Telchur is the Oeridian god of Winter, Cold, and the North Wind.
Telchur's attitude is that cold separates the weak from the strong, checks unbridled passions and overabundant life. Whenever cold wind blows out the fire of hope, whenever snow covers the farme's field in white silence, Telchur is there. Telchur is said to prefer a frozen forest's calm tranquility to the sound of an icy wind screaming through the mountains.
Telchur is the bitterest of Procan's children. Resenting being assigned the coldest and bleakest months of the year, he shuns his family to associate with strange beings (including noble slaadi, the Wolf Lord, and the arch-devil Belial).
Telchur's followers seek to placate him more than worship him. Farmers especially offer him sacrifice to keep him complacent, and away from vulnerable crops. They worship him as part of a conglomerate of agricultural gods known as the Velaeri.
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Telchur's priests tend to be brooding and withdrawn.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. 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. They prefer quietude and peace, praying to their god as the sun sets and the cold darkness overtakes the land.
Priests who are specifically dedicated to Telchur recieve gifts of winter, cold, wind, strength, and death.
Vestments
Priest wear large cloaks of white fur over light blue robes or other apparel.
Temples
Places of worship to Telchur are often dedicated to the Velaeri as a whole, and are scattered throughout Oerth. "Natural" temples to Telchur are caves or windbreaks in the snow; they seldom outlast the winter, and are reconsecrated the following autumn.
Several prominent temples exist to Telchur on Oerth. The Frost Palace, in Blackmoor, is constructed of white marble, with walls ten feet thick. The Hanging Glacier of Alicedran, in the Corusk Mountains, is also a sacred site, said to have great wards. Previously, Iceminster, a temple of wood stood in Kaport Bay in the North Province, but during an especially harsh winter, it was torn down and used by the people as firewood.
Rituals
Telchurian priests pray just after darkness falls.
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.
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.
Telchur is depicted as a dark-eyed, gaunt man with and a long beard of icicles. The God of Winter is bitter and brooding, striking at his enemies from the back of a winged albino bull with his icy shortspear. He is also represented with an axe made of ice, Vexxin, as tall as he is; with a great club of bronzewood called Tla; or with a broadsword called Issai.
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 emnity 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.
Mythology
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.
