Hi all -
I'm looking for Lendor. Has anybody done a write up on him? What besides the LGG (which of course has the gazetteer info updated) has good info on him?
Next, per the 3.5 rules, if your LN you can have clerics that are LG right? Just wondering because I'm looking at a Cleric or Paladin (or both!).
Be Well. Be Well Timed.
Theocrat Issak _________________ Theocrat Issak
Lendor can be found in Dragon Magazine #86, Dragon Magazine #139 (the ecology of the spectator, which says that spectators serve him), From the Ashes, and The Scarlet Brotherhood.
I wrote a 2e Faiths & Pantheons-style article on him nearly 10 years ago. I wrote it without any knowledge of the above sources. It looked like this:
Lendor (The Constant) Aliases: Lendys (dragons), Chronepsis (dragons), Gilean (DL), Labelas Enoreth (elves)
Intermediate god AL LN; WAL LN, LG, LE, N, NG
AoC Time, Tedium
SY phases of moon surrounded by stars
Home Plane/Realm Nirvana/the Palace of Stillness
Known proxies: Lenax, a LN solar dedicated to the preservation of history; Temporus, a unique modron with 14 arms and 2 heads who considers himself to be an extension of his deity.
Other minions: a bewildering array of concept-based spirits
Moments-- spirits representing a single event
Ripples-- spirits representing single consequences
Origins-- creative spirits sent to bring things into being. Source of all the others.
Memes-- spirits of memory, designed to record events (and bring them to the Origins)
Pauses-- spirits with the ability to temporarily stop time in their immediate area
Artifacts: The ancient Suloise artifact known as the Null is thought to be associated with Lendor,.
In visions, and in Church iconography, Lendor appears as a regal Suel Emperor, bedecked in elaborate imperial regalia. He has one avatar currently active on Oerth; incognito as a scrawny, wild-haired "mad scientist" type with a stained apron and homemade spectacles, always tinkering with elaborate and improbable clockwork devices. It is currently situated in Veluna, where it is watching the activities of a group of adventurers with wild ideas about finding the Theoparts. He calls himself Lendor, which no one dreams is literally true.
Other avatars may appear as any age or gender but are always pure-blooded Suel. Sometimes, he will manifest as abstract geometric patterns representing relativistic formulas. Signs from this god will never seem coincidental or uncertain; when an omen from Lendor occurs, everyone knows it.
Relations among Other Deities: Lendor is the father of most of the Suel pantheon, beholden only to the mysterious Proctor Chronos. His complicated relationship with Cyndor is as follows:
Lendor and Istus had a child, who they called Cyndor.
Cyndor and Beory had two sons named Celestian and Fharlanghn, and Cyndor and Istus had a child they called Lendor.
Repeat infinitely.
Allies: Cyndor is a staunch ally in most regions. Priests of Lendor are friendly with worshippers of Wee Jas, though that goddess' followers have a tendency to abuse that respect for their own personal gain. Most Suel deities accept Lendor as an ally, though many faithful are offended by the Lendorites' attitude that their god has power over the others based on some anachronistic hierarchy a millenium dead. Other faiths tend to have a neutral attitude toward the god.
Foes: None, except evil cults like those of Nerull, Incabulos and Asmodeus, and chaotic cults like that of Olidammara and Norebo who consider Lendor to be a stiff and a spoilsport. Beltar and Syrul are right out.
Other relationships:
Chronepsis: the dragonic god of time is pictured in many myths as Lendor's steed. The dragons, for their part, are deeply offended by this idea; a major source of friction between humanity and dragon-kind.
Labelas Enoreth: The Olven god of time is considered by his people to be the source of their longevity and an essential spirit of the race. Thus, any elf caught revering another time-god is considered a traitor or worse. Sages who suggest the two gods might be the same are treated with utter disdain by worshippers of both deities.
Istus: the prideful Bakluni admit no competition for their patron goddess. As mentioned above, the Cyndorites suggest a past or current relationship between the patrons of the Bakluni and Suel, something unthinkable a millenium ago when the two races were bent on destroying one another. There are still, after a thousand years, bad feelings with the people of Istus. This animosity has mellowed to be roughly equivalent to that between elves and dwarves.
