Gruumsh (/gruːmʃ/)

Gruumsh (a.k.a. He Who Never Sleeps, He Who Watches, The One-Eyed God, The One-Eye, The Cursed One, First Power of the Orcs)

Gruumsh is the patron god of the Orc race and greater god of the orc pantheon. He is named "He Who Never Sleeps" for he is said to never tire, and symbolized with an ever-open eye to represent the orc belief that he watched over them all, judging the worth of each and every one of their kind. Gruumsh created the orcs and guided their destiny with the aid of his divine subordinates, ruling over orcish mortals and gods alike as their unquestioned patriarch. Long ago he swore that orcs would rule the world, and since then had driven his people to wage endless holy war in the name of his divine wrath.

Divine Domains

Tempest, War

Divine Symbols & Sigils

A single Eye

Physical Description

Identifying Characteristics

One eye missing

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Gruumsh's origins were shrouded in the myths and legends of pre-history, though one tale bandied about by particularly dauntless theologians claimed a link to his archenemy Corellon. According to the legend, Corellon and Gruumsh were twin brothers (though Corellon slightly older) created by a primogenitor deity since lost to history. Some degree of clairvoyance was within this being's purview, and it foresaw a war that would engulf the gods. This forgotten deity believed its sons would be able to turn the tides in their favor, and sacrificed itself so that its children could live.
Whether or not this tale was true, part of the reason Gruumsh and Corellon hated each other was that they diametric opposites. Where Corellon had allegedly been imbued with intelligence and light, Gruumsh was given savagery and darkness. Corellon was graceful where Gruumsh was brutal and fair where he was wanton, peerlessly agile where he was tirelessly mighty and vital, one brother reason and beauty and the other rage and ugliness. Corellon was blessed with the power to create, while Gruumsh could only destroy. Furthermore, the deity granted arcane magic to Corellon, knowing he would have the wisdom and care to deliver it to mortals, while seeding in Gruumsh a spark of divine prescience out of great compassion for its less intelligent and attractive son.
Despite being cast as mirror images of each other or divine echoes of the same being, direct parallels between the two did not always line up properly or could be confusing. Some claimed Corellon possessed "excellence", or that one of Gruumsh's contrasting traits was "chaos". There was no knowing the truth of this origin myth and asking either Elves or orcs would be unwise as both considered this legend to be heresy. No matter their origins, however, none would deny that a vicious rivalry had always existed between the two.
Though Gruumsh and Corellon remained leery of each other, sparring and coming to blows time and again, the eternal hatred between the two had not yet been realized. At one point, Gruumsh tried to destroy Arvandor (possibly located in the Feywild at this point) before the realm could be built, and so Corellon met him in battle atop a mountain. Though some members of the Seldarine existed by this point, Corellon wished to face Gruumsh in a one-on-one duel, and managed to come out the victor, Gruumsh's blood scalding the land for miles around and turning it into a sizzling stretch of blackened badlands. Yet even this was not what truly sparked the unceasing enmity between them.

Divine Classification

Deity

Religions

• Kharism

Alignment

Chaotic Evil

Species

Deity

Ethnicity

Chudun

Church/Cult

Kharism

Current Residence

Nishrek

Gender

male

Eyes

One Yellow

Height

10 feet

Quotes & Catchphrases

No! You lie! You have rigged the drawing of lots, hoping to cheat me and my followers. But One-Eye never sleeps; One-Eye sees all. There is a place for orcs to dwell... here! And here! And here again! There! There is where the orcs shall dwell! And they shall survive, and multiply, and grow stronger. And a day will come when they cover the world, and they shall slay all of your collected peoples! Orcs shall inherit the world you sought to cheat me of!

— A telling of Gruumsh's mythical declaration of war against the other gods.

Belief/Deity

Kharism

Aligned Organization

Gilukhelian Theocracy