God of Reincarnation, Balance, and Swamps. Patron of Lizardfolk and Hydras. Herald.
yahm-DAHM-duh, Rhymes with “Bomb Samba.”
Yamdamda, the Undying, is the patron God of the Hyd, or Lizardfolk as many call them, he is also the God of reincarnation and swamps. Yamdamda is best known for vanquishing Om, the Totem of the Hydra, and conquering its progeny, and ultimately creating the Lizardfolk. The Hyd had long established their homes in the swamps and moors of Ylembica, despite their reputation for danger. This danger, however, was exacerbated by the Hydra and their God, Om. The Hydra preyed upon Yamdamda’s folk, which angered the God so much that he launched an all out campaign to kill Om and conquer his divine offspring. Yamdamda and Om engaged in a battle that last thousands of years, culminating in their final showdown that saw Om vanquished and Yamdamda’s Hyd elevated.
Yamdamda cut the head off Om, only to find that two grew in its place. Yamdamda had to retreat and devise a way of killing Om and ending the cycle, but seemingly nothing worked. Yamdamda cut off the heads again and again until seven replaced what was once a single head, but Yamdamda sought the wisdom of his elders, who told him the heads would remain dead if the blades that cut them was sheathed in flame, and all struck simultaneously. Yamdamda gathered six of his best warriors, and coated their blades in pitch, and then approached Om to distract it. Although the Hydra screamed out for their God to notice the trick, Om ignored their pleas. The warriors’ cuts went clean through the heads of Om, and the beast remained dead. Its seven necks bled forming the seven rivers that flow through the swampy region of Om. The seven heads were taken by Yamdamda and turned into the seven chakras, and given to the warriors as reward, the seventh kept by Yamdamda himself. The Hydra were conquered and learned to bow before Yamdamda and treat the Hyd with veneration.
The Seven Rivers of Om created the Seven Monasteries of Om, each named for a different chakra and each led by an avatar, believed to be the reincarnation of one of the six warriors of Yamdamda. The seventh Monastery is comprised of the holiest followers of Yamdamda, led by the avatar of Yamdamda himself. Yamdamda slew Om so that his followers might live a peaceful life, and he and his avatars preach nonviolence at almost all costs, with the most pious even relegating themselves to a vegetarian diet.