View source for Excrucius

[[Category:Gods]]
[[Category:Gods of Acrolon]]
[[Category:Gods of Night]]

 {{Breadcrumb Excrucius}}

[[File:excrucius.png | 400 px | x 600 px | right | border | frame | Excrucius had no known peaceful avatar, only ''The Scourge''.]]

=Overview=

Excrucius ([[Imperial]], \ɪkˈskruʃɪs\) was named for his association with pain and suffering. Lore about Excrucius is common and accurate, coming from scholars, [[Heralds]], [[Servitors]], and other [[Gods]].

=History=

Excrucius was born a [[Human]] named Varaxes early in [[The Realm War]] of the [[Shattered Age]]. He was large for his age, and was conscripted by mistake when he was too young. A child soldier raised on conquest, his soul quickly became tempered by the cruelty, discipline, and self-reliance of war. While most warriors fought for coin, country, or fear of death, Varaxes fought for control - control of his men, his fate, the battlefield, and ultimately the world. He terrifying [[Paragon of War]], he rose swiftly in rank. He commanded a regiment of shock troops infamous for massacres that even the [[Barigor]] hesitated to condone. During one campaign, Varaxes orchestrated a brutal siege of the [[Tonwei]] city of [[Maifeng]]. The population was broken by the psychological warfare that Varaxes developed, called ''The Nightfall Protocol''. It involved depriving the citizenry of light, making it a crime to speak, and weaponizing fear and betrayal among the populace. When this siege became known to the [[Shared Horizon Accord]], [[Isaac]] tried to have Varaxes executed for war crimes. The effort failed, but the enmity between the two would remain.

For his conduct, [[Fenrir]] chose him as an Exarch of Night. Excrucius was the only Exarch to join the battle against [[The Mooneater]]. When Fenrir was slain in [[The First Godswar]], Excrucius was named the new God of Night.

As God of Night, one of Excrucius's most notable achievements was the creation of [[The Nightfall Crown]]. Inspired by his terrible form of psychological warfare, but infused with divine might, this crown could enslave the minds of entire cities by playing on peoples' deepest fears. In the [[Dawn Age]], this artifact was shattered by [[Lucidus]], though its fragments are still terrifyingly powerful cursed items.

During the [[Dark Age]], Excrucius fell under the persuasive powers of [[Lascivia]]. While he thought he was in control of the [[God of Summer]], she had actually enchanted him with illusions that played to his need for control. His support is, in large part, what allowed Lascivia to rule Acrolon for most of the Dark Age. After the Dark Age ended and Lascivia was destroyed, Excrucius was given a choice: sacrifice himself and pass on his Night domain to another, or make amends. He chose to make amends. This included, among other things, the formation of [[The Red Guard]] to protect Acrolon.

=Description=

Unlike most other Gods of Acrolon, Excrucius only wears a war form. He stands 10m in height, wearing barbed plate armor as black as ink. He has a halo of curved ebon blades. His eyes are cold and white. He wields ''[[Doloragar]], the Painmaker'', a terrible nine-tailed barbed scourge whip. On his wrists are broken manacles of gold.

=Personality=

Excrucius is known to be utterly cold, dangerously cunning, and deeply bitter. He respects power as the only form of honesty in the world. His cruelty is not a meant as a form of subtle manipulation, it is clinical and pragmatic. He is an architect of authority based in compliance and fear. He hates weakness, sentimentality, and indecision.

=Abilities=

Like all Gods, Excrucius possesses superhuman strength, speed, and toughness. As God of Night, he also possesses tremendous power over darkness, fear, and pain.

=Exarchs=

* [[Vauldrek]] ''the Black Chain'': A former slave who turned warden of Night.
* [[Morvenna]] ''of the Silent Blade'': A former bard and spymaster.
* [[Karn]] ''the Hollow Lord'': His general.