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Hi everyone,
I wanted to speak about Nhimbaloth. As she's technically not an enemy of the PCs, I will allow social interactions between the PCs and Nhimbaloth's servants (my PCs' alignments are diverse and some will not see negatively a discussion with a chaotic evil creature). As such, I can't just paint them as enemies, I need to get a bit further into their reasons to pay hommage to the Empty Death.
And I've found that Nhimbaloth has, in fact, 2 aspects that I find really distinct.
On one side, there is the inspiration coming from "the willows". It's very visible in Nhimbaloth's holy symbol, her domains of despair and swamps, her will-o'-wisps servants and the Whispering Reeds.
But, on the other side, there are many features of Nhimbaloth that are not in line with this aspect. The four-pointed star, her antropomorphic representation on page 60, the fact she's a she and not an it, her ghost domain, the predation on predators, the destruction of souls, the ancient battle against Pharasma, her alternate name of the Empty Death, etc... There is something more spiritual and metaphysical in this second aspect of the Empty Death.
So, I hesitate in painting Nhimbaloth as a more complex deity than she first appears, a misunderstood deity.
The Empty Death, the act of destroying a soul entirely, is in my opinion very interesting.
I can clearly imagine someone who doesn't want to be judged by Pharasma, who doesn't want his soul to serve any greater power or be melded with others to become an outsider. Actually, I don't find the cycle of souls to be desirable at all and I would understand for nihilistic people to choose Nhimbaloth as their deity so their soul will not be used after their death. People embracing the concept of death as the ultimate end.
Also, souls are paramount to deities. It's a big part of their power, it's kind of gods' main goal to try to get the maximum number of souls. A deity who destroys the souls of their worshippers is a deity who doesn't want to play the game of being a god. It once again gets back to nihilism.
I find extreme nihilism to be an interesting central concept for Nhimbaloth. First, it's very hard to understand and as such goes well for an outer god. Second, nihilism is unlawful and amoral, which is in line with her alignment. Third, some of her domains are also in line with this philosophy, especially despair. And because the body is host to many pleasant (and unpleasant) feelings, it's very logical for an extremely nihilistic being to destroy it.
Going this direction, I would review some of Nhimbaloth's history. The destruction of her body would not be caused by a battle, but would be of her own will, her Evolution as some of her followers think. And Pharasma would have tried and failed to prevent it. Voidbraken could have been the original domain of Nhimbaloth, that she destroyed as her first and most meaningful nihilistic act...
Well, I realize this message doesn't ask for an answer, it's just a process of thought. But maybe it can be interesting to some of you. I like when deities carry some metaphysical and spiritual concepts instead of being aspects of very concrete things.