Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Commentary On 'The Priests of The Golden Peacock' in Kuntz & Ward's 'Gods,Demi-gods, & Heroes'

 So while going through Kuntz & Ward's 'Gods,Demi-gods, & Heroes' last night came acrossthis  reference to; "PRIESTS OF THE GOLDEN PEACOCK As a cleric These evil priests never rise higher than Bishop as per D&D. They have the power from the third level on to hide in shadows as a master thief." within the Robert E. Howard Hyboria section. Priests of the Golden Peacock are from Robert E. Howard's 'Dig Me No Grave'. If we read through the story the Fausten bargain of John Grymlann is a pretty straight forward affair. You get two hundred & fifty years of life, wealth, & eternal damnation with Milk Tous feeding on your soul for eternity. 





And there is zero doubt that the priests of the order of the golden peacock are pure evil. Reading through, 'Dig Me No Grave' the city of Koth is mentioned at least three times. Now Koth was a thriving kingdom in the Hyborian age but something horrid happened to it allowing Great Old One Malik Tous. According to the H.P. Lovecraft Wiki; " In Conan the barbarian's world, Koth is an ancient Hyborian kingdom. (CIRCLE: "The Hyborian Age" Robert E. Howard) The city of Koth could reside in this kingdom or be a remnant of it." In my own head canon the city of Koth was coming to its end & made a fausten bargain with Malik Tous. The Great Old claimed the place as his literal cold Hell on Earth. And his priests roam far & wide across the multiverse spreading his message of rebellion & corruption using their abilities to claim souls & spread chaos. 
If we're using Jason Vey's Age of Conan supplement Secrets of the Archeon then those dalleying with 
Malik Tous are going to be on the rough end of the corruption rules. And this is reflected in the fate of John Kirowan"Dig Me No Grave" mentions many mythos elements including Yog-SothothKoth and Yuggoth.
The Golden Peacock it's is no friend of mankind & personally even though I fit's the bill isn't an avitar of  Nyarlathotep. Personally I believe this entity is it's own entity another among numerous Lovecraftian horrors out in the world. 

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