#fist of the godclaw

[dailycharacteroption]

Fist of the Godclaw (Warpriest Archetype)

(art by Emilio Rodriguez C. on Artstation)

 Power. That is the goal of lawful evil. Whether it be the one at the top or a dutiful (or not so dutiful) cog in the machine.

Officially, the many orders of the Hellknight mercenaries do not specifically worship the powers of Hell. They merely build their entire ideology around the idea of Hell’s order as the example of a perfect society, in which all are subservient to the whole, and those at the top reap the rewards that their “hard work” of ruling it all.

It is utterly baffling that even the lawful neutral among them believe that they don’t in fact serve the will of Asmodeus in deed, to say nothing of the rare lawful good ones (they do exist, though mostly in minor orders like the revived Order of the Torrent, whose focus is on disaster prevention and rescue). However, the delusion persists, and it doesn’t end there.

Among the Hellknight orders, there is the Order of the Godclaw, which specifically revolves around the worship of a pantheon of the five major gods of law in the Inner Sea Region: Abadar, Asmodeus, Irori, Iomedae, and Torag, each forming a “finger” of the “Godclaw”, the mighty fist of order. Of course, while the lawful neutral deities among them might be alright with occasionally working with Asmodeus, most worshippers would consider it blasphemous to associate Iomedae and Torag with the Dark Prince except in the most desperate end of need.

We’ve talked about the Godclaw before on the blog with the oracle mystery that shares a name with it, but the general gist is that the order cherry-picks doctrines from all five religions, creating a twisted version of all five as stern, armored rulers and paragons, and it their divine right and duty to stamp out disorder and lead the world to a perfect society by force (which conveniently adheres most closely to Asmodeus’s vision, because of course it does.)

This brings us to today’s subject, the so-called Fists of the Godclaw. These warpriests, whether they wear the armor of standard hellknights or as signifers, act as vicious warrior-priests and leaders in the order’s crusades. They act as mighty destroyers of chaos and disorder, though like all hellknight orders, their interpretation of such foes often leaves ordinary citizens in their line of fire.

There is no denying their power, however, and whether they serve as villain or antihero, they can be quite effective.

 Naturally, these priests must be of a lawful alignment, but they can actually worship any member of the Godclaw pantheon, or the Godclaw itself.

Regardless of who they decide to put their faith in, they must choose the blessings of Law and the special Godclaw blessing, the former granting them the power to harm chaotic foes and summon lawful allies, while the latter grants them the ability to break magical control by instilling an ally with their duty, as well as command their allies to act in unison. The fact that every fist must choose these blessings does raise the question about what exactly is granting them their divine power.

As soldiers against chaos, they also have an ability to sense it nearby, letting them root out hiding dissidents and confirm the morals of their foes.

They also have a knack for channeling their fervor to harm chaotic outsiders, being able to channel energy for that purpose much more efficiently and with much greater output.

The most powerful among them are able to briefly become paragons of law, gaining enhanced durability that only chaos can pierce, becoming totally immune to magic that sways the mind, and being able instill so much order into their actions that any action has perfect average results for a brief period.

Destroyers of chaos no matter the form it takes, if you’re interested in a paragon of law that has a nice slew of anti-chaos abilities, this archetype may be for you. The only super major thing it gets that other warpriests do not is the ability to use only one fervor to channel energy when using alignment channel against chaos, so you can build them however you like, though their locked blessings does mean that they likely favor buffing allies in addition to laying down the law directly, wading into battle rather than standing behind their troops.

 Now, this archetype does allow you to be lawful good, so you can in theory play such a character. Whether such a character believes the that the order can be steered in a more benevolent direction, or more likely, they believe in the warped versions of goodly deities that are roped into it. Either way, such a character might struggle to uphold such beliefs over time given the company they keep.

  The Fist Clan samurai, devoted to complete order, have taken a remote village hostage as they attempt to turn it into a new base of operations. The locals have been “conscripted” to build a fortress for them, and worse still, they have allied themselves with a yuki-onna, promising her to find the one who caused her death in exchange for preying upon interlopers that might disrupt their plans… or villagers trying to escape their yoke.

 The playful and mischievous vanara are exactly the sort of beings that the invading hellknights cannot abide, so they have sent a small army of their number into the mountains to hunt them. Obviously the armored warriors have the disadvantage in the treacherous terrain, but their tenacity, and the profane power of their leader, guarantee that the casualties to the monkey-folk will by high if nothing is done.

 There can be no doubt that the pantheon of the claw is blasphemy for all gods involved save one, the Dark One. This fabricated unity of deities seeks to corrupt the worship of the other deities into that of the master of evil, and the fact that it’s members gain divine power is proof in the eyes of many that it works, especially since true scholars of the divine are in short supply.

[eddie]

ANSWERED ASK for : @godclaws ❛ An exploratory kiss between friends.❜

⛧˖ ─── THUS FAR, MOVING INTO THE CITY TO chase after his music ambitions had been far from the dream that Eddie had envisioned it would be. It wasn’t as though he’d expected anything glamourous, but something that didn’t involve wearing a fucking APRON for eight hours a day would have been nice. He’d scrubbed more dishes and assembled more burgers than he’d played his guitar, and while he was glad to be free of the stuffy prison that was the town of Hawkins, the change of pace had come with disheartenment and challenges that went beyond anything that he’d prepared himself for. Not all of it was bad, however. There were PERKS too, like the one that came in the pretty, sunshiny package named Rosie Howell. She’d been an unexpected connection, and she continued to be so…

            Fortuitous circumstances had brought the two together as co-workers, and then friends, and now roommates, but the line that subsequently followed had yet to be crossed; not that Eddie hadn’t thought about it before. There was so much about Rosie to love, even with her… DISAGREEABLE music tastes ( which he loved to tease her about ). She was gentle and kind and clumsy… and maybe a little clueless, but in the SWEETEST, most heart-melting way. The metalhead found it hard not to smile when he was around her, even when the struggles of city life wanted to sabotage his mood.

