Hu, God of the Damned

What god looks like.
Hu appears in many forms, depending on what fits his needs and what suits him. Some of his favorites include beautiful forms of any race, small creatures (usually lizards, bats, or rats), insects (usually roaches or a swarm of large black flies), and a hideous thirty foot tall demon covered with bone spurs.

What god likes and dislikes .
Hu dislikes his place in the order of things. He receives only the cast off souls unwanted by other gods, and the atheists unwanted by Matrim. Additionally, his evil nature and his poor treatment of mortals in general has made him undesirable to most as a god for worship and praise. Few sing the praises of Hu.

Hu enjoys the pain and suffering of others. It pleases him when mortals are in misery, and the more miserable they are the better. In this respect he is greatly in opposition to Forêt and Jhalla (who typically seek to aid mortals in improving their lives). And he greatly enjoys tempting the followers of these two gods into corruption (although in needs to be noted that he also enjoys the corruption of the followers of other gods almost as much). Nothing pleases Hu more than successfully corrupting a previously favored follower of another god, and to this end he often grants quick and easy access to great magical power to any who will follow him and worship him. Hu's magic does not require water, only the will of Hu. Hu is also the god of extreme torture and pain, and he looks well after those who enjoy this practice, even if they do not follow him, for they serve his ends.

Among the Gods, Hu tries to get along with Matrim the most, since it is typically Matrim who casts the souls of unwanted atheists and fallen followers of other gods into Hu's realm. Matrim, on the other hand, is disgusted by Hu and considers him to be an annoyance. Matrim considers a soul carefully before casting it Hu's way, and usually only gives him the most evil and twisted of souls. In general Matrim would rather give a soul to Forêt for rebirth rather than give it to Hu, but there are those that even Forêt and Matrim will not take mercy on. These go to Hu.

How god prefers to be worshiped.
Hu prefers to be worshiped through pain. His followers practice obscure and mystical forms of masochism in the name of Hu. Hu also enjoys the sacrifice of intelligent life, and in particular he enjoys the sacrifice and corruption of innocence. The sacrifice of priests and followers of other gods also pleases him.

How god rewards followers.
Hu rewards his followers with great magical power. His priests are few, so he always listens to them, and often grants their requests if the motive is toward the corruption and pain of others. Hu has created demons by altering and combining different damned souls, and he can give them form in the mortal realm. His priests have the power to evoke pain in others with a touch, and to summon the demons of Hu. Hu's priests can also sometimes assume the forms of others, allowing them to sow the seeds of violence by communicating incorrect information to those who trust the form they have assumed. His priestesses can evoke unrelenting lust and possess the power to supply addictive pleasure to those who fall victim to them. The greater priestesses of Hu have also obtained the ability to translate the desire for pleasure into the desire for pain, and their victims gain great pleasure from pain and become addicted to the will of their priestess. Hu often gives his great priestesses the ability to transform into swarms of black flies, or dissolve into a noxious liquid substance and reform later.

How god punishes followers.
Hu punishes his followers by betraying them when they need him the most. This often occurs when a follower has performed acts of kindness or mercy. Also, near the end of a followers life, Hu typically has them sacrificed to him in a painful ceremony where his priests cut small pieces of their body away and give them out for communion in a black mass. The priests use the magic of Hu to keep the victim alive until only their vital internal organs, nervous system, bones, and brain remain. Then the victim is incinerated. Black masses of this nature are usually reserved for end of life for the greatest priests and priestesses of Hu, who by this time undoubtedly take great pleasure from their own destruction.

How god punishes atheists.
Hu does not typically punish atheists, he merely tempts them into corruption just as he does all mortal life. If an atheist has really irritated Hu by interfering with his plans, Hu may have them possessed by the soul of a demon that will perform horrible acts for a time, and then leave the victim to suffer the consequences. Priests of other gods, particularly Forêt, will exorcise these demons whenever they are discovered.

