The Mother of Monsters and the twisted shadow of the Green Pact. While Muriel represents the nurturing aspect of nature and Gorum its violence, Lamashtu represents its corruption. She is the Demon Queen of the Underscape, worshipped in the dark corners of Trent by those who see beauty in deformity and power in the monstrous.

The First Corruption

Lamashtu is not a true god in the same vein as the Aesira; she is a Demon Lord who clawed her way to something approaching divinity. Legends among the goblin tribes and the "Hybrid Faunt" of the of Trent's frozen wastes claim that she was the first entity to look upon the animals of the world and desire to twist them. A thousand stories abound about all manner of creatures—from the winter wolves to the trolls of the frozen wastes—citing the Mother of Monsters as their progenitor.

Her worship is largely forbidden in civilized lands, existing only as secret cults in the isolated villages of the Broken Lands. These cults seek out deformity in themselves and others, believing that a twisted body is a sign of her favor. Scarring rituals and self-mutilation are common, and some human followers use illegal magics to become more beastlike, hoping to survive the harsh winters by shedding their humanity.

The Cult of the Jackal

Lamashtu’s crude depictions usually paint her as a jackal-headed woman with long feathered wings and taloned feet. Ritual garb mimics this form, including a jackal mask made of leather or precious metal, a cloak of black feathers, and a pair of curved knives decorated to resemble the Demon Queen’s own claws.

Places of worship are primal and hidden—often just a flat rock deep in the woods or a ring of stones stained with old blood. Some shrines are built near deep chasms or volcanic vents in The Sound, which the faithful believe are entrances to her underworld realm. There is no written holy text; instead, her doctrine is passed down orally or through the ravings of the Skull of Mashag, a magical artifact said to recite the goddess’s dark wishes to those brave (or mad) enough to listen.

Signs of the Mother

Lamashtu is a terrifyingly active patron. Her "favor" appears as violent dreams, sudden deformities that grant natural weapons, or unexplained pregnancies resulting in the birth of "blessed" (monstrous) children. These births are often fatal to the mother, a sacrifice the cults view as necessary. She shows her disfavor through painful, non-magical welts that refuse to heal, or nightmares so vivid they leave the dreamer exhausted and weak for days.

While she maintains wars with other entities of the Underscape, her true interest lies in the corruption of the Prime Plane. She seeks to undo the work of the Prismatic Ray not by destroying the world, but by repopulating it with her own twisted children.