![[TharizdunPic.png]] # Tharizdun *God, God of Eternal Darkness, Decay, and Entropy | Elder Elemental Eye cult | Demiplane of Imprisonment* ## Summary ### The Fall of a God In the primordial epoch before the Dawn War, three young gods—[[Pelor]], [[Ioun]], and Tharizdun—discovered the [[Living Gate]], a portal to realms beyond reality. While [[Pelor]] and [[Ioun]] honored their vow never to return, Tharizdun's ambition drove him to revisit the gate, slaying its guardian and passing beyond. There he discovered the [[Shard of Evil]], a weapon of unfathomable destructive power created by the dying [[Obyriths]] to corrupt and control powerful entities from other realities. When Tharizdun claimed the shard, its darkness instantly corrupted him. Rather than serving as the [[Obyriths]]' puppet as intended, his madness gave him the determination to forge his own path to dominion. He planted the shard in the [[Elemental Chaos]], creating a wound in reality that would become the [[Abyss]]—a realm of pure evil that grew ever deeper as the shard burrowed into the foundations of the cosmos. From the [[Elemental Chaos]], Tharizdun summoned his avatar [[Shothragot]] and created the first demons to battle the [[Obyriths]] for control of the nascent [[Abyss]]. He corrupted four guardian angels into the first [[molydeus]] demons, including [[Argramon]], who crafted four weapons of immense power from fragments of the shard—weapons that would later be scattered across the planes and sought by various factions including the [[Cult of the Elder Elemental Eye]]. ### The Chained God Tharizdun's actions did not go unnoticed by his divine siblings. [[Pelor]] led a coalition of gods against the corrupted deity, while [[Moradin]] forged unbreakable chains at [[Torzak-Belgirn]] to bind him. After a cosmic battle of unimaginable scale, Tharizdun was defeated and chained with three divine fetters, then cast into the dead universe that once housed the [[Obyriths]]. His name was struck from history, and he became known only as the Chained God. The gods created the [[Righteous Order of the White Flame]] to guard the remaining piece of the [[Living Gate]]—the physical anchor to Tharizdun's prison. This task was initially entrusted to the angel [[Asmodeus]], whose pride would eventually lead to his own corruption through contact with a fragment of the [[Shard of Evil]], beginning the eternal conflict between demons and devils known as the Blood War. Through the ages, Tharizdun's influence manifested primarily through the [[Elder Elemental Eye]] cult, whose followers rarely understood their deity's true nature or ultimate goals. ### The Breaking of the Chains Over countless millennia, Tharizdun's whispers reached across the planes and reached [[Graz'zt]], the son of [[Asmodeus]] and [[Pale Night]]. [[Graz'zt]] devised a grand scheme to break the remaining chains. From his hidden position, Graz'zt expertly manipulated events across the [[Sword Coast]] by assuming the form of [[Rhinnom Dannihyr]], Iltarch of [[Amn]]. Through this disguise, he controlled the nation's military and transformed the [[Shadow Thieves]] into his personal network of assassins. The Dark Prince's machinations extended to corrupting the prophetic seer [[Owynn Firesong]], whose powers he used until Owynn's betrayal—which Graz'zt answered by dispatching assassins to eliminate Owynn's entire family. His manipulation reached its zenith with the creation of the [[Elemental Prophets]]—[[Vanifer]], [[Marlos Urnrayle]], [[Gar Shatterkeel]], and [[Aerisi Kalinoth]]—each serving as unwitting conduits for elemental chaos. While Graz'zt worked in the material plane, his sister [[Rhyxali]] sowed discord in the [[Feywild]], subverting its courts and unleashing a terrible war through the newly formed [[Court of Darkness]]. Even more insidiously, Graz'zt trapped fellow Demon Lords by exposing them to [[Tharizdun]]'s maddening song, corrupting and binding them to his will while harvesting souls through his sword Wave of Sorrow to empower the [[Shard of Evil]] In [[Waterdeep]], Graz'zt's influence penetrated the highest levels of power when he possessed [[Mirt]], the Open Lord, crippling the city's defenses from within. When he personally emerged on the battlefield of [[Silverymoon]], Graz'zt demonstrated his terrifying might by confronting the [[Heroes of Waterdeep]] and slaying [[Mya]] and [[Elkane]], displaying martial prowess and magical mastery that few beings could match. ### The Final Battle and Rechaining When [[Juiblex]] created a massive demon gate in [[Waterdeep]], Graz'zt led an invasion force that included corrupted demon lords. The [[Heroes of Waterdeep]], alongside allies from the [[Feywild]], fought a desperate battle against overwhelming odds. During this conflict, [[Osah Firesong]] sacrificed herself to save her sister [[Kali]], who ultimately defeated the Dark Prince. Following Graz'zt's defeat, the [[Heroes of Waterdeep]] descended into the depths of the [[Blood Rift]] to confront Tharizdun directly. With [[Moradin]]'s newly forged chains and the recovered [[Living Gate]], they reinforced Tharizdun's prison. The dwarf champion [[McMickey]] struck the final blow that secured the chains, while [[Pellowea]] sacrificed herself to destroy the [[Shard of Evil]]—though she was later revived through magical means. This victory came at tremendous cost, including the lives of many original [[Archfey]] and countless allies. However, the heroes' actions prevented the unmaking of the multiverse, reestablishing the divine chains that ensure Tharizdun's continued imprisonment.