Pholtus

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Greyhawk Deity
Pholtus
Title(s) Pholtus of the Blinding Light
Home Plane The Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus
Power Level Intermediate
Alignment Lawful Good (Lawful Neutral)
Portfolio Light, Resolution, Law, Order, Inflexibility, Sun, Moons
Domains Good, Knowledge, Inquisition, Law, Sun
Alias(es) none
Superior none

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Pholtus of the Blinding Light is the Oeridian god of Light, Resolution, Law, Order, Inflexibility, the Sun, and the Moons. Pholtus's symbol is a silvery sun with a crescent moon on the lower right quadrant. His colors are white, silver and gold.

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[edit] Description

Pholtus himself appears as a tall, slender man with pale skin, flowing white hair and bright blue eyes burning with the fires of devotion. He always wears a silky white gown and a cassock trimmed with gold and silver, embroidered with suns and moons.

[edit] Realm

Pholtus is said to reside in The Path of Law, a domain in the Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus. Dragon #294 placed him in Mount Celestia instead.

[edit] Relationships

Pholtus has an unfriendly rivalry with Saint Cuthbert and despises the Oeridian wind deities (Atroa, Sotillion, Telchur, Velnius, and Wenta).

He is opposed by Trithereon and Xan Yae. Clerics of Norebo particularly enjoy bothering his followers.

[edit] Worshippers

Worshippers of Pholtus are called Pholtans. Some Pholtans claim that he set the sun and the moon in the sky and maintains them in their rigid procession to show all creatures the One True Way, a strict path which allows no deviation but absolutely assures rightness. Such claims are not regarded as doctrine.

Pholtus's church is the state religion of the Theocracy of the Pale, and is the only religion permitted or recognized within that nation. An even more severe Pholtine theocracy exists in the Bandit Kingdom state of Dimre. Pholtus's church is also widespread in Nyrond and the Shield Lands.

The faith of Pholtus often conflicts or works at cross purposes with that of Saint Cuthbert, whose alignment is also borderline Lawful Neutral/Lawful Good.

[edit] Clergy

Pholtus's clerics are most active in cities, where they seek to reveal the light to unbelievers. They act as lawyers, judges, and arbiters when they're not preaching about their god. They are never completely without light if they can help it. Magical light is preferred, but a candle or a piece of luminous fungus will serve if no other light is available.

[edit] Paladins

Paladins of Pholtus are known as templars or inquisitors. They consider questions of morality to be secondary to faithfulness to Pholtus and his One True Way. They seek the destruction of chaos, darkness, and evil, in that order. While some individual Pholtan paladins can be as merciful as paladins of Pelor or Heironeous, doubt and mercy are not considered virtues in their tradition, and many believe them to be weaknesses.

Pholtan paladins traditionally dress in white and pale yellow tunics of fine linen or silk, with silvery borders decorated with suns and moons or excerpts from Pholtan scripture.

The Knights Templar of the Theocracy of the Pale are the most infamous of Pholtus's paladins, combining Pholtan conviction with nationalistic zeal.

The Lords of the Gloaming are a group of Pholtan paladins who seek to destroy portals to the Lower Planes of existence. Saint Ceril the Relentless was among their number.

[edit] Temples and rituals

Buildings consecrated to Pholtus are white. Services include many brightly burning candles, long sermons and choruses of the worshippers' anthem, "O Blinding Light".

[edit] References

  • McComb, Colin. On Hallowed Ground (TSR, 1996)