Areshkagal

The Faceless Sphinx
CE female demon lord of greed, magical and mundane portals, and riddles

Cult

Unholy Symbol: a faceless woman’s head decorated with a bloody pharaoh’s headdress
Domains: Chaos, Evil, Trickery, Earth
Favored Weapon: Khopesh
Temple: Megaliths, pyramids, stone archways, and stone sphinxes
Worshipers: Avaricious rulers, dragons, drow
Minions: Evil sphinxes, golems
Obedience: Inscribe several of the 23 riddles of the flesh (an interlocked series of conundrums, the answer to which no mortal has achieved) on your own flesh with a tiny bone knife carved from a child’s rib. Gain a +4 profane bonus on Will saving throws against sonic and language-dependent effects. You may cast hold portal 3/day, touch of idiocy 2/day, or shrink item 1/day as a caster of your character level.

Areshkagal appears as a faceless female sphinx with six legs, midnight blue fur, and pale flesh. Her wings are draconic and her tail is a hissing viper—it is from this viper’s mouth that she whispers her unfair riddles to those she captures. Rumors hold that her actual face is too hideous for even the Abyss to bear, but that for brief moments she can reveal its true appearance to drive viewers insane, strike them dead, or worse.

Areshkagal’s realm is a barren region of crimson, stony hills and gulches through which seep rivers of blood. Known as the Blood Clefts, this region abuts Aldinach’s Abyssal realm of the Sea of Whispering Sands, a realm that Areshkagal once called her own. The displaced demon lord often sends her armies into the desert to torment those of her half-sister Aldinach in hopes of someday regaining control over her realm, but to date her armies have been unable to match the power of Aldinach’s forces. It is said that Areshkagal’s treasury still lies hidden somewhere below the Sea of Whispering Sands, and that Aldinach has yet to locate this vast vault. What riches might lie within the lost treasury have long tempted adventurers and demons alike.