Gorm Gulthyn

Fire Eyes, Lord of the Bronze Mask, the Eternally Vigilant

Gorm Gulthyn, also known as Fire Eyes, Lord of the Bronze Mask and the Eternally Vigilant, was a dwarven lesser deity who held the portfolios of defense and watchfulness and was the guardian of all dwarves.

Most dwarven enclaves stand in the path of aggressive Underdark enemies as they are built below the surface. The protectors of these realms venerated Gorm Gulthyn, the patron of watchfulness and defense. Gorm appeared as a humorless masked warrior with the goal of ensuring the safety of dwarven clanholds. He manifested on the Prime far more often than his companions in the Morndinsamman to defend the dwarven realms. These manifestations kept vigils on battlements, established traps and deadfalls in neighboring passages, and instructed his clerics on plans for a steady and reliable defense. Those who had seen him fight to defend dwarven communities related his stunning battle prowess, but they also commented that his combat maneuvers increasingly showed a growing desperation, as if he believed each battle might be his last.

History

By the late 14th century DR, Gorm Gulthyn was dying. Over the centuries, as he kept using his essence to create avatars to defend dwarven kingdoms, his fate seemed to have become tied to those places. Each time one of the clanholds fell, something inside Gorm Gulthyn died. The divine fire in the eye-holes of his mask grew dimmer by almost imperceptible increments every time. With each new manifestation, Gorm became more careless in his defense, perhaps trying to end his condition on the tip of an enemy sword. All hoped for the Thunder Blessing and the resurgence of ancient dwarven bloodlines to restore his strength.

Gorm's divinity was finally spent in a battle with the duergar deities, Laduguer and Deep Duerra in 1383 DR. Gorm and Haela Brightaxe both died in battle.

After the Second Sundering, Gorm Gulthyn was once again present and revered by dwarves, but the circumstances of his return were unknown. Most dwarven scholars believe he remains dead, with the last remnants of his essence existing in the clanholds that he failed to save.

Divine Domains

War

Divine Symbols & Sigils

Bronze half-mask

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Gorm appeared as a 6 ft (1.8 m) or 11 ft (3.4 m) tall dwarf clad in golden-brown, full plate armor decorated with red runes that constantly changed and crawled across the suit. The Sentinel spoke with a stern, booming voice, and divine flames constantly licked the eyeholes of his mask.

Special abilities

Gorm could fire thin, twin beams of intense heat from his eyes, each searingly hot enough to burn holes through steel in a minute and even in most stone after about two minutes. He required two minutes to recharge after firing his ruby-red lasers and the blast shots themselves lasted only briefly, but could hit two targets at once from up to 90 ft (27 m) away. A second beam striking the same object or area would cause a metal object to melt, and if the target was clad in armor, not only would they be scorched by the rays themselves, but by the heated metal they were wearing, Gorm himself was immune to all heat and fire, magical or otherwise, and his touch by itself could also heat metal.

Gorm's touch could also dissipate the effects of fatigue caused by exertion or lack of sleep to restore someone to full alertness. Gorm could never be surprised, could detect the presence of creatures, living or undead, within 300 ft (91 m) of himself with pinpoint accuracy, and couldn't have his mind mentally tampered with, whether by spells, psionics, or illusions. Only significantly enchanted weapons could strike Gorm, and he was constantly under the effects of protection from normal missiles, a ward that couldn't be dispelled, temporarily negated, or interfered with by his own magical powers.

Like some of the other dwarven gods, the death of Gorm's avatar would create a ghost-like anima able to use magic, become invisible at will, and which couldn't be turned, though was far less sturdy than its previous incarnation.

Manifestation

Gorm couldn't manifest an avatar in the same area twice in a 24 hour period, but battles lasting more than one day could see him manifest multiple times. He could manifest himself by granting a dwarf a protection from good and evil aura, as well as immunity to a certain kind of spell or attack (such as fire). He could also enchant a weapon, making it more powerful until the end of the current battle or the end of the next.

Other manifestations of Gorm included a glowing hand with two burning eyes in the palm that possessed Gorm's full strength. He was also known to manifest as a disembodied metal gauntlet that would strike any metal shield or breastplate nearby to warn of intruders or impending attack, causing a terrific, rolling, gong-like noise to ring throughout the air and the object to sport two burning eyes for the next ten minutes, leaving two eyeholes burnt into the metal when it finally faded.

