Chrysostom

Chrysostom, the Golden Tongue is a revered High Priest of Verena.

History
On the day of Year’s Blessing, pilgrims swarm to the remote Temple of the Silver Well to hear the honey-toned sermons of the “Golden Tongue,” Chrysostom, High Priest of Verena. Blind and deaf, with a flowing, snowy beard, he preaches his goddess’s holy truths from his pulpit, his limbless torso supported by two of his most faithful minions. Half a century ago, goblins raided the temple, murdering its priests. The greenskins spared only Chrysostom. Pickings were meagre, useless scrolls and musty books, and the goblins were desperate to know the location of the temple’s gold. The fiends hacked at their captive’s limbs gouged out his eyes, and sliced off his ears. However, it was only when they tried to cut out his tongue that Chrysostom revealed the temple’s real treasure.

The white flame of Verena’s truth flickered on his tongue. Chrysostom began to talk, and though he spoke in the classical language of the ancients, the goblins understood every word. He revealed to them the utter worthlessness of their lives, and the universal hatred their kind inspired. He taught the concept of shame to the shameless, and in their self-loathing some fell on their own swords, while the rest fled to their lairs in despair. In time the temple was rebuilt, and the tale of the high priest’s miraculous deliverance spread throughout the Empire. Chrysostom is the epitome of what a high priest should aim to become: a person of unblemished tongue and devout heart.