Tharizdun
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| Greyhawk Deity | |
|---|---|
| Tharizdun | |
| Title(s) | The Dark God, He of Eternal Darkness |
| Home Plane | Unknown demiplane |
| Power Level | Intermediate |
| Alignment | Neutral Evil |
| Portfolio | Eternal Darkness, Decay, Entropy, Malign Knowledge, Insanity, Cold, the Black Sun |
| Domains | Destruction, Evil, Knowledge |
| Alias(es) | The Elder Elemental Eye |
| Superior | none |
In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Tharizdun is the god of Eternal Darkness, Destruction, Decay, Entropy, Malign Knowledge, and Insanity. He was imprisoned ages ago by a coalition of deities to prevent the destruction of existence itself. Tharizdun is known as the Dark God, and He of Eternal Darkness. Although imprisoned, Tharizdun still has a degree of his original multiverse-threatening power: he is officially a Divine Rank 11 (out of 20) deity, as of Dragon #294. His holy symbols are a dark sprial rune and a two-tiered inverted ziggurat known as an obex. His holy number is 333.
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[edit] Description
Tharizdun has been depicted on the cover of Gary Gygax's Gord the Rogue novel Come Endless Darkness as a huge, bald, humanoid man, with claws, greenish-black skin, and pointed ears.
[edit] Other aspects
Tharizdun is sometimes worshipped as an entity called the Elder Elemental Eye (a being similar to Ghaunadaur), but few of these worshippers recognize the two as being the same entity.
[edit] Relationships
It is believed that Tharizdun has no allies, given his desire to destroy the entire universe. Should he ever escape from his prison, it is thought that even the most evil of deities work with their good counterparts to return Tharizdun to his prison. However, the Dark God has been known to work his will secretly by employing various demons (with or without their knowledge) to do his bidding. Examples of fiends so used include Iuz and Zuggtmoy.
[edit] Dogma
Tharizdun's doctrine is to destroy all and everything encountered (himself included), as he puts it:
The very threads of existence must be torn asunder, then burned, then the ashes scattered, until all is nothing and no one exists to remember existence.[citation needed]
[edit] Scriptures
Most of Tharizdun's ancient scriptures are long lost. The only one known to remain is the Lament for Lost Tharizdun, penned his "last cleric," Wongas.
[edit] Worshippers
Tharizdun's worshippers are often insane. Their ultimate goal is to free their dark deity from his prison. He is rumored to be worshipped by the Scarlet Brotherhood, though these followers are actually a splinter sect of the organization known as the Black Brotherhood.
[edit] Clergy
Like his lay worshippers, many of Tharizdun's priests are mad. Those who are not believe (falsely) that they will reap great rewards and privileges for their aid in freeing him. All of his clerics are extremely secretive and trust only fellow cultists. They lead foul rituals, including human sacrifice, and search ancient sites for clues to freeing their deity. Due to Tharizdun's imprisonment, his priests must remain in contact with a site or object holding some of the Dark God's power in order to use their magic. Their favored weapon is the "spiral of decay," a bizarre weapon about which little is known. Those priests who follow Tharizdun's Elder Elemental Eye aspect have used a weapon known as a "tentacle rod" (a rod topped with animate tentacles), but it is unknown if this is the same object.
[edit] Temples
Tharizdun's temples (often in the shape of black ziggurats) are usually hidden, due to necessity. Known places of worship include an ancient temple located in the Yatil Mountains, as well as a more recently-discovered temple in the Lortmils, near the Kron Hills. Although not many people in the Flanaess are aware that Tharizdun exists, it is said that public knowledge of one of his ziggurats would be enough to "raise an army of paladins" (Dragon #294).
[edit] Artifacts
Tharizdun has few known artifacts. "One" that is known is actually many: a collection of gems known as the 333 Gems of Tharizdun. Their current location is unknown, but it is certain that the collection was split up long ago.
[edit] References
- Baker, Rich, James Jacobs, and Steve Winter. Lords of Madness (Wizards of the Coast, 2005).
- Gygax, Gary. Come Endless Darkness (New Infinities, 1988).
- Gygax, Gary. Dance of Demons (New Infinities, 1988).
- Gygax, Gary. The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun (TSR, 1982).
- Gygax, Gary. World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (TSR, 1983).
- Holian, Gary, Erik Mona, Sean K Reynolds, and Frederick Weining. Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (Wizards of the Coast, 2000).
- Lee, Robert. "The Cradle of Madness." Dungeon #87 (Paizo Publishing, 2001).
- Moore, Roger E. The Adventure Begins (TSR, 1998).
- Noonan, David. "Beings of Power: Four Gods of Greyhawk." Dragon #294 (Paizo Publishing, 2002).
- Noonan, David. Complete Divine (Wizards of the Coast, 2004).
- Sargent, Carl. From the Ashes (TSR, 1992).
