Luthic

Luthic is the orc goddess of caves and mate of Gruumsh, the patron of female orcs, healing, and home. The Cave Mother is their maternal paragon, raising her brood under the earth to be strong and vicious, and she fights with the savage determination of a mother bear to protect her children. She is the enduring bedrock on which orc culture rests, and the force of stability that keeps the tribe grounded when Gruumsh's rage threatens to blow them apart.

Description

Luthic appeared as an 8.5 feet (2.6 meters) tall, female orc with dark brown skin unprotected by any armor. Her skin tone was lighter around her nose and ears, while her hair and eyes were a dull shade of black. She also had black, 4 feet (1.2 meters) long claws, and was often thought to take on the guise of a giant cave bear.

Personality

Though she can hardly be said to be a kind figure, being known for her pure viciousness and easily provoked, nasty temper, Luthic is the most matronly (as befitting her role) and perhaps the least wicked of the orc gods. She smiles upon healing granted to the deserving (those injured in war) and deals with the wounded with terse efficiency. Few beings are as implacably dogged and fiercely protective as the Cave Mother, who would sooner rip apart any threat to her children with her bare, clawed hands than let anyone take them from her.

Despite her ferocity, Luthic is also cunning and wise, capable of manipulating others into serving her own ends. While Gruumsh sees his eternal war with goblinkind in Acheron as a chance for his people to combat an eager foe, allowing them to prove themselves to their gods, Luthic takes the long view of the conflict and can understand its cosmic implications. The lessons she imparts on her children are for all their survival, whether on the Material Plane or throughout the multiverse.

Divine Realm

In the Great Wheel cosmology, like most of the orc pantheon, Luthic dwells in Nishrek, the cube of Acheron where the orcs conduct their endless war against the goblinoids. Originally she, like Bahgtru and Ilneval, dwells on smaller cubes orbiting the primary one, but eventually she relocates to deep within the center of the main block. Her relatively tiny following, the Black Claw clan, remains independent of the others due to their control over healing and fertility magic.

In other cosmologies, where Nishrek is its own realm separate from Acheron, Luthic lives in the caverns beneath Gruumsh's iron fortress along with the female petitioners. Most of Nishrek is marred by eternal carnage, a warped reflection of the world twisted by orcish ideals of perfection where tribes constantly battle for supremacy and divine recognition. Luthic's followers do not participate in the conflict, instead, on occasion, tending to the wounded in the short time it takes before they recover (since the plane is permeated by positive energy, wounds heal faster).

Activities

Luthic dispatches avatars to heal orcs after great battles and sometimes to watch over and protect orcs during rituals of fertility. Hidden deep inside Nishrek, she also spreads plagues as she deems appropriate; anyone that abuses her name, orc or non-orc, she might curse with wasting disease or weaken their ability to handle sickness. Through her divisive ploys and fostered discord, she creates cracks in the order standing in the path of Gruumsh's desire for destruction.

Worshippers

Luthic was greatly feared by the followers of Gruumsh, for his worshipers believed her to be his servant because she embodied his desire to create confusion and mayhem. While the short-sighted followers of the One-Eyed God looked down on the female deity, Luthic was actually incredibly vital and proved herself to be much more useful than most males could conceive. It was Luthic's worshipers that raised young orcs to be warriors, and while Ilneval was the orc god of strategy, she was known to inspire orcs in their dreams with a red moon, granting them strategies greater than direct attacks. Her auspices communed with the feared followers of Yurtrus, and her priestesses brought orcs nearing their end to both him and Shargaas to be carried into death and the great unknown.

Few orcs directly prayed to Luthic, but she was among the most accepting of the orc gods and her clergy was prominent in most tribes, if only because she claimed the majority of female adherents. Males could also join despite her representation of the opposite sex, though they had be lawful evil as opposed to females who could be any evil, while nearly every other orc god permitted only male clerics. Males typically worshiped Luthic for her healing abilities and personal ferocity, and she was generally worshiped by orcs and half-orcs alike who desired safety, but her following was outwardly weak compared to most and subservient to that of Gruumsh. Still, the faithfulness of her devotees was enough to grant her plenty of power.

Luthic's particularly devoted also grew out and lacquered their nails in imitation of their goddess, which the Blood Moon Witch sometimes rewarded by making their claws as tough as iron, talons that they would learn to use as weapons just as Luthic did. The most powerful of the Cave Mother's disciples were the Claws of Luthic, who tended to the orc brood, raising them to be as strong and cruel as their parents, from deep within the caves. Given magic to heal, protect, and curse, Luthic's claws would keep the tribe together by any means necessary, whether by tradition and superstition, omen and ceremony, or fear and force. To be beaten and bloodied would only make them fight all the harder.

Dogma

Integral to the Cave Mother's teachings was of the importance of earth, with which she had a strong affinity. Life sprang forth from the ground and the caverns sheltered that life, for caves were the bastion of orc strength and a source of their valor, ensuring the race would survive as long as they stayed close to the earth (and Luthic with it). The followers of the Blood Moon Witch were to honor her wisdom, for her strength was at the core of an orc horde and an orc's bravery. Enduring the hardships of life, understanding one's position in the tribe, and doing one's part to strengthen and guarantee the tribe's survival against the predations of its rivals was paramount.

Furthermore, the Cave Mother was the the orc goddess of fertility, (moreso for females, with Gruumsh being prayed to for male virility) and Luthic demanded that orcs mated often and indiscriminately to ensure the race's hordes would swell each generation. She was said to dig the dwellings of her children herself, and her worshipers followed suit, digging deep into the caverns of their dens to create more living space for the desired, ever-expanding population while the rest of the tribe raided. In the hopes of having many children, Luthican orcs were known to rubbed dirt on themselves.

