Telchur

Icebrother

Telchur
General information
Portfolio:	Winter, Cold, the North Wind
Alignment:	Chaotic Neutral
Superior:	Velnius
Rules items
Domains:	Air, Chaos, Storm, Strength

Telchur is the Oeridian god of Winter, Cold, and the North Wind. His symbol is a leafless tree in a field of snow. His realm in Pandesmos is called the Icicle Palace.

Description

Telchur is depicted as a dark-eyed, gaunt man with and a long beard of icicles. Bitter and brooding, the God of Winter strikes at his enemies from the back of a winged albino bull with his icy shortspear. He prefers a frozen forest's calm tranquility to the sound of an icy wind screaming through the mountains. His mount is a winged, albino bull.

Relationships

Telchur is the son of Procan and cousin of Merikka. As one of the Velaeri, Telchur is the brother of Velnius, Atroa, Sotillion, and Wenta. He is bitter over being assigned to watch over the coldest and bleakest time of year, and thus shuns his family. He is disliked in particular by his youngest sister, Wenta, because he spoils the festivities of autumn with the harshness of winter.

Telchur is responsible of orchestrating the imprisonment of his enemy, Vatun, and has thus earned the emnity of Llerg and Dalt, Vatun's ally and brother, respectively. The Icebrother is an ally of the Wolf Lord, the archdevil Belial (who may have aided in Vatun's imprisonment), and the slaad lords. Telchur seems to be responsible for preventing the goddess Loviatar from sending servants into the world of Oerth.

Dogma

Telchur teaches that while spring and summer bring life and cause it to flourish, winter always lies at the end, stilling life and preventing new life from emerging from the frozen soil. The cold northern wind shrouds all, draining life from man and beast alike, blowing out the flames of hope, leaving naught but infinite white silence.

Worshippers

Telchur's followers seek to placate him more than worship him. He is usually honored with his siblings as part of the Velaeri, the Oeridian agricultural gods. He is thus revered by farmers and others who depend on the land's bounty, as well as those seeking relief from winter's chill.

Clergy

Telchur's priests tend to be brooding and withdrawn. They have little love for pleasantries and noise, focusing instead on the harsh realities of survival, even when times are good. Telchurian priests pray just after darkness falls. Their duties include officiating at winter funerals, aid the fit in surviving the roughest parts of winter, and travel to spread the Icebrother's gloom to distant peoples.

Temples

Places of worship to Telchur are often dedicated to the Velaeri as a whole. These locations are found throughout Oeridian lands, including Ahlissa, the Bone March, the Gran March, Highfolk, Ratik, Sunndi, the County of Urnst, and Veluna. Though worship of the Velaeri is forbidden in the Theocracy of the Pale, they are honored in secret by many farmers and country folk. Telchur also has followers among the Rovers of the Barrens and the Wolf Nomads.

Holy days

The midwinter week of Needfest is especially important to Telchur and his followers.

Bibliography

• Baur, Wolfgang, James Jacobs, and George Strayton. Frostburn. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2004.

• Brown, Anne. Player's Guide. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1998.

• Conforti, Steven, ed. Living Greyhawk Official Listing of Deities for Use in the Campaign, version 2.0. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2005. Available online:[1]

• Gygax, Gary. World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1983.

• Gygax, Gary, and Frank Mentzer. The Temple of Elemental Evil. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1985.

• Holian, Gary, Erik Mona, Sean K Reynolds, and Frederick Weining. Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2000.

• Miller, Andy. "The Oeridian Lesser Gods, Part III: Telchur and Rudd." Dragon #265. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1999.

• Noonan, David. Complete Divine. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2004.

• Sargent, Carl. From the Ashes. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1992.

Exterbal link

• Telchur at Wikipedia.