Churg the Blessed

**Churg the Blessed** is a kuo-toa priest that once served as a *blib-sanvu* ('monitor') for the Sharran clerics of LoobliShar. Despite the rigid training he underwent to combat his racial madness, an incident with invading 'drow' led him to have delusions of a god he would come to call Shuraloolsu, a half-elf, half-crustacean deity whose goals and desires strongly conflicted with the Sharran teachings. His disagreements with his fellow kuo-toa eventually forced Churg to the surface, where he would begin his attempts to peacefully convert the peoples in and around the Sea of Falling Stars through good deeds and unprompted sermons.

Churg the Blessed was a player character in the one-shot *Breaking Umberlee's Resolve*, and might return for other modules in the Sea of Falling Stars.

## Description

Churg is a short and pudgy male kuo-toa, covered in a translucent layer of slime that seemed to both sticky and slippery, depending on where on his body it came from. He stands at around 5 feet tall (1.5 meters) and weighs about 160 pounds (72.5 kilograms). He has swamp green and light brown scales, as well as amber-colored fish eyes.

Due to being a kuo-toa, a species without eyelids, during his time on the surface he has worn large tinted goggles filled with salt water, in an attempt to block out the bright light of the sun and keep his own eyes from getting too dry. Aside from these goggles, all he wore on his body was a loin cloth, as well as fishing and traveling equipment. Churg was never seen without his *staff of the chrysaora*, a magic zurkhwood staff made to resemble the many tendrils of a jellyfish. When not using it in combat, Churg treated this prized staff like a walking cane.

## Personality

In his early youth and while he was in his prime, Churg was the epitome of Sharran monitor. Very capable of inflicting misery and misfortune, his unmerciful and pessimistic attitude from a young age drew the attention of the priests of Shar. Thus he was taken from the role of fisherman and trained as a *blib-sanvu*, becoming sadistic, disciplined, and zealous in a manner that made it clear he was also meant for the role of an enforcer. Placed under the command of the great illithid-priest Vrushnom, Churg personally condemned many of his brethren, innocent or guilty of crimes against Shar, to be consumed by his better with no problem whatsoever.

It was only as he aged that Churg began to change, his discipline fading and his racial madness starting cloud his thoughts more often. The monitor's mind finally broke when the upper city came under attack by outsiders, and he was inflicted with a drow poison that sent him into delirious sleep- with the last thing he saw being a half-drow, half-spider, lifting his body up to drain him of his blood as he faded into unconsciousness. Churg was forever changed by this moment, for his delirious dreams twisted its details almost immediately. Flooded with mad visions of a half pale elf, half crab woman bringing him into her embrace, Churg felt a strange comfort he had never been allowed to feel before under the strict Sharran doctrine of his people. Obsessed with the feeling and wanting to share that joy rather than the misery he was inflicting before, Churg lost the favor of Shar- though it hardly mattered to him by that point.

Churg today is still similarly obsessed with spread the peace and maternal love of 'Shuraloolsu', especially after being rejected by all the kuo-toa he met while traveling the Glimmersea. Although curious, compassionate, and kind, he lacks the ability to tell when his long preaching gets on the nerves of others- and he had a terrible tendency to interrupt others to ask questions or relate what they have said to his own experiences. Knowing from personal experience that most people are capable of changing their ways, Churg has adopted a personal doctrine of embracing all- even those he believes might not deserve it, so they may have the same opportunity to see Shuraloolsu's light. He is not completely forgiving, however, as he recognizes that some will take advantage of his compassion and never change. As a result, he has taken on a policy of 'ten embraces', though the meaning of this policy varies day-to-day. Sometimes this means Churg will give an individual ten chances to see the light, and on other days, it means he will spare ten individuals who reject his goddess, while showing little mercy to the eleventh.

## History

### Life in LoobliShar

Churg, like others of his kind, was hatched in a communal pond and was raised among the other common fingerlings as one fated for the position of tradesperson. Not being the spawn of the nobles or the greatest Archpriest of Shar, Churg never knew his own parents, not that it really mattered at all for someone spawned in the dark depths of LoobliShar. Surviving the culling process at a young age, he was considered mentally resistant and skilled, spending his first few years of life learning to fish in the depths of the Glimmersea for his own survival and for the foodstores of his people. He was a cruel, pessimistic and selfish fisherman, but more importantly to the rest of his kind, he was extremely resistant to insanity that plagued his people. This became known to others when a fishing excursion went sour, and Churg encountered a strange a rift in the depths of the Glimmersea that took him and others into the Abyssal realm of the Blood Tor. Churg not only survived the brief experience without going succumbing to madness, but he abandoned his fellows behind in the ream of blood-red waters.

For his selfishness and mental resilience, Churg was raised from the caste of commoner to be educated and trained by the monitors of the priesthood. His training turned Churg from a selfish and resilient fisher to a sadistic and conniving monk in service of Shar. He became the favorite enforcer of the illithid-priest Vrushnom, who used his skills in stealth, intrigue, and martial arts to brutally deal with Vrushnom's enemies. Churg enjoyed his position and his privilege, as he had gone from his simple early life to one of a feared Sharran monk, earning even the respect of the non kuo-toa residents of the Sharran city. Enjoying the dark intrigue that was usually reserved for just the priests of his dark lady, Churg even acted on his own, bringing secrets and rumors to Vrushnom's attention unprompted, desperately hoping for the chance to be sent out as a murderous enforcer. He never forgot his experience entering the Blood Tor, not because it molded him in any way, but because it had proved to those around him that he was worthy of advancement and worthy of greater power.

