Deity Drop 3: Ayrzul
Not as well-known as other demigods, the elemental lords rule over vast reaches of their home plane. However, for a long time, the balance of power has been lopsided. For you see, there are apparently two known elemental lords per plane making for 8 (actually 10 now that the plane of wood and metal are confirmed to exist) such entities, but in a devious plot, the evil elemental lords conspired to trap their goodly counterparts, leaving them to rule unopposed.
However, the four gemstone prisons for these goodly elemental lords, the Moaning Diamond, the Untouchable Opal, the Garnet Brand, and the Gasping Pearl, still exist, and could one day be set free. In, one already has, setting the goodly lord of elemental air free.
And the one who lost that gemstone, the evil elemental lord of Earth, is Ayrzul, the Fossilized King.
A being of selfish hunger, Ayrzul it not well known as he seems restricted to his lair, he is associated with buried secrets, earth, and metals, as well as radioactivity to a certain extent thanks to the nature of his home realm. He has been known to feed on mystical energy sources, such as when he convinced the xiomorn race, also known as the vault builders, to sacrifice half the mythic blessings of their people to him in exchange for his help staving off a threat beyond time and space.
Ayrzul, to those who have seen him, resembles a six-limbed skeletal saurian beast with fossilized stone bones, encrusted with glittering crystal, particularly taking the place of fangs and claws.
He dwells in the Blistering Labyrinth, a network of tunnels filled with radioactive materials both mundane and otherworldly, making it deadly to creatures of flesh and bone, where the fossilized remains of would-be explorers jut out among the crystals. For some unknown reason, Ayrzul rarely leaves it, suggesting he may be bound there or have some strong connection that prevents him from leaving for long.
While the Fossilized King has only rare followers among the material plane, he counts most xiomorns as his children, and they in turn consider him their patron, having long forgotten they were truly the children of his rival.
Reclusive and monstrous, Ayrzul only counts the other evil elemental lords as his allies, and only out of convenience. The one exception tot his is Ymeri, the evil elemental lord of fire, whom he constantly feuds and plots against.
In addition to the xiomorns, Ayrzul does count many evil elemental beings as his servants, ranging from elementals to xorns to mephitis and even some shaitans exiled from their own kind. He even rules over populations of elemental dinosaurs and other megafauna.
In 1st edition, Ayrzul rules over the domains of Destruction, Earth, Evil, and Strength, with the Caves, Fear, Ferocity, Metal, and Petrification subdomains, all reflecting his nature as a creature of stone, the process of fossilization, and also unbelievable brutality.
In 2nd edition, Ayrul rules over destruction, earth, might, and secrecy, mirroring his powers in the previous edition, but also reflecting his aspect of the mysteries and horrors hidden beneath the earth. Beyond this, he also grants his clerics access to supernatural shockwaves, summoned elementals, and petrification magic.
Unfortunately, the elemental lords were never given stats for any Deific Obedience feat or any equivalent, but in theory such powers could exist.
Ayrzul has not been mentioned in Starfinder thus far, but the fact that the freed goodly elemental lord of air Ranginori has been mentioned gives plenty of precedent for including him. I imagine that he would be particularly favored on any world with an extensive subterranean network, diverse fossil record, or extremes of radiation.
