Sabazios (3.5e Deity)

Summary::Dragonslayer Sabazios is the god of honor, courage, battle, and strength. Born of contempt, he opposes Apollyon, Lord of the Infernal Host.  His scion is the 6 Starlight Braves, heroes of lore.

Origin
As Hiranyagarbha, father of the gods, returned to the world he found it dominated by the beings known as dragons. In their conquest of the world they were not afraid to use trickery and deceit to destroy opponents stronger than them, such as the ancient titans. To oppose them he created Dragonslayer Sabazios, who fought and defeated the ancient true dragons in battle, and Apollyon the Lord of the Infernal Host, whose mighty armies destroyed the dragon loyalists and broke down their terrible cities. These two creatures born of contempt of the conniving draconic menace, they are war gods who brought change and honor to a dishonorable world.

The tale of Sabazios starts with a mortal of great strength and resilience, who took up arms against the dragons before the great war of dragon vs god, and successfully slew one by the name of Pythos. So impressed by his deeds, the gods took him up and exalted them into their ranks, where he continued his campaign against the dragons until he finally defeated the Devastation Dragons and sundered their leader's soul and body in twain. With the threat of the dragons gone, he taught the world not only how to defend themselves physically, but how to maintain honor and courage in the face of messy and dark bloodshed.

Regardless of the method of creation, he would later lose his allies to the darkness. He regrets his fellow gods have turned dark, but intends to face them in battle properly one day and let the victor decide the fate of the world. He trains often in preparation for a second war, especially against his former counterpart Apollyon.

Description
Sabazios' true form is obscured, but through visions he has always appeared as a handsome humanoid in glittering golden armor, with his legendary lance Ascalon and often riding his white horse Grani. Some depict him as a giant rather than human-sized. Out of the gods, he seems to be one of the most pleasant in both appearances and behavior, and has been described as "admirable". Its said the war god looks over his warriors who fight well against the forces of evil.

At Tawwab is typically associated with his favored creature, the horse. He rode the legendary white horse Grani into battle, and horses continue to serve dutifully in armies to this day.

Dogma
The just war is a difficult, but not impossible, goal for students of Sabazios. Largely composed of paladins and clerics of battle, Sabazios teaches the art of protecting oneself by defeating evil, even taking the battle to their dark homes and ensuring no harm comes to the righteous. He is also a god of honor, for in order to maintain the power to fight one must be trusted not to abuse the power. To lose one's honor is a sad sad event indeed.

As a dragonslayer he is an enemy to dragons everywhere. While beings of the dragon type which are non-violent or non-harmful are left alone, evil dragon type creatures (and their kobold cultists) are often fought against, closely followed by various demons, undead, and monsters. He is a favorite of adventurers, as their exploits often cover the same thing as he. Perhaps it explains the curious nature of his scions; rather than one scion he has 6, not as living beings but as 6 magic weapons. He grants these weapons unto mortals, transforming them into his 6 Starlight Braves, great heroes who maintain peace in the multiverse and inspire others everywhere. His scion weapons are the greatsword Caladbolg, the warhammer Ukonvasara, the rapier Fragarach, the greataxe Parashu, the longbow Gandiva, and the heavy flail Sharur.

Sabazios lives in Golden Lasia, a great city which is said to be where he stuck down the leader of the dragons Nachash Bare'ach. After doing so, he uplifted the city into heaven and buried the dragon under 10 thousand rocks. It may be related to the ruins of Old Silene on top of the Lodestone Mountains, which is said to have been a part of the former mortal city Lasia.

Clergy and Temples
The temples of Sabazios are done in a style indicative of how Golden Lasia supposedly looks, with heavy use of gold, silver, ivory, and bronze, and plenty of windows for light, vast arches, and giant construction. They usually keep stables full of horses, and vast dining halls where warriors tell their tales and exploits. While many can come in to worship, only brave heroes who have proven themselves, or members of particular paladin or cleric orders, may enter the feasting halls.

His clergy are difficult to tell from adventurers and warriors, for they come both armored and bare, and almost always armed. Strength is a virtue, for it gives the power to protect and smite evil. There is no official dress code, only the utility of fighting in battle.

Pantheon
Sabazios is a god of the Logos Benius pantheon, on planet Maya.