After decades of brutal service that served as Vrushnom's enforcer and sycophant, Churg began to become weaker as he aged. His once-resilient mind began to falter, and over time, he began to become as prone to fits of delusion as the rest of his kin. He kept this secret, of course, as his life under the teachings of the cruel Shar had taught him well to keep all of his weaknesses hideen. Vrushnom noticed, but the illithid could still use Churg for his own deeds, and when it was necessary, Vrushnom applied mental pressure to keep Churg's actions in line with his goals. Churg's mind stayed strong until the year 1486 DR, when it finally cracked under the pressure put on him by his age, heritage, and illithid superior. In that year, LoobliShar came under attack by driders and drow attempting to steal secrets of the Sharran faith from the city. During the attack, Churg was struck with drow poison, and in what should've been his final moments, he was caught in a deadly embrace by one of the attacking driders. In his poison-driven delusions he mistook the deadly grasp as a motherly embrace, and then slipped into unconsciousness.

Churg only survived his deadly experience with the drider because of his closeness to the illithid-priest Vrushnom, who healed his deadly injuries after discovering a drider feeding upon his greatest enforcer. Even the illithid could not wake Churg up from his following stupor, however, so he left Churg behind to continue the fight elsewhere. In these dreams and delusions, Churg imagined the drider as a beautiful pale elven woman with the lower body of a crab rather than a spider. He imagined her grasping pincers as both weapons for bringing peace, as well as her way of embracing others into her way of thought, her way of bringing them inner peace. When he awoke in truth and began to speak of his experience, he was ridiculed and labeled a heretic, and so he attempted to repress the experience. This attempt failed, as every night that followed, Churg saw the same elf-crab, offering him a chance to be her blessed prophet. Each time he saw her he came close to accepting her loving grasp, but always relented. It was not until the tenth night and offer that the kuo-toa monk realized he could not truly return to his life of needles cruelty and brutality, and he accepted his new goddess, Shuraloolsu, into his heart.

Churg made one last speech before the fisherman of LoobliShar of his new goddess, hoping to convince them of the error in their ways and offering them the same maternal love and acceptance of his new deity. He was rejected by the common kuo-toa just as he had been rejected by the Sharran clergy, and he then departed from his homeland, fully aware of the consequences that would follow if he chose to remain after his heretic preaching.

### Journeys in the Glimmersea

Leaving the Sharran teachings of his past didn't only cause a dramatic change in Churg's personality, it also greatly affected his abilities and a monitor. The first of his abilities to leave was his already-waning resistance to maddening effects, followed by his ability to infuse shadow and lightning into his unarmed strikes. Over time, however, these disappearing abilities were replaced with the minor clerical magicks of a priest, which Churg took as a sign of his goddess' love and approval. Feeling the need to proselytize and grow his lady's power, he journeyed into the Glimmersea, seeking more of his kind to preach to. First he brought word of his goddess to small settlements, usually those that worshiped the great Sea Mother. For a time he was tolerated in these settlements, for his goddess and theirs shared a superficial resemblance. Always, this would fall apart because of bickering over the authority of archpriests over Churg, who had taken the name 'the Blessed' and sought to be referred to as a prophet.

Ultimately, his attempts to convert his kind came to an end when the hopeful Churg brought his message to the village of Blessed Seahaven and began to be hunted by inquisitors of the Sea Mother. It was then that Churg realized his ultimate failing: he had been trying to convert his own kind, instead of the pale elves, who the Lady of Grasping Claws clearly favored. This realization began Churg's journey to the surface, as well as his mission to inform all of elvenkind of the great goddess who shared their beauty.

### Arrival in the Sea of Falling Stars

Using tunnels in the Upper Darklands, Churg arrived in the surface in the year 1490 DR. Hurt by the burning light of the sun, Churg spent most days resting and most nights traveling, going from fishing village to fishing village on the coast of the Sea of Falling Stars in his search for elves- for he had only known elves as dwellers on land. Unlike the villages of his own kind who always cast him out, villages of the surface considered Churg more of an oddity than a real threat, as most had not heard of the kuo-toa at all, believing him to perhaps be a Locathah.

After months of searching he had picked up the basics in Common, and by the year's end, he had finally encountered a surface elf, who he attempted to follow and convert. This elf was a wizard from far off lands, and although she tolerated Churg's presence for a time, she ultimately tired of his preaching and his insistence on converting her. She elected to teach him Elvish and send him on his way, making him another elf's problems. Learning of the sea elves did just that, as after his education was completed, Churg left his 'best friend' to bring the word of his goddess to the sea elves of the Sea of Falling Stars.

For two years, Churg traveled through the underwater realms of the Sea of Falling Stars, bringing his goddess to every village he was granted entry into- from the peaceful hamlets of the Locathah to the warring holds of the Koalinths. Whenever he encountered sea elves he would always wear out his welcome, but Churg never took it hard so long as he was able to bring peace, slimy hugs, and the word of his goddess to the sea elf villages he spent time in.

Eventually Churg became more comfortable visiting coastal settlements during the day after he commissioned a Turami craftsman to make him sea-water goggles that would keep his lidless eyes from drying out in the sun's light. It was during this time on the coasts that Churg acquired his signature *staff of the chrysaora*, which was crated when he combined his zhurkwood walking staff with magical elements of an abandoned temple of Olhydra.