FA+
Shop
The worshippers of Odontaspis
11 years ago
A series of four images of the worshippers of Odontaspis Have recently been posted, at the links below. I thought I'd fill in a bit of the story around these four forms, what they mean, what they are, so here that is, as well... (All of this, of course, in my demonic mythology.)
Stage 1: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/12934525/
Stage 2: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/12934574/
Stage 3: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/12679397/
Stage 4: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/12934640/
(Note that all stages, except 4, appear in both male in female forms. Shown forms only for illustration purposes.)
While the demon lords, Odontaspis included, are clearly not gods, but they also most certainly aren't mortals. They don't rely on worshippers for their power (as gods in that universe would), and they aren't terribly efficient at "harvesting" the power from worshippers, but they do have them. The worshippers do present some power directly to the demons they follow, but more important is the services they perform. They conduct sacrifices, summon the demons forth when they need to take direct actions in the mortal realm, and so forth.
Serving a powerful demon so closely doesn't come without a "price," though. In the universe of Odon and Gil, the mortals are all basically human in shape, but as they begin to worship demons, their bodies become corrupt with the backlash from the demon's form. Of course, to one so immersed in demon worship that these changes begin to happen, such corruption is no curse, but rather a gift.
Odontaspis, in particular, makes specific demands of his "priests." He's a serpent, and I follow some of the traditional serpentine demon aspects. While he's certainly a creature of destruction (and, let's be honest, voraciousness, enjoying the act of eating people), he's also one of temptation, corruption, and seduction. It is this nature he encourages in his priests, especially the lower ones. As such, he largely forbids his priests clothing except when unavoidable. As a cold-blooded creature, he tends to be worshipped most commonly in tropical regions, making it all the more likely that little clothing is socially acceptable, as well.
In the first stage, they still maintain close contact with the general population, attempting to recruit more potential worshippers, through whatever means possible, which often means outright seduction of others. The fact that they have a long, snake-like tail, red eyes, and the beginnings of scales over their bodies certainly doesn't make this easy for them to attract most people, but it does do one thing: Those who would be attracted to them also are more likely to accept the serpent demon as theirs.
The second stage adds something else to their nature: death. With the large snake-like head, they become killers as much as seducers. While Stage 1 have fangs, certainly, they are mainly for defense and not as effective as the ones in the giant snake-heads of Stage 2. They become entirely carnivorous, typically eating small mammals, swallowing them whole, just like a snake. They aren't nearly big enough to eat a grown human (only being slightly taller than a normal human), though there may be some worlds in which they personally take small children as sacrifices, as unpleasant as this may seem. That being said, they are still expected to participate in the seduction side of things, though it DOES become more difficult for them.
By the third stage, they have turned entirely from seducers to killers. There aren't many of these forms, at most a handful, and then only on worlds infested with worshippers of Odon. They rule the worshippers, and are dealmakers, negotiators, and, if a deal is broken, enforcers. While it's not intended as their main diet, the largest of them may even be able to feed upon the humans around them.
Stage four, clearly, is when a worshipper has entirely given themselves to the demon, no humanity left. They are still, technically, mortal, though just barely. There would be, at most, 4 or 5 of these in the entire universe, Odontaspis moving them from world to world as they are needed. They (unsurprisingly) feed on the population around them, voraciously in fact. Unlike the other forms, these are exclusively female, and often serve as the demon's companions when traveling in the mortal realms.
The offspring of Odon and his arch-priestesses are basically giant snakes, though not nearly as large as the priestesses' serpentine bodies. They are intelligent enough to speak and typically live as "pets" within temples. (I am uncertain on this... May change this area of the mythology.)
Stage 1: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/12934525/
Stage 2: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/12934574/
Stage 3: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/12679397/
Stage 4: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/12934640/
(Note that all stages, except 4, appear in both male in female forms. Shown forms only for illustration purposes.)
While the demon lords, Odontaspis included, are clearly not gods, but they also most certainly aren't mortals. They don't rely on worshippers for their power (as gods in that universe would), and they aren't terribly efficient at "harvesting" the power from worshippers, but they do have them. The worshippers do present some power directly to the demons they follow, but more important is the services they perform. They conduct sacrifices, summon the demons forth when they need to take direct actions in the mortal realm, and so forth.
Serving a powerful demon so closely doesn't come without a "price," though. In the universe of Odon and Gil, the mortals are all basically human in shape, but as they begin to worship demons, their bodies become corrupt with the backlash from the demon's form. Of course, to one so immersed in demon worship that these changes begin to happen, such corruption is no curse, but rather a gift.
Odontaspis, in particular, makes specific demands of his "priests." He's a serpent, and I follow some of the traditional serpentine demon aspects. While he's certainly a creature of destruction (and, let's be honest, voraciousness, enjoying the act of eating people), he's also one of temptation, corruption, and seduction. It is this nature he encourages in his priests, especially the lower ones. As such, he largely forbids his priests clothing except when unavoidable. As a cold-blooded creature, he tends to be worshipped most commonly in tropical regions, making it all the more likely that little clothing is socially acceptable, as well.
