Tharizdun (Greyhawk Action)
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| Greyhawk Action! |
Chaotic Evil
Tharizdun, the god of madness, is not worshiped by the Suel per se, but over time he has had a fundamental influence over Suel culture, manly their wizardry. He plays a role in many legends and inspired the invoked devastation, his greatest triumph to date.
In Synchretism Tharizdun is seen not so much a god as the destructive principle, the impulse to madness and destruction inherent to intelligence. He masquerades as Ralishaz the god of madness and misfortune among the Baklunish and is served by Wastri the hopping prophet.
Thadzdun (iha-RIZ-dun) is an old and evil god of uncertain origin, imprisoned by the concerted effort of all of the gods, He has not been heard from in over one thousand years. If freed, it is said that the gods would again unite to lock him away, for he wishes no less than to unravel the fabric of the universe. Sites keyed to him still exist, and his relics still hold power. Although no true depictions of him remain, he is thought to be an utterly black entity without a solid form, leaving cold, decay, and insanity in his wake. His modern worshipers (such as the Scarlet Brotherhood, many say) carry a symbol of a dark spiral or inverted pyramid.
Light must be snuffed, perfection decayed, order dissolved, and minds fragmented.
All sorts of evil are described in the few remaining texts—foul rituals of sacrifice, destruction, and horrors from beyond the world unleashed upon the innocent. The current teachings of this faith revolve around the number three, the discovery of items relating to his power (keys to contacting him), and the means to free him from his confinement. Many of his clerics are mad. The rest are deluded enough to think that his release will grant them privilege when he remakes the world. They are very secretive and learn to trust only other members of the cult. They conduct bizarre rituals and explore ancient sites for keys to his chains. Because of their god's imprisonment, his clerics must be in contact with an object or site imbued with some of Tharizdun's power to prepare or cast spells.
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Weapon: Spiral of decay (chakram)
Symbol: Dark spiral or inverted pyramid.
Action Domains
Darkness, Flux, Mind, Space, Spiritual.
Pathfinder Domains
Darkness (Normal or Loss), Chaos (Entropy), Destruction, Evil (Fear), Knowledge (Normal or Thought), Luck (Curse), Madness (any subdomain), Magic (Arcane), Plant (Decay), Trickery, Void (normal, Dark Tapestry). Tharizdun has far more domains than any other deity, this is part of his terrible temptation.
Pathfinder Traits
Pathfinder Obedience
Carve a jagged spiral in living flesh—your own if no other is available. Follow the spiral in your mind, letting you lead to you a vision of the dissolution of all things. Spend half an hour in a swoon, recovering from the ordeal. If you cannot perform this rite, you can instead focus your mind on visualizing the inverted pyramid. This only takes one minute, but you take 1d4 Wisdom damage.
Boons
- Secret Lore (Sp) identify 3/day, augury 2/day, or bestow curse 1/day
- Heretical Revelation (Su) Up to three times per day, you can whisper terrible secrets to an adjacent target as a standard action. The target can resist with a Will save (DC = 10 + 1/2 your HD + your Charisma modifier). If the target fails its save, it is stunned for 1 round, then confused for 1d4 rounds, and then nauseated for 2d6 rounds. This is a mind-affecting effect.
- Penultimate Incantation (Sp) You can cast maze of madness and suffering three times per day.