The Cult of Zagyg

It is difficult to say exactly when the cult of Zagyg (as it prefers to be called) first took shape, given the fractious and sporadic nature of his worship.  The Circle of Eight made the first reports that Zagyg had ascended to godhood circa 560 CY.  Records held in the City of Greyhawk show that cultists of Zagyg first petitioned the Directing Oligarchy for the right to hold worship services within the city in 563 CY.  Therefore, the cultists began organizing themselves probably between 560 and 563.  Over the next 20 years, wandering priests spread the word of Zagyg to the neighboring lands of the Duchy of Urnst, Furyondy, Dyvers, and Veluna.  Though well-received in Urnst, Zagyg’s cult found little welcome in the lawful lands of Furyondy and Veluna.  In these lands, they were shunned as cultists and devil-worshippers.  Of course, Zagyg’s cult has little to do with “devils” or any other evil outsiders for that matter.  Their interest is in the Far Realm, whose denizens exist beyond the scope of good and evil as such.  Zagyg’s cult hopes to learn from the insane ravings of these creatures, in order to gain wisdom and to become closer to their deranged patron.

Of course, the term “organized” only applies very loosely to the cult.  True to its chaotic nature, the cult has few established temples, and even fewer rules regarding worship practices.  Further, the tenets of the cult can vary from region to region or even from priest to priest.  Nonetheless, there are several practices which are held wherever worship of the Mad Archmage takes place, which vary so little that they can be considered common cult practice:

· First Devotion: services at Zagyg’s temples begin with First Devotion, where the main celebrant says a prayer followed by the casting of a low-level spell: typically a bless spell, or a prestidigitation to awe the worshippers present.  The latter is used only by priests with a modicum of arcane talent (which many have).
· Sanctified Communal: The celebrant uses two spells in turn.  First, he casts a protection spell over the congregation, he then summons forth a Far Realm creature and beseeches it for insight.  Sanctified Communal is usually the height of a worship service and is always visually impressive.  When the creature from the Far Realm appears, it brings along some of the essence of the Far Realm. This is as close as many get to actually being in the Far Realm itself.
·  Closing: The celebrant answers questions from the congregation about what took place during Sanctified Communal, and makes prayers to Zagyg that he grants the worshippers the wisdom of (and protection from) the creatures occupying the Far Realm.

(DM note: Sanctified Communal can be played out using the spell in chapter 4.  Typically, the conversation between the priest and the creature is one-sided.  If the creature speaks at all, it will be in strange riddles which may or may not make sense to the priest.  The priest will have the chance to get at least one question answered, as per the spell description, but any other information is purely at the DM’s discretion.)

Temples to Zagyg are typically small and ramshackle.  One would barely recognize a temple of Zagyg as such; the observer would probably mistake it for a run-down, abandoned house.  Being a small order, the cult of Zagyg can rarely afford better trappings.  Worship and prayer services would be given on the first floor of such “temples,” and the priests would live and work on the second floor.  There are rarely more than 4 priests tied to any one temple; the greater majority of priests prefer to travel.

Worship of Zagyg saw its height during the Greyhawk Wars, between 582-584 CY.  Worshippers were drawn to the cult due to its opposition to Iuz.  The forces of good in the Flanaess appreciated the ability of Zagyg’s priests to call upon the powers of the Far Realm, against which the evil ones were all but powerless.  Even the enemies of the Mad Archmage’s cult (who are many) put aside their differences to fight against the Old One.

Currently, the worship of Zagyg is at a decline.  Let’s face it, trafficking with the insane creatures of the Far Realm isn’t going to bring a great number of lay worshippers to one’s door.  The workings of the Far Realm are near-incomprehensible even to those of great learning. Thus, commoners seldom worship the Mad Archmage.  Those who commonly worship Zagyg are wizards and sorcerers, especially those with an interest in planar travel.  He is also popular with bards and rogues, especially those who enjoy humor, trickery, and disguise.  Zagyg’s chaotic nature is antithetical to monks and paladins.  Barbarians, druids, fighters, and rangers also tend to shy away from the cult of Zagyg, as the teachings of the Far Realm are well outside the scope of normal training for these classes.

2. Centers of worship

The previous section hinted at the disorganized nature of Zagyg’s worship.  Since temples are often makeshift at best, many priests decide they’d rather carry out their worship services outdoors.  This helps place the congregation more at ease.  Sermons in worship service can get very technical as to the nature of the Far Realm and planar travel.  Holding service outside gives a more relaxed atmosphere, and makes it so that the sermon doesn’t have so much of an academic lecture feel.  This also makes the Sanctified Communal much more impressive, as it takes the congregation from the familiar nature setting into the maelstrom of the Far Realm.

Services to Zagyg are also commonly held in libraries and in the laboratories of wizards friendly to the cult.  Libraries are excellent places of worship because both priests and congregation can look up the leading reference works on the planes and other subjects.  Such services are not typically held during normal library hours (some readers might be disturbed by worshippers reading aloud the ramblings of a Far Realm creature, for example).  Wizard laboratories are great places for worshippers with magical talent to demonstrate their new findings.

The only major temple of Zagyg is located in Greyhawk City.  Worship of the mad archmage has not caught on enough for temples to spring up elsewhere, due to the bizarre nature of his worship, and persecutions by other churches, particularly those of Iuz, Wastri, and Pyremius.

The Temple of Maddening Musings

The central place of worship for the cult of Zagyg is located in the place where it all started: The City of Greyhawk, where Zagyg once ruled as Lord Mayor Zagig Yragerne.  Located outside the city walls (where many residents like it), near the Grey College observatory, this dark gray stone edifice is marked by the red and blue symbol of Zagyg emblazoned over the great double doors to the temple.  The solid gold door handles are twisted and feel almost as though they’ll come alive as one grasps them.  The entrance hall and chapel feature stone pillars in the same twisted spiral fashion as the handles on the front doors, all painted yellow and placed at an angle, which makes the structure seem unstable at best.  Names of known inhabitants are inscribed along the vaulted ceiling of the chapel, names which are indecipherable to most worshippers, but to dedicated laymen and clerics, they’re as easily pronounceable as common names.  One can also see statues of men and women lost in their insane thoughts and depicted in varying states of agony and madness.  Most disturbing of all are the creatures, hodgepodges of some of the most gruesome creatures from the Flanaess (beholders, Cyclops, dragons, etc.) and gargoyles embossed in gold, who sneer, cackle, and laugh at those who pass by (rumors that some of these gargoyles are alive have not been confirmed).

The resident priests, of course, find nothing wrong whatsoever with their décor.  Zagig Yragerne himself, they claim, cavorted with such creatures on a regular basis.  Thus, they conclude, priests of the living god Zagyg must learn not to be unsettled in the midst of such company.  The priests will discuss a sculpture of a horrific dragon with their worshippers as plainly as an artist will discuss a landscape painting.  The priests will also readily listen if a member of the congregation mentions disturbing thoughts.  The priests act as a primitive sort of psychologist, eager to record and categorize any sort of bizarre mental behavior they encounter.  Instead of trying to eradicate the abnormal mental behavior of a worshipper, a priest will encourage him or her to explore it further and try to glean some truth or understanding of self from it.  “Understanding madness brings sanity” say the priests regularly.  This approach to mental health is hit-and-miss.  For some worshippers, it has brought them a new level of clarity and peace of mind.  For others, it has only led them further down the path of insanity, making them permanent residents of the church’s sanitarium, or worse, the Greyhawk City prison.

Worship services and prayers are offered every Godsday, and priests are available for confessions and counseling every day of the week.

