Dahak

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Dahak

(Deity)

Titles

The False Wyrm
Sorrowmaker
The Endless Destruction
The Great Darkness

Adjective

Dahak

Realm

Adamantine Morass, Caina, Hell

Alignment

Chaotic evil

Areas of Concern

Destruction
Greed
Wicked dragons

Worshipers

Evil dragons

Edicts

Kill dragons, destroy things at your whim, study past disasters

Anathema

Spare a foe after you have chosen to kill them, forgive a slight, prevent the destruction of things that cannot be saved

Follower Alignments (1E)

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Domains (1E)

Chaos, Destruction, Evil, Scalykind, Trickery

Subdomains (1E)

Catastrophe, Deception, Demon, Dragon, Rage, Thievery

Follower Alignments (2E)

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Sanctification (2E)

Must choose unholy

Domains (2E)

Destruction, dragon, fire, zeal

Favored Weapon

Jaws or whip

Symbol

Falling burning scale✝

Sacred Animal

None

Sacred Colors

Black, red, white

Images of Dahak

Source: Inner Sea Faiths, pg(s). 34–39 (1E)
Divine Mysteries, pg(s). 135 (2E)

Alignment details are sourced from Inner Sea Faiths and Lost Omens Gods & Magic 130. Gods & Magic lists different areas of concern, edicts and anathema, and sacred colors; see Meta:Dahak.

Dahak is the patron deity of evil dragons, particularly the chromatic dragons. He is a god of destruction, chaos, rage, and draconic greed, the polar opposite of his father, Apsu the Waybringer. However, he is a patient god capable of civility when the situation calls for it, biding his time until the time is right to slay his father in their final battle on Golarion.

History

Pre-historical draconic texts claim that Apsu and his mate Sarshallatu were the first dragons. They bore seven children, the first of which was Dahak. Apsu and Sarshallatu envisioned their children aiding them in creating the mortal reality of the Universe, but Dahak wanted only to destroy anything that his parents and siblings built.

Apsu and the rest of his family warred with Dahak, but when Apsu prepared to slay Dahak, Sarshallatu intervened and allowed Dahak to flee to Hell. Apsu was heartbroken by both Dahak's endless destruction and Sarshallatu's betrayal.

Dahak became a patron for hateful, envious, and covetous dragons, and worked toward the destruction of Apsu and his divine realm until war erupted between other deities and Rovagug. During the chaos, Dahak decreed that he would face Apsu in their final battle upon Golarion, the world that the deities were attempting to use as Rovagug's prison.

For the rest of time, Dahak has worked to build his powers and following toward this final confrontation, while Apsu charged his worshippers to make reality as wondrous and harmonious as possible until the inevitably destructive war between him and Dahak begins. Apsu remains worried that, should Dahak win this battle, his reckless destruction could potentially weaken the chains binding Rovagug.

In -5280 AR, amid the destruction wrought by Earthfall, Dahak saw a chance to wreak havoc on Golarion without drawing his father's wrath. After several years of research, he discovered a flaw in a portal of Alseta's Ring and managed to manifest himself on Golarion. He carefully invested the manifestation with just enough power to avoid rousing Apsu. Before Dahak could finish the job started by Earthfall, in -5277 AR he was stopped by the Ekujae elves, who managed to turn Dahak's own power against his manifestation at a great cost of lives, trapping it without a body in the spaces between the portals of Alseta's Ring.

Home

Dahak burns a city.

Dahak's divine realm is the Adamantine Morass, a tunnel network stretching throughout the depths of Caina, Hell's eighth layer. Dahak is known to control a powerful item known as the Well of Venoms that is capable of destroying the artifacts collectively known as the orbs of dragonkind and it is believed the well is kept within the Adamantine Morass. This network of tunnels runs deep throughout the lowest depths of Caina. Dahak enjoys chasing intruders through the complex tunnel system for his own enjoyment. Those not able to provide a good enough chase are inevitably captured and tossed into the Well of Venoms to die.

Appearance

The only descriptions of Dahak tell of him as ugly, scarred, and covered in spikes, with a burning hatred in his eyes for his father, Apsu. When he manifests in the Universe, his avatar causes numerous destructive events known as dragonstorms, which incorporate acid rain, lightning bolts, toxic fog, firestorms, blizzards, and enormous hailstorms. In addition, all dragons caught nearby are infected by Dahak's fury, filling them with rage and causing them to lash out at the environment.

Dahak is often depicted as a dragon of titanic size. His scales are a combination of dark crimson and black. His body is covered from tail to snout in spines, and Dahak's massive tail seems to be as long as the rest of his body is. He is usually portrayed breathing fire.

Church of Dahak

There are few dedicated cults of Dahak, partially because his worshippers mostly consist of serpentfolk and especially evil dragons, with humanoid followers being a rarity. Worshippers sometimes wear their religious symbols proudly, safe in the knowledge that few people would even recognise their religion. The greatest sacrifice his followers can hope to make is that of a dragon, and these cults often dedicate themselves to this task above all else.

Most dragons view Dahak with hate, but some evil dragons choose to serve him after being offered power and immortality. Alongside his father, Dahak is one of the most popular deities on Triaxus, particularly among dragons and dragonkin.

Some believe that Dahak created wyverns and drakes in an effort to create his own draconic servitors, although others point out that this act of creation contradicts his destructive aspect. He is nevertheless worshipped by wyverns and drakes as their creator.

Long after Dahak's rampage in the Mwangi Expanse, his influence lingers. Many cults of Dahak, most recently the Cinderclaw Cult, continue to wreak havoc while seeking to bring their god back to finish his job.

Adventurers who follow Dahak tend to be barbarians, bloodragers, rangers, and warpriests. They can be civil with others up until the point of combat, when they erupt into a vicious rage against their enemies. These servants of Dahak differ from the nihilistic followers of Rovagug in that they can maintain self-control, usually saving their anger for those who provoke them or truly deserve it. His followers tend to dress in a variety of colors, with blue, green, and red being most dominant, though red and black are more common due to clothing being singed by fire or stained by blood. Dahak's religious text is The Pyre of Dahak, written by the insane gold dragon prophet Gunnarrex.

Relationships

Dahak and his father Apsu are arch-enemies, the two having battled countless times across history. Dahak has no intention of ever woring with Apsu and focuses his entire existence on the eventual final battle against him.

Dahak is one of seven children of Apsu and Sarshallatu. Among these siblings is his brother Garhaazh, the Primal King, who was hunted by the empyreal lord Cernunnos—son of Erastil—before he entrapped Cernunnos and caused him to vanish.

Calistria is said to have tried to court Dahak once and received a scar for it. She now teaches her followers to be wary of him, while trying to manipulate them into vengeful acts when necessary.

Dahak originally received his divine realm from the archdevil Mephistopheles, and crafted the quill Visineir for Mephistopheles in return, but there is no binding contract between them. Asmodeus is cordial with Dahak; it is rumoured that he has offered to weaken both Apsu for Dahak and Dahak for Apsu, making his true intent unclear. Some devils believe that Asmodeus and Mephistopheles are ensuring Dahak's continued existence for some nefarious purpose.

After the death of Gorum, the empyreal lord Smiad recruited Gorum's servant Saint Fang, the Armored Dragon, to his cause of killing evil dragons. The two proceeded to slaughter dozens of dragons within a few days before drawing the ire of Dahak, who swiftly slew Smiad before slowly consuming Saint Fang alive.

References

Paizo published a major article on Dahak in Inner Sea Faiths and articles in Lost Omens Gods & Magic and Divine Mysteries.

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.