Tharizdun, the Chained Oblivion is the mad deity of destruction and one of the Elder Evils. It dreams the infinite Abyss and its demon hordes into being, and dreams aberrations into being beneath Exandria.[3]
Appearance[]
Tharizdun is depicted, if at all, as "a creature of rolling, hungry ink and darkness",[5] a spreading cloud of lightless destruction. It is endless, black, inky, filled with teeth and malice, laughter and hatred. While the other entities in the Pantheon have different interpretations of how they are depicted in artwork, tapestries, and tomes, every record of Tharizdun is amorphous and without physical manifestation.[6]
Personality[]
The Chained Oblivion is not best understood as a god like the others. Its "mind" is profoundly alien,[7] and does not carefully form complicated plots. It is a primal, subconscious force of annihilation that insidiously corrupts what it can to undermine everything, opportunistically masquerading in the forms of what other minds desire, and seeping in to twist those minds' intent and perspective toward the Oblivion's own destructive ends.[8]
History[]
The Founding and earlier events[]
Tharizdun is an ancient entity, possibly older than even the Protean Gods who arrived on the Material Plane around the same time. The Chained Oblivion didn't come with the others from Tengar, but arrived later.[9] During the age of the Founding, the Primordials' slaughter of the mortal races the creator gods had formed drew the attention of the demons of the Abyss, who poured into the world of Exandria to feast on the carrion.[5] According to the incomplete records in the Valley Archive of the Cobalt Soul in Zadash, the Chained Oblivion never completely arrived, but began to spill through onto Exandria; before it could complete the transition, it was banished[10] by the Prime Deities, who thought they had locked it away securely.[5]
Age of Arcanum[]
During the Age of Arcanum, a priest of the Chained Oblivion, Acek Orattim, made his base in Gatshadow Mountain,[11] under which the Chained Oblivion had been imprisoned since the Founding.[5] The priest channeled the Chained Oblivion's power, causing Gatshadow to grow notably in height compared to the other Cliffkeep Mountains and grow a maze of tunnels within. From Gatshadow, Orattim spread his evil corruption across the region.[12]
Before the Calamity, the Betrayer Gods each forged a sentient weapon with the life force of a greater fiend: the Arms of the Betrayers.[13] Tharizdun forged a reality-warping stone dagger called the Blade of Broken Mirrors using the life force of a glabrezu.[14]
Official art of Ioun battling Tharizdun, by Wesley Griffith.[art 5]
During the Calamity, the Chained Oblivion was released once more onto the Material Plane, causing untold destruction and chaos.[5][9] Once again, it began to spill onto the Material Plane, and grew and grew, but multiple Prime Deities worked together quickly to stop it.[15]
Official art of Pelor battling Tharizdun, by Svetoslav Petrov from Critical Role: Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 4.[art 6]
Near the end of the Calamity,[16] one of the climactic fights of the war came about when the Prime Deities sought to banish the Chained Oblivion. The All-Hammer used the Core Anvil to craft the Prime Trammels used in the Rites of Prime Banishment.[17] The Knowing Mistress baited Tharizdun to her central temple, resulting in her near-destruction and causing her temple to sink beneath the earth in her sorrow.[18] With the blessing of the Changebringer, the Prime Deities fought Tharizdun and attached four Prime Trammels to it, and the Dawnfather struck a telling blow and prevailed in a spectacularly violent battle with the mad god.[19][20][21] Badly defeated and wounded, Tharizdun retreated to Acek Orattim's realm, but the Dawnfather chased and banished Tharizdun there, beneath Gatshadow. Acek was rumored to be so suffused with his master's power that the divine banishment tore the priest's body apart.[22]
During that last chase before its banishment, a fragment of the Chained Oblivion's power fell into the ocean in the newly formed Shearing Channel, gestating for eons, and eventually mutated a kraken living there.[23][24]
Era of Reclamation[]
