Unguis

Unguis is the Sollus God of Monsters, though he is more commonly referred to as the God of Therianthropes. He is one of the most ancient of the Gods, and has a memory extending back further than most can dream of. Unguis is shown to be an antagonist throughout Sollus, though he has commited acts for the good of the realm. He takes the title of the Beastmaster.

When depicted, be it in art or literature, Unguis is often shown as a man with the head of a wolf who carries a massive battleaxe. In reality, Unguis takes the form of a great worg, a wolf-like creature with a sloped back and bulky build like a bear. He has been seen in other forms however, having taken the form of a wolf and High Elf respectively. Unguis is also seen to have a jaw in these forms, though it's later seen that once his veil falls he has no lower jaw, or tongue for that matter. For this reason it is speculated he communes with a form of telepathy, due to lacking the proper appendages to truly speak.

Unguis at one point was somehow imprisoned in his plane of Jagen by the then current Doyen, Fao. He was later released however, by Cruelon Wildhunt and Sanguis Bloodpride.

Role
Unguis, regardless of his standing with his fellow Gods or the mortals on Sollus, is almost always in a position lording over some other being.

Fellow Gods
Within his Pantheon, Unguis is shown to be a leader, upholding the Gods' laws and rules, though to a large extent it's known that he cares very little for these restrictions. Before his persuasion to a more Abyssal aspect, Unguis was tasked by the greater beings who made Sollus to hunt down and slaughter any God that had became corrupted, making the Beastmaster something of a guardian. As Unguis called monsters and other terrors his children, the God was also the one who kept these beings in check, so that they did not overwhelm both Sollus and the other Gods' planes. After his corruption Unguis seemingly looses his sense of order, gaining a more aggressive standing, even going so far as to attack the other Gods.

Unguis also had a union with Alitura, the Nature Goddess, having three children from their time together: Geyre, Evernis, and Nati, the children being birthed in that order. While Geyre and Nati took neutral standings upon the Gods, Evernis became the Goddess of Purity, a hunter of her father's creations, putting the two at odds. Unguis is shown to have a strained relationship with Skoll, though his worst standing is possibly with the newly appointed Death Goddess, Sylfaen, having imprisoned her in Jagen before she became a God seemingly just out of spite, though it would seem more reasonable that it was out of a rivalry with her father, Noth.

Mortals and Worship
Among the mortals, Unguis is one of the most worshipped of all Gods. In ancient times, he was what stood between them and what lurked in the night, sparing them from the horrors of Therianthropes, worgs, and other roving monsters. Great temples and shrines were erected in his honor, with many making pilgrimmages to these holy sites. However, as the worship of Gods with less forboding aspects became the focus of more mortals, Unguis soon became known as the source of this threat, causing many mortals to outlaw the worship of what they percieved to be the demonic Beastmaster. Because of this, Unguis developed a firm distaste for the mortals, going so far as to cause Therianthropes and other monsters to attack in mass upon a night where all three of Sollus's moons align. The event would later become known as Donkere Maal, and even without Unguis's direction, would happen whenever the moons aligned, regardless of other factors.

As for the mortals who remain in servitude to Unguis, a select few are frequently rewarded with the gift of Therianthropy, though only Unguis's most devout followers truly consider this a gift. Those given the infection directly through communing with Unguis are often considered more feral and powerful than those infected in other fashions, most likely because Unguis's way of affliction involves the direct bonding of a Primal with their soul. With his worship mostly outlawed, Unguis's followers consist mainly of those who hold their ceremonies and sacrifices to him in underground cults. The former temples dedicated to him have fallen into disrepair, though a few secluded shrines are kept in decent condition.

Plane: Jagen
Unguis's plane is that of Jagen, a land covered by endless, massive, thick forests. It is in a constant state of night fall, with a massive orb in the sky representing the moon being full constantly. Because of this, Jagen is deemed a Therianthrope's bane and pleasure, as it is known to have strange affects on mortal Therianthropes who remain there for too long, though this has only been demonstrated on weaker and newly made Therianthropes. Worgs and raw Primal spirits wander Jagen freely among worse monsters that Unguis has sealed away.

Goals
Unguis is shown to have an extreme lust for power, exaggerated even for a God. He's demonstrated his interest more than once in dominating the races of Sollus, seeking to achieve this through his mortal avatar, the Doyen, and imprisoning the Friorelian Union's High Crusader, Eisen Fang, in order to take on his persona. Because of his frequent usage of a Doyen, it could be said that another of Unguis's goals is to simply have the Doyen under his control, something which he has never been able to fully achieve.

