Panzuriel
The Banished One, The Enslaver, The Deep Old One, The Severed God
An ancient evil partially banished from the Prime Material Plane, Panzuriel stews in his fetid aquatic realm in the Gray Waste, planning his revenge on those who have wronged him. His activities are quite constrained, causing him to work through servitors almost exclusively, and in that capacity, he accepts virtually any creature into his service with the capability and desire to spread his evil. He seeks to ever spread chaos and destruction, both openly and through subterfuge, laying waste to the great civilizations of the sea.
In ancient times, Panzuriel's influence was banished from the Prime Material Plane by Deep Sashelas and Persana. Bitter and enraged at his banishment, he directs his minions to work against sea elves and the corruption of the aquatic races. Only a small trace of him remains on the mortal plane.
Panzuriel’s clergy is expected to do whatever they can to harm the good communities of the undersea depths. Raids, wars, and enslavement are the typical methods of the less civilized priests, while the more cunning and intelligent may focus on assassinating leaders, charming key members of a community, or subverting disgruntled factions.
These latter methods are especially favored by members of communities that ban worship of the Enslaver who are drawn to the evil power of Panzuriel; such individuals often have great resentment and hatred for their own kind. Regardless of the method, death and destruction of their foes, from without or within, is the long-term goal.
The relationship between priests of Panzuriel and other clergies depends almost entirely on the race of worshipers in question. Kraken and morkoth worshipers of the Deep Old One tend to dominate the local rabble of skum, scrags, and merrow should they choose to do so, while these other races tend to fight amongst themselves and against outsiders when not dominated.
The Panzuriel clergy occasionally works with evil powers of the depths, but these are often temporary, with the strongest alliances existing with cults of Demogorgon and Dagon. Relations with Blibdoolpoolp’s priests are stable when they exist, but her kuo-toa are uncommon visitors to deep seas, keeping alliances brief and temporary but generally amicable. The tensest alliances form with sahuagin worshipers of Sekolah; such alliances are usually for one specific purpose and last no longer than it takes to achieve their goal.
The Enslaver’s clergy ever seeks to dominate or destroy those races that follow the good and neutral oceanic powers, with their greatest hatred reserved for sea elves of Deep Sashelas.
Divine Domains
Knowledge, Trickery, Grave
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Kraken head
Tenets of Faith
Dominate or slay the weak, and destroy their works. Turn your enemies against each other and sow confusion in their ranks. Ruin the lands and cities of the hated sea elves, and hunt them to the last. Magic is the purview of the Many-Tentacled God, sacrifice what you take to him, for such power will fuel his freedom.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Panzuriel’s origins are lost to the mists of time, and his exact age is unknown; what is known is that he is very old. Sages are quick to speculate on connections between the Enslaver and other similar ancient evils, including Blibdoolpoolp and the Elder Evils, although evidence of these connections is tenuous at best.
What is known is that deep in prehistory the Banished One was confronted by a coalition of oceanic powers led by Deep Sashelas and Persana. The Tritons claim that Panzuriel was a living weapon of the Gods to fight a long-forgotten foe, but that the great best rebelled, betraying its masters for more power.
In the ensuing battle that led to his banishment, the elven deity struck off a tentacle, but unnoticed by the elven deity or his allies, the tentacle festered on the sea floor. In the intervening millennia, it has allowed Panzuriel to slowly exert more influence over the Prime Material Plane.
He is still deeply constrained, however, and operates carefully, relying mostly on whatever denizens of the deep he can sway to his cause. While mostly little more than rabble, he has been known to inspire and organize the rabble of koalinths, merrow, or scrags into great marauding armies. Such worshipers are little more than tools to him; only the kraken and morkoth seem to rise to truly favored status.
Intellectual Characteristics
Despite the bitter rage that seethes inside Panzuriel, he is cool and methodical in his planning. He slowly increases his power, making careful use of his followers, knowing they do not yet have the strength to face the might of the sea elves and their allies. He is cunning enough to not allow his emotions harm his plans, but in situations where he knows he can act as he wishes without disruption, he explodes with truly frightful anger and violence. He also endlessly plots and plans sadistic tortures to inflict on his rival Deep Sashelas, and such activities bring him tremendous pleasure, especially when he manages to capture a mortal sea elf that can play Sashelas’s role in his depraved spectacle.
Church/Cult
Children
Comments