The Lost Gods: Bak

FIRST COMPLETED DRAWING IN OVER TWO YEARS!!!

So, human research has revealed artifacts representing about 144 Egyptian Dieties(Fun Fact: That’s the Olympians Squared). But what if we haven’t uncovered them all? What if some gods were left without tribute, or all evidence of them destroyed? That’s where this fan series comes in. I will be drawing my own series of OC Egyptian Gods, all of whom were “lost” in the thousands of years since the fall of the Egyptian Empire. The only characters that I own are the “Lost Gods” themselves, unless otherwise stated. All other characters and ideas should be assumed to be the property of Egyptian Mythology. Without further ado, let’s begin.

Backstory:
Bak wasn’t always a god. In fact, he began his life as a demon in the servitude of Apophis, the deification of darkness and chaos. Bak was the subject of constant ridicule from other demons at first, as in their eyes he was nothing more than a man-sized bat whose eyes produced perpetual tears at all moments. He possessed neither the fighting capabilities nor ferocity that was so common in demons, and was thus an easy target for other demons to take their frustrations out on. Ostracized by his own kind, Bak would often venture alone into the night, flying as far away from Apophis’ lair as he possibly could in the hopes that he may feel some semblance of freedom from his horrible life. However, like all demons, he was bound eternally to his master, making freedom nothing more than a hopeless dream.

During one of his nightly journeys, Bak was ambushed by a group of master magicians, who knocked him from the sky with a fiery blast. As the magicians formed a circle around Bak and began chanting, the bat demon could feel his form fading into nothingness. Too weak to fight back, Bak released a primal shriek in the hopes of either attracting his brethren to come to his aid or scaring the magicians off. The magicians stood their ground, but their chanting stopped. Their attention turned from Bak to all around them. Bak followed their gazes and found that they were completely surrounded by an army of demons. As the demons slowly closed in on them, the magicians released a flurry of spells and curses. It was no use, however, as the magicians’ spells merely passed through the forms of the demons, doing nothing to hinder their progression. Terrified, the magicians opened a portal and fled into it. When the demons reached Bak, he was so grateful to be rescued that he flapped forward to embrace the nearest one, only to fall through its form. Surprised by such an occurrence, focused his eyes on the demon, scanning it up and down, left and right. When he reached out to touch the demon, his claw passed right through it, feeling nothing but air. The demon merely stood in place with a vacant expression, making no indication of noticing Bak’s presence. Bak looked around at the other demons and found them standing in a similar manner. Bak suddenly realized that the army of demons was nothing more than an illusion. When he questioned the illusions as to their source, his own image manifested in front of him, wearing the same vacant expression as the army of demons. Bak took some time to consider this occurrence and developed a theory, which he tested by commanding the illusions to leave. In an instant, Bak found himself completely alone in the desert. There was now no doubt in Bak’s mind; the creator of these illusions had been he, himself.

Instead of finding demons upon returning to Apophis’ lair the next morning, Bak saw small group of magicians muttering prayers and bowing before Apophis, whose coils constantly shifted around them. Bak recognized these magicians as Apophis’ high priests. Their presence explained why the other demons had chosen to make themselves scarce. The high priests of Apophis were the only thing that the demons feared, sans Apophis himself. Magicians had always been a threat to demons. The fact that these magicians were depraved enough to betray both their own kind and the gods made them that much more malicious, and thus more formidable.

Apophis immediately noticed Bak and beckoned him to come closer. Bak cautiously complied, for his fear of the high priests was nothing compared to his fear of the penalty for disobeying his master. Apophis informed Bak that he had seen what the bat demon had done on that night, and finally had a use for him. The Dark Snake ordered Bak to accompany the high priests on a journey to recruit more humans to their cause, and that should any mortal refuse to pledge their allegiance to darkness, Bak would be responsible for bringing them to his lair unharmed. Bak had no idea how he could possibly do so, but did not dare to question Apophis.

Bak followed the high priests in the shadows as they approached various humans with the intent of recruiting them. Each time, the mortals violently refused, cursing the name of Apophis for all the evils he had done and proclaiming their unbreakable loyalty to mankind and Ra. After visiting many humans and making their offer, the high priests left Bak to fulfill his role. Bak felt trapped by his hopeless task, until he recalled the sincerity with which each magician declared their loyalty to Ra. Having encountered Ra many times while accompanying Apophis as he and his demons attempted to vanquish the sun god, Bak was able to clearly envision everything about him;his appearance, his voice, his movements, etc. Bak simply spoke Ra’s name and an illusion of the falcon-headed god appeared before him. He sent the illusion to every magician he and the high priests had visited to collect them and lead them to Apophis. The mortals’ faith became their undoing, as they blindly followed the imposter-Ra into Apophis’ coils. By coming to Apophis of their own free will, the mortals had given themselves to the Dark Lord, who tainted their minds and turned them into loyal slaves of darkness. After that night, Bak would regularly go out to collect even more humans, thus earning the approval of Apophis and the other demons. However, even with his new found respect, Bak felt no less trapped than before and his eyes still produced perpetual tears. If anything, his new position filled him with even more pain.
Bak’s tears stemmed from his hatred of his very existence. Demons may have been powerful, but they were destined to live a life of servitude, mere pawns to be used in any way that their master saw fit. In Bak’s case, his master was the deification of all things evil and malicious. There was no hope for Bak to serve a greater purpose, no chance for him to create rather than destroy. Sending the innocent to their doom was his lot in life, and no matter how much he hated it, he was bound as a demon to complete the task that his master had given him and could not know the sweet embrace of death unless Apophis allowed him to. He was doomed to carry out his master’s commands for the rest of eternity.

