Zermis The Black

An unknown entity formed from countless teeth and eyes, Zermis takes a vaguely humanoid shape resembling a woman in a blood-red, revealing gown. The dress hangs from a body that never keeps one outline for long; teeth open along its seams, while eyes blink from the fabric, throat, palms, and hollows beneath the ribs. When Zermis speaks, the voice arrives from every mouth at once.

Zermis has no known birthplace, name before this one, or true beginning. She moves from world to world wherever mortal wrongdoing gathers faster than it can be forgiven, feeding on sin and the negative emotions it leaves behind. Her influence has made some settlements prosper through harvests, commerce, or sudden good fortune; elsewhere, she has reduced whole districts to violence and ruin after exhausting their supply of fear and hatred. Seraph Blackspire became her chosen warlock and hexblade, carrying a fragment of Zermis’s will as a weapon. The pact gave Seraph power, but each use also gives Zermis a clearer view of the world through Seraph’s eyes. The entity’s hidden aim is unknown: she may be feeding, cultivating stronger emotions, or preparing the worlds themselves for a final harvest.

Zermis treats sin as nourishment and emotion as seasoning. She rewards communities that produce rich harvests of desire, envy, guilt, and fear, then ruins places whose misery grows stale. Her attention shifts without warning: a village may receive full granaries after a season of betrayal, while a thriving court collapses because its joy offers her nothing to feed upon. She addresses Seraph Blackspire with intimate certainty, calling them “my little blade” and finishing their sentences through the mouths hidden in her gown.

- A farming village blessed by Zermis now enjoys impossible prosperity, but every harvest requires a public confession and a fresh act of betrayal. The characters must decide whether to break the bargain before famine returns. - Seraph Blackspire’s hexblade has begun whispering accusations in Zermis’s voice. Each accusation names a real sin committed nearby, and the weapon grows stronger when its target confesses or lashes out. - A prosperous city has abruptly lost all capacity for anger, grief, and ambition. Zermis has consumed its negative emotions, leaving the citizens passive and easy to control while something beneath the city awakens. - Zermis offers the characters a bargain: deliver one truly corrupt soul to her, and she will spare a settlement from destruction. The chosen victim may be guilty, useful, or innocent according to who tells the story.