How god punishes followers of other gods.
Hu is disliked among the gods, and is one of the weakest of gods due to the lack of souls he gets to power his realm. Thus he is very careful about punishing the followers of other gods. Typically he does not take direct action against them, but rather he manipulates events and other people to cause horrible things to happen to his target. Loans will be revoked. Business will suffer. Jobs will be denied. Livestock will develop diseases. Taxes will be increased. Property will become desolate. Items may be lost. Friends may betray them or lose interest in them. Spouses will be tempted into adultery. Etc.

What actions might prompt god to interfere in mortal affairs.
Hu is always interfering in mortal affairs, as that is his nature. He is constantly tempting and testing various mortals, looking for those he can corrupt. Hu knows that the more corrupt he can make a mortal, the less desirable they are to the other gods, and the greater likelihood that he will obtain the soul when the person dies. To this end he is always active, although typically his actions are indirect. Hu does not sign "contracts in blood" for power. He merely manipulates and bends fate to achieve his own ends.

How god's temple operates.
Hu has only a few hidden temples scattered around the land. His followers are so reviled by most kingdoms that few rulers would suffer a temple of Hu to exist in their lands. When they are discovered they are often destroyed, and the wise ruler will then have the site and kingdom blessed by the priests of other gods to protect it from Hu's anger.

The origins of god.
No one knows the exact origins of Hu. The only thing anyone is certain of is that Hu is disliked by all other gods, and that he was not created or assigned by them. It is possible that Hu is a god from another place altogether, and that he is a curse, like a virus, that travels from world to world, corrupting what he can and taking as many souls as he can get. In this respect it is possible that Hu was not assigned or created by the ancient gods, but that he is a force of evil that follows them to the worlds they create and then plagues that world to acquire the souls he desires. Perhaps he is their enemy, perhaps he is one of them who has been outcast and is now bitter and desires to corrupt everything their creations. No one knows for sure. All anyone can hope is that one day he will leave this world and go plague another.

How to contact or petition god.
Hu's priests typically contact him through their own pain. When communing with Hu they cut or burn themselves to gain his attention. They also send messages to him through their sacrifices, forcing the victim to recite their message to Hu over and over again before the ceremony. Hu can also be called upon verbally by simply shouting his name into the air and requesting him to visit a curse upon someone or something. Even for non-follower and for followers of other gods, Hu sometimes grants these curses as they visit evil upon others and corrupt the petitioner's soul. The name of Hu is not spoken lightly, and those who speak it are not welcome in good company. It is not even used as a curse, since it is a curse that can occur.

The temperament of god.
Hu is cold and calculating. He seldom knows rage, for when rage is upon him he losses power. Hu's power is a full knowledge of a type of magic that does not typically operate well on this world, and to use it he must interface and manipulate the laws of this world. When he is angry this is extremely difficult, and so he has learned self discipline over his emotions to prevent interference with his power. Even so, Hu can be evoked to wraith, and any poor mortal who has entered into the undesirable position of having a direct confrontation with Hu is advised to make Hu as angry as possible. Requesting aid from other gods won't hurt either.

The chaos/law aspect of god.
No one knows what relationship Hu has with chaos. Certainly his taste for corruption and destruction places him in league with the forces of entropy, although he is consistent in many ways. Hu's mode of operation is known and has fairly set rules. Simply resist the temptation to perform evil and you can force Hu to concentrate his attention elsewhere. Unlike other gods, Hu seems to have a limited amount of attention, and cannot split it to perceive and do multiple actions at the same time. His limited number of followers have prevented him from needing to do this, so he hasn't bothered to learn the art of the "God's Eye."

The good/neutral/evil aspects of god.
Hu is evil in the most extreme. It is his nature. He performs evil acts on a regular basis and revels in the evil acts of others. He gains pleasure from the betrayal, pain, misery, and corruption of others. He creates demons and abominations to unleash upon the world simply to enhance his own ability to spread evil. He has no respect for life, or for the order of the pantheon. He only obeys the rules of this world out of a desire to prevent the other gods from joining forces against him. Given his own wishes, he would turn this world into a place of horror where all mortals would suffer from birth to death, and greed, jealousy, betrayal, and misery would be the only things they would know. Hu is a horror, and those who worship Hu are horrible.