Thautam

Thautam was the dwarven god of mysteries and magic, a blind deity of darkness and lost treasures generally thought to be content puttering away in his workshop.

“Bless this sword, with its ruby pommel and silver sharp edge...”
— The beginning of one well-known prayer to Thautam

Description

Thautam was typically depicted as an elderly dwarf with rheumy eyes.

Personality

Thautam was obsessed with recovering as many artifacts from long-lost dwarven civilizations as possible, and also had special interest in protecting dwarven mines of valuable resources like adamantine and mithral.

Possessions

Forges of Thautam, as they were known, were magical smithies that allowed magical weapons and armor to be made by dwarