomposition, contagion and impurity. Jahi, his daughter whom he imprisoned in a cage of flesh for millenia to fuel his battle against Mazda, is the embodiment of debauchery and female wickedness. His Yatas are dark and evil sorcerers, serving only him. He also created the Blights..Hunger, Thirst, and Poverty. Indra is the spirit of Apostasy, who is the spirit of law and order, Asha's, opponent. Saura is arch-demon Anarchy and Drunkeness, opponent of another of Mazda's Immortals (The Amesha Spentas, Mazda's sons and daughters, whom he created through act of will alone), Ksathra Vairya, the Desired Kingdom. Ahriman's other daughters, twins, Taromaiti and Pairimaiti, war against Mazda's daughter, Armaiti, Devotion. Ahriman's Daevas stand as opposites to his brother's Yazata, or Worshipful Ones. As all in his pantheon, Ahriman holds servants among mortals and the like, but gives each powers unto himself, depending on the favor they hold with Ahriman. All the rest, except, perhaps, Vayu, whom even Mazda bows to, the Great Binding Force of their world, Neutrality, both Good and Evil, have Orders and Priests, rungs among them. Ahriman's rungs are personal and vary.
Ahriman performs his functions exceptionally well, a blend of all the "fragments" he created of himself, drawing power and strength off all acts not Good and Just. While an Elder God, his main duty is to his and his brother's world. He is to it what many would call the Devil, the Greatest Enemy. He agrees with Mazda on only one point, that of killing Aeshma. He hates this son with an intense and horrible passion. And seeks to reclaim Jahi to bind her once more under his parasitic fist.
Ahura Mazda
Ahura Mazda, creator of the world, the universe, Ahriman hails from, and his twin brother. Ahriman hates him intensely, seeking to undo all he has made. Death to Mazda's life. Mazda still loves his brother, though Ahriman views this as weak and foolish. Eventually, the Final Battle between the two shall be fought, and death smitten. Ahriman does not believe this, though, and until that time will continue his destructive path blazed across their world.
Jahi (Serafelle)
Ahriman's eldest daughter, personification of debauchery and wickedness. Once bound in a human prison, she took on their emotions as her father fed off her. Eventually she was freed, still with the threads of humanity she had acrued, and took on the name Serafelle. But, after the betrayal of a servant, Anubis, then Warlord of the armor of Loyalty/Cruelty, she begged Aeshma to strip all emotion from her. He did so, reluctantly, and still regrets it. She is terrible as she is beautiful and desirable...and Mazda has plans to reinstill those abandoned emotions within her.
Aeshma
The first-born son of Ahriman, the one he detests, who decided his own path. God of wars and warriors, wrath, fury, and brutality, he exhibits none of these, simply drawing power from the acts. He does enjoy battle, but preaches calm and even mercy. He's a total disappointment to his father, and both Ahriman and Mazda want him dead. Problem is, he's quite a likeable fellow, full of good humor and sympathy. Most who meet him would rather face the gods in defense of him than allow his death.
Ktarra
Ktarra was a mortal woman, a brusque and beautiful warrioress who has somehow managed to capture Ahriman's heart...and prove he has one. He found her perfect, save for the mortality of which he was painfully aware. Tall, strong, wild, angry, brutish, intelligent, furious...she was the utmost in womanhood to him. She, however, even though being told by a young Mazoku (Indonesian Demon), ShadowThane and even Aeshma what Ahriman was, still didn't quite understand and was highly superstitious. Ahriman held, and still holds, her in the highest regard...she was the only mortal ever to walk away from bedding him...he has crippled other immortals, used up countless mortal "lovers" in a few hours' time, breaking them literally, and Ktarra walked away. This had earned her his undying respect and desire. Ahriman and Ktarra were a strange couple, mated, and expecting the son of Erine much to Ktarra's horror. Ahri had given her a bracelet, one formed of his own blood and holding a bloodjewel of her own, which pulsed with an inward light in time with her heartbeat. It had runes, too, ones etched inside the black band, to protect her. Ahriman has also, in fear of her mortality, induced his own blood into her, through a kiss, which would have slowly overwhelmed the mortal and made her an immortal. He was selfish of her and very protective...she was his, and he would allow no other have her or take her from him.
But even Ahriman couldn't stop nature from claiming the one, and only, person he's ever loved...she had taken off his bracelet at the insistance of Erine Tracle, her mortal on-and-off lover, who very much loved her in return. Without its protection, and suffering from a broken heart when Erine and Ahriman battled, Ktarra, in the cold, alone and horribly ill...did die in the arms of a stranger named Duncan. She was buried with the still child inside her and with Ahriman's bracelet, the bloodjewel pulse forever dimmed. Its highly doubtful Ahriman will ever allow himself to love again...and in the pain of losing Ktarra, he's hardened himself, emotions killed, rage silent but far from cold. Beware.
