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Areas of Influence: Sin, Torment, and Pain |
Part 2:
Shortly after this event Ilphrynn began to distance Himself from any relation to existence or notions of self. He took to referring to Himself as “this corpse”, a reference derived from His belief that the closest any be-ing can come to an understanding of Oblivion is the cessation of life. He became contemptuous of the machinations of the Pantheon and the ceaseless meddling of mortals into the affairs of others. He sees this behavior as a weakness exhibited by those who could not release themselves from the lowly primal instinct to control everything around them, all in the hope of simple self-preservation. He even ceased relating Himself with his ancestry, forsaking the Dark-Elven language and customs. With the Dread-Lord’s guidance, Ilphrynn would soon come before the Brethren of the Nine Hells as Vrrin’s favored student. It would be amongst the Lord of Worms’ unholy demon-summoners that the name Ilphrynn Darmo’che would come to haunt Thera’s populace.
Ilphrynn fulfilled His duties to the Lord of Worms with disciplined purpose. The Brethren were tasked with opening the gates to Hell and unleashing the hordes of Abyssal denizens upon Thera, and Ilphrynn was promised Oblivion in exchange for service. He quickly rose through Brethren’s ranks, impressing the Lords of the Pit with his eloquent tongue and his ability to manifest the corruption hidden deep within the most seemingly pure souls. It would not be long before Ilphrynn was named both High-Priest of Brethren and Knight- Raven of the Order of Oblivion. Yet, where others would surely find contentment and satisfaction in the knowledge that they had risen to the greatest heights, Ilphrynn knew only that He was sick of everything. He wished only that His service would end one day and that He would be granted respite from the horror of existence.
But Ilphrynn’s single-minded dedication would backfire and lead to His unending torment. For the Lords of the Pit would not so willingly allow Their servant to be consumed. Knowing that He would not refuse Their will, The Dark Lords instructed Ilphrynn that They wished Him to continue His servitude in a greater capacity and for a longer period of time... They wished Him to become one of the Lords of Hell. Though loathe to accept, Ilphrynn did as we was asked and accepted the curse of Immortality.
He is a self-proclaimed slave to will of “The Father” and considers every undertaking in light of His service to Brethren’s purpose, for only when their task is complete will Ilphrynn know a release from his unending, torturous existence. Since assuming His role as a Lord of the Abyss, Ilphrynn has altered his physical appearance so that He better resembles the “corpse” that has become His namesake. He appears as the rotting, maggot-infested corpse of a Dark-Elf with torn and shredded angel wings. This horrific visage has earned Him the moniker of “Maggotlord”. Ilphrynn’s malevolence and sadism are well-documented, and have seemingly increased in viciousness since His imprisonment and subsequent escape from the Ninth layer of the Abyss.
The tenets Ilphrynn places above all others are Torment, Pain, and Sin.
Ilphrynn believes that existence itself is the ultimate Torment. He asserts that life is a corruption of the true nature of be-ing, which is Oblivion, and that it is to be reviled. Pain represents a brief flicker of enlightenment, a fleeting glimpse into the vulnerability of existence that allows the receptive mind to acknowledge the transience of the flesh and the liability to Oblivion. Ilphrynn has been known to take a great deal of sadistic pleasure in the physical and mental torture of mortals, and it has been argued that such behavior is attributable to his own inability to experience Pain and a jealousy manifested toward those who can. The most complicated aspect of His faith is His belief in the Sinful nature of all be-ings. Life itself, He argues, forces a creature towards vile and sinful acts (murder being chief amongst them) in order to preserve the self. Evolution rewards that which is “Evil” with survival. And although Ilphrynn claims Sin is aberrant and abhorrent, He also posits that Sin is the greatest tool at the disposal of the faithful in the quest to unleash the Abyss.
Rules of Worship
Holy Days
