The'ton

From The Seven Cities

The'ton
Title(s)	The Dread Lord, The Prince
Home Plane	The Nine Hells of Baator
Symbol	An iron fist over an orcish skull
Colors	Gold, Black
Philosophy	Glory
Portfolio	Fear, Tyranny, Intimidation, Conquest
Worshippers Philosophy	Duty, Glory, Ego, Anarchy
Cleric Philosophy	Glory, Ego, Anarchy
Domains	Evil, Knowledge, Protection, Trickery

"The question often posed by softer minds is whether fear or love is the preferred method of governance. This supposes that fear must always displace love. This is incorrect. True fear and intimidation subjugate love rather than displace it. Only when he has forced his enemies to love being afraid of him can a king truly be said to have conquered..." -From "Chapter XII: Intimidation and Appeasement", from Discourses of the Dread Kings, by Kronus Asmeraldus

Wielding fear and intimidation as a weapon, The'ton, the Dread Lord, is one of the most loathed, yet respected gods in the Avlissian pantheon. The patron god of despots and conquerors, The'ton is often associated with both power and brutality, yet also as the inexorable source of civilizing order.

Contents 1 History 2 Precepts 3 Relations with Other Deities 4 Worshippers 5 Dogma

History

Since his mortal days as the bandit king of Dubunat, The'ton has been notorious as a canny wielder of fear. From turning the disorganized nation of bandit tribes into a full fledged feudal kingdom, to rivaling the great immortal Emperor Kuras, The'ton has always been able to use fear and intimidation to achieve his goal of stability and conquest.

Never one to rest on his laurels, The'ton has dramatically increased his influence since his ascension. First he conspired to weaken and eliminate the god Gruumsh's influence from Avlis and taking his portfolio. Flush with this victory he next attempted to weaken and eliminate Skern, eventually leading to the death of O'Ma.

With the growth of his descendants's influence and worship in the expanding kingdom of Dubunat, The'ton eventually moved away from his reliance on Valok. He has taken some actions which have annoyed the Glory Lord of late. He has provided support for Valok's rogue son Sylo's ascension, and has elevated the immortal Tillaya to serve as his consort. From these actions it appears that The'ton may intend to eventually challenge Valok for primacy for the title of Glory Lord.

Precepts

The'ton's precepts center on the importance of fear and intimidation in keeping both stability and power in society. The only goal an individual should have within society is to acquire power and to centralize it in his person, and the most effective way he can do this is to use the tools of fear and intimidation for that end.

In many respects The'ton's precepts are at the extreme end of the philosophy of Glory, taking the attitude that the ends will always justify the means. Whereas Valok's philosophy suggests that morality may often be a necessary tool as part of the political process, The'ton discards this concept entirely. For The'ton, morality not only is irrelevant in concerns of power, but it is often an outright hindrance, as it creates a gap in the armor of contempt wielded by the ruler.

Rather the strength of the ruler comes from the concept of dread and intimidation. While simple force is a useful tool to subjugate your enemies, it is often the anticipation and fear of force that is more effective in keeping the masses in line. Fear need not simply be fear of the ruler. A wise ruler, The'ton believes would at times allow the mob to take over, showing the people the alternative to government: a state of nature so horrible that living under the intimidating glare of the conqueror is preferable to being subject to the whims of the mob.

The finesse of a ruler for The'ton and his followers isn't whether he can juggle the demands of showing personal morality while taking inhumane actions for power. Rather it is how he can present his fear and intimidation as preferable to the available alternatives. This can sometimes manifest itself in a more playful way, in the form of scary stories and rumors of the dark. Yet the end result is the same: making sure someone finds fear attractive.

Relations with Other Deities

An ambitious deity with tremendous goals, The'ton has created a great deal of enemies over his years in power. He remains a loyal if ambiguous subject of the Glory Lord Valok, but both gods understand that they will eventually come into conflict over their respective territories. In order to expand his chances of winning such a show-down, The'ton has gone to great lengths to cultivate allies in the deific realm, sheltering the rogue god Sylo and elevating the immortal Tillaya to increase his influence.

Outside of his cold war with Valok, his greatest rivalry is with Senath, with whom he shares an intense rivalry, attempting to sway the balance of power on Avlis by converting monarchs and nobles to his cause. This rivalry has gradually grown into a more complex web of alliances and enemies, with both The'ton and Senath constantly seeking the support of more gods and their followers, to shore up their monarchs. This has created one of the more lasting mortal rivalries in recent memory between the Dubunati successor states and the Seventh Kurathene Empire.

Worshippers

The'ton draws his worshippers primarily from the upper classes of society, ranging from as far down to local supervisors to the kings and emperors ruling over the successors of Dubunat and Dobrekan. He is strongly tied to the monarchies of the Dubunati successor kingdoms, as most can trace their lineages back to him in some distant fashion, and as a consequence these kings play a dual role as both the head of state and the ecclesiarch of their local branch of the Church of The'ton.

Though the Church of The'ton itself is a highly organized institution, it is highly influenced by local politics because of the spiritual role played by the The'tonic monarchs. As a consequence not only are the internal politics of the church and clergy fragmented and often in conflict with one another, the church tends to play a subordinate role to the secular governments of these realms.

Dogma

True conquest begins when you first master fear itself. Fear is the ultimate tool: it may be used to corrupt, to conquer and even to engender affection. Remember that all emotions stem from this one primal concept and to never allow anything to compromise your ability to instill fear. Weakness such as morality and compassion places dangerous vulnerabilities in your armor of fear, but it is possible to mask fear within these facades, remember that not all intimidation comes from direct action.