Called the Child of Death or Plaguebringer, Helke’zhar is a beast of mutated form, their image grotesquely warping and shifting as they walk. Boils of pus and red dripping arteries leak from their back, and killing the earth beneath them no matter where they go as they spread their disease. As new growths appear on their back, a horrifying, pained shriek can be heard throughout the holy realm.

This existence is not what was destined for Helke’zhar, rather it was a sinister ploy that caused their pained survival. To create beings in his image, the demon god Azrael needed power. And to gain this power, he employed Nasre, the goddess of Decay, the curse of the newly wed gods Maero and Maelara, so that their firstborn child would be born as a force of destruction. Helke was intended to be the god of pollination, creating a world fertile for life- both fauna and flora alike. But instead, he was born with bones protruding out of their back, lesions over their body, and skin burning from just touch. No god could heal this curse. And so while Helke was left to die, they instead began to become the god they were cursed to be: the god of disease.

Helke’zhar is not a god to be worshipped, but rather to be feared. There are nearly no worshippers of Helke’zhar throughout all of Deos, and no churches for them. Those who pray to Helke’zhar pray for safety from disease. These people may have it run in their blood, or it may be temporarily ravaging their community. A good prayer to this god is often done through dripping honey, syrup, or molasses from a honey-dipper while making a prayer to Helke, rather than Helke’zhar. Helke’s symbol is a honey-dipper, Helke’zhar’s is a wilted, dead flower.