Best of Greyhawk VII - Le Monde de Greyhawk

Blackmailing is a practice of the Perfantine. They regularly "trade" information. However, this practice isvery carefully managed so as not to harm the temple's reputation. No member of the Perfantine may perform blackmailmore than once per year. This practice is euphemistically called the Rite of the Friendly Whisper.Similarly, usury is a practice of the Mezzani. They will "finance" trade deals for 25%, even 50%, interest,using as heavy handed collectors as any moneylender or loanshark. Again, this practice is carefully regulated. Nomember of the Mezzanni may charge usurious rates more than once in a month. This practice is euphemisticallyknown as the Tithing Rite.Temples of Zilchus tend to be very powerful even if not large. They use their influence to the faith'sadvantage. However, they are also very civic minded. A temple will readily spend funds to improve city services ordefenses. Every year on the 15th of Flocktime, Zilchus' high holy day is celebrated by a huge public feast open toeveryone.There is a reason for this largess. Each temple of Zilchus is competing for a singular honor. When theOeridians migrated to the Flaneass, they left behind the Great Temple of Zilchus. A new one has never beenconstructed. It is believed that Zilchus will manifest his avatar to dictate where the new Great Temple will be built.Every temple strives to prove worthy of this honor and tries to make its city a suitable site in Zilchus' eyes.Requirements for Zilchus' PriestsAB - standard; AL - Lawful Neutral; WP - Mace, Flail; AR - Scale, chased in brass, silver or gold; TU - As cleric onelevel lower; RA - This is discussed in the section discussing the three Orders.SP - (All Orders) All, Combat, Healing, Protection, WardsCommandrol - LawPerfant - Charm (Note: Perfantine do not have access to Divination, reducing the danger of the Rite of theFriendly Whisper)Mezzann - DivinationPW -1st - Every priest of Zilchus gains one additional spell that must be chosen from that priest's Order specificsphere.5th - Tongues10th - Shout15th - Power Word, StunQSamanthaSubj: Procan and Zilchus 95-10-03 11:37:49 ESTFrom: MB DrapierFirst off, I loved QSam's work on Procan and Zilchus. Thanks for the design work, Sam!I also have some questions/emendations. I'm not sure I like the grisly revenge ceremonies associated withProcan, or the ritual drowning business. In my world, Procan is a god much like Poseidon--revered for his power butnot widely worshipped, or taken as a patron. He is chaotic and unpredictable, quick to anger as QSam describes, butnot likely to vent that anger in ritualistic ways. Offensive acts against the temple are not punished merely byferreting out the individual, but by disasters visited on the community as a whole until Procan is placated.In my WoG, most sea-faring folk worship Thyrr the Mariner, who is the liegeman of Procan. Like Procan,Thyrr tends to be wild, but he is more human as well. Centers for the worship of Procan are few, while the temples ofThyrr are many. The priests of Procan also tend to stay away from direct involvement in human affairs. They areconsulted, but tend to stay a bit aloof.I liked QSam's Zilchus a lot, too. In my campaigns as well, Zilchus presides over contracts and borrowingand lending. I don't know about the blackmail--that seems to be an unlawful use of money. and the idea ofinformation for money (while clear enough to those of us in the computer age) seems a bit too abstract for the priestsof Zilchus, who I think are concerned with real value, stable and measurable (or relatively so). No alienation of valuefor the followers of this god.I wonder what the relation of these gods to undead is as well. QSam mentions the sea zombies, and I guesslacedon, etc. falling to Procan as lord of the Oceans. But what about Zilchus--one part of me says that as a god ofthe living and their living trade relations, unlife would be inimical to Zilchus. But as a god of contracts, it would seemthat he should be able to take control of undead (at least those of lawful ilk) for his own ends. Are there restrictions?Perhaps the priests of Procan can only command those undead who are connected with the water, while Zilchus canonly command those of lawful sort?