Ave and the Lower Court. Almost vampires with a bit of a dark souls flair to them, lead by a psychotic comet cheerleader.
God Name: Ave
Title: God of purity, the glorious, the Exalter
Gender: feminine
Alignment: evil
Appearance: while she sometimes takes the form of a beautiful angelic statue, her true form is that of a spherical celestial body (of whatever size is appropriate for a physically large god). In any form, her appearance is marked with a large gouge or crack, filled in with gold.
Personality: Seeming peaceful and kind only at first glance, Ave is vain to an extreme only a god is capable of, and has possibly the strongest disgust response in all the cosmos. She would scour a continent of life for offending her in the slightest, if She did not fear the other gods. She wishes at all times to bathe in pure light, sunlight above all, and this thought gnaws at her in her exile to the godly realm. Despite her wickedness, there is a weakness in her heart, she is in fact a creature of strange sympathies, and cannot stand to be confronted with sufferings she herself did not cause. She would burn a city from the sky in a tantrum if she could, but find herself overcome with pity if presented with a weeping human.
Opinion of Mortals: Ave's mortals are almost exclusively undead free of all flesh and rot, creatures of bone or ash or calcified flesh. In this way they are "clean" and do not disgust their mistress, but nearly every other form of life does so. Breathing, sweating, reeking creatures crawling and wriggling at the cellular level, Ave can barely, if ever, disguise her revulsion for mortal life. Nevertheless, Ave craves flattery and adores tribute, and even an insignificant bauble of gold might make her forget her disgust for a brief time. She is fond of music, and so generally sets aside her distaste for any creature that makes it.
God's domain: a Grecian style palace constructed upon her true body serves well enough as a place to meet with others in humanoid form and enjoy her small scale treasures. The rest of the domain is An expanse of clouds and soft light, though despite appearances there is no air in this place, unless she wills it into being (she takes no small pleasure in taking her time creating air while a lower creature struggles, even if she herself brought them to her domain)
Avatar Name: The Most Exalted
Avatar appearance: A large winged humanoid form made of thousands of crystallized bones fused together topped with a halo of floating teeth, and shrouds of spectral forms swirling around his body.
Personality: A philosopher and Lawkeeper, the most exalted serves as the highest judge of Ave's mortal realm. While far less frivolous than his fellows and his goddess, the Most Exaulted nevertheless Carries out Ave's will no matter how deranged it might seem, and cares little for the monstrous excesses of his society. He believes that all life, no matter how lowly and diseased, can achieve the apotheosis of undeath and exaltation, just as he has. He is not instantly murderous to any living creature he encounters, however much it would be for their own good, he is quite restrained, when he has reason to be.
Besides the whole "confidently believes you would be happier as a skeleton" thing he's quite charming and affable when not carrying out his duties.
Magic abilities: the Most Exalted is as skilled a Necromancer as one might expect of a god's greatest servant, and armed with magical items to enhance his spellcasting. His body is harder than stone, and the wraiths that surround him serve as a kind of "living" armor, interceding between himself and incoming magic. He is difficult to dispatch with any kind of finality, for his ghost clings to the world and will seek to slowly reform his body like a Lich or haunt. However, any serious defeat, especially if his head and "heart" (a massive gemstone in his chest) are destroyed, will leave him disfigured in spirit, weaker and possibly damaged in mind. His soul might be trapped, or further disfigured by sorcery, as well.
He wields a blade of strange stone supposedly taken from the wound of Ave herself, and it is a potent weapon, especially against living things.
Hero: Dame Allandra
Rank: A powerful Courtier who's estate lies far from the capital. She arranges trade and keeps a stock of live beasts and men for a steady supply.
Personality: cunning and ruthless, she nevertheless enjoys her distance from the squabbles of the state (and the cold disapproval of the clergy), and her importance as a supplier of blood. She stays beautiful and strong, and rules her land like a queen. Somewhat ironically despite her direct predation, she has grown more accustomed to the presence of humans than her peers, and is in some ways more comfortable interacting with them than her own kind.
This queer fondness does not extend to mercy, however.
Name of kingdom: The Lower Court
Capital: Astodan
Major cities: none at the moment, I'll think about it.
Society
-people
It is said that the Undead of the Lower Court are invincible in spirit. That they have passed beyond death, and always return into the world. They are lingering ghosts, and their "bodies" are little more than puppets. This may be true in a sense, but the trauma of the body being destroyed is sufficient that the point is moot, whatever rises again from the lingering energy of a slain Courtier is almost certainly a completely new individual. Still, the Courtiers are difficult to kill, and a lack of "thoroughness" by their adversaries lends them an illusion of invincibility.
Virtually mindless skeletal undead wander the lands and perform any labor needed by the Courtiers, who vary somewhat in bodily composition. The simplest are mere bones, though they wrap themselves in layers of fabric and mask themselves for appearances. Commonly, an ashen substance fills their frame like flesh, giving them a crudely humanoid appearance. Some Courtiers, interred in beautiful statues, have fused into their rocky tombs, half garment, half body.
The courtiers are obsessed, from lowly skeleton donning a ceramic mask, to withered ashen revenant, to graceful living stone, with their appearances, and despise the imperfections of their forms. Their religion insists that in time, through loyal service and personal growth, they will be "exalted" to forms of pure beauty, but few among them can stand to wait. By consuming the blood of the living, they can temporarily relieve the ache of their self loathing, and wash away the imperfections that plague them. While the religious authorities do not condone such behavior officially, it is practiced by almost everyone besides the clergy themselves. Cracked bone seals and hardens, skin of packed ash becomes smooth and soft, unyielding stone gains flexible nature.
It is for this reason, that the Courtiers endlessly raid those living peoples they can reach.
-economics
The Courtiers need neither food nor warmth, somewhat easing the logistical constraints of their lives. However, their addiction to Blood, particularly that of Men, drives them to whatever lengths necessary. They will buy living slaves from any source, and have their numberless skeletons work ceaselessly in mines or fields to pay. Aside from blood, they are vain creatures and enjoy finery and jewelry of all kinds.
-politics
Because of the endless labor of lesser undead and their lack of needs, virtually all Courtiers enjoy at least some level of what could be called nobility and the governance of their lands are a tangled web of loyalties and authorities. Aside from the aristocratic scramble is the Circle of Judges. Never directly challenged, this religious organization is headed by The Most Exalted, and responsible for maintaining the legal system of the Court, as well as interpreting the will of the Goddess.