Achio
From Zok
Lord Achio is the child of Dezzik and Tyani, a result of the rape of his mother. He is the patron deity of flowers, lust, and seduction. Achio has rejected both of his parents and now dwells in Pnugul as part of Vornik's court, where he spends most of his time engaged in various hedonistic pursuits when he's not plotting to foil Lady Anata's goals.
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The Sweetest Fragrance, The Glass Orchid
- Lesser Deity
- Symbol:
- An orchid on a black background.
- A tropical flower made of glass, or a bottle of perfume.
- Home Plane: Pnugul, The Night Forest
- Alignment: Chaotic Evil
- Portfolio: Seduction, Flowers, Night
- The Sweetest Fragrance: Lust, Scent, Dance
- The Glass Orchid: Intrigue, Illusion, Lies
- Worshippers: Prostitutes, hedonists, aristocrats, illusionists, bards, dancers, seducers, liars.
- Cleric Alignments: CE, NE, CN
- Domains: Plant, Trickery
- Favored Weapon:
- Sweetest Fragrance: Scimitar
- Glass Orchid: Scimitar
Dogma
Achio exhorts his followers to do want they want, or better yet to trick someone else into doing it for them. Like his brother Aki, Achio enjoys lies and deceit, but unlike his brother he views them as more of an art form than as means to an end. While he doesn't ask anything all that specific of his worshippers, he encourages them to help others find enjoyment in deceit. In his incarnation as the Glass Orchid, Achio encourages political intrigues, assassinations, and the slow accumulation of wealth (to be squandered on physical pleasure, of course). In his other Aspect, the Sweetest Fragrance, he focuses on more personal manipulations, encouraging seduction, drug peddling, and various subtle temptations of the innocent.
Clergy and Temples
The Sweetest Fragrance
Temples to the Achio is his incarnation as the Sweetest Fragrance tend to look more like luxuriously appointed manses than temples. Their architecture varies widely depending on which region and which species builds the temple (Achio is more commonly worshiped among the Burnt Elves and the gnomes than among most other races, but smaller temples can be found throughout the world), but their interiors are invariably sumptuous beyond the imagination. Everything is designed for maximum physical comfort: the finest foods, the most attractive masseuses, the most expensive wines, the finest silks. Clerics who revere Achio in this Aspect tend to hold a great deal of power over government in their area, as well as over any wealthy enough to afford their services. They dabble skilfully in intrigue, usually uniting their efforts to amass wealth but occasionally manipulating politics in an attempt to create legal systems more open to hedonistic lifestyles.
The Glass Orchid
Temples to the Glass Orchid are most often hidden inside temples to the Sweetest Fragrance, but the Glass Orchid can be worshiped wherever drugs are sold, prostitutes are paid, or lovers are lied to. This is Achio's more sinister Aspect, in which he tempts his followers deeper and deeper into the spirals of addiction to various pleasures until they are consumed in the fires of their own pleasure. The Glass Orchid exhorts his clerics to plant the seeds of vice (or just to plant their seed) in as many souls as possible before they shatter, that more beautifully fragile flowers might grace Achio's garden.
