Zura

The Vampire Queen
CE female demon lord of blood, cannibalism, and vampires

Cult

Unholy Symbol: crimson fanged skull rune
Domains: Chaos, Evil, Death, Darkness
Favored Weapon: None
Temple: Graveyards, isolated islands, noble mansions, remote castles, underground cathedrals
Worshipers: Cannibals, drow, vampires
Minions: Bats, gibbering mouthers, leeches, rats, stirges, wolves, undead, various other blood-drinking monsters
Obedience: Drink some of the blood of a willing creature, and allow the same creature to drink some of your own blood, after which you must meditate on the teachings of Zura. Alternatively, you can feed on the flesh of a creature of your own race until you are full. Gain a +4 profane bonus on all saving throws against the supernatural abilities of undead creatures. You may also cast deathwatch 3/day, spider climb 2/day, or vampiric touch 1/day as a cleric of your current character level.

Zura rose from the corpse of a Tarsian noblewoman who succumbed to a lust for eternal life and the flesh of her own kind. Scholars point to Zura’s acts as the start of Tarsas’ fall into decadence. Even today, centuries later, tales of her hideous banquets and baths of blood persist as legends. While many tried to assassinate her, it was her own exuberance for blood that saw her soul spiraling into the Abyss after an accidental suicide tryst with several consorts. Yet such was the weight of her sin that when her soul arrived, she rose immediately as a powerful creature—a succubus vampire who swiftly went on to gain incredible power.

Zura often assumes the form of a voluptuous maiden, but in her true form she is an emaciated woman with bat-like wings instead of arms, blood-red eyes and hair, immense fangs, and taloned feet. Her worshipers are vampires, and her cults are strong in places where their kind are common, such as Yulania, Kuskar, and the underground cities of the drow. Ancient Tarsian ruins dedicated to her worship have been found in several remote locations, and in some cases, powerful vampires still tend these forgotten shrines.

Zura’s realm on the Abyss is a mountainous realm called Nesh. These mountains skirt a long, narrow world that features snowy peaks and glacier valleys at one end and jungle-covered slopes and swampy lowlands at the other. Between these two extremes lie more temperate regions of woodland and moor. Nesh lies in constant darkness, and the sky above is an unusually close approximation of Zaldara’s night sky. Similar to Jezelda’s Moonbog, the land of Nesh has a large number of captured humanoids harvested from countless Material Plane worlds. These poor souls are, for the most part, unaware that they dwell deep in the Abyss—yet the cruel and sadistic leaders of their small towns know, and in return for keeping the conspiracy of the truth hidden, they are well rewarded by Zura’s minions. Priests of Zura who please the Vampire Queen are sometimes allowed to hunt and cavort in this realm as a reward.