Moradin and Berronar: the Dwur creator gods are very friendly with Lendor. They share the common goals of stability and the supression of evil and entropy. Lendor has some dwarf worshippers, something rare among the nonhuman races because of the time god's Suel-centered nature.
Primus: While messengers from the modron realms have been seen entering the Palace of Stillness (a vast city of Old Suloise spires filling an entire gear), the One and Prime has never, in history or memory, worked with Lendor.
Lendor's church is uncommon in the Flanaess. It is found in those mainly Suel areas where the stability and pride of the Suel Empire are still longed for. Lendor was a Greater deity in those days, but has declined since then along with his people.
In the lands of the Scarlet Brotherhood, Lendor is revered as the god of patience and timing, two qualities highly respected by assassins and those coordinating long-range schemes. In barbarian and savage lands, he is entirely forgotten.
The Orders of the Priesthood: Timekeepers-- astronomers and others dedicated to time and dates. Large observatories dedicated to Lendor exist on top of high mountains. In large cities, high profile astrologers give readings to those who can afford them. Billing their services as "scientific" and "holy," they avoid competing with mages and gypsy types.
Lorekeepers-- cloistered historians and librarians. Free use of their services is one of the perks of Lendor worship. They work closely with the
Loreseekers.
Loreseekers-- archaeologists and explorers. This is the only order with a large proportion of adventuring types. They work closely with the Lorekeepers.
Imperialists-- dedicated to renewing the glory of the old Suel Empire before the upper classes became corrupted by flirting with the Dark God.
Lendorian Hierarchy-- dedicated to establishing a stable society under the benevolent theocratic rule of the priesthood of Lendor. This group is a major rival of the Imperialists, since despite the conservative nature of both, one looks toward the future while the other looks toward the past.
An Overview of the Faith:
Lendor only became important after the binding of Tharizdun, when he
seriously began his role of progenitor of the Sueloise deities. As his family
increased in size, his status increased accordingly. The Suel Imperium from 3247-4912 SD were his glory years, and the god seems to have stopped there mentally.
All temples of Lendor to this day are decorated in strict neo-Suloise fashion, and his priests wear elaborate robes in archaic style . Infants are baptized in pools of dust (symbolizing both the sands of Time and the way the faith of Lendor was reborn after the Rain of Colorless Fire caused many of the decadent upper classes to turn back to the father of the gods). Services include the reading of histories and monotonous chanting of the hour and minute intended to, by sheer boredom, help the worshippers attain altered states of conciousness. Lendor is revered as chief of the gods (by the nobility, anyway) in the Duchy of Urnst, the island of Lendore (pre-elf invasion), the Lordship of the Isles, the Gran March, and the Yeomanry. His worship is considered horribly seditious in the Great Kingdom and his followers are hunted down ruthlessly. The colors of Lendor are silver and white. Holy days include all major breaks in the calendar, and services are on the first day of every week. In Needfest the Lendoralia is held; a time of mirth and merryment quite out of character for this normally taciturn cult. The Lendoralia is the only time the faithful of Olidammara and Lendor mix. Farmers often look to the Timekeepers of Lendor for knowledge of planting times and appropriate feast dates. Adventurers are looked at a bit askance in the church of Lendor-- "don't make waves" is the unofficial model here. PCs who wish to advance to positions of influence must be willing to play the game of politics and resign themselves to doing a lot of waiting.
Dogma: I said Lendor had LE worshippers and was revered by assassins, but I also said one of his goals was the supression of evil in the Flanaess. This is not a contradiction: evil is defined by the church of Lendor as that which breaks down the stability of society, is dangerous for Lendor's people, encourages idleness ("kills Time"), and like activities. Assasination, a basic part of Scarlet Brotherhood culture, is accepted by the pragmatic priests of that country, though not openly condoned. Lendor's followers seek to combat the cults of entropy-loving gods and hostile humanoids. Followers of Olidammara, while not actually persecuted, are frowned upon and people are forbidden to belong to both cults ("Idle hands are Nerull's playground.") Of course, meditation and church services are not considere idleness.
