Looking for an alien deity in Faerun.

[druid91]

So, In the process of making a character, it occured to me that I couldn't bring to mind a human appropriate chthulhu style deity for an alienist character in Faerun, and I'm wondering if it's just me missing something.


So. Does anyone know of such a deity?

[CRtwenty]

Alienists don't really worship deities. They worship entities that exist in dimensions far beyond those that even the Gods dwell in. Your best bet would be to look at one of the Elder Evils or something from the Far Realm.

[Alleran]

So, In the process of making a character, it occured to me that I couldn't bring to mind a human appropriate chthulhu style deity for an alienist character in Faerun, and I'm wondering if it's just me missing something.

So. Does anyone know of such a deity?
Given the fluff of the Alienist class, I'm pretty sure they'd be Faithless in FR, or if they worship anything, they'll be signing over their soul to those hideously alien entities after death. Gods are concerned (to greater or lesser degrees) with the maintenance of their portfolios and watching over/protecting Realmspace.

An Alienist has made bargains with godlike things from the Far Realm, outside of reality. Even Cyric at his most insane had more in common with the mortal world than the Far Realm does. And yes, the Far Realm does exist in the Torilian concept of the planes.

[druid91]

That was my line of thought as well, but I figured I might as well ask, what harm could it possibly do?

[hamishspence]

Mak Thuum Ngatha is a deity whose home plane is the Far Realm- he might fit.

For a Faerun-specific deity, Ghaunadar is pretty alien.

[ArcturusV]

Bonus points, wasn't his epithet: "The Elder Elemental Evil"?

[hamishspence]

Ghaunadaur's was Usually "The Elder Eye" or "That Which Lurks"

Tharizdun's was "The Elder Elemental Eye"

[CRtwenty]

Ghaunadaur's was Usually "The Elder Eye" or "That Which Lurks"

Tharizdun's was "The Elder Elemental Eye"

Is Ghaunadaur an expy of Tharizdun or something? I'm not that familiar with the FR setting.

[ArcturusV]

Well if I remember, which apparently I don't perfectly, Ghaunadaur is actually one of the eldest Gods in the realms. Patron god of things like Slimes, Oozes and Ropers. Almost entirely faded away now because few intelligent beings worship him. Mostly things like a few insane renegade Drow, Illithids, etc.

Also his clerics got a pretty weird "Tentacle Rod" as sort of his Holy Weapon.

[Alleran]

Well if I remember, which apparently I don't perfectly, Ghaunadaur is actually one of the eldest Gods in the realms.
He's one of the ancient ones, but not the oldest of them. F&P simply says that he's an ancient deity "said to have emerged from the primordial ooze" at some point.

There are older gods - Selune, Shar and Mystra, for example, as well as Chauntea after Selune and Shar (allegedly) did their thing, resulted in Mystra from Selune and Shar's essence, and then accidentally the whole creation. That would make Selune and Shar the two eldest deities. Ghaunadur couldn't have appeared until at the very least after Chauntea. If you believe the stories, anyway.

And of course Ao is older than all of them.

[Nymrod]

I don't think Ghaunadar is a good pick for an alienist. He is pretty accessible after all.
Xceryll the Star Spawn was introduced in late 3.5 as a vestige online and made cannon by the inclusion of his rod in the hands of Arsekaslyx on Dragons of Faerun. This suggests to me that you can pick some 4E stars as your gods. You will likely end up in the Wall of the Faithless ofc . . .

[Yora]

I would also go with Ghaunadaur. Not only is he very similar to Tharizdun, I also think he's a different identity of Juiblex as well.

[hamishspence]

I think this was eventually clarified to not be the case, though he might be trying to steal the cult of Jubilex's power.

[Yora]

Even if some writer said that, I still think it's far neater. After all, why have two powers that look identical, have the same area of influence, the same worshippers, same alignment, and so on. Unless they are wearing some kinds of insignia, there would be no way to tell apart cultists of Ghaunadaur and Juiblex.

But it is a setting with several chaotic good moon goddesses...

[Nymrod]

The theme of an alienist is someone who summons things from beyond. Ghanaudar is mostly interested in people sacrificing themselves to him so he can eat them, if possible, willingly. His followers are oozes that exist in the Material and several vile people for the reason that he easily grants power to people willing to bring him some sacrifices.
His mind is not alien, it's just not really there:)

[unseenmage]

Mind Flayers, or Illithids if you prefer, are rumored to be from the Far Realm and some of them worship Ilsensine.

[Psyren]

I vote Ilsensine - I'm pretty sure he exists in both Greyhawk and FR too (along with other racial deities like Corellon and Moradin) and he is pretty Lovecraftian.

[123456789blaaa]

Even if some writer said that, I still think it's far neater. After all, why have two powers that look identical, have the same area of influence, the same worshippers, same alignment, and so on. Unless they are wearing some kinds of insignia, there would be no way to tell apart cultists of Ghaunadaur and Juiblex.

But it is a setting with several chaotic good moon goddesses...

I disagree.

Juiblex hates everything and has no goals besides existing and destroying (oh, and also taking over Zuggtmoys realm). He doesn't even really care about worshippers and is one of the weakest demon lords (there's a reason he's called the "Lord of Nothing").

Ghaunadaur on the other hand, loves having worshippers because he loves sacrifices (even more so if they're willing/mind controlled). Sometimes he'll even reward false worshippers (on the other hand, they may be devoured. Ghaunadaur is an unpredictable deity).

Also, while Juiblex's sphere of influence begins and ends at slimes and oozes, Ghaunadaur is also the diety of outcasts and rebels. He prizes finding new ways or trying new things and holds that all creatures are fit to wield power.

Their appearances are also different. Ghaunadaur appears as a reddish-purple giant slug with a single human-looking eye, but at will it can alter its form into an amorphous free-flowing shape like a jelly, rear up into a giant roper with up to 10 long purple tentacles, or appear as a sticky green substance that emerges from the ground. Juiblex on the other hand, looks like a glistening shape of jelly and slime striated with veins of black and green.He has bulging globs of red eyes that swim in his gelatinous body. So there are similiarities but they certainly don't look identical.

It's not that hard to tell worshippers of both of them apart. All cloth furnishing in the temple and the clothing worn by Ghaunadaur's worshipers had to be of colors that please Ghaunadaur's eye. These are mostly shades of purple, green, black, and metallic colors. Juiblex on the other hand doesn't care about what his worshippers wear at all. Also, Juiblex's worshippers are likely to be very unhygienic and dirty because that's a big part of what Juiblex is about. His worshippers are the lowest of the low. Ghaunadaur's worshippers on the other hand, have no particular affinity for filth and pollution. They are as hygienic and clean as members of other faiths. Finally, Juiblex's worshippers are all violently insane. Ghaunadaur's are as insane as members of other faiths.

Actually, didn't I say this stuff to you in Afroakuma's question thread? You never responded so I dunno if you saw it.