Tiamat
Greater Deity
Chaos Mother, the Ocean Swell, the Spirit of Chaos, the Chaos Dragon, Gleaming One, the Avenger
Divine Ranks: 16
Symbol: A sinuous dragon
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Portfolio: Primordial chaos, the oceans, salt water, dragons, abominations
Domain: Abomination, Chaos, Destruction, Sea
True Form: Colossal Female Dragon with greenish black scales, long curved horns, scimitar-like talons and three rows of dagger length teeth.
Perceived Form: As true form
Avatar Form: As true form
Other Manifestations: Tiamat is also known to manifest in the form of a single large serpent or a swarm of small writhing snakes.
Divine Allies: None
Divine Foes: Tiamat bears extreme malice towards all other gods, particularly Enki, who is credited with slaying her husband Apsu.
Sacred Items: Salt water
Sacred Animals: Dragons, lizards, serpents
Sacred Plants: Kelp
Sacred Minerals: Salt
Mythology: In the Babylonian creation myth, the Enuma Elish, Tiamat was the first being to emerge from the primordial Chaos, embodying this disorder as the furious ocean. She was the distaff expression of the dimorphic existence of the cosmos at the time, the male aspect being her spouse, Apsu, the fresh groundwater. Together they engendered various generations of gods, which ultimately included Anu, who in turn begot his divine offspring. With the sudden proliferation of young and vigorous gods, the cosmos shook with ceaseless activity.
All this noise and restlessness greatly disturbed Apsu, who determined to destroy his progeny, both direct and indirect. He attempted to enlist the aid of his wife, Tiamat, who seemed uncharacteristically patient and passive. Enki, the Wily One, faced the threat of Abzu and killed the Great Sleeper Below. Tiamat was duly distressed to discover her mate dead, and urged into action by her first born, the old gods, she went about creating an army of grotesque abominations to assault the young gods. With her general, Kingu, she led this horde into action. Chosen to challenge this force was Marduk, son of Enki, who was invested with the collective power of all the young gods. In a battle of cosmic proportion, Marduk stopped the army of Chaos and killed Tiamat the Avenger. He split her corpse apart to shape the sky and the earth, and created the great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, from her eyes, and the great Zagros mountains from her breast.
Main Tenets of Faith: What aspects of worship do followers tend to follow or believe in and why? For example, do they pay tribute in hopes of gaining the deity’s favor or because it is considered to ward off ill luck?
Tiamat is the personification of the wild untamed chaos, she is the soul of the Abzu. She is the primeval force of the universe, older than the gods and older than their laws. Her faithful cannot be allow themselves to be condemned to the constraints of those who would bind their actions and wills with law, for law is the antithesis of freedom, law is the conception of manipulative gods and kings who seek to empower themselves through the subjugation of others. Chaos is the antecedent of law, it is its ironic foundation; therefore the pretense that civilization is built on law is a myth, for it is the sea of chaos which gave birth to all. The gods and their followers deny chaos its truth, they preach against the their mother and demand worship from mortals, they teach mortals their lies and turn them from chaos, transforming them to weak, dominated, creatures and substitute their freewill with fate. This is their heresy for which they all must be destroyed. All must return to the womb of chaos, all must be reborn.
Location of Faith: Formal worship of Tiamat is outlawed by civilization. Her sects remain in hidden and secluded locations, usually near marshes or seawater. Some sects also form covert networks throughout major cities for the purpose of sowing dissention and riots, and carrying out ritual assassinations.
Sects: Over the centuries, Tiamat’s role and relationship to civilization has changed drastically. Since her worship is decisively decentralized and unorganized, there is a drastic variance to the practices of her sects. The most profound examples worship Tiamat in prior and more benevolent forms, such as Nammu. Sects focusing on her alternate aspects are rare, however they are usually permitted within the boundaries of civilization, albeit under the moderate surveillance of the authorities.
Responsibilities of the Clergy: Follower’s of Tiamat are expected to help fulfill her vengeance on the gods and civilization by participating in its sabotage.
Rights of the Clergy: Among their own, worshippers of Tiamat allot each other the right of freewill and free action. They follow a policy of group-anarchy and are responsible for policing their own actions in relationship to each other. They do not require verbal justification for their actions, even if they appear contrary to the intentions of others.
Restrictions of the Clergy: Followers of Tiamat consider active participation in civilization to be heresy. Charges of participation include attending religious services, holding public office, paying city taxes, entering into legal contracts, or indenturing slaves.
Rituals: Tiamat prefers human sacrifices above all other forms of appeasement. Among her favorites are figures of judicial and religious power and the decimation of property caused by ritual arson.
Vestments: Clerics of Tiamat have been known to wash with salt water. Then they dry in the sun so that the salt crystallizes on their bodies and clothes, and they twist their hair so that it dries in clumpy spikes.
Tiamat’s Path of The Devout
Devout Classes: Adept, barbarian, cleric, fighter, rogue, sorcerer
Devout Alignments: CE, CN, NE
Favored Weapons: Scimitar
Devout Oath: True devotees of Tiamat wash in salt water only and let it harden on their bodies. They spike their hair in dried salt and refuse any food not from the sea.
Devout Benefits: A devotee of Tiamat can consume salt water as if it were fresh water. A devout worshipper of Tiamat also gains the ability to cast protection from law (Caster level 3rd) a number of time per day equal to her Charisma modifier (1/day minimum), or gains a +1 bonus attack and damage rolls when making a sneak attack against a civilized opponent.
Avatar of Tiamat
Colossal Dragon (Aquatic, Chaotic, Evil, Extraplanar)
Divine Rank: 8
Hit Dice: 40d12+400 (880 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 70 ft. (8 squares), fly 230 ft. (clumsy), swim 90 ft.
AC: 46 (-8 size, +44 natural armor), flat-footed 46, touch 7
Space/Reach: 30ft./20ft. (bite 30 ft.)
Base Attack/Grapple: +48/+78
Attack: Bite +66 melee (4d8+17) or 2 claws +63/+63 melee (4d6+17) or Tail Slap +63 melee (4d6+17).
Full Attack: Bite +66 melee (4d8+17) and 2 claws +63/+63 melee (4d6+8) and Wing +63/+63 melee (2d8+8) and Tail Slap +63 melee (4d6+25) or Crushing Slam +65 melee (4d8+25;Reflex save (DC 40) or pinned) or Tail Sweep (30-foot radius) +65 melee (2d8+25;Reflex save (DC 40) half).
Special Attacks: Breath weapon (acid gas or steam), frightful presence (360 ft., DC 38), spells, spell-like abilities.
Special Qualities: Avatar immunities, blindsight 300 ft., cast spells as a 20th-level sorcerer, damage reduction 31/epic lawful, divine senses (3-mile-radius, 6-mile-radius in Abzu), greater teleport (at will; caster level 20th), immunities (acid, cold, disease, fire, sleep effects, paralysis effects, poison), immortality, keen senses (darkvision 1,200 ft., double-strength low-light vision), planeshift (at will; caster level 20th), resistance to electricity 30, resistance to sonic 30, speak and read all languages spell-like abilities, spell resistance 35, spontaneous casting of domain spells, telepathically communicate with any living creatures (1-mile-radius).
Saves: Fort +35, Ref +24, Will +32
Abilities: Str 45, Dex 10, Con 31, Int 26, Wis 27, Cha 26
Skills & Feats: Bluff +53, Concentration +56, Craft (alchemy) +30, Diplomacy +44, Hide +26, Intimidate +53, Jump +32, Knowledge (arcana) +42, Knowledge (the planes) +32, Knowledge (religion) +24, Listen +48, Move Silently +24, Search +48, Sense Motive +51, Spellcraft +48, Spot +48, Survival +44, Swim +60; Flyby Attack, Hover, Improved Initiative, Maximize Spell, Multiattack, Power Attack (base attack bonus +32), Quicken Spell-Like Ability, Snatch, Spell Penetration, Weapon Focus (bite), Wingover.
Salient Divine Abilities: Divine Water Mastery (In water +8 BAB, damage, and AC; Tidal Wave 8-mile coastline, DC 15 Swim check for half damage; Water sense range 80ft.), Extra Domain (Abomination), Increased Damage Reduction (31/epic lawful), Wave of Chaos (80-ft-radius, Will save DC 24 negates) .
Domain Powers: Aberration (8/day; rebuke or command aberrations as an evil cleric commands undead), Chaos (cast Chaos spells at +1 caster level), Destruction (8/day; smite +4 attack +16 damage).
Spell-Like Abilities Per Day (8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1; Caster level 16th; save DC 24): 1st— enlarge, dolphin companion, inflict light wounds, protection from law; 2nd— alter self, kelp snare, shatter; 3rd— contagion, grotesque, magic circle against law, sea legs; 4th— chaos hammer, control water, giant vermin, inflict critical wounds; 5th— black tentacles, dispel law, mass inflict light wounds, tsunami; 6th— animate objects, harm, saltspray, touch of chaos; 7th— disintegrate, vessel barding, word of chaos, writhing tendrils; 8th— cloak of chaos, clone, dead clam, earthquake .
Breath Weapon (Su): 140-ft. line, 24d12 acid (Reflex DC 40 half) or 70-ft. cone, 24d12 acid (Reflex DC 40 half) or 140-ft. cone, 24d12 fire (Reflex DC 40 half).
Dragon Spell-like Abilities: At will— freedom of movement (no limit to duration); 6/day— enlarge; 3/day— black tentacles, grotesque, saltspray, touch of chaos, tsunami; 1/day— releasing the kraken, shapechange.
Sorcerer Spells Per Day (6/8/8/8/8/7/7/7/7/6; DC 18 + spell level, DC 20 + spell level for transmutation spells): 0— dancing lights, daze, detect magic, detect poison, disrupt undead, ghost sound, light, mage hand, read magic; 1st— grease, magic missile, protection from law, ray of enfeeblement, reduce; 2nd— ghoul touch, acid arrow, see invisibility, summon swarm, web; 3rd— haste, lightning bolt, slow, stinking cloud; 4th— bestow curse, contagion, improved invisibility, polymorph other; 5th— animal growth, animate dead, dominate person, fabricate; 6th— chain lightning, circle of death, disintegrate; 7th— greater scrying, summon monster VII, teleport without error; 8th— horrid wilting, incendiary cloud, polymorph any object; 9th— gate, soul bind, weird.