Gorm demonstrated his favor through the discovery of alestones, amaratha, azurites, fire agates, fire opals, flamedance, jacinths, rubies, and scapras. He conveyed displeasure through the appearance of shattered shields, upside-down helms, and fleeting footprints that quickly faded if followed.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

By those of a chaotic bent, Gorm was often written off as the classic dour dwarf, with even most dwarves themselves perceiving the Sentinel as surly and humorless.[8] He had little patience for those he distrusted, little interest or tolerance for distracting foolishness, little use for sentimentality that could disrupt the dispassionate performance of his duty, and generally little to say. Ever-consumed by his demanding role as the dwarves' defender, he was on constant alert for threats to the Stout folk to thwart, even coming to the defense of the duergar if their own evil was dwarfed by that of the enemy force.[3]

Social

Contacts & Relations

Gorm was often considered one of the younger members of the Morndinsamman, though older than those such as Haela Brightaxe. He had always been a member in good standing and had excellent relations with the nonchaotic and nonevil dwarven deities, considering his superior Moradin, as well as Clangeddin Silverbeard and Marthammor Duin, his closest friends. When a spellcaster duplicated the symbol Marthammor used to warn dwarves of imminent, unstoppable disaster, and had a trap planned for the Wanderer, Gorm was one of the friends he brought with him to confront the individual. Berronar Truesilver worked closely with Gorm, Clangeddin, and Moradin to ensure the safety of dwarven settlements.

Gorm had established positive relations with gods of other pantheons that held similar worldviews, including Helm of the Edarmyrnian pantheon, Arvoreen of the halflings, and Gaerdal Ironhand of the gnomes. His other allies included Cyrrollalee and Garl Glittergold.

Conversely, Gorm was suspicious of entities like Mask, Brandobaris, and Baervan Wildwanderer. He remained eternally vigilant of Abbathor, though for all the Trove Lord's suspected treachery, Gorm was never able to prove it. He also counted among his foes the Grey Morndinsamman, the hateful gnome god Urdlen, and the various deities of traditionally dwarvish foes, including orcs, goblins, kobolds, and evil giants. Despite his regular contests with such beings, the Sentinel's greatest hatred was reserved for the orcish deity Shargaas, for the Night Lord was the only being to have ever successfully stolen something Gorm was actively guarding.

Religious Views

Worshipers

Gorm was well regarded by the dwarves for his unwavering commitment to their defense; though most saw him as stern, they could not ignore his role in the survival of their remaining strongholds. All dwarves who served as guardians in some way worshiped him, and those that required protection or armed assistance paid tribute to him as appeasement. Lawful good and lawful neutral dwarves in particularly turned to his faith, though Gorm accepted worshipers of all alignments except chaotic or evil ones, with chaotic good being an exception.

Gorm's clerics, especially his specialty priests, were known as barakor, a dwarvish word loosely translated to mean "those who shield". The vast majority of his clergy (95%) was male, and before the Time of Troubles they were entirely so. Novice members were known as the Watchful Guards, while full members were known as the Vigilant Host. In ascending order of rank, priests were known by the titles of Lookout of the First Rank, Scout of the Second Rank, Sentry of the Third Rank, Sentinel of the Fourth Rank, Defender of the Fifth Rank, and Guardian of the Sixth Rank, with high old ones of the church having individual titles and being collectively known as Lord and Lady Protectors.

Most members of the clergy were either mountain dwarves (48%) or hill dwarves (52%). Though nearly every subrace was called to be a barakor, and while there were no formal barriers to entry for jungle dwarves and gray dwarves, none had joined his ranks in more recent history. The clergy of Fire Eyes was dominated by specialty priests, though crusaders and clerics made up a larger percentage collectively and clerics frequently trained as fighters or dwarven defenders, the latter of which in the clergy of Gorm offered the highest possible honor.

