Armat the Shadowed Hoof

AoC: Thieves, Strife and UndeadAL: CEWAL: Any evilSymbol: Decayed HoofHome P/L/R: Abyss/Plains of Gallenshu/BrokenHoofKnown Proxies: Thalisa, the Severing (Px/female armanite/CE)

It is told by some bariaur legends, although the armanite do not recognize them, that these tanar'ri are descendants of the goat folk, a darker counterpart to the bariaur powers of goodness. Such is the role of Armat of the Shadowed Hoof. He is commonly associated with Loki, but the Norse power sees him as nothing more than a backwater power.

In the times of Shek Threehoof, when the bariaur searched for a place away from the giants, a buck was born without horns. Some said that was an evil omen, others that the child should be killed, but an old shaman decided to look after him. He grew in humiliation, despised by does and bucks alike, but learning greatly in the ways of magic. He drowned his hatred in knowledge and the soothing of the shaman. He came to be the only buck to ever learn magic in that time.

It wouldn't be until the rites came that his true nature blossomed, there was a young doe, the most beautiful of the flock, that was sympathetic to Armat. He wanted to approach her, but there was a stronger, more appealing rival in the way, a buck named Ramabah. He was the most active of those who scorned Armat and his heart burned with desire for vengeance.

The unfolding of events could not be any different, said the mystics. He stole Ramabah's k'ton and hid with magic. The other buck would not find it and wouldn't ridicule himself being seen without it. However, Armat was discovered and exiled by the very shaman that raised him. He roamed the Outlands for some years more, learning about the planes, until he had his chance for vengeance. He discovered that Ramabah, who he did not dare fight, was going to marry Thalisa, the doe he betrayed the flock's trust for. The tanar'ri approached him, in the form of a mighty balor, to offer him power and Thalisa, if he was would get them the bariaur race to join them against the baatezu.

The tanar'ri impersonated the buck and ruined his marriage causing him to undertake the ritual of atonement. Armat came to other flocks, all staring at his hornless head and strange powers. He offered protection from the giants, an ally against their eternal enemies. Most accepted his bargain, unknowingly selling themselves into eternal slavery.

When all seemed lost, Ramabah, that some legends associate with Shek's lineage, discovered the magic-concealed faces of the bargainers. Their hideous faces were revealed when he brandished his k'ton in front of all. The bariaur flocks came to realize what was in reserve for them and fought the demon, but not all of them turned, some remained with Armat.

The battle was epic and the bariaur seemed to be getting the better of traitors and the terrible, if smaller in number, tanar'ri. When Armat came up with another idea, he called back all that died for his cause and ordered them to fight again. They rose undead-like, the ones that would be called armanite, and turned the fight against the bariaur again.

Ramabah died in this battle, but it was not him who ended the conflict. When it was assured that Armat would win, Thalisa raised her voice among the war cries and begged him to stop. Armat contained his forces and asked her why should it be so. And she answered that she'd go with him to wherever he wanted if he spared the flocks.

Thus, Armat went back to the Abyss with his armanite and took the Plains of Gallenshu for his new servants. Thalisa was his consort and future proxy, when the armanite came to be the rulers of the layer. She became mad and weary, but Armat reincarnates her each time she dies, over and over again. For long he was master of the armanite herds, but he grew tired of it and isolated himself, to live in myths and legends.

Now, few armanite remember him, preferring the clan leaders, but enough do and he is spreading his influence to all bariaur that are scorned or are in need of the "easy way out", hiding in the plains and building his power. He is the darker side of all bariaur, things they despise but know exist. He broods on their fear. There is one word he wants to bring the bariaur now - that word is slavery.

His proxy, Thalisa expects nothing but eternal death. She has been twisted into an armanite and been driven mad by pain. Now she severs one hoof of all her victims in a cruel mockery to Shek.