Shrine Skelm

The unquestioned authority that a priest wields, with influence over even the most intimate details of a congregation's lives, is the ultimate prize for a shrine skelm. Most shrine skelms insinuate themselves into positions of judgment in powerful religious groups to gain that power for their own use and abuse. Shrine skelms wear the old-fashioned, traditional apparel of whatever faith they've infiltrated, brandishing religious symbols made of precious metals to better blend in and give an impression of age and power.

No matter what religion they infiltrate, a shrine skelm is a master at taking established teachings out of context to justify elaborate, painful, and often humiliating punishments for his victims. He usually targets people with the audacity to question his position or teachings, but also relentlessly harasses anyone he envies.

Shrine skelms are skilled listeners, especially in settings like group prayers where they can learn worshippers' fears or hopes. They exploit whatever information they learn for their own prestige and power, but they also watch for jealousy and the seeds of rage that could be nurtured to make a new skelm. They can even intercept sincere prayers and steal their effects for themselves, and they command several spells to manipulate and control their unwitting, vulnerable victims.

Rage-filled skelms are drawn to any settlement with more than a few hundred souls. Using magical disguises and leveraging societal norms to their benefit, these antlered monsters crave fearful respect and brutally punish any who dare disagree with their lofty opinions, even in the slightest degree. Although quite dangerous on their own, skelms are at their deadliest when leading an angry mob. Their cruel and exploitative nature has made their name synonymous with villainy.

An existing skelm can transform any evil humanoid who's overwhelmed with rage into one of their kind. Skelms heap enraging humiliation on potential new brothers as a form of indoctrination, convincing these recruits that some other person or group is responsible for their misery. This practice ensures skelms begin their new existence with sufficient vitriol to plot their revenge.

Many newly forged skelms carry on their lives in the roles they held as mortals; and in fact, these roles often shape the type of skelm they become. Skelms can arise among members of nearly any ancestry, though they're more common among cultures with deeply entrenched gender roles, unjust hierarchies, and those that don't offer healthy ways to experience and process anger.