Deity Drop 1: Andak
Our final entry of the week is sadly going to be a little lackluster in terms of official lore because, well, frankly this demigod hasn’t been touched outside of their basic stats and obedience stuff. However, we will do our best with what we have.
In hindu mythology, Andhakha, our subject’s namesake was a blind asura with a thousand arms and heads, who lusted after Parvati, wife of Shiva, which was ironic as Andhakha was in fact the deformed child of that very same couple, who had been gifted for adoption to the previous demon king Hiryanyaksa. There’s an entire tale of his battle with Shiva and how the god needed to enlist aid to drink up every drop of Andhakha’s blood as they fought, for every drop would grow into a copy of the asura.
Andhakha was eventually defeated, but repented and asked for forgiveness, which Shiva gave, revealing his true parentage to him, and Andhakha was given rule over the gana servitors of the devas.
The Asura Rana called Andak… was not so lucky. Given what we know about Asura, being created from the legacy of the mistakes of the gods, we can assume that Andak must be the result of some divine punishment, as this version is not described as having a multitude of limbs, but rather, a multitude of pieces, for he has been completely dismembered, his body parts reattached awkwardly in a most disturbing fashion.
Given his focus on axes, dismemberment, and torture, it’s very likely that whatever he was before, he angered a deity so much that he was horrifically ripped limb from limb in both body and soul, and cast aside, but this was clearly not the end.
Whether or not Andak was guilty or deserving of such a brutal execution was unknown, but as an asura we can assume that the wrath of that deity was likely overblown in it’s viciousness.
I imagine that those who worship Andak are sadomasochists, given the sorts of rituals they perform to honor him, and have been twisted into creatures that hate both themselves and others, exacting cruel, body-modifying procedures and tortures upon themselves and their victims.
Death, Destruction, Evil, and Law are Andak’s domains, with Fear, Murder, Rage, and Torture as his subdomains, painting the picture of a deity who only knows how to bring suffering into the world.
Sadly, as of yet Andak has been given no update into 2e at all, not even in the pdf-only expansion of Gods and Magic.
Obedience to Andak involves ritualistically raising welts and scratches into your skin in complex patterns, as if marking the scars of a thousand cuts. When done correctly, this results in being blessed with supernatural durability. However, unlike other deities, Asura Ranas and other less-involved demideities only grant a handful of spells, with no other magical abilities. In the case of Andak, these include a blessing to make weapons more lethal, dealing grievous wounds with a touch, and even a powerful necromantic blast that can destroy all in it’s path.
Unsurprisingly, Andak has yet to be mentioned in Starfinder, but if he is still around, I imagine that he is most popular among wicked cults of brutality not unlike that of the Devourer, albeit focused more on inflicting pain and suffering than ending anything.
That does it for this week, but I hope you enjoyed this little peek into the deities of the Pathfinder setting! Tune in next week for more archetypes!
