Church of Entropy
The city of Luthcheq in Chessenta is ruled by a mad family called the Karanoks. They worship a being they call Entropy, the Great Nothing, and they plot the destruction of all “wizards” (sorcerers, wizards, dwarves, or elves). Folk outside Chessenta (and outside Luthcheq, for that matter) consider them fools, for Entropy is said to just be a giant sphere of annihilation. Be that as it may, some divine entity is now answering their prayers, and Entropy has given birth to five smaller spheres. Now those of House Karanok have acquired mansions in other cities of Faerûn and moved the smaller spheres (known to the family as “the daughters of Entropy”) to these locations, using the mansions as bases for their scheme to destroy all wizards.
The followers of Entropy are now capable of casting cleric spells, a development that they see as a sign that their strange deity has blessed them, and now is the time to strike beyond Chessenta.
Public Agenda
Destruction of all "Wizards" (Sorcerers, Wizards, Dwarves, Elves, etc.)
History
In 1161 DR, the Karanok family became the leaders of Luthcheq under suspicious circumstances. While all records of the events have been destroyed, it is likely that assassination was involved, since no known descendants of the old noble family survive today. They practiced an erratic but moderately efficient rule of the city, warring with other city-states in typical Chessentan fashion. In 1324 DR, Luthcheq invaded Mordulkin to take advantage of the latter’s serious losses from plague but was defeated. Blaming their loss on wizard spies in the service of Mordulkin, the Karanoks became obsessed with the destruction of wizards.
Sometime around 1346 DR, a particularly large sphere of annihilation appeared in the largest mansion of House Karanok. The sphere materialized in the middle of a torture chamber and completely consumed the wizard who was being tortured. Seeing this as an omen, the members of the house fell to their knees and worshiped the planar anomaly, which they called Entropy. Remodeling their mansion to make its current location a main temple chamber, the Karanoks blindly worshiped their nondeity in the belief that it would help them meet their goals.
In late 1370 DR, the deity Tiamat used her power to alter the sphere, making it a conduit for her energy. She began granting divine spells to the nobles of House Karanok in the guise of Entropy. She has since caused the sphere to create smaller spheres, which can be controlled by members of the house. The Karanoks worship the daughter spheres, and they have been known to conjure forth scaly reptilian monsters (abishai) to enact the will of the Karanoks and Entropy itself.
Priesthood
The Karanoks have a cellular structure based around the original Entropy and its five daughter spheres. They are well organized but allowed to function almost independently. The following are some of the more important members of House Karanok.
Maelos is an ancient man, nearly senile and rarely able to understand that his family now has a slight chance of succeeding at its goals.
Jaerios is Maelos’s son and the ruler of the city. He enjoys power and particularly enjoys watching wizards burn.
Naeros is Jaerios’s son. Arrogant, cruel, and fond of disfiguring his victims before burning them, Naeros believes he cannot be killed and can do whatever he wants because his family’s power protects him.
Kaestra is the most powerful cleric in the family and the nominal head of all religious activities.
Povros is Jaeros’s cousin and the leader of one of the Entropy cells not located in Chessenta. Raised to hate wizards, he doesn’t even carry magic items unless he knows they were created by clerics (even if they were clerics of inferior deities).
Political Influence & Intrigue
Hatred is the primary motivation of the Karanoks. They hate wizards more than anything, and those who willingly deal with wizards are a close second. They kidnap known wizards, then burn them on a pyre of witchweed as a sacrifice to their strange deity. They have a standing offer of 10,000 gold pieces as a reward for anyone who slays Elminster. They sometimes come into contact with the Zhentarim, but that group’s ties to wizards makes it an undesirable alliy. The Karanoks also enjoy vandalizing Thayan enclaves and (if kidnapping and murder are not an option) harassing apprentices in those places.
The Karanoks are open to working with anyone who is interested in killing wizards. This means they have an easy time recruiting close-minded or fearful people to their cause but rarely have anyone of power at their beck and call. They tend to have many thugs in their service, and sometimes try to overwhelm their wizard opponents with sheer numbers.
Comments