Does anyone know of a small god I could use...?

[MasterVega]

I'm currently running a D20Modern Shadow Chasers game where the Shadow is the byproduct of Bastions (a partially divine 3rd race [where men and angels are the first two]) being sealed away in a cluster of dimensions very near to the prime dimension (ours).
Over time the corrupted species began to polarize - with those who resented the power sealing them away becoming more and more corrupt, and those who saw the light easing out of their corruption. The dimension with the largest number of the darker ones became a very grim universe, filled with the Bastions' own twisted creations spawned of contempt and jealousy.
No one understands exactly how, but at some point in time the dimension transformed from a stagnant realm to a vile and chaotic storm. This chaos consumed all that once lived in that dimension, twisting and carrying it along the winds of this new massive entity - the Shadow. For a time, it stayed within its boundries; it simply churned about as if in a restless sleep... or contemplating its next assault. Years, if not decades later the Shadow became hungry once more and began to spill itself over into the next-nearest dimension. It would do this until its prey fell and ultimately became part of it.
So it would happen until the very last of the Bastions fell battling their fallen brothers and sisters over the final prison dimension.

Now the shadow is hungry again, and it turns to the Prime dimension, meal of meals, for its next course.

Okay, now that I've introduced the background of the game in a nutshell, I can ask my question! My players have yet to be informed of the existence of Bastions (or angels for that matter) and I'm wanting to introduce a "small" god, preferably from a dead/dying religion, as a corrupted Bastion spewed into the world by the Shadow. I'd like him/her to be someone recognizable, but not too powerful. It needs to be someone "small" enough to be killed/purified by the players.

My players are roughly EL9, and will probably be EL10/11 when they fight this thing.

Thanks in advance for the ideas!
(Also, let's please refrain from turning this into any sort of theological debate. Thanks again.)

[AfterCrescent]

Why not use a Greek deity? If vain Apollo shows up...

[MasterVega]

I'll look into that. My brother already suggested Mercury from the Roman pantheon, so I'll be considering that one as well.

Sorry if my thread's a little confusing. I wrote it in a hurry.

[veekie]

Dionysus? It'd be interesting to see him impact in a crater of wine, vines and rampaging drunk orgies in everything around him.

[j0lt]

In keeping with the theme of corruption, how taking the name of a demon?

[Shoggoth]

If you have angels then I assume you're going somewhat Judeo-Christian with the mythology?

You might want to use one of Christianity's early competitors, like Mithras.  I'm pretty sure Mithraism is dead.

You could use Angra Mainyu as well.  Zoroastrianism is still alive, but it's not very big.

[MasterVega]

Interesting ideas.

I am going with a (slightly altered) Judeo-Christian background, yes. One of the PCs has met an imp who seems to want all shadow creatures slain. They've also met an angel already, but they believe he's just another PI right now.

The supernatural war goes something like this...

The Big Guy doesn't want Earth to be swallowed up by the shadow, but at the same time He has His word to uphold and now is not the proper time for the second coming. He has angelic operatives working on earth to network and aid shadow chasers in fighting off the dark tide. Angels are well aware that not all of the creatures from the other side are evil, which complicates their mission as they must spare the ones who can be saved while working to purge those who cannot.

Lucifer isn't happy about the new kid on the block encroaching on his territory. He's also a little afraid - bastions are powerful beings, the most powerful of which are on a similar level of power to his own. Purified or corrupted, they are a threat to him. Because of this, he's doing everything in his power - that flies under the radar - to destroy the Shadow. Bonus points for winning shadow hunters under his influence.

The Shadow is hungry. It wants food. The only food it knows of is in the prime plane...
The creatures that have spilled over from the shadow so far are mostly the least corrupted of all the shadow creatures. For many of them, the distance between the shadow and their new home is enough for them to regain their sanity.
Seeing how unfaithful its former servants are, the Shadow plans to send something much stronger to retake them and gain a foothold in the prime dimension - a thoroughly corrupted bastion (or several at once, but to different places).

I'm going to look up some of the gods you guys have mentioned and see if I can put something together (a description/stats and whatnot.) Thanks for the help!

@j0lt - Thanks for the idea. Though I don't think I'll be using a demon for this encounter, considering Hell is involved with the conflict, the PCs will probably be running into some powerful demons when things start to hit the fan.