Tharizdun

In-universe
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described_object = a fictional character created for a role-playing game
category =

Greyhawk Deity|fgcolor=#fff


caption=
bgcolor=#000
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name=Tharizdun
title=The Dark God, He of Eternal Darkness, the Black Sun
home=Demiplane of Imprisonment
power=Intermediate
alignment=Neutral Evil
portfolio=Eternal Darkness, Decay, Entropy, Malign Knowledge, Insanity, Cold
domains=Chaos, Destruction, Evil, Force, Madness
alias=The Elder Elemental Eye, the Elder Elemental God
super=none

In the "World of Greyhawk" campaign setting for the "Dungeons & Dragons" fantasy roleplaying game, Tharizdun is the god of Eternal Darkness, Decay, Entropy, Malign Knowledge, Insanity, and Cold.

He was imprisoned ages ago by a coalition of deities to prevent the destruction of existence itself. 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 spiral rune and a two-tiered inverted ziggurat known as an obex. His holy number is 333. His chief minion is Shothragot.

Publication history

Created by Gary Gygax based on Robert J. Kuntz's dark god "Tharzduun,"Fact|date=August 2008 Tharizdun first appeared in the module "Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun". He would later appear in Gygax's series of Gord novels.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)

Tharizdun's existence was first revealed in the module "The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun" (1982), by Gary Gygax. [Gygax, Gary. "The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun" (TSR, 1982)] Tharizdun was subsequently detailed in the "World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting" (1983). [Gygax, Gary. "World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting" (TSR, 1983)]

Tharzidun's role in the outer planes is detailed in the first edition "Manual of the Planes" (1987). [Grubb, Jeff. "Manual of the Planes" (TSR, 1987)]

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)

Tharizdun was one of the deities described in the "From the Ashes" set (1992), for the Greyhawk campaign, [Sargent, Carl. "From the Ashes" (TSR, 1992)] and appeared again in "Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins" (1998). [Moore, Roger E. "Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins" (TSR, 1998)]

His role in the cosmology of the Planescape campaign setting was described in "On Hallowed Ground" (1996). [McComb, Colin. "On Hallowed Ground" (TSR, 1996)]

Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)

Tharizdun's role in the 3rd edition Greyhawk setting was defined in the "Living Greyhawk Gazetteer" (2000). [Holian, Gary, Erik Mona, Sean K Reynolds, and Frederick Weining. "Living Greyhawk Gazetteer" (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)]

Tharizdun was a central figure in the module "Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil" (2001). [Cook, Monte. "Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil" (Wizards of the Coast, 2001)]

Tharizdun was one of the deities detailed in "Dragon" #294 (2002), in the article "Beings of Power: Four Gods of Greyhawk." Noonan, David. "Beings of Power: Four Gods of Greyhawk." "Dragon" #294 (Paizo Publishing, 2002)]

Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)

Tharizdun's priesthood is detailed for this edition in "Complete Divine" (2004).Noonan, David. "Complete Divine" (Wizards of the Coast, 2004)] Details of his worship by various aberrations was detailed in "Lords of Madness" (2005). [Baker, Rich, James Jacobs, and Steve Winter. "Lords of Madness" (Wizards of the Coast, 2005)]

Tharizdun's prison dimension was detailed in "Dragon" #353 (2007). [Stewart, Todd, with Oliver Diaz. "Multiple Dementia." Dragon #353. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2007]

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)

Tharizdun appears as one of the deities described in the Dungeon Master's Guide for this edition (2008). [James Wyatt. "Dungeon Masters Guide" (Wizards of the Coast, 2008).]

Description

Tharizdun was described in Dragon #294 as a pitch-black, roiling, amorphous form. As the Dark God, he is described as an incorporeal wraithform, black and faceless.

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.

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. The Elder Elemental Eye is described as a huge, mottled, tentacled being, or as a pillar of vast elemental force with a body of burning magma, radiating steam.

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, and the Princes of Elemental Evil.

On Oerth, Tharizdun is particularly opposed by Pelor and Boccob.

Realm

The Demiplane of Imprisonment is hidden somewhere in the depths of the Ethereal Plane, resembling a swollen, crystalline cyst nearly a mile in diameter. The ethereal substance surrounding the demiplane boils with the dreamscapes of Tharizdun's worshipers and others whose dreams the dark god invades.

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."Fact|date=February 2007

criptures

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.

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 or [http://www.theblackthorn.es The Blackthorn] .

Clergy

Like his lay worshippers, many of Tharizdun's priests are mad. Those who are not believe (mistakenly) 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.

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).

Artifacts

Tharizdun has many 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. Other artifacts associated with Tharizdun include the sword "Druniazth" and the "Spear of Sorrow". The "Scorpion Crown" was gifted by him to the last king of Sulm. Still another artifact, the "Weeping Hexagram", is in the hands of the Scarlet Brotherhood.

History

Some say that Tharizdun originated in the Far Realm or in a previous universe. Tharizdun was imprisoned eons ago by the forebears of those beings known as the Great Powers, although it is said that Pelor was also involved. It's said that both good and evil deities worked together to ensure his imprisonment. As the "Dark God", he is credited with the corruption of the Seelie Court. Through the "Scorpion Crown", he is said to have destroyed the ancient kingdom of Sulm.

He was imprisoned long ago, but his prison may weaken at times, allowing his influence to creep out into the worlds beyond.

In the Fourth Edition Monster Manual, Tharizdun is described as creating the Abyss and the demons that live there by corrupting a portion of the elemental chaos, and for this crime he was imprisoned by the other gods.

References

Additional reading

Games

* Holian, Gary. "Paladins of Greyhawk." "Dragon" #306. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2003.

*Lee, Robert. "The Cradle of Madness." "Dungeon" #87 (Paizo Publishing, 2001).

*Reynolds, Sean K. "Core Beliefs: Boccob." "Dragon" #338. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2005.

*Living Greyhawk Journal no. 3 - "Gods of Oerth"
*Player's Guide to Greyhawk
*The Temple of Elemental Evil

Novels

*Gygax, Gary. "Come Endless Darkness" (New Infinities, 1988).
*Gygax, Gary. "Dance of Demons" (New Infinities, 1988).

External links

*Conforti, Steven, ed. "Living Greyhawk Official Listing of Deities for Use in the Campaign," version 2.0. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2005. Available online: [http://www.wizards.com/rpga/downloads/LG_Deities.zip]
*Schwalb, Robert J. "Elder Evils: Shothragot." "Dragon" #362. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2008. Available online: [http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drfe/20080318a]
*"The Essence of Evil." "Dungeon" #152. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2007. Available online: [http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dutoc/152]
*"Shadow of Shothragot: The Price of Survival." Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2007. Available online: [http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drfe/20071130]
* [http://pages.sbcglobal.net/zimriel/NightBelow/tharizdun.html Tharizdun - an overview of the god's history]