            As Eddie sat in the living room that morning, still shirtless and in his plaid pajama pants as he listened to the snippet of the new song that Rosie was working on, he found that the subsequent line that had previously kept him at an arm’s length was beginning to BLUR. He wasn’t sure if it was the sweet, HONEYED tone of her voice when she sang, or the way that the golden glow of the morning sunlight was kissing her skin, but she’d barely finished singing the last line when he found himself leaning in over her guitar, as though he was caught and pulled in by her own personal GRAVITY. For a moment, he paused, tentatively holding her gaze as he hovered before he’d closed the small distance and planted a kiss to her soft lips.

            It didn’t take long for the metalhead to recollect his senses, but even after he’d realized what he’d just done, his withdrawal from her was SLOW. With his brown eyes bright with self-inflicted surprise and his cheeks burning with the rising warmth of a blush, he settled himself back into his spot on the couch, staring at his roommate with the makings of a big, crooked grin that pronounced the dimples in his cheeks. ❝ Sorry. ❞ Was he though? Was he REALLY?

            Almost AWKWARDLY, a laugh rolled out from his smile, the fingers of one of his hands beginning to fidget with the modeled rings of the other. ❝ I… don’t know why I did that. ❞ His grin widened with the gentle cant of his head. ❝ Actually? Scratch that— I think I know exactly what happened. It’s those damn sappy-ass country lyrics. ❞ He crinkled up the bridge of his nose in feigned disgust, a short pause following before he’d continued, leaning forward to settle his chin on his fist. ❝ It pains me to admit it, but, uh… it's not like—❞ His gaze circled the room slowly, drawing out another pause before he'd landed his attention back onto her. ❝—totally impossible that you just romanced me with your twangy bullshit. One point for miss Rosemary. ❞

[metalsiren-a]

[ edging ] your muse edges my muse close to an orgasm * FOR CECE 👀

𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑲𝒀 𝑺𝑪𝑬𝑵𝑨𝑹𝑰𝑶𝑺. // @godclaws + accepting

𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞  𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫  𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞,  𝐜𝐞𝐜𝐞  𝐰𝐚𝐬  𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠  𝐭𝐨  𝐠𝐞𝐭  𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲  𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝  𝐚𝐭  𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝.  the  first  few  times  were  a  little  awkward,  not  that  sawyer  held  it  against  her.  after  multiple  conversations,  it  was  clear  to  sawyer  that  poor  cece  had  been  more  sheltered  and  repressed  than  she'd  initially  thought.  which  left  sawyer  walking  the  blonde  through  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it;  admitedly,  sawyer  really  liked  being  able  to  just  tell  her  newfound  lover  what  to  do.  not  often  one  to  be  in  control,  being  the  one  with  it  in  the  palm  of  her  hand  was  empowering  —  she  could  get  used  to  it,  if  she  was  being  honest.   however,  that  wasn't  the  case  this  time  around,  cece's  mouth  wrapped  around  sawyer's  clit  in  a  way  that  had  the  brunette's  fists  grip  the  sheets.  back  arched  up  and  off  the  bed  some,  eyes  rolling  to  the  back  of  her  head  before  her  teeth  took  her  lower  lip  between  them  with  a  soft  whimper.  if  she  had  any  thoughts  left  in  her  mind,  sawyer  would  think  of  how  proud  she  was  of  the  woman  between  her  thighs,  how  far  she'd  come  and  how  good  it  all  felt.  and  it  wasn't  just  because  of  felicity's  newfound  skill,  but  because  it  was  felicity  herself.   that  all  too  familiar  feeling  of  a  coil  tightening  began  in  her  core,  sawyer  moving  to  prop  herself  up  on  one  elbow  as  she  peered  down  toward  the  pair  of  blue  hues  staring  back  up  at  her,  ❛  it's  go  good,  baby.  you're  doing  so  good  ...  ❜  sawyer's  praise  left  her  with  ease,  nodding  her  head  as  her  hips  involuntarily  pushed  forward,  yearning  for  more.  more  of  her  mouth,  her  tongue,  the  sounds  of  satisfaction  that  vibrated  against  her  clit.   one  of  sawyer's  hands  reached  down,  affectionately  pushing  some  of  cece's  hair  from  her  face  and  holding  it  so  she  could  get  a  better  view,  ❛  fuck.  you're  gorgeous.  keep  going,  pretty  girl.  don't  stop.  ❜ a  soft  cry  left  the  brunette  thereafter,  letting  her  head  fall  back  as  her  hips  began  their  own  small  rhythm,  trying  to  match  felicity's  to  optimize  the  speed  of  which  she  found  her  end,  ❛  i'm  close  ...  ❜  a  warning,  that  coil  in  her  core  starting  to  tighten  to  the  point  of  release  as  each  moan,  each  whimper  and  whine,  became  more  desperate,  ❛  oh,  god.  c'mon.  i'm  almost  there.  ❜