Becoming a formal member of Gorm's clergy required a stricter code of honor than simply being a worshiper (true or chaotic neutrality not being allowed) and becoming a barakor required physical prowess and vitality, wisdom, and a lawful disposition. Barakors had the benefit of being immune to magic meant to put them to sleep, and often needed less sleep than normal. They got access to spells that let them better protect, or keep a closer eye out, notably the ability to case a know alignment spell that overrode all magical misdirection and concealment. Even regular priests however were especially wary, able to interpret noises, half-seen movements and other symptoms of movement with startling accuracy. Provided they had time to study their surroundings, they could recognize the exact distance and direction of features around them.

Many knightly orders of multiple sizes had been founded in Gorm's name and been affiliated with his clergy over the centuries. Among the more legendary orders were the Twin-Blade Axes of Fire, the Silent Sentinels, the Guardian-Knights of Gorm, the Vigilant Halberdiers, the Company of the Scarlet Moon, the Fellowship of the Stern Gauntlet, and the Order of the Smoking Shield. One of the oldest and most revered were the Sacred Shields of Berronar's Blessed, which could be found in nearly any clanhold or kingdom guardian nurseries of dwarven children and parents. The Knights of the Sacred Shield were also charged with recovering kidnapped youths, with at least two dwarven clans owing their continued existence to the rescue of an entire generation from the clutches of Lolth's priests.

Dogma

Gorm's devoted were sworn to protect the Stout Folk from the hostile forces beyond their holds, and were never to waver in their duty to these sacred charges. Upon entering the church, each member was assigned a charge to protect and act as the bodyguard for; higher ranked and more powerful veteran priests could choose their charges, often picking important clan members, but novice initiates were often given assignments at random. Such charges might be children, a childrearing parent of either sex, the elderly, or the otherwise infirm, and the foremost aim of any lesser priest was protecting their assigned charge. As every priest knew, they had to be willing to pay "Gorm's greatest price" to ensure the lives of their charge, clan, and community, taking solace in the knowledge their name would be remembered for generations.

Guardian-priests had to be ever-alert and unceasingly vigilant so as to never be surprised. They also had to inform other dwarven warriors about the value of these traits, organizing the community's defense in the steady, reliable way Gorm had taught. Guardian-priests tutored warriors in how to use certain weapons, or how to fight while blind.

Rituals

Barakor prayed for spells in the morning, usually followed by a tour of their community to ensure that no incidents happened at night.

Gorm's priests celebrated each festival in the Calendar of the Darastri as a sacred event, and on such holy days they gathered to perform (as outsiders saw them) tedious procedures, containing formal salutes, didactic, chanted prayers, and a ritual involving the rhythmic grounding of weapons. Other rituals involved silent vigils, muttered prayers and answering Gorm's visions. Offering were made to Gorm in the form of used weapons to guard, even if broken, anointed with tears, sweat, and drops of blood form the worshiper.

At the height of the salute, if performed at the chancel of one of his temples, Gorm's power might open the door kept behind the altar and through it bestow scrolls, potions, weapons, armor, maps, or instructive phantom images to help his followers fulfill their duties. A worshiper wearing, carrying or using a gift of the god typically had a great boost in morale.

Clothing

Gorm's clergy typically wore red and black cloaks and helms, often marking their status with red and black armbands on their left and right arms respectively. Regardless of whether they were expecting to do some strenuous activity or simple ceremonies, they always wore the finest armor (in both metal and type) they could find under their clothes. Just as they never left all their weapons aside, they never removed all their armor unless in need of care of some kind. Their holy symbol was a miniature bronze shield attached to a burnished steel chain, typically worn around the neck as a medallion.

Temples

Temples dedicated to Gorm were typically constructions of plain stone, always undecorated caverns or rooms quarried from solid rock. The altar was a stone bench in front of a massive door, closed and locked, that represented a location a dwarf might have to protect, though instead the central altar might be an old tomb casket that if occupied, contained the remains of a dead (not undead) priest of the Golden Guardian. These chambers were often adorned with visored helms, though shields or armor that Gorm had burned eyeholes into were considered treasures to be displayed as trophies and temples were considered especially blessed to have one for display.

Gorm's houses of worship were protected, predictably, by his Guardian-priests, and most of his temples contained a small armory and were well-fortified against attack. Regardless, chapels were typically adjacent to an armory, training hall, and barracks, and most were located among fortifications guarding against entry into dwarven halls.

Religions

• Morndinsamman