The temple district of Grx is a wide avenue of multiple edifices of worship dedicated to the foul and loathsome deities of the Brain Slayers (and there are a lot of them!). The nature of their architecture and priesthoods may vary widely, but the one thing these corrupted temples all have in common is a fierce dedication to the cause of Evil and Chaos, and all of the attendant nasty practices that such a devotion implies. Unlike surface temples that may harbor large numbers of priests, monks and initiates, Brain Slayer places of worship are simpler affairs: a temple may have one or two attendant priests at most, while the shrines have no priests and are maintained by the local community. This is because Brain Slayers rarely dedicate themselves to the worship of one god, but prefer, in their pragmatism, to spread their devotion among a selection of personally appropriate deities. The worship of deities not sanctioned by the Ministry Urban is not tolerated; rogue cults and sects of other gods have secret churches in abandoned tenements or in the sewers. Some of the more important temples and shrines in the city include places of worship devoted to:
Temple of the Behemoth (#8/30; #159/365)
The Behemoth, Chaos Demigod of the Sea, is widely acknowledged as the father god of the Brain Slayers, and as such considered the most powerful of a quartet of major deities worshipped by the creatures in their underground cities (the others are Belthegor, Elim and the Malice). The temple is a ziggurat of black stone, adorned with the carvings of writhing tentacles, the summit of the temple features a deep pool containing an enormous TENTALLUS. The High Priest is T'knaw the Terrible (many-tentacled, cowardly) who is worried about the recent popular rise of Elim-worship among the city-folk, but for now has resolved to do nothing. A spring of Unholy Water (see Demons of Doom, pp. 22, 51) at the base of the temple provides a substantial source of income; all believers are allowed to gather a gourd of Unholy Water for a nominal tithe every day.
Temple of Belthegor (#9/30; #160/365)
The God of Second Life and Chaos Incarnate is another of the big four deities worshipped in Grx, and his temple is a low, pillared affair, made from blocks of white limestone chiselled into intricate friezes. The High Priest is M'sbovij Moon-Eye (blind, liar); heightened psionic powers (some say the blessings of Belthegor) help them navigate the temple and the city despite being blind. The temple contains a rabble of attendant CHAOS MUTANTS; it is considered good form to gift them with a handful of Obsidian Tokens or Purple Crabs after first petitioning Belthegor for aid.
Shrine to the Dark Lords (#10/30; #161/365)
Brain Slayers view this trio of Evil Gods as slight latecomers in the war against goodness and law, and they lack a large following within Grx as a result. The shrines to Death, Disease, and Decay are nevertheless an impressive trio of marble crypts where worshippers provide votive offerings in the form of small animal sacrifices or black candles. The crypts are delineated by symbols; Death has a deformed skull, Decay has a skeletal hand, and Disease is represented by a maggot.
Shrine to the Demon Princes (#11/30; #162/365)
This dank cave is accessible by steps leading down from the main temple avenue; two flanking pools of green slime contain largely quiescent DEMONSPAWN, while the altar hosts myriad statues depicting the various Demon Princes. These quasi-deities are tolerantly worshipped by some sectors of Brain Slayer society, and thus we find idols of the Snake Demons Sith, Myurr, Ishtra, and the Night Demons Shakor, Kalin, Relem and Vradna, as well as more obscure abyssal personages including Akragog, Rivel, Ulrakaah, Gagrash, the nameless Doom Demon, Agrash the NecroDemon, and the Kurakil.
Temple of Dolod (#12/30; #163/365)
Dolod the be-tentacled Howling God was once a major deity of Grx but their worship has fallen on hard times recently, and the temple is a crumbling, run-down step-pyramid at the end of the avenue. The High Priest, Xalr'f Mikdin (one-legged, jealous), has had to resort to other means to maintain the barest minimums of temple-functioning, and scattered around the pyramid are breeding pits of SALTSUCKERS; once ceremonial adjuncts to the worship of Dolod, but now raised and sold to the Ministry Above as cleanliness enforcers for their operational cells.
Temple of Elim (#13/30; #164/365)
Elim is the original Evil God, the Dweller in Darkness, and their worship is on the rise, not just here in Grx but also upon the surface of Titan. Elimite cultists stir in the sewers of cities like Port Blacksand, while the Dark Disciples of Vatos worship a god called the Dark One, who they think is an amalgam of the three Dark Lords, but is in fact is Elim. In Grx itself, this new popularity is largely the result of a charismatic High Priest, Qag of Scour (broad, jovial), who rose from being a lowly Ministry Below operative patrolling the backwaters of the River Scour, to head of one of Grx's most powerful temples in a remarkable short space of time. Some attribute this rapid ascent to Qag's folksy, backwoods personality, others ascribe darker, deeper reasons for such a stellar rise to fame (such as the small clay tablet worn on a string necklace seen at all times around Qag's throat). Nevertheless, the recently refurbished temple of polished low-grade obsidian blocks and glittering black arabesque sculptures is very popular with worshippers currently!
Temple of The Malice (#14/30; #165/365)
The last of the major quartet, the Malice is worshipped by Brain Slayers in its aspect as the God of the Black Door; an evil god constantly at war with Throbus the god of portals. Portal technology is widely used by many Brain Slayers, and they view the Malice as keeping them safe on their portal-journeys, away from the baleful eye of Throbus and his minions. The temple is a tall edifice of brown laterite bricks with bronze inscribed gateways, and the High Priest, W'dfus the Wise (ugly, suspicious), is known for their sudden dramatic appearances and intonations of impending doom unless the Malice is hurriedly placated. In the temple are rumoured to be two special portals; a black door at the summit leads to the Necrotic Wilderness of Q'yann on the Demonic Plane of Ichor, or so it is said, while locked securely behind vaults in the cellars is an ancient evil portal that leads to another world entirely, full of steaming jungles and gigantic reptilian creatures.
Shrine to Slangg (#15/30; #166/365)
This simple shrine on the avenue features a large brass statue of Slangg, god of Pain and Terror, as a grotesquely fat Brain Slayer, armed with a barbed pole-arm. Community members change the orange robes on the statue several times a week; those believers who are tardy in doing so, or offer too little to the tithe bowl, have been known to anger Slangg so much that the LIVING STATUE will animate and decapitate them!
Shrine to Tanit (#16/30; #167/365)
The shrine to the goddess of envy is a marble-tiled courtyard with a simple statue of Tanit as a robe-clade humanoid whose face is not visible. A host of broken and weather-beaten statues of all sorts of creatures litter the yard behind the shrine; rumour holds that if Tanit is displeased, her idol will transform into a MEDUSA, and petrify the unworthy.
Temple of Trabaten (#17/30; #168/365)
The Lord of Exenteration has a small but devoted following within the city of Grx, due to the enthusiastic High Priest Pitxal Redclaw (clumsy, brave), who specializes in various sacrifices and tortures, so much so that the floors of this bronze-adorned edifice are tamped down with sand to soak up all the blood and other bodily fluids. During the day, the temple is besieged with scavengers seeking to loot the sacrificial offal while at night, the ghosts of the dead walk the halls, railing against the cruelty of Trabaten. Regardless, Pitxal has a profitable sideline in divination, reading the entrails of his victims to predict the future of his clients, for a price, of course.
No comments:
Post a Comment