Telchur

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Telchur is the Oeridian god of Winter, Cold, and the North Wind. His symbol is a leafless tree in a field of snow.

Publication history

Telchur was first detailed for the Dungeons & Dragons game in the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983), by Gary Gygax.^[1]

Telchur was one of the deities described in the From the Ashes set (1992), for the Greyhawk campaign.^[2] Telchur was featured in the article series on the Oeridian Lesser Gods in Dragon #265 (1999).^[3]

Telchur's role in the 3rd edition Greyhawk setting was defined in the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (2000).^[4] Telchur's priesthood is detailed for 3rd edition in Complete Divine (2004).^[5]

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 is also represented with Vexxin, an axe made of ice, as tall as he is; with a great club of bronzewood called Tla, or with a broadsword called Issai.

Telchur is said to prefer a frozen forest's calm tranquility to the sound of an icy wind screaming through the mountains.

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 enmity 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.

Realm

His realm in Pandesmos is called the Icicle Palace.

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, the Tiger Nomads, and the Wolf Nomads.

"Natural" temples to Telchur are often caves or windbreaks in the snow; they seldom outlast the winter, and are reconsecrated the following autumn.

The Iceminster, a temple to Telchur in Kaport Bay in the North Province, was torn down by the people for firewood in the winter of 246 CY.

The greatest remaining temple to Telchur stands in Blackmoor; called the Frost Palace, it is a great stone edifice built of white marble, with walls some ten feet thick. It lies 45 leagues east of Dantredun, on the edge of the Cold Marsh.

The Hanging Glacier of Alisedran, located in the Corusk Mountains, is considered a site sacred to Telchur.

Holy days

The midwinter week of Needfest is especially important to Telchur and his followers. On Great Moon's Glory (Readying 11th), offerings are often left to Telchur to request that he peacefully leave, and to speed the coming of his sister Atroa.

Myths and Legends

The Freezing of the World

One myth says that Velnius, who in this myth was his father, once left Telchur in charge of all the weather for a thousand years while the older god saw to other worlds in Greyspace. When the sky god returned to Oerth, he found Telchur had froze it completely, leaving room only for winter. Angered, he created three other siblings for the young god (Atroa, Sotillion, and Wenta), tasking them with ensuring that Telchur never again had so much control.

References

Additional reading

• Baur, Wolfgang, James Jacobs, and George Strayton. Frostburn. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2004.
• Brown, Anne. Greyhawk 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:
• Gygax, Gary, and Frank Mentzer. The Temple of Elemental Evil. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1985.