Family: Divine/Mermaid
Habitat: Deepest Ocean/Another Realm
Disposition: Ferocious, Bold
Diet: Fish? Food of the Gods?
Dagon exists in the Dea Monstrum as the god of the oceans, naval combat, and of fertility for those who would sire children in a male sense rather than conception like a female would. Unlike most of the Dea Monstrum who rule their domains on their own, Dagon shares it with her sister/consort, Hydra. One of the rare instances of a Dea Monstrum in a confirmed relationship, many of Dagon’s followers as well as their Mamono children the Deep Ones, refer to Dagon in their faith as Father Dagon.
Dagon is often depicted as a larger Mermaid-type figure, sharing the shape of a Mershark with a sleek dark body with a white underside. Large fins extend from her hips to help her move in the waters, making her appear more shark-like, although some would say she appears more whale-like due to her size. Her chest is a milky white with (relatively) average-sized breasts rather than the lare sizes most Dea Monstrum connected to fertility sport. Her arms are darkly-coloured like her back, sprting sleek fins on her forearms and one on her back. Like all merfolk, she sports gills on her sides, looking more like body art than functional gills. On her wrists she wears bracelets which seemed to be made of whale bones and a necklace made from the jaws of a shark, a massive one often called a Megalodon. Her hair is a deep blue like the bottom of the ocean and spikes wildly in a tomboyish cut with her bangs framing her face, tied with the rope of sunken ships or seaweed material. Like the Mersharks she calls her followers, she has many sharp teeth and glowing yellow eyes which can be seen in the deep murky depths of the ocean.
The Dagon Faith is considered a higher standing in social levels among oceanic-based Mamono. Being part of it is considered to be connected to the movers and shakers of the ocean. The faith often acts like am extended family. Because of this social standing idea, the Dagon Faith is officially referred to as Esoteric Order of Dagon, a name which has brought much scorn from The Order. Although the Order considers themselves a high-class group, many of their priests invited to many parties hosted by the likes of Vampires and their ilk, the Order of Dagon is firmly in community service and ensuring the prosperity and growth of all of the communities in which they are stationed. Often, they enter agreements with the communities they are placed in to help with fishing industries or treasure hunting, supplying food and valuable income to many port communities.
The Order of Dagon is primarily run by Mersharks who view Dagon as their patron god. Dagon is considered in their words ‘the ultimate badass’ since it is through her that naval warfare exists at all. It suits the Mersharks mentality since they enjoy the aggressive thinking Dagon has in regards to navies and water combat. Still, the Mersharks do pay due respect to Dagon’s partner Hydra, although the Hydra Faith is primarily seen to by the Mermaids. Although Mersharks are aggressive and enjoy the more war0like aspect of their god, they also take pride in being considered providers by following Dagon and seeing to the communities they call home.
Although the Order of Dagon is a faith often seen in underwater communities, it has begun seeing members join from port communities. The first being the fishing town of Innsmouth. This portion of the faith was founded by a fishing ship captain named Obed Marsh. His memoir explains how he and his crew were fishing further and further out due to the declining fish population near Innsmouth when they came across an island where they first thought Mermaids were sunbathing. In truth, they were Deep Ones, the children of Dagon and Hydra. They met and seduced the crew, Obed himself taking a Deep One as his bride before many of the crew converted to the Dagon Faith. With his new connections to the Order of Dagon, Obed revived Innsmouth with the Deep Ones and in return, founded a new branch of the Order of Dagon in the town. From there, the Order of Dagon’s faith spread onto land from the ocean.
As part of the faith, Dagon promotes free love and promiscuity, encouraging her followers to seek out multiple spouses and partners. Wedlock does not exist in the Dagon Faith and any child born from unwed parents are considered the community’s children where everyone helps raise that child. However, due to the teachings of love and unions, the only children raised by the community are often orphans, rather than unwanted children. Despite embracing promiscuity, Dagon also promotes responsibility and any parent who refuses the responsibility of being a parent is often shunned and even exiled from their villages with the child being raised by a more deserving couple, or if at least one parent wishes to keep the child, they have the full community supporting them.
Dagon isn’t often as being said to be seen in the mortal world. However, tales of some sailors trapped in maelstroms said they had seen a giant Mershark rise above the water and claim the men struggling in the waves. Some of those men return, telling tales of being taken to an underwater paradise of glowing coral and fish, tended to by Mersharks, Mermaids, Deep Ones, or even taken as one of Dagon’s lovers. The tales even further claim that Dagon has the power to instantly transform any man who receives her love into a water-based Incubus, although they seem to have more shark-like qualities than the ones transformed by Poseidon. The Order has tried to suppress the latter portions of the tales, trying to make Dagon appear monstrous and a man-eater, but the Dagon Faith has been just as diligent in spreading word of the full sequence of events.
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