In the first stage, they still maintain close contact with the general population, attempting to recruit more potential worshippers, through whatever means possible, which often means outright seduction of others. The fact that they have a long, snake-like tail, red eyes, and the beginnings of scales over their bodies certainly doesn't make this easy for them to attract most people, but it does do one thing: Those who would be attracted to them also are more likely to accept the serpent demon as theirs.
The second stage adds something else to their nature: death. With the large snake-like head, they become killers as much as seducers. While Stage 1 have fangs, certainly, they are mainly for defense and not as effective as the ones in the giant snake-heads of Stage 2. They become entirely carnivorous, typically eating small mammals, swallowing them whole, just like a snake. They aren't nearly big enough to eat a grown human (only being slightly taller than a normal human), though there may be some worlds in which they personally take small children as sacrifices, as unpleasant as this may seem. That being said, they are still expected to participate in the seduction side of things, though it DOES become more difficult for them.
By the third stage, they have turned entirely from seducers to killers. There aren't many of these forms, at most a handful, and then only on worlds infested with worshippers of Odon. They rule the worshippers, and are dealmakers, negotiators, and, if a deal is broken, enforcers. While it's not intended as their main diet, the largest of them may even be able to feed upon the humans around them.
Stage four, clearly, is when a worshipper has entirely given themselves to the demon, no humanity left. They are still, technically, mortal, though just barely. There would be, at most, 4 or 5 of these in the entire universe, Odontaspis moving them from world to world as they are needed. They (unsurprisingly) feed on the population around them, voraciously in fact. Unlike the other forms, these are exclusively female, and often serve as the demon's companions when traveling in the mortal realms.
The offspring of Odon and his arch-priestesses are basically giant snakes, though not nearly as large as the priestesses' serpentine bodies. They are intelligent enough to speak and typically live as "pets" within temples. (I am uncertain on this... May change this area of the mythology.)
Of course, just imagine sitting at home, hearing a doorbell ring, but when you answer it, it's a pair of the nude forms in Stage 1, tail swishing back and forth. Of course, one male, one female, to meet any "tastes."
"May we have a few moments of your time to talk about the Demon Lord Odontaspis?"
Of course, the more corrupt one is, they higher they are in the ranks of the worshippers. The corruption isn't just action, though, it's all about mind state and thought processes. It's about following what Odon "teaches" both in body and mind.
Keep in mind, if Odon was the "ruling demon" of all of earth, there would probably only be 3 or 4 of the Stage 3 priests on the entire planet. They're not exactly going out and doing the recruiting.
Of course, I may be tempted simply by the prospect of becoming a superior Snake-like being in later stages... but at what cost, other than my "Humanity"? I've read up on the journal, and it looks like there's not really much of price. Seeing that there's little downside, I'd want to urge everyone to give themselves to Odontaspis, but at the same time... I really would not want to live in servitude.
Of course, earth is, alas, not such a world. :)
Originally, I was just alternating male and female for the forms in the "stages," to show the variety, but intentionally putting females in the position they would end up higher in the art. I am a straight male so, by extension, so is Odon. As he's a demon, especially one of a "seduction" nature, sexual favoritism would kind of be part of his nature, thus I actually expect females would advance further.
As the art of the snake was being done, I realized they all HAD to be females and that part of their job was to serve as consorts to the demon. Of course, by the time they reach that point, I'd not think they would find that a burden at all, but rather a huge bonus.
Outside of that final step, I suspect there's actually very good gender equality among his ranks, though I do really imagine females doing better than males in his ranks. I'd guess that the Stage 3 folks tend to have a slightly higher female percentage than male, but not unreasonably so (60/40'ish).
In my opinion? The snake body would be the hardest to really pull off, I've looked at past costumes in cosplays of snake ladies, it's not 'bad' per say but not good.
It's actually nice to see the alternating back and forth to show variety but I agree with the concept of the females being closer to the god since he's pure male. Males that are straight tend to lean closer to females. Lol :3 But I'm bias to females being loved on more. Probably because I am one <3 teehehe
And even when not one of the servants to an arch-priestess, the stage 3's are the most senior of the worshippers, their rule covering entire continents if not the world. They are very powerful, both physically and politically.
If the offspring of Odontaspis and one of the stage 4 priestesses is a giant snake, what kind of venom would they have? I could easily see it being something that, when used properly, works as a sort of love potion or loosening inhibitions. Having one of his children on a world to give them a steady supply of the stuff would be of great help to any church/cult worshiping him and trying to expand their power.
Of course, it would also work as a poison too. It would be a matter of dosage, and maybe a bit of preparation to keep it stable for transport, if you want to use it for other things. The secret of that could be closely guarded.