Therianthropes and Primals
Unguis, like other Gods, can be killed. Because of this, he and many others underwent a ritual which would bind their souls to other beings or objects to make it difficult for them to be slain. In his ritual, Unguis seperated his soul from his very being and split it into thousands of pieces. From these shards arose the first Primals, each a fragment that became beast or monster. Unguis saw these as his perfect creation, this not to be confused with him seeing the Therianthropes as perfect - Unguis only values the Primal spirit within their body. He sent these Primals into Sollus, this multi-bodied soul finding hosts in the various races. These hosts became the first Therianthropes, the parts of Unguis's soul bonding with both their physical body to an extremity where they became one entity. In the defense of his soul, Unguis gifted these cursed individuals with the ability to shapeshift, though they also found themselves with the urges of Unguis himself. Because of this, they would transform into raving monsters under the full moon, or at any other time they were enraged. These original Therianthropes were viewed as completely and totally savage, insane and without humanity.

Unguis also used the Therianthropes as a punishment for mortals when his worship was outlawed, giving the Therianthropes a diasese in their saliva, blood, and flesh. Because of this, hundreds more were infected with Therianthropy.

Those infected in this way bared a Primal attached to their soul, but not a true Primal that would've been a fragment of Unguis's soul. These Primals were their own seperate being and had the possiblity to eventually be contained and controlled by their host. Because of the circumstances regarding the Therianthrope's creation, Unguis views them as his children, as they were born from his very soul. However, Unguis has shown little hesitation to slaughter as many Therianthropes as he needs to in order to achieve his goals.

Worgs
When a Therianthrope was slain, regardless of its Primal nature, Unguis gave every Therianthrope's Primal the chance to return to life as their own seperate being upon death. In this form, the Worg was born. Though rare in existence, Worgs were created through another punishment Unguis created for mortals, though this being for a specific Elf. The direct cause for the creation of worgs is later revealed that Unguis discovered how Edor Worghowl's destiny would contribute his downfall. Unguis transformed the Griev into a Lycanthrope trying to avoid this fate, only for Edor to later fall in battle. Unguis, seeking to torture the fallen elf, transformed him into a worg, though this inevitably was the action that would lead to the said downfall. It's likely worgs gained their name because of Edor Worghowl. It's also to be noted that while the first worg arose with a Lycanthropic form, worgs can have a Primal form of any Therianthrope, not just Lycanthropes.

Jaw of Unguis
Though he spent most of his soul in the ritual to create Therianthropes, Unguis furthered the ceremony by a sacrifice of his own flesh. Ripping off his own jaw, Unguis placed a portion of his life into the bone, sealing it away within his plane of Jagen. As long as the jawbone remain intact, Unguis would always have a physical tie to Sollus in which he could reform his body.

The Doyen
Shortly after the sacrifice of his jaw, Unguis was seen as a threat by the mortals who could easily see his growing power. After Unguis's varied punishments by his creations, Unguis became set on the darker goal of complete control over Sollus's mortals. However, while his power was growing, Unguis was fatigued by the rituals he had preformed. As he was recovering, Unguis chose a single Lycanthrope to bare his jaw, invoking advanced powers in the mortal, an elf named Fao. For a time Unguis was able to rule through Fao, forcing various mortal races into submission under the Doyen's power. Fao, however grew distrustful of Unguis, and started a rebellion against him, even allying with mortal races. Eventually, through means lost to time, Unguis was locked in his plane of Jagen. What happened to Fao is unknown, though the Jaw of Unguis found its way into the hands of numerous owners, making several Doyens throughout history.

Doyen's Rise/Friorelian Civil War
In the Friorelian Civil War, Unguis manipulated the events by possessing Sanguis Bloodpride, one of the Skilner people who had freed him from his plane. Unguis also took Eisen and Nyra Fang into Jagen, imprisoning them there and corrupting the Skilner. Taking Eisen's form, Unguis manipulated Cruelon Wildhunt in a chase to find his jaw bone within Kyraniath in order to make Cruelon the Doyen.

Fall of Unguis
Because of his actions in the Civil War, Unguis is considered a threat by the Friorelian Union, causing both Cruelon and Laminas to start an assaut upon Jagen itself in hopes of rescuing Eisen and Nyra. Unguis sends an assassin to The Temple, the perpetrator being successful, with Cruelon ritually murdered and sacrificed as a message to what appears to be Soter Wildblood and Laminas specifically. Through this, Unguis retakes his jaw, deciding to reconnect the stored power to his body. He later meets his fall under the combined forces of Soter Wildblood and the released Eisen Fang, with his jaw being ripped off once more. Though dead in a physical sense, it can be seen that Sylfaen, the Death Goddess, has taken the jaw. It's current location is unknown.