Ghaunadaur

Ghaunadaur ( ) was a greater god of abominations, oozes, and outcasts believed to be touched by the Far Realm./ Most commonly referred to as That Which Lurks, Ghaunadaur was a member of the Dark Seldarine, the drow pantheon, but broke off following the War of the Spider Queen before rejoining after the Second Sundering.
==Description==
In avatar form, Ghaunadaur appeared as a reddish-purple giant slug, but at will it could alter its form into an amorphous free-flowing shape like a jelly, rear up into a giant roper with up to 10 long purple tentacles, or appear as a sticky green substance that emerged from the ground.
===Manifestations===
Although he was usually represented with an eye engraved in a purple disk, older manifestations could take shape in the form of a "Y". This symbol could appear as a demonstration of favor or could be found in ancient spaces devoted to the Lord of Slime.
==Personality==
Ghaunadaur was an unpredictable deity. False worshipers were sometimes rewarded by it, occasionally even with permanent magical boons, but they might just as well have been devoured by the Elder Eye without a second thought. Ghaunadaur enjoyed watching large horrible monsters as they hunted and devoured their prey, causing much suffering. When Ghaunadaur left the Inner Planes he was always silent, but some old records mention a gibbering and bestial language being spoken in the god's court. When communicating, Ghaunadaur used telepathy and kept its conversations blunt and simple.
==Relationships==
Ghaunadaur was thought to have no allies, but this was not always true, as the archomental Bwimb and the deity Moander were counted as his allies.
Conversely, Ghaunadaur's list of foes was extensive. He was an enemy of nearly every god associated with the Underdark as well as the entire Seldarine (for being a member of the Dark Seldarine), Malar, and Gargauth.
==Worshipers==
The church of Ghaunadaur consisted of cults scattered throughout the Underdark, each dominated by a single individual. There were only a few drow and aboleth cities that served as exceptions, with a more organized clergy. Clerics of Ghaunadaur were required to serve the Elder Eye completely and do whatever pleased it most. The main duty of Ghaundaur's clerics was to ensure, in any way necessary, that Ghaunadaur's altars were supplied with a steady supply of sacrifices. Clerics successful in these sacrifices were rewarded with magic power and items. Ghaunadaur enjoyed most of all those creatures that willingly offered themselves to it, whether or not they had been charmed or coerced by its clerics. Those clerics that succeeded in bringing willing sacrifices to Ghaunadaur's altars were its most favored and highest-ranked servants.
Ghaunadaur encouraged its clerics to familiarize themselves with using and creating acids, poisons, and alchemist's fire. All cloth furnishings in the temple and the clothing worn by its worshipers had to be of colors that pleased Ghaunadaur's eye, mostly shades of purple, green, black, and metallic colors. Many clerics also took training as fighters or enchanters.
Ghaunadaur didn't care much about the bonds that held its clergy together, and in accordance with his doctrine, clerics that murdered each other to attain higher status didn't displease the Ancient Eye.
Shrines and temples devoted to Ghaunadaur were foul. Rooms were often filled with fetid smells, mists, and slime trickling down the walls that made puddles and little pools. These manifestations would be strongest around the halls where sacrificial rituals would take place. The stench was so strong that others would perceive it as swimming through rotten sewage.
===Rituals===
Ghaunadaur's clergy prayed for their spells once per day at any time the local cult deemed important. The Elder Eye expected each prayer to be coupled with a sacrifice. It preferred living offerings, but when that was impossible it also accepted bones and food that were burned in oil while braziers of perfumed incense were burned as well. If the worshiper could not deliver any offerings to the deity, they were required to perform their prayer while holding one unprotected hand in an open flame.
Ghaunadans went on the Gathering, which consisted of incursions meant to kidnap and abduct sentient beings for the sacrificial altar of Ghaunadaur. These individuals were drugged and held under compulsion and pushed to walk up to the altar, where the leading cleric would pray and turn into slime. The slime then enveloped the victim and consumed them. This process could be repeated several times depending on the number of available subjects.
The prayers and rituals the Ghaunadans directed to the Lord of Slime were as ill-defined and amorphous as their god. Each cleric manifested prayers in the manner they saw fit and no cleric would suspect a worshiper of treachery or blasphemy for uttering nonsense or unintelligible gibberish.
==History==
According to Lolth, "Ghaunadaur was old even before Ao's time." He was a very ancient deity, rumored to have emerged from the primordial ooze itself. In that age, it was worshiped by the largest of slimes and other crawling creatures, many of which contained an alien intelligence. In a rage over some unknown transgression, however, Ghaunadaur struck most of them mad and took their intellects. As an unforeseen result, many of these worshipers ceased to exist, which caused the Elder Eye's power to collapse.
Only in later aeons did some evil beings turn to Ghaunadaur, looking for an alternative to the established deities.
Ghaunadaur was worshiped by some of the dark elves of Ilythiir beginning in the age of First Flowering and continuing through the Crown Wars. Later, Ghaunadaur became a member of the drow pantheon because of worship by drow disaffected with Lolth.
In 1379 DR, Ghaunadaur, finally fed up with Lolth, left the Demonweb Pits and created a new realm in the Deep Caverns.
==Appendix==
===Further Reading===
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===References===
===Connections===
de:Ghaunadaur
Category:Dark Seldarine
Category:Lesser deities
Category:Greater deities
Category:Chaotic evil deities
Category:Cavern domain deities
Category:Chaos domain deities
Category:Destruction domain deities
Category:Drow domain deities
Category:Earth domain deities
Category:Evil domain deities
Category:Hatred domain deities
Category:Madness domain deities
Category:Slime domain deities
Category:Seven Lost Gods of Westgate
Category:Great Old One patrons
Category:Inhabitants of the Swamp of Oblivion
Category:Inhabitants of the Inner Planes
Category:Inhabitants of the Great Wheel planes
Category:Inhabitants of the Demonweb Pits
Category:Inhabitants of the Fiendish Planes
Category:Inhabitants of the World Tree planes
Category:Inhabitants of the Dismal Caverns
Category:Inhabitants of the World Axis planes