Church of Ghaunadaur

The church of Ghaunadaur was the primary religious organization dedicated to the worship and service of the deity Ghaunadaur, the Elder Eye. They were commonly called Ghaunadaurans.

Dogma
The pursuit and expression of power was paramount to the ethos of Ghaunadaur. All creatures were fit to wield power, and all had their place in the world. Yet weeding out the weak, thereby distributing their energy of life to the strong, was the correct thing to do. Ghaunadaur revered those who rebelled or otherwise walked apart, as well as those who sought out new experiences and ways, because these contributed the most to advancing their races.

The Elder Eye bade its clergy make sacrifices to their deity, either by force or by persuasion, even willingly sacrificing themselves to Ghaunadaur if need be. All beings were to be converted to the worship of Ghaunadaur. Priests were charged with slaying the clergy of other faiths, plundering their wealth and using these riches to further their own station and the faith of That Which Crawls.

Activities
Priests of Ghaunadaur were expected to devote themselves to the service of the Elder Eye, doing whatever pleased their deity best. This mostly involved sacrificing living beings to Ghaunadaur, whether by force, threat, or persuasion. That Which Crawls especially enjoyed non-resisting sacrifices, and those of its priests capable of delivering these&mdash;even if physical or magical coercion was involved&mdash;were highly favored.

Furthermore, the clergy of Ghaunadaur was expected to familiarize themselves with the manufacture and use of poisons, acids, and flaming oils.

Organization
The church of Ghaunadaur was a relatively obscure organization on the surface of Toril, with only a few secret cults dedicated to That Which Crawls. Most inhabitants of the Underdark were aware of Ghaunadaur's existence, if nothing else, but the Elder Eye was often not worshiped openly even there.

Membership
The Elder Eye was venerated chiefly by oozes, slimes, and other amorphous creatures of the Underdark. In particular, Ghaunadaur was worshiped by beings of limited intellect, often those who were solitary by nature or outcasts. Most intelligent races, such as humans, found the worship of Ghaunadaur to be abhorrent. Even so, secret cults dedicated to That Which Lurks were found all across Toril, especially in areas such as Thay, Kara-Tur, and the southern reaches of the Sword Coast. Indeed, Ghaunadaur appealed to many intelligent and evil beings who sought an alternative to the established deities found in civilized lands. For example, many drow disillusioned with Lolth turned to Ghaunadaur.

In the eye of That Which Lurks, devotion heavily outweighed ability, and so any living creature was welcome to join its church. Ghaunadaur's clergy was almost exclusively male&mdash;at least among those of its adherents who had a biological sex to begin with.

Slithermorphs and ghaunadans were considered part of the clergy of Ghaunadaur by their very nature.

Titles
Adherents of Ghaunadaur used a wide variety of titles to distinguish their position, however vague, in the hierarchy of the church. Examples included "Loathsome Ooze", "Spawn of the Pit", "Eater of Wastes", "Noxious Slime", "Creeping Doom", and "Amorphous Annihilator".

Classes
The solid (that is, non-slimy or -gelatinous) clergy of Ghaunadaur consisted chiefly (sixty percent) of elite specialty priests known as amorphites, with clerics and crusaders making up a large minority each. The remainder included a diverse array of creatures that could not truly be classified as priests of any kind.

Orders
The Ghaunadauran faith was associated with a number of religious orders:
 * The Fanatics of the Overflowing Pit, an ancient order of dark elf crusaders in ancient Ilythiir that was still active thousands of years after the fall of that realm.

Prayer
Ghaunadaur expected an exaltational prayer from its faithful at least once per day, accompanied by a sacrifice. If live sacrifices were hard to come by, offerings of bones or food burned in oil were also acceptable. These acts of veneration were to be accompanied by the ritual burning of incense in a brazier. Sacrifices to Ghaunadaur always had to include smoke and fire.

If a priest was unable to present Ghaunadaur with any offering at all, an alternative ritual was expected. In such a case, the priest should recite his or her prayer while holding their hand, soaked in oil, inside an open flame. If the Elder Eye accepted the prayer, any injury sustained would be immediately healed. Ghaunadaur accepted such prayers more often than not, though by a very slim margin.

The capricious disposition of the Elder Eye meant that Ghaunadaur could decide to aid worshipers who provided nothing more than lip service to its rituals&mdash;or, indeed, might decide to devour its staunchest adherent whole on a whim.

Shrines & Temples
Temples of the Elder Eye were typically located underground or concealed in ruined structures. In the Underdark, they were often constructed in the wilderness, far away from the scrutiny of the Church of Lolth.

Ghaunadauran places of worship were decorated with mosaics depicting creatures crawling as willing sacrifices toward enormous devouring ropers. The floors in these places were generally made from obsidian, red or black hornblende, black marble, or porphyry, always polished to a sheen. All cloth furnishings had to be of a hue pleasing to Ghaunadaur, ranging from copper to plum to violet and to mauve. That Which Crawls required its holy places be lit by purple, mauve, and lavender lighting, accompanied by eddying mists.