It is said that six sets of divine shackles hold the Chained Oblivion at the bottom of Abyss, their power anchored somewhere in Exandria. The locations of each shackle fane are closely guarded secrets within the highest clergy of the Dawnfather and the Knowing Mistress,[25] although one is located in the crypt deep beneath the Chantry of the Dawn in Rexxentrum.[26][27] It is feared that the nature of Tharizdun, being unlike the other divinities, could shatter the Divine Gate alone if unleashed. No one knows how few shackles must remain to keep it at bay.[28]
When the Spider Queen was banished early in the Calamity, her drow fled the surface world to rebuild underground. In Tal'Dorei, the Chained Oblivion took advantage of the Spider Queen's reduced influence: it began to whisper to the drow nobility, and its aberrations subtly besieged the drow civilization in the darkness. By 812 PD, the drow of Ruhn-Shak were on the edge of utter dissolution, tearing themselves apart with paranoia-driven violence and trying ever more desperately to clamp down on the chaos.[29]
Meanwhile, the re-formation of Cognouza into a broken collection of many minds had caught Tharizdun's attention, and the mad god helped Cognouza along and influenced the form it took. Similarly, Tharizdun, sensing opportunity in what Obann wanted, allowed Obann to imagine into being a manifestation of Tharizdun's influence in the form of the "Angel of Irons". In both cases, the influence was supposed to subtly lead toward Tharizdun's broad goals.[8]
Kingsley Tealeaf's dreams of his confinement and escape from Lucien included memories of strange black chains that invisibly wove through Cognouza, now broken, the sound of them shattering between worlds, and the angry, unknowable, primal, ancient cry that he could never forget.[30] This represented the loss of Tharizdun's investment in the city.[31]
In 843 PD the main pantheon attended the meeting in which Bells Hells and the Matron of Ravens proposed to use the latter's Rites of Catatheosis to turn them into mortals and avoid Predathos. When it was being discussed if it was a good alternative to oblivion, one of the Betrayer Gods, triggered, asked how would that plan affect Tharizdun; in response the Raven Queen declared that the entity wasn't part of their "family" so it would remain sealed, with the gods and their servants continuing making sure it wouldn't be released. Every deity present there was relieved to hear that.[32]
Worship[]
Those who are foolhardy enough to follow such twisting destruction as the Chained Oblivion are often spurned, hateful, and chaotic souls who fall through the cracks of society. A bit of inherent madness left unchecked opens the door to the creeping Void that draws those who worship this entity. The characteristics of the Chained Oblivion’s influence are bouts of uncontrollable hunger, uncharacteristic aggression, and eventually violent mania. The higher acolytes of the Chained Oblivion, as part of their ritual of ascension and to show their true faith, often remove their eyes so they can peer through shadow and light with its boon.[33]
The Chained Oblivion and its followers often deceive other sects into aiding their efforts by creating a false idol entirely. Its intent, as best can be ascertained, is to consume and destroy.[34]
Commandments of the Chained Oblivion[]
Commandments of the Chained Oblivion
Offer light and life into its all-consuming maw so that it may surpass all divinities and be freed.
Uncover, restore, and exalt forgotten shrines and relics in its honor.
Ruin and raze the realms to hasten the arrival of the Epoch of Ends.
Known worshipers[]
- Acek Orattim – Priest during the Age of Arcanum and the Calamity.[12]
- Jayne Merriweather
- Angel of Irons cult
- Obann – Obann was not aware of the true identity of the Angel of Irons until he failed to break the Fane, after which he was destroyed and what remained of him twisted into Obann the Punished.
- Vence Nuthaleus – Vence did not show signs of knowing the true nature of the cult of the Angel of Irons. He collaborated with fellow cultists Respa and Adeen in an attempt to break one of the fanes holding Tharizdun in the bottom of the Abyss.
- Cardinal Respa - Cardinal in the Chantry of the Dawn. Cardinal Respa led several cultists in a prayer of worship for the Angel of Irons and hoping for its release.
One individual, Adeen Tasithar, confessed to aiding the Angel of Irons cult, but seemed to be unaware of why and how he did it and genuinely horrified by his actions, even when talking to who he thought was Vence.