Prestige class: The Mad priest

These elite priests of Zagyg have delved into the research of the Far Realm started by their patron when he was mortal. In their quest to become closer to Zagyg, priests who choose this path attempt to transcend the boundaries of space, time, and even reason and sanity.  The power that Zagyg promises his followers is great, but the price they must pay is even greater.

hit dice:d8

requirements
to qualify to become a mad priest, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria
alignment: any chaotic
knowledge (religion): 8 ranks
knowledge (the planes): 8 ranks
feat: iron will
spells: ability to cast 3rd level divine spells
special: must worship Zagyg

class skills (and key abilities): alchemy (int), concentration (con), craft (int), diplomacy(cha), heal (wis), knowledge (all skills taken individually) (int), listen (wis), profession (wis), scry (int), sense motive (wis), spellcraft (int), spot (wis).

skill points at each level: 2 + int modifier

Saves: weak: fortitude and reflex, strong: will

Class features:

Weapon and armor proficiency: Mad priests are proficient with all simple weapons, all types of armor (light, medium, and heavy), and all shields.

spells per day: A mad priest's training focuses on divine spells.  Thus, when a new level of mad priest is earned, she may apply it to any levels of a previous divine spellcasting class she has for purposes of spellcasting level and spells per day.  For instance, if Alsara, a 5th level cleric, takes a level of mad priest, she is treated as a 6th-level cleric in terms of spellcasting level and spells per day.  If the character had more than one divine spellcasting class before becoming a mad priest, she must decide which class she will add each level of mad priest in order to determine her spell progression.

Prestige domain: at 1st level, the mad priest gains access to the madness domain, described in Defenders of the Faith.  The character gains that domain's granted power and can choose that domain's spells as her daily domain spells.

Rebuke alien: At 1st level, the mad priest gains the ability to rebuke or command outsiders from the Far Realm as a normal cleric rebukes or commands undeead.  The mad priest adds her levels of cleric to levels of mad priest to determine her ability to rebuke aliens.

Insight: at 2nd level, the mad priest receives new knowledge of the planes from her patron.  She receives skill focus in knowledge (the planes) as a bonus feat.

Mad certainty: The mad priests hears the calls of the beings from the Far Realm, and uses their insight to weave more powerful magic, at the cost of her own sanity.  At 3rd level, the mad priest gains spell focus (enchantment) for free.  However, the musings of the aliens taxes the priest mentally.  She develops a phobia against a specified type of creature.  This creature gains a +2 morale bonus to AC and saves against the mad priest, and the mad priest suffers a -2 morale penalty to attack rolls against the creature.  Creature phobias are subject to the DM's approval, and should be a creature commonly encountered in the mad priest's travels.

Metamagic feat: At 5th level, the priest gains further favors from Zagyg, she may select a bonus metamagic feat.

immune to charm and compulsion: The mad priest has slipped so far into her own insane mind that it beomes impossible for others to affect it with magic.  At 6th level, the mad priest is immune to charm and compulsion spells.

Insane certainty: The mad priests communion with Zagyg and the beings of the Far Realm grows even stronger, but so does her
dementia.  At 7th level, the mad priest gains the spell penetration feat.  The cost, however, is much greater.  The mad priests develops a fear of either daylight or nighttime (player's choice).  The character will refuse to go outside at the chosen time unless he makes a will save (DC 15).  If the save fails, she must wait another hour before trying again.  Even if the character goes out in her feared time of day, she won't be happy about it.  Every hour the character is outside during her feared time of day, she must make another will save (DC 13) or launch into a berserk frenzy (as though wielding a berserker sword) for one minute.

Timeless body: at 9th level, the mad priest learns the secret of perpetual youth.  She no longer suffers ability penalties for aging and cannot be magically aged.  Any penalties she had previously remain, but ability bonuses due to age still accrue.  When the priest's time is up, Zagyg's Far Realm servants sweep her up, and she is never seen again.

Transcendence:  At 10th level, the mad priest transcends her mortal form and becomes an alien creature.  Her type changes to "outsider" meaing she is no longer affected by spells affecting humanoids, but also meaning she is vulnerable to magic circle against chaos and similar spells.  The alienist also receives damage reduction 20/+1 and electricity resistance 20.   The alienist also undergoes a minor physical change, such as sprouting a third ear or horns.  This is easily concealable, but anyone who knows of Far Realm beings will recognize the mad priest's transcendent nature.  She receives a +2 bonus to all charisma-based checks when dealing with mortals who have studied the Far Realms.  Additionally, the mad priest gains a +2 bonus to intimidate checks against anyone who sees her physical change.
 
 

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