Church of Zhakata

Zhakata is a false god that was dreamed up by Yagno Petrovna. His religion, as it is, is the state religion and dominates the barren island of terror known as G'Henna.

Doctrine

Zhakata has two forms: the Provider or Devourer; benevolent or evil, respectively. Before the Grand Conjunction and Petrovna's foolish attempt to summon Zhakata, he was either form as Petrovna saw fit. After the summoning episode -- which actually brought forth a demon who ravaged the land before being defeated -- Zhakata has permanently been labeled by his faithful as the Devourer. All food and surplus goes to Zhakata first (in reality, his false clergy) and the rest gets handed to the starving populace as "Zhakata's Dole". Zhakata demands that at least one family member starve to death to prove their faith. The victim of this religious act has his skull removed from the body, opened, and then dried out to be transformed into a grotesque "fasting cup" that Zhakata adherents offer to guests.

The Truth

Zhakata does not exist, even the powerful demon that Petrovna summoned informed him of this. After this encounter, Petrovna's faith was shaken even more; he declared that Zhakata existed only as "the Devourer" and any cleric or person who worshipped "the Provider" aspect are heretics to be killed.

All spells granted to either side of Zhakata's faith are granted by the Dark Powers. A priest of Zhakata who ends up in the Prime Material Plane will have no magical powers whatsoever. Then again, this hypothesis could only be tested and confirmed by a priest of Zhakata who escaped the Land of Mists and then returned to it to share the results of the experiment. In different terms, the DC for a Knowledge Check that reveals this information is going to be high. For a parallel situation, see The Lawgiver and particularly the Church of the Lawgiver as Bane is in fact dead but the only evidence of this that has emerged was when the walls of Ravenloft collapsed during the Grand Conjunction.

		Ravenloft Third Edition Circle of Darkness
		Ravenloft Third Edition - p54
		Ravenloft Third Edition - p54
		Ravenloft Third Edition - pp53-54,167-168 Domains of Dread - pp85-88 Circle of Darkness - Throughout Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens - pp38-39 Realm of Terror - p70,110
		The Devourer The Provider