Ethedok

Ethedok
Fan art of the broken symbols of Ethedok and Vordo, by Cyarna Trim.
Deity information
Type	Deity
Title	The Endless Shadow
Province	Darkness and Winter
Home plane	Tengar (originally)
Appearances
First seen	"Axiom Shaken" (3x43), mentioned only
Last seen	"Predathos Awakened" (3x119)
Stream	Campaign Three (2 episodes)

Ethedok, the Endless Shadow, was the god of darkness and winter and one of the deities that founded the world of Exandria.

Description

Ethedok's power manifested as a strange "blacker than black" color, difficult to understand by mortal eyes, and able to swallow other colors. After thousands of years inside of Predathos, fueling it with their power, Ethedok was darkness within darkness, very difficult to notice, appearing as remnants of a tattered but overwhelmingly cold entity.

History

Background

Ethedok was among the deities that left the Eternal Palace and entered reality, arriving on Exandria and forming a pantheon in which they became the god of darkness and winter. At some point before the Schism, thousands of years before the Calamity, the entity called Predathos came to Exandria tracking the refugees from Tengar, and was able to consume both Ethedok and Vordo, another deity. This caused the rest of the main pantheon, as well as the elemental titans, to join forces to create a prison for Predathos to ensure it would not harm them or anyone else.

Campaign Three: Bells Hells

As of 843 PD Ethedok was nearly forgotten, and other gods had control over their divine portfolio. Only a few documents in Vasselheim acknowledged the existence of the two devoured deities, but the authorities of the Dawn City wanted to keep that knowledge hidden and forgotten, not only to maintain the faith of the followers of the Prime Deities, but also to protect Predathos' prison. Thus, when Janina, Baryn Vestisho, and Arnold Drot of the Grim Verity stole those documents, Vasselheim sent judicators to chase those who possessed such dangerous information.

Bells Hells later learned from members of the Grim Verity about both Ethedok and Vordo. Many weeks later, when Imogen Temult was captured inside Predathos as the entity's reluctant vessel, she noticed strange specters in the darkness and discovered that some divine sparks of the devoured deities remained, empowering the God Eater even in such a state. After trying to make Vordo, the Golden Weaver react and failing, she ended their suffering by casting Shocking Grasp through their thread of fate, absorbing their last spark (giving her some energy) while the rest of their essence moved on, released to the Annals of the Forgotten and depriving Predathos of their power. Afterwards, Imogen immediately located Ethedok, and assuming they would be in the same condition, tried to do the same for them. However, she failed to find their tether within the darkness surrounding her. Her connection to Fearne Calloway, still in the battlefield, helped her get out of Predathos, leaving the remains of the Endless Shadow behind. The God Eater still channeled the necrotic power of Ethedok during the rest of the encounter, and when Bells Hells defeated Predathos, Imogen presumably absorbed Ethedok's weakened essence along with that of Predathos.

Character information

Abilities

Beyond the usual powers all deities manifest, the Endless Shadow had abilities connected to darkness and winter. While drained by Predathos, those abilities manifested in the following ways:

• Chasm of Eager Darkness: A wave of gelid darkness swallows enemies, dealing cold damage and causing blindness (which manifests as pure black eyes) if they fail their Constitution saving throws.
• Touch of Piercing Winter: Cold targets an enemy, dealing damage to them and potentially stunning them on a failed Constitution save.
• Shriek of Oblivion: A beam of dark energy hits the enemies in front of it, dealing necrotic damage.

Appearances and mentions

• Campaign Three: Bells Hells
  • "Axiom Shaken" (3x43), mentioned only
  • "Faith or Famine" (3x60), mentioned only
  • "The Cradle's Convocation" (3x104) (first appearance) (in a vision)
  • "Under the Arch Heart's Eye" (3x107), mentioned only (unnamed)
  • "Predathos Awakened" (3x119)
  • "A New Age Begins" (3x121), mentioned only (unnamed)

Trivia

• This article uses "they/them" pronouns for Ethedok until further confirmation of their gender expression.
• According to the documents, Ethedok was the first of the two gods Predathos consumed.
• As of the end of Campaign Three, with the exception of certain authority figures in Vasselheim, the only people who are known to know of Ethedok's existence are members of the Grim Verity and Bells Hells (except Dorian Storm) and their new allies (Deni$e and Prism).
• When Ethedok existed, the deities hadn't separated into Prime Deities and Betrayer Gods and still worked together. Chetney speculated that given their divine attributions, the Endless Shadow would likely have aligned as a Betrayer God, but Baryn Vestisho corrected him, saying that at the time the god existed, matters were not so binary.
• After the events of "Predathos Awakened" (3x119), Ethedok was the only deity left inside of Predathos giving it power.

  

  Fan art of the Raven Queen, the current goddess of winter, by Mikael.

• Ethedok's portfolio seems to have been taken by other gods after their demise: centuries after the Divergence, Zehir is the god of darkness and the Raven Queen is the goddess of winter. The Raven Queen took her own portfolio from her predecessor, but other gods kept her from claiming all the functions of said deity.
  • The realm of the current goddess of winter, Letherna, is a frozen place within the Shadowfell, a plane of gloom and darkness. Her immediate predecessor also had his domain in a "frozen enclave".

References

Art: