Panzuriel

In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, Panzuriel is a deity of murder, confusion, subversion, and evil creatures of the sea. His symbol is a left footprint, a kraken's head, or a squid eye surrounded by nine tentacles.

Publication history

Panzuriel was first detailed in the book Monster Mythology (1992), including details about his priesthood.^[1]

Panzuriel appears in 3rd edition in Defenders of the Faith (2000).^[2] He is detailed in Dragon #334 (2005) in the article "The Ecology of the Kraken".^[3]

Description

Panzuriel manifests as a hunchbacked old humanoid figure with gills and green, scaly skin, which fades to yellow on his underbelly. His left leg ends in a crystalline foot, and he grasps a staff in his taloned hands to support himself as he limps onto dry land. He has shining green eyes.

Panzuriel may also manifest as a giant octopus.

Relationships

In prehistoric times, Panzuriel's influence was banished from the Prime Material Plane by Deep Sashelas and Procan. Bitter and enraged at his banishment, he directs his minions to work against sea elves and the servants of Procan and other sea deities opposed to his works.

Panzuriel is sometimes said to be the father of Laogzed, the product of his coupling with a reptilian demon.

Realm

Panzuriel's realm of Rezuriel, described as a stinking, fetid, briny pool, is located in Niflheim, the second gloom of the Gray Waste.

Dogma

Panzuriel seeks to lay havoc and waste to the seas, seeking revenge, torture, and murder of all his enemies.

Worshippers

Panzuriel is most commonly worshipped by evil aquatic races, such as koalinths, krakens, merrows, sahuagin, scrags, and vodyanoi. His worship is also growing among kopru, kuo-toa, and sea hags.

Clergy

Panzuriel's shamans and priests are, for the most part, mere rabble raised from a variety of different races. Their chief duty involves attacking all who opproach them, particularly aquatic elves. They sacrifice all magic items they acquire to their deity (although kraken priests are exempt from this commandment).

In order to become a cleric of Panzuriel, worshipers must sacrifice a sea elf in a ceremony known as the Endless Revenging.

Temples

The temples of Panzuriel are huge cave complexes or simple stone circles surrounding tentacled idols. Krakens sometimes force their slaves to toil for centuries creating trenches deep enough to uncover portals leading to Panzuriel's stygian realm.

Rituals

Prayers to Panzuriel take the form of droning chants which surface sailors, hearing them murmuring from the depths, call the "Wail of the Severed God."

Raiding and slaughter are the only rites that Panzuriel demands, however.

Myths and Legends

Creation

Although Panzuriel's worshippers generally have no creation myths of their own, other sources attribute to Panzuriel a protean creative power. According to myth, Panzuriel acts with the other gods to strengthen the evil races of the sea. Because the others accept Panzuriel's help, they grow increasingly under his control.

The Banishment of Panzuriel

It is said that Deep Sashelas battled Panzuriel in personal combat, severing his foot before banishing him from the mortal plane. This foot, unnoticed by the gods, settled on the ocean floor and has allowed the wicked god to slowly, over the eons, to reestablish his presence on Oerth, but only in the extreme depths.

References

Additional reading

• Boyd, Eric L. Demihuman Deities. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1998.