Rituals

The clerics and adepts of Luthic prayed for their spells daily, when the moon was highest in the sky. The holy days of Luthic were tied to the moon, particularly the new moon, which was symbolic of orc fertility. Luthican priests celebrated the Feast of the Moon as the Coming of the Winter Cave, since most tribes would have to retreat to Cave Mother's earthy embrace during the winter months, and during this festival much mating was performed and many children were conceived, adding to the ranks of future warriors. Speaking of The Blood Moon Witch was normally taboo for most, given her penchant for spreading sickness when her name was used inappropriately, but the savage priests of Gruumsh came out of their caves under blood moons to commit vile atrocities in Luthic's name.

Relationships

Despite fearing her claws, the other gods of the orc pantheon paid Luthic only a modicum of respect, and even then only because Luthic was Gruumsh's wife. Though outwardly servile to the male orc gods, the volatile goddess detested their behavior and only grudgingly accepted their placating arrogance. However, Luthic was in a more advantageous position than her officially lower status would suggest. In truth, she was one of the few beings able to bend the ears of Gruumsh and Bahgtru (despite being seen as Gruumsh's servant), could manipulate both, and wasn't shy about using this to her advantage, often getting her way through them.

While Gruumsh didn't give heed to his wife, their son, Bahgtru, certainly did. Too stupid to do so on his own, it was normally Gruumsh or Luthic that had to urge Bahgtru to send his avatar, and the Leg-Breaker trusted both his parents completely. Luthic was even closer to Bahgtru then Gruumsh was, and was actually able to countermand the One-Eyed God's orders to his son; if forced to choose between the two, Bahgtru would unfailingly side with his mother. Gruumsh, if only begrudgingly, tolerated this minor disobedience, as his son was otherwise loyal.

Luthic had a deep loathing of the traditional enemies of the orc pantheon, including the Morndinsamman, Seldarine, and goblinoid pantheon. However, she was also willing to engage in diplomacy with other gods, having supposedly been secretly communicating with the Witch Queen Hecate for assistance against the goblinoids. Relatedly, Hecate had managed to obtain the Eye of Gruumsh, the one shot out by Corellon, and had set up a trail of clues for Gruumsh to potentially find it, presuming he could figure them out.

By unknown means, Luthic secured the Eye, but did not give it to her husband. Luthic was actually involved in a secret romance with Grumbar, god of elemental earth, and eventually the eye was given to the Earth Lord to keep him from leaving in his own attempt to keep Luthic from her husband's wrath. Though Gruumsh eventually discovered the affair, the consequences were unknown. Grumbar aside, Ilneval also lusted after Luthic, but was afraid to act on the desire lest he anger He Who Watches.

Luthic's proxy was Tamurrda, a female orc with dusky white skin that ruled the shadowy caverns below Nishrek's surface and provided comfort and aid to those honorably wounded in battle, especially granting assistance to those of Luthic's Black Claw clan or Bahgtru's Broken Skull or Iron Fist clans. She was feared, hated, and respected for her powerful healing broths, restorative salves, and omens regarding the outcomes of strategies.

History

Were it not for the influence of Luthic and her followers, the orcs would likely be little more than small bands of marauding nomads barely able to scratch out a niche for themselves in the world, rather than a dangerous force able to muster hordes of warriors. Indeed, the first orcs to migrate to Toril were but feral savages, animalistic beings that sporadically and sloppily raided other civilizations, but were too busy warring amongst each other to be a serious threat to larger nations. The situation had been as such since the dawn of the elves and stayed that way thousands of years after the rise of the dwarves and humans, and only in more recent times, around -3800 DR, did the descendent population of those orcs form into actual tribes. Mother's Day

The orcs had been fighting a cosmic war with the goblins for eons on end, battling the minions of Maglubiyet for eons without resolution. Gruumsh was partially to blame for the poor state of his pantheon, for in his attempt to claim a plane for the orcs to call home (while refusing to yield to Maglubiyet's goblin legions) the orc pantheon had been forced to move across the multiverse. They had been reported as being native to the Nine Hells, Gehenna, and Acheron, and the dogged refusal of either side to admit defeat lead those who studied the war to believe it would never end.

The archmage Tzunk however, had a different perspective, noting that Maglubiyet had never faced such a bestially protective foe as Luthic before. If need be, the Cave Mother would take to the battlefield without hesitation and claw out Maglubiyet's beady eyes to protect her children, and Tzunk predicted that the war would end with Luthic the only one remaining, the Great Mother ascending to rule her warrior children.

Luthic

Lesser deity

Basic Information

Titles

The Cave Mother
Great Mother
Mother of Bahgtru
The Healer
The Blood Moon Witch

Pantheons

Orc

Serves

Gruumsh

Served By

Bahgtru

Attributes

Alignment

Neutral Evil

Symbol

Orc rune symbolizing home

Realm

Infinite Battlefield of Acheron/Avalas/Nishrek

Portfolio

Caves, Fertility, Healing, Home, Orc Females, Servitude, Wisdom

Favored Weapon

A hand with long claws (Claw bracer)

Following

Worshippers

Monks
Orc females
Runecasters

Alignments

LN, CN, NE

Domains

Community (Cooperation, Family, Home)
Earth (Caves)
Healing (-)

Favored Aspects

Animals/Plants

Bears
Cave bears
Dire bears
Bisons
Boars
Dire boars

Monsters

Delvers
Night hags
Thoqquas

Minerals

Kings' tears
Red tears
Star sapphires

Colors

Brown
Black

Manifest- ations

Claw marks in rock

Deep echo

Floating clawed hands

The magical darkening of an area

The sound of a crying orc child

Rumbling in a cave mouth

Wasting illness