Hedonist of Ecstasy

The Alleys of Jhir-jameen are ruled with an iron fist.     

“Ahhh yes. The Broken Wheel.” he stated, smiling and baring his impossibly large and pointed teeth, “Those stupid men with their stupid beliefs. I remember them. Long ago. Long before Qaracosa was even a place. Your ... people… are quite amusing to me. How quickly they are to claim something is a god if they do not understand it. Well… let me tell you this. There are other gods in these lands, some that are far older than your titan. One of them dwells beneath Titan’s Rest, and has been there a very long time. He is a shadow of his former self, but I can still feel his presence, even in a place as far away as this. His essence calls out to all the true sons and daughters of Yhtar.”

He ceased petting the thing chained to his throne and stood up, walking to the edge of the stage and hunkering down in a squat, with his clawed appendages supporting him. 

“Take this information as a gift for the pleasure you have provided the court this evening. Tell your Grand Advocate that they seek to awaken a great evil beneath your city, and if they do so, it might even be enough to draw the true powers of Yhtar back to the wastes to finish what we once started. Your god is dead. I suggest that you keep him that way.” 

He stood up and turned his back to us. “Now go. I cannot abide the sight of you, and your stench makes me forget myself. The smell of your flesh makes my loins ache, and I am hungry. It would be a shame if you came all this way to end up at my dinner table.”

- Benjamin Campbell, Throes of Ecstasy Vol. II

To understand the nature of the Demons of Ecstasy, it is necessary to first understand the nature of the demons themselves. As demons corrupt and destroy the material planes, they retain some of the energy that would otherwise return to the forges of creation. Swollen with stolen vitality, the Atriarchs are larger and possess more personality than their lesser brethren. Their power acts like a lodestone, bringing followers to their call and commanding obedience and respect.

Atriarchs of Ecstasy tend to follow one of three paths: Those that worship and evangelize the will of Pannisis, the nobility who rule over them, or the feral who specialize in combat. Adherents to each path have a specific focus that allows them to harvest and retain even more energy. An atriarch that has become imbued with enough power can shed the vestiges of personality and become a true embodiment of Ecstasy, evolving into a glorious King or Queen. For those too mired in the petty concerns of individuality, rebirth as a demon lord or lady awaits.

The path of the Hedonist is one filled with unholy ritual, debauchery, and narcotics. The common demonic practice of consuming powerful narcotics and flesh is a common event for the hedonists. Their followers worship them as an extension of the divine, and their dark powers make them formidable in battle.