Temples generally included an altar chamber, usually a three-tiered aisle, where the altar rested on the second tier flanked by braziers and candelabras fitted with black candles that burned lavender flames. The first tier held drums and silver chimes, while the third tier contained a blackened adamantine cylinder and triangle, both fastened by chains in the same material&mdash;these made up a sort of gong.

The altar itself was rectangular, made from a dull-black and porous stone. If the altar were exposed to a forceful blow or the touch of flesh, its color slowly changed to translucent amethyst. Touching the altar directly could cause temporary paralysis. If the drums, chimes, and gong were all struck at the same time, Ghaunadaur could manifest itself in the form of an eye in its altar, which would sprout a number of tentacles in the process. Peering directly into such an eye could lead to instant death or insanity. Indeed, if the high priest of a temple were present, this ritual would summon a portion of That Which Crawls to the Prime Material plane, which would then absorb anything left on the altar. This would yield a valuable boon from Ghaunadaur.

The pillars in an altar chamber were made from obsidian, malachite, or serpentine, inscribed with symbols of the Elder Eye, and often imbued with magical effects that caused uncertainty and unease in non-adherents. At least one pillar in each temple, unknown to all but its priests, would include a rune containing a spell of teleport. When pressed in combination with a command word, this would whisk Ghaunadaur's faithful away to a safe location. Intruders not in possession of the command word would be subject to some injurious effect, or even teleported to a monster lair.

Priests belonging to other faiths were never welcome in a Ghaunadauran temple, on penalty of death within eight days.

Notable Locations
The massive Underdark city of Llurth Dreier, beneath the Shaar, was ruled by the clergy of Ghaunadaur. The church tended to rear its head in cities marred by unrest where other rival deities, such as Lolth, were less powerful. One example of this was Eryndlyn, which was contested by adherents of the Elder Eye and various Dark Seldarine factions.

Secret places of worship dedicated to That Which Lurks were found in surface cities such as Calimport, Waterdeep, and Westgate. The greatest of these was the Pit of Ghaunadaur beneath Waterdeep, which was eventually destroyed by followers of Eilistraee. The city of Bezantur in Thay had a temple of Juiblex, whose aspect Ghaunadaur had assumed on Toril. A massive temple known as the Elder Orb of Ooze lay ruined beneath the Forest of Mir, its inhabitants having been killed or driven off by Ghaunadaur itself in a fit of displeasure.

Symbol
The symbol of the church was a black-rimmed violet-on-mauve eye inside a violet ring, surrounded by a ring of black, on a purple circle. An older symbol of the Ghaunadauran faith was an inverted amber triangle containing an inverted "Y" shape, on a purple background.

Dress
As with temple furnishings, Ghaunadaur expected its clergy to dress in colors that pleased That Which Crawls. A typical Ghaunadauran ensemble consisted of a dark tabard with the symbol of the Elder Eye worn over a long robe with large sleeves, topped with a silver skull cap. Ghaunadaurans who took up adventuring wore whatever armor and weapons they wished, although most tended to stick with garb in colors acceptable to their deity.

Ghaunadaur did not permit its clergy to grow beards or mustaches, but encouraged them to wear their hair long and unbound.

The holy symbol carried by Ghaunadauran priests was an obsidian sphere, often worn in a chain around the neck, and commonly enchanted with a mauve continual faerie fire effect.

Weapons
Drow priests of the Elder Eye favored the use of tentacle rods in combat. These consisted of a handgrip attached to a number of writhing, magical tentacles, which came in a variety of colors, with each variant having its own particular set of deleterious effect. The most powerful tentacle rods of the Ghaunadauran clergy had one tentacle of each color.

Spells
Ghaunadaur gave its clergy access to a number of unique spells:
 * Amorphous form
 * Elder eye
 * Mists of Ghaunadaur
 * Wall of tentacles

Enemies
Given the belligerent dogma of Ghaunadaur, it was no surprise that the church got along poorly with other faiths. In fact, the clergy of Ghaunadaur was forbidden from consorting with priests belonging to any other faith. Ghaunadaurans were sworn enemies of most other Underdark deities as well as the Seldarine and the Dark Seldarine both. In many drow cities dominated by the Church of Lolth, even just mentioning the name of Ghaunadaur was punishable by death, let alone engaging in actual worship.

Juiblex & Tharizdun
Within the crystal sphere of Realmspace, Ghaunadaur had assumed the aspects of other powerful beings that were not active on Toril. These included Tharizdun, the Elder Elemental God, and Juiblex, the demon lord of oozes.

History
In antiquity, Ghaunadaur was said to have had the worship of all slimes, oozes, and crawling things. According to legend, the Elder Eye stole the collective intellects of its worshipers as transgression for some wrong, possibly for failing to defeat Lolth after she was banished from the Seldarine. As a result, Ghaunadaur destroyed many of its own worshipers and, consequently, much of its own power.