Then one night, while leading a group of humans back to Apophis lair while the Dark Lord engaged in one of his nightly battles with Ra, Bak saw something that would change his life forever; Set, the god of chaos and then-champion of Ra striking a blow against Apophis. Bewildered that a deity of chaos would come to Ra’s defense, Bak let go of his control over the humans, giving them the chance to escape while he watched the battle in awe. Set was by no means a beloved god. Bak had heard his name spoken with disgust many times before, whether it be from gods or humans. He had heard stories of how the spiteful, jealous set murdered his own brother to assume the Throne of the Gods. However, by watching Set battle Apophis, Bak realized that others conceptions of Set meant nothing to the god of chaos. No matter how the gods and humans insulted him, he defended them from destruction. Set’s position did not rule him; Set ruled his position. For the first time in his life, Bak’s tears ceased and everything seemed clear to him.

With Apophis distracted by his battle Ra and Set, Bak raced back to Apophis’ lair and stood before the closed chamber in which the Dark Lord kept his slaves. Desperately, Bak dug at the wall until his talons had become detached and a large enough hole was created. The slaves stared up at Bak with an expression that relayed both fear and hopelessness. Bak saw himself in them, recognizing a desire to be free. The bat demon focused his mind and cried out for complete freedom. Suddenly, the slaves’ expressions changed to shock and awe, as if their minds had been cleansed of Apophis’ curse. Bak once again created an illusion of Ra. Only this time, he used it to lead every last slave out of Apophis’ lair and into a new freedom. Knowing that his work was not yet done, Bak flew off to do his part in combating Apophis.

Bak returned to the scene of the battle just in time to see Apophis land a blow against Set, knocking him from the sky. With Set out of the way, Apophis turned his attention to Ra’s Sun Boat and prepared to swallow the falcon-headed god whole. Ra braced himself, but it was clear from his expression that he was too tired to continue this battle much longer. Remembering all of the horrible acts that the Dark Lord had forced him to commit, Bak cried out for Apophis’ destruction, continuously chanting the name of Ra. In moments, the sky was filled with illusionary Sun Boats identical to Ra’s, each with an imposter-Ra sitting on a throne of fire. Confused and enraged, Apophis began lashing out in all directions, only for his fangs to sink right through the illusions. The Dark Snake’s disorientation gave Set an opportunity to recover from his fall, produce a large blade from the clouds, and decapitate Apophis. The Dark Lord cried out in pain as his head fell to the ground below and faded into darkness, his coils following suit.

Apophis never stayed dead for more than a few hours, but in those few hours his demons were left without a master, allowing them a bit of freedom. Knowing that Apophis would figure out who had caused the illusion and exact revenge upon them, Bak knew that it was only a matter of time before he was condemned to an eternity of even worse agony than he’d ever suffered. Bak used what little time he had left to fly up to the sun boat, throw himself before Ra, and beg forgiveness for all the evils he had done over the course of his life. Bak told Ra of everything he’d experienced throughout his whole life, from his conception to tricking Apophis. His words manifested into illusions, clear imagery showing the sun god just how horrible every moment of Bak’s life had been. Set scoffed that Bak’s remorse was false and offered to destroy the bat demon, but Ra, seeing the genuine sincerity in the demon, ordered against it. Instead, Ra touched his crook to Bak’s forehead, encasing the bat demon in a golden aura. When the aura faded, Bak found that the bloody stumps that had once been his claws were now large golden talons, both wrapped around crooks of their own. A golden crown with attached to a shepherd’s veil now adorned his head, his haggard beard was now neatly wrapped, and his eyes produced a glowing turquoise aura. Ra declared that Bak’s bravery in taking action against Apophis had earned him godhood, and that Bak would now be the patron of the lost, watching over those in darkness and bringing the back into the light. In losing his demonhood, Bak no longer owed Apophis any servitude. As a god, he would have the power to truly repent for everything he had done, and create as he had always wanted to. Bak’s eyes produced tears for the final time, only this time their source was complete and utter jubilation.

(*pants* Yeah, probably the only one that’s gonna have such a long backstory, but I found it necessary for Bak, as he gained his godhood rather than being born into it. Now for his profile).


Name: Bak
God of: Sound, Silence, Illusions, Clarity, Guidance
Symbols: Bats, The Crook
Notable features: Golden talons that are wrapped around crooks, a crown with a shepherd’s veil attached to it, red marks under his eyes from the centuries he spent crying…and he’s a giant bat.
Notable abilities: He can create illusions with his voice. In his godhood, he is able to both produce and disable any sound.
Personality: Sympathetic and sentimental, he will guide all who are trapped in darkness towards the light no matter what their species or affiliation. He often appear guilt-ridden, but nonetheless strives to not only redeem himself, but to live up to his position as a god.

I’ll probably add more to the profile of each god as the series progresses, and maybe decide on additional symbols, so there’ll be more about him later.