Appearances and mentions[]
- Exandria Unlimited: Divergence
- "Give and Take" (E4x01), mentioned only
- Campaign One
- "Clash at Daxio" (1x77), mentioned only (first mentioned)
- "Thar Amphala" (1x101), mentioned only
- "Elysium" (1x104), mentioned only
- "The Fear of Isolation" (1x105), mentioned only
- "The Endless Atheneum" (1x106), mentioned only
- Campaign Two
- "The King's Cage" (2x69), mentioned only
- "Dark Bargains" (2x83) (first appearance)
- "Titles and Tattoos" (2x84), mentioned only
- "The Cathedral" (2x86)
- "Punishment and Politics" (2x87), mentioned only
- "Unwanted Reunions" (2x88), mentioned only
- "Bathhouses and Bastions" (2x90), mentioned only
- "Devoutness and Dicks" (2x107), mentioned only
- "Dinner with the Devil" (2x110), mentioned only
- Campaign Three
- "A New Age Begins" (3x121), mentioned only
- Specials
- "Critical Role: Bar Room Blitz" (Sx21), mentioned only
- Critical Role: Vox Machina - Stories Untold, mentioned only
Trivia[]
- The epic-level adventure hook Scion of Oblivion, appearing both in the original Critical Role: Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting and in Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, involves the kraken mutated by the Oblivion's power. The creature, between the defeat of the Chroma Conclave and 836 PD, has been haunting the region, mutating sailors, ships, and sea creatures into terrible abominations, and causing the clouds over the channel to rain thick, ichorous black droplets; apparently this monstrosity has been gathering an army for some kind of attack.[23][24]
- The Chained Oblivion might be the direct creator of Omentis, Scion of Ruin. Although this has not been confirmed, there is evidence in favor of the theory. Most obviously, Omentis used an ability called "Ire of Oblivion". Moreover, Trent Ikithon (who freed Omentis from its prison) said he had been called to the Archive of the Cobalt Soul in Rexxentrum to "take of its blessing and release one of its forgotten nightmares",[36] and the Chained Oblivion is known for manipulating people through their own causes, like it did with Obann and the Angel of Irons cult.
- Some of its darkness was still present in the soil in which the Sun Tree was planted, giving it a dread for danger and death.[37]
- Predathos can't sense Tharizdun, since it is not the kin of the other gods.[38]
- After the events of "A New Age Begins" (3x121) the Chained Oblivion is the only member of the main pantheon who remains as it was before the Red Solstice.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 27.
- ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 281.
- ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 28. See also p. 281.
- ↑ See "Dark Bargains" (2x83) at 4:07:51.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 19.
- ↑ See "Titles and Tattoos" (2x84) at 2:50:27.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, pp. 19–21.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 See "Critical Role Campaign 2 Wrap Up" (Sx56) from 2:16:05 through 2:19:22.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 See CR Cooldown - C3 E103 (subscription required), where Matt states: "In the middle of all of this, the Chained Oblivion just kind of– which is its own entity that technically is considered part of the Pantheon from a "We have to categorize these together," but is not part of whatever the gods are. It is just more of a cosmic horror entity that barreled in in the middle of all this, and everyone went like, "AHHH! Who are you!? No! No! No! No!" (transcript).
- ↑ See "Titles and Tattoos" (2x84) at 2:51:59.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 63.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, pp. 63–64.
- ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 30.
- ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, pp. 30–31. See also p. 275.
- ↑ See "Titles and Tattoos" (2x84) at 2:52:30.
- ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 177.
- ↑ See "The Endless Atheneum" (1x106) at 1:08:57.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 51.
- ↑ See "The Endless Atheneum" (1x106) from 1:08:57 through 1:09:55.
- ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 28. Ioun led the way, allowing "the other Prime Deities" (plural) to shackle the Chained Oblivion.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 95.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, pp. 77–78. See also p. 95.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 48.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 174.
- ↑ See "Titles and Tattoos" (2x84) at 2:52:50.
- ↑ See "Titles and Tattoos" (2x84) at 3:26:02.
- ↑ Although Rexxentrum was founded post-Calamity, it was built on the site of an ancient temple to Pelor. See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 107.
- ↑ See "Titles and Tattoos" (2x84) at 2:53:22.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, pp. 23–24. See also p. 21.
- ↑ See "Fond Farewells" (2x141) at 6:55:22.
- ↑ See "Critical Role Campaign 2 Wrap Up" (Sx56) from 2:16:05 through 2:19:22.
- ↑ See "A New Age Begins" (3x121).
- ↑ See "Titles and Tattoos" (2x84) at 0:22:06.
- ↑ See "Titles and Tattoos" (2x84) at 0:22:27.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 36.
- ↑ See "The Mighty Nein Reunion: Echoes of the Solstice" (Sx79) at 2:14:43.
- ↑ Critical Role: Vox Machina - Stories Untold, Under the Golden Boughs.
- ↑ See "A New Age Begins" (3x121) at 1:05:35.
Art:
- ↑ Symbol of the Chained Oblivion from Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn.
- ↑ Symbol of the Chained Oblivion from Explorer's Guide to Wildemount by Claudio Pozas. (source)
- ↑ Symbol of the Chained Oblivion from Critical Role: Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting.
- ↑ Fan art of the Chained Oblivion, by Northyme (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Official art of Ioun battling Tharizdun, by Wesley Griffith (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Official art of Pelor battling Tharizdun, by Svetoslav Petrov from Critical Role: Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 4. This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
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