And, in the face of it all, even the great, proud, beautiful Ahriman had to conceed to certain things...despite trying to destroy it as he has with so many other things, he couldn't, this time, destroy the emotions he feels for Ktarra. Love....strong, true, giving, and so against his own nature. Ktarra had been resurrected by a cleric, claimed by Erine...and again, pushed aside. Once more, death took her to its cold bosom. Ahriman refused, this time, to stand by, nor turn his back on her as he had before. In a display of his own godly might, in a shower of polarized power, he gave in to himself and took Ktarra to be his own, altering her body just slightly, so that she may stay with him forever and not be slave to her mortal coil. Together once more...and Ahriman is determined that it will be forever, this tall, primal lover of his...this tall, primal...wife.
Soon after they lifemated, Ktarra, with the help of Ahriman's powers, bore them a son...Atar Verethraghna. But this child of flesh of blood broke Laws, and the Enforcer, Dama N`Toko, came and demanded the babe to be given him. Even Ahriman is not one to battle an Enforcer's will, and the newborn was given over. He now resides in the arms of a human woman named Anna Cooper, who in turn resides on Dama's plane, where she will raise the child. Neither parent know of the babe's fate, nor if they shall ever see him again. But as Ktarra swore, so did Ahriman....Aye, the boy-child will rest again in his mother's arms....
Valyn de Balois
Valyn, the one Ahriman injected a sliver of himself into, in order to take the elf over completely, making him a new aspect of the Dark God. This, for a time, had Valyn as Ahriman's son...but that was foiled by Ahura Mazda, when Mazda's son/grandson Tahmas implored, through prayer, for Mazda to cleanse Valyn. With the Ahuna Var, the brother of Ahriman wiped the influence from the young elf, and with a kiss and his blood, destroyed the Daeva eyes Valyn injested to give Ahriman sight through him. There was much agony, but Valyn is himself again, for good or ill, and Ahriman is furious. Valyn has yet to face the anger of the god over this, who was hoping to use Valyn to retrieve Jahi, his mistress. That ruined, Ahriman will approach it another way, and has already begun to, taking more collar wearers into his evil fold. One way or another, he'll have his daughter...and Valyn, who dared escape him.
Dais Raijiyura
Dais was a Warlord of the Dynasty, a battlemate of Anubis Shuten Douji when he was Warlord of Cruelty/Loyalty. Dais was on a much-deserved vacation when he ran into Ahriman...or, more to the point, (pun intended) he ran into Ahriman's sword after a brief but heated fight. Instead of letting the half-oni die, Ahriman enslaved him with a sliver to the brain. That sliver melted, overtaking, and making Dais wholly Ahriman's. The god has learned not to be as sloppy with his new slaves as he was with Valyn...nothing short of death or a new body will free poor Dais now. While he's not an aspect as Valyn was to be, he is Ahriman's current favorite servant, hard as that is to tell. Ahriman is far from a kind master, and this has proven time and time again through Dais, whom he despises seeing weakness in. This isn't Dais' fault, of course, he's half human and not nearly so powerful as Anubis was, but Ahriman simply doesn't care.
And through Dais, he's enslaved another collar wearer, Raina Stone (who has since been cleansed by Tahmas). Through Raina, Fflewwddurr, a novice Priest of Serafelle. All three have standing orders to slay Tahmas...the latter two have orders to slay his lover Jeryth as well. Ahriman, being the selfish and over-sized brat he is, will fight fiercely to keep what is his. This may mean using others, but it gets done. Dais, especially, he wants to keep, much to the frustration of the new Ancient and bearer of the Cruelty/Loyalty armor, Lady Kayura, whom he's already fought. And while he wasn't overimpressed with her skills (indoors, at least), she was fairly hard to keep a hold of. Only two of her last three warlords, Kale and Sehkmet, dragging her away, kept her alive that day. Ahriman fully expects to see her again...
ее ~UPDATE~ ее
Ahriman's one and only love, Ktarra, died a final death, unable to live apart from her husband or give up her only child, their son. Ahriman's breed of god is slightly different than most known; his and his brother's kind are not allowed to create children as mortals or most other gods do... they can only shave off slivers and apects of themselves as children, which they are not exactly. However, Ahriman broke the Laws, the first and only Law he's ever broken (The Laws being of the Heart, that which created all things, and upheld by Enforcers, who are both Creators and Destroyers). Dama N`Toko, doing his job as Enforcer, entered Ahriman's realm directly after the birth of he and Ktarra's son, and took the boychild. Ktarra later approached Dama for her son's return, and was given a choice which ended up being a no-choice: Leave Ahri and keep her infant, or stay with Ahri and leave her son. This tore Ktarra apart, and she eventually gave Kore, her son, over to her clanswomen to raise, and took her own life.
This had terribly adverse effects on Ahriman, who couldn't bear to live without his wife, and unable to love another. His love, his heart, was strictly for her alone. He began to systematically destroy his twin's universe, cleaving worlds, rending stars, razing galaxies. Mazda was given no choice but to slay his brother in order to save his creation. However, Ahriman served a very special function in things, and until Kore can grow to take his place, to shed what is mortal and embrace his full godhood, to rule in his sire's stead, Dais has been elevated to fill the position. Now a god of destruction and wickedness, something Dais does not want but has little choice in the matter, having been Ahri's favorite slave, Dais will hold this title until Kore comes of age. As one may imagine, many higher powers hold a vested interest in keeping both Dais and Kore, especially, safe.
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