To My Esteemed Collegues at the Imperial Guild of Surveyors and Explorers,
It has recently come to my attention through various channels that certain discoveries of yours in the northern reaches of what's left of the Empire have brought you to make certain inquires. I hope you do realize that inquiries into such topics has been declared to be blasphemous by the Pholtine Church, and, while their power may be waning, it has not faded to the point where they are unable to have those who delve into what they consider profane topics burned at the stake.
That being said, I may perhaps be of some assistance in your attempts to understand what you have found. Or at least understand enough of it to know that it should not be trifled with, or let fall into the hands of certain morally deficient Houses within our land, nor into the possession of certain groups that you might be acquainted with that seek to utilize the buried past for their own gain. It has taken me many hours of delving into the depths of my humble library, but, what I have found will doubtless be illuminating. It is a pity that the archives of Eastfair and Medegia were torched recently, as they would doubtlessly shed more light upon things.
Nevermind how I know this, as I am in a unique position to find out such things, but the partial text you have uncovered makes mention of a being of fell nature and dark power, who is called Tharzidun, or, in the parlance of the Pholtine Church's hidden writings, He Who Shall Not Be Named. There has been, understandably, much confusion over the nature of this being throughout the years, which has only been compounded by the fact that certain groups, including the Pholtine Church here in our own Empire and the Mystical Order of the Silent Ones in the Sheldomar, have tried very hard to keep such things from public knowledge. They have succeeded quite admirably, although it does make simple scholarship that much more difficult.
Without going into too many specifics, and bringing down the wrath of the Pholtine Churches upon my head, this is what I can tell you. The surviving accounts of He Who Shall Not Be Named that have made their way into the Empire have been, almost universally, conflicting, and, at times, the name Tharzidun has been associated with a number of other entities, including such ancient Flannish deities as Shirat and Incabulous, although, oddly enough, never with Nerull. While associations with the fell plaguelord Incabulous are quite possibly apt, associations with many of the other Flannish deities, such as Shirat, are not fitting, given the way they are often tied directly into the more primal side of nature. But that is a topic for another day.
To return to the matter at hand, it was only after painstaking research that I was able to learn of the existance of a most ancient document in the possession of a rogue magelord in the far south of our Empire's remaining holdings. I shall spare you the tale of the challenges in retrieving this document, as it happened many years ago, and it is the contents which undoubtably interest you more right now. And before you send off a courier to ask if you might borrow the ancient text, the answer is no. There are things that it is better if you do not know.
The document was a set of three scrolls, and although in poor condition, it was not too difficult to read them. From what I have been able to decipher from them, I have been referring to them the Annals of Yalan, as they seem to recount some would-be theocrat's researches and exploits from before the time of the Great Migrations. Much of it is of little importance, as they seem to gloss over a number of important details, and, likely are filled with creative exaggerations to appease the priest-kinglet Yalan. But what is of interest is one of the older passages, contained in the first scroll, which is far shorter than the others, and likely was meant to be a different text. The passage in question describes certain profane religious rites, in great detail, which is why I will not quote it directly here, nevermind the difficulty of translating the ancient, obscure Flannish dialect.
In this ceremony, a number of the usual Flannish gods are startlingly absent. No mention is made of Nerull at all. In fact, the only name I was able to recognize was the Plaguelord's. It is odd how his name keeps coming up in some of these old text, but, again, I digress. It was in this description of the ceremony that I ran across a passage which has been defying my attempts to translate it. Which means it is probabily a corruption of another language entirely. This is important for one very significant reason. It is in this passage that a singluar word can be made out, or can be imagined to be made out. That word is, as you might have guessed, the profane name of Tharzidun. Or, more appropriately, Tharziduni. Perhaps I shall finally manage a translation later on, or perhaps I shall listen to my instincts and not learn what it might say.
The term Tharziduni shows up later in the ritual's description later on, in a passage which I was able to easily translate, being as it was in the same Flannish dialect as the bulk of the text. From the rather vague context, it seems to indicate that the term Tharziduni is actually a plural. It was in this particular passage where my attention was caught by a chant entitled "The Naming of Tharziduni", where Incabulous' name shows up, among a great number that I do not recognize, and am probabily quite thankful that I do not.
From this text, it would appear to indicate that, in the ancient times, that Tharzidun was not used as a proper name for a single entity, as it is today in regards to He Who Shall Not Be Named, but instead was a more general term, much like deity is, although it seems to only turn up in the most unholy of places, giving some indication of what the group of beings it referred to were like. Using this bit of knowledge, it becomes far easier to reconcile the various later day accounts of He Who Shall Not Be Named, by recognizing that they, in fact, do not always refer to the same entity.
It is likely that the profane text in your possession is another piece in the puzzle that would help to unlock the mystery of what this group of beings was like. But I have said enough on this topic. Either you will understand, or you will not. Perhaps it is better if you do not. Take care with that manuscript, for it holds more power than you understand, and there are many who will desire it for themselves.
Taras Cranden-Guaroth,
Sage of House Cranden,
Waldgraf of Olvanstaadt-am-Graufult,
(Former) Imperial Historian,
Patron of the Imperial Guild of Surveyors and Explorers
I really like the idea of dropping hints about details while still leaving things ambiguous. Let's a DM use the material whether she agrees with this take on canon or not, since it's also fun to through the players a red herring or two. _________________ All shall love me and despair!
Very nice Montand! It's good to see you back :D _________________ Allan Grohe<br />https://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/greyhawk.html<br />https://grodog.blogspot.com/
A great piece indeed. It reminded me of the ancient race Gygax merely mentions in the Gord novels. They spared their lives for the worship of Tharizdun, only to be rewarded with eternal extinction in mortal world and eternal misery in Abyss. _________________ "It is easier to milk a cow that stands still." Tzeliobas-Aristomenes, General Cleaning, Greyhawk Construction Company.
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