Oinodaemon
The First Daemon
The First Horseman
The Fifth Horseman
Lord of the Forsaken
The Oinodaemon (pronounced OIN-oh-day-mon)1 is the eldest and most mysterious of the Four Horsemen of Abaddon.2 The Four Horsemen once bowed to him as their creator and ruler until they rebelled, bound him at the heart of Abaddon and devoured his flesh.3
The Oinodaemon is rumoured to have more power than the other Four Horsemen combined, although only the Horsemen know for sure. The Oinodaemon is mentioned only in whispers for fear of somehow awakening the shackled beast.4
History
According to the Windsong Testaments, the future First Daemon was one of the first deities of this incarnation of reality, but as death had yet to exist, the Prince was Bound to a throne in the Spire's shadow to await his time.5 When these deities first turned their attention to the Material Plane to create mortal life, the Bound Prince waited in the darkest place to welcome mortal death, although Abaddon started off empty, and remained so even as the first souls died and were judged by Pharasma. When Rovagug rampaged through creation, spreading death and devastation on a hitherto-unprecedented scale, the consequential vast influx of souls overflowed the banks of the River of Souls and they washed up on many places, including Abaddon, and never reached the Boneyard. According to the Windsong Testaments, the Bound Prince glutted upon these souls and became the First Horseman, while the Book of the Damned claims that a single such soul that entered Abaddon was filled with such hatred, rage, and self-loathing more than all the others combined, and coalesced into the first daemon. It devoured otherwise evil souls to gain power and began to twist Abaddon into something as corrupt as himself and called fellow evil souls to him. These souls were unable to resist; most were eaten, while some became the first daemons.67
The daemons continued to consume the souls that washed up on Abaddon's shores, and the Oinodaemon taunted the gods that all souls that came to Abaddon would be devoured. Pharasma listened, and created the Devouring Court within the Boneyard, where she sent the souls damned to Abaddon, delivering them to the Horsemen.7
Creation of the Horsemen
As the daemons diversified in form and grew in number, the Oinodaemon created the first Horsemen as his chosen servants, who worked alongside their deacons to satisfy the daemons' hunger for souls. Suspicious of the Horsemen's servitors, and still hungering for the River of Souls, the Oinodaemon created the astradaemons to be his own deacons.7
Imprisonment
The Four Horsemen saw this act as a sign of distrust and an insult from their leader. Eventually, the Four trapped the First in a hidden tower they call the Ruined Spire. The Oinodaemon's thrashings created, destroyed, and twisted many kinds of daemons, and poisoned whole portions of Abaddon and the Maelstrom beyond repair. The Four erased all mention of the Oinodaemon from the records, and few beings remember his existence. When they heard him speak for the first time since he was chained, the Four were so terrified that they barred the doorway leading to the Ruined Spire, only opening it when they alone come to visit and worship the Oinodaemon.7
Appearance
The First Daemon's size and shape frequently change, depending on the Four's hunger and torture. Sometimes he is massive; other times he is merely human-sized, and yet at other times he simply appears as darkness. In all such forms, the piercing red-violet eyes and ivory teeth are always present.7
Although the Four bound him and gorged themselves on his flesh, the Oinodaemon yet lives: the Four cannot simply seal him away and steal all of his power. His great, only remaining eye became the perpetual eclipse looming over and peering down on the surface of Abaddon, as his essence somehow merged with Abaddon itself. Although the Four rendered him powerless, he remains omnipresent and conscious, in constant pain. Within the Ruined Spire, the eye is open and focused on the surrounding coronal shadow.73
Resources
For additional resources, see the Meta page.
- ↑ Erik Mona et al. (2008). "Appendices". Campaign Setting, p. 247. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-112-1
- ↑ Erik Mona et al. (2008). "Religion". Campaign Setting, p. 183. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-112-1
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Robert Brookes et al. (2018). "The Great Beyond". Planar Adventures, p. 198. Paizo Inc. ISBN 978-1-64078-044-6
- ↑ Sean K Reynolds et al. (2014). "Other Deities". Inner Sea Gods, p. 192. Paizo Inc. ISBN 978-1-60125-597-6
- ↑ James Jacobs. (October 31, 2019). The Windsong Testaments: The Three Fears of Pharasma, Paizo Blog.
- ↑ James Jacobs. (January 2, 2020). The Windsong Testaments: Rage of Creation, Paizo Blog.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 John Compton, Adam Daigle, Amanda Hamon Kunz et al. (2017). Book of the Damned, p. 276–279. Paizo Inc. ISBN 978-1-60125-970-7