The Dark God, the Unmaker, the Destroyer
Eternal Darkness, Decay, Entropy, Malign Knowledge, Insanity

Tharizdun was an ancient and evil god whose worship predates the Flan migration and the Suel and Baklunish empires. The few extant legends indicate that it was imprisoned or slain by the combined effort of all of the other gods then taking an interest in Oerth. However, the ancient and forbidden Yeth Codex, considered the canonical work on Tharizdun despite its questionable scholarship and gruesome history, states that the mortal archmage Tsojcanth called upon monumental wizardry to cast an Avatar of the god from Oerth into an extraplanar prison, perhaps with the help of one or more deities. The tales generally suggest that if Tharizdun were to "walk the Oerth" again, the other deities of Oerth would unite to bind or slay it once more. If the Yeth Codex is to be believed, however, then the Unmaker's release after centuries of confinement will spell the end of the Oerth as it currently exists, the interference of concerned deities notwithstanding.

Sites keyed to Tharizdun's worship are said to still exist. Although no true depictions of Tharizdun remain, it is thought to be an utterly black entity without a solid form, leaving cold, decay, and insanity in its wake. Its modern worshippers (such as the Scarlet Brotherhood, some say) carry a symbol of an "obex," or an inverted ziggurat.

All sorts of evil are described in the few remaining texts - foul rituals of sacrifice, destruction, and horrors from beyond the world unleashed upon the innocent. According to the Yeth Codex, trappings of the faith include the mystical significance of the number 3 (including the 333 Cursed Jewels of Tharizdun), the colors purple and black, the tentacle motif, and flowing hooded robes (q.v., woodcut). Creatures associated with Tharizdun include various tentacular horrors and the dreaded Yeth Hounds, so named for several unfortunate incidents immediately after the discovery and translation of the Yeth Codex.

THE CULT OF ELEMENTAL EVIL

Interviews with surviving heroes and captured cultists paint a fairly consistent picture of the secret history of the Temple of Elemental Evil. The Temple, it is said, was built at the behest of the demoness Tsuggtmoy, with the aid of Old Iuz. Tsuggtmoy, the Lady of Fungi, conceived of the plan as a way to lure the devotion of duped surface dwellers and drow to herself through the worship of the "Elder Elemental Eye" and the evil aspects of elemental forces. In essence, those worshippers among drow and evil men who thought they were serving "Elemental Evil" were in fact funneling their devotional power to Tsuggtmoy. The story of the subsequent fall and rebirth of the Temple of Elemental Evil, the manifestation and escape of Old Iuz, and the imprisonment and escape of Tsuggtmoy from its dungeons, is well-known (despite certain unfortunate embellishments in the discredited I, Robilar). The following piece of prophetic doggerel has come to light through the scholarship of the Watchers for the Coming Sunset, and is said to have been recovered from the Temple dungeons themselves during the sack of that bastion of evil.

The Two united, in the past,
a Place to build, and spells to cast.
Their power grew, and took the land
and people round, as they had planned.

A key without a lock they made
of gold and gems, and overlaid
with spells, a tool for men to wield
to force the powers of Good to yield.
But armies came, their weapons bared,
while Evil was yet unprepared.
The Hart was followed by the Crowns
and Moon, and people of the towns.

The Two were split - He got away
but She, when came the judgment day,
did break the key, and sent the rocks
to boxes four, with magic locks.

In doing so, She fell behind
as He escaped.  She was confined
among Her own; Her very lair
became Her prison and despair.

The Place was ruined, torn apart
and left with chains around the heart
of Evil power - but the key
was never found in the debris.

He knows not where She dwells today.
She set the minions' path, the way
To lift her Temple high again
With tools of flesh, with mortal men.

Many now have gone to die
in water, flame, in earth, or sky.
They did not bear the key of old
that must be found - the orb of gold.

Beware, my friend, for you shall fall
unless you have the wherewithal
to find and search the boxes four
and then escape forevermore.

But with the key, you might succeed
in throwing down Her power and greed.
Destroy the key when you are done
and then rejoice, the battle won.

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