2nd Edition Priest Abilities (*= minor access)
all, charm, creation, divination, law, necromantic, numbers, thought, time,
plant*
Weapons: sicke, scythe, khopesh, sabre, scimitar, many polearms.
Armor: any
Magical Items: as cleric
Turn Undead: Since such immortals unnaturally thwart Time, priests of Lendor may turn undead normally.
Special benefits: that's about it.
Req. Proficiencies: religion (any), astrology
Bonus Proficiencies: ancient history (Suel Imperium), ancient language (Suloise)
Suggested kits (PHBR3): fighting-monk, nobleman priest, prophet priest, scholar priest
Classes: priest, crusader, monk, mystic. Lay members belong to any class except ranger, druid, shaman and paladin.
New spells:
Thought construct (conjuration)
Level: 4 Sphere: Creation
Range: touch Casting Time: one hour per cubic foot
Components: thought Area of Effect: special
Duration: 1 hour/level Saving Throw: none
This spell enables the priest of Lendor to, by thought alone, create an item of non-living, vegetable nature--soft goods, rope, wood, etc. The caster sits and meditates, concentrating on bringing the item into being. This is said in the Myth Cycle of Samwise to be how Lendor generated the gods.
Blade of Time (alteration)
Level: 6 Sphere: Time, Combat
Range: touch Casting Time: 9
Components: thought Area of Effect: special
Duration: 1 round/level Saving Throw: none
This spell causes a weapon to behave like a Staff of Withering for the
duration of the spell. This must be a weapon allowed to Lendor's priests.
Father Axlar's Trailing Recorder (divination)
Level: 2 Sphere: Divination
Range: special Casting Time: 6
Components: V,S,M Area of Effect: 30 yards
Duration: 1 hour/level Saving Throw: none
This spell creates a node of magic that follows the caster around, recording every sound in the area of effect. When asked, it will repeat everything it has heard within a specified time frame. Father Axlar is a very pious and successful Loreseeker still alive today.
And just why haven't we seen an updated version of this article for 3.5e, rasgon? You holding out on us? Saving the good stuff for yourself?
I forgot about it, honestly. I got out of the habit of writing extensive deity articles like this when 3e came along (the LGG contradicted enough of my versions that I didn't feel like it was worth the effort to carry them forward), and I really haven't looked at them since (except, I posted my old Nerull article to canonfire because I saw that someone else's website had linked to where it used to be hosted).
I kind of like how "pristine" my version of Lendor is. I wrote it before the 1998 Greyhawk revival, before I saw Len Lakofka's version of the deity, so it's pretty much uninfluenced by "canon." It's refreshing.
Hi all -
Rasgon, thanks for posting that. I like several aspects of what you've written. Esp. the different levels of association and the levels of churhes.
We're playing in Dyvers and after so many years of DMing, I thought it was time to be a player in 3.5 Ed (I've only played in 3 games). Thus, with a friend DMing the Expedition to the Demon Web Pits module and having to go back to my DMing duties when its done, I thought a PC out there that likely wouldn't be played or tried by many others would be refreshing.
I also thought that this would allow my players to see how I am as a player and hopefully they'll pick up their game a bit. As a DM its hard to have all the spells prepared that you might want to have your NPC cast (since he's doomed anyway), and yet the PC's are still looking up their combat actions on their turn. Hopefully this little experiment will work and the new DM won't kill off my hard work and campaign.
Thanks for the info, and of course if you or any others have ideas, please pass them along.
I'm looking at 2 lvls of Marshal (MiniHB), maybe a lvl of either cleric or Warpriest (skip williams Advanced Players Manual from Green Ronin [I allow any WotC authored book that is published by Paizo, GR, Necromancer and a few others] mixed with a possibility of Paladin.
Utilizing those options and using your ideas, either the return to glory, or the foundation of a new Theocracy suits me.
Be Well.
Theocrat of Pholtus,
Theocrat Issak _________________ Theocrat Issak
I got out of the habit of writing extensive deity articles like this when 3e came along...
Somebody (hint, hint, rasgon) should take the time to write out some "Core Beliefs"-style articles on the various deities that have yet to be covered. I'd especially like to see some of the lesser-used deities like Lendor receive this treatment.
Oh, would that there was a website where GH-lovers like me could go to share ideas like that...
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