THE GREAT CHURCH OF FURTHERMOOR

[main game bit below 2nd image]

from Holmes Basic equipment list

The Great Church was an early TSR D&D religion based on Christianity. For instance, in OD&D & Holmes Basic, Cleric "symbols" were crosses. Think Hammer Horror & Peter Cushing. I included the Great Church in Furthermoor b/c of Farned of the Great Church, an NPC used from an old module pre-gen. Now, we have Guerrand, a paladin of the Great Church, as well as he & Grego's quest to locate the book, Dark Genesis of the Great Church's Underside. I have no clue of the specifics of the old D&D Great Church (if there were any), except for Lawfulness, but I dig the possibilities. What follows is what the Great Church of Furthermoor stands for in Wild Earth. If you have any ideas to add, lemme know.

from R. Crumb's Genesis, as is below image

The Great Church believes humans were created on Wild Earth, in their God Jalopinet's likeness, w/ an origin similar to the traditional "Adam & Eve" story, in a garden called Eden, in East Furthermoor. Jalopinet, being all Lawful, created Adam & Eve to tend the garden, but tempted & drawn from its borders by strange fires & beings (Lizard Men, Troglodytes, etc.) created by something other than Jalopinet, Adam & Eve ventured from the garden, finding that as Jalopinet had warned them, once out, they were unable to go back in, a flaming & whirling sword blocking their path, three guardian beasts @ the sides. Soon, they were bound by the Lizard Men. It would be anywhere between one & thirteen years (stories differ) before they would escape the Lizard Men, traveling far into the west until coming upon a beautiful place to settle, north of a bay*. After much prayer to Jalopinet, pleading for forgiveness, Adam & Eve, & their children, received magical abilities daily, & as chaotic forces encroached on their settlement, they realized power in the Symbol of the Crossroads, a natural cross which had appeared as roads going N, E, W & S. Eventually, a few hundred years later, the largest, most grandiose church...the Great Church...was built @ this storied Crossroads.

As the bard Robert Johnson, from Avalon, once sang:

I went to the crossroad, fell down on my knees
I went to the crossroad, fell down on my knees
Asked the Lord above, Have mercy, now save poor Bob, if you please

*Many ancient books tell the tale of Adam & Eve's escape & flight & all of them speak of other demi-human races coming to their aid. Different tales tell of different friends, though all taken together, Adam & Eve had contact w/ most races of Wild Earth: Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, etc.

ERIC TALBOT & THE GREAT CHURCH

The town of Talbot was originally referred to as Talbot's Fee & was land given to Dagwood Talbot by King Stamos after Dagwood's admirable leadership during the Shadow War in NW Furthermoor, which ultimately led to human victory.

Dagwood Talbot

Dagwood, along w/ his wife Gesturine, had seven children: 2 sons, Zimbo & Kinchen, & 5 daughters, Relay, Chimay, Light Heart, Lucky & Golden Bough. Zimbo being the oldest, was about nine years of age when Gesturine died from unknown causes. A few years later, Dagwood married Ellie Fintup, the eldest daughter to the Lord of Moor's End, & they had one child, a son, named Eric.

Zimbo & Kinchen Talbot

By the time Eric was 12, Zimbo & Kinchen were adventuring in foreign lands & almost done w/ an underground structure, built by orc slaves, called Crackenmore, that was just outside of Talbot's Fee on the northside (back then there was not much other than the Talbot's Estate, other than a small store & a few other houses). Eric, by his mother's influence, became quite involved w/ the Great Church, & after visiting Furthermoor City, decided to start a church in Talbot's Fee. Though after one month he only had five regular churchgoers, @ the same time, he began to venture out into the nearby lands, specifically up around the Enchanted Waste, where the Shadow War took place. He became a paladin for the Great Church & @ one point, helped save Talbot from a goblin attack when Zimbo & Kinchen were far away. 

Eric Talbot's Crest

But then something happened: some strange folk appeared one day outside the wood building that Eric had set up for his branch of the Great Church. They were looking for Zimbo. "Why didnt you join us?" Eric asked, as the other churchgoers trickled out, about fifteen of them... Eric was left alone w/ these hooded folk, five of them. "We need Zimbo," they said, "We need Zimbo now." This is the last thing that anyone (one of the churchgoers heard this as they watched from behind a tree) heard of Eric. The same person saw Eric welcome the hooded figures into the church, then left.

No one knows what happened to Eric, as he was never seen again. Some say the hooded folk were werewolves & that the Black Dog is in fact Eric Talbot (even though some stories of the BD date earlier than Eric's disappearance). Then there are those that believe that Eric learned something beneficial to himself & went w/ it. Many other ideas exist, but either way, the Great Church @ Talbot ended up in a large blaze by many of those that thought Eric's demise was witchcraft. It took some time to sell the land, but eventually, many years later, Tyler Jenson built Talbot's Gambling Hall in the spot. As they cleared the land & built, rumors rolled that a few tunnels were found that led below the ground... Some search was done, & some rooms were found below the ground, which served the militia for some time in regard to regulating for the town when certain characters appeared... That said, it is well known that there is a door down there that leads to places that no one - @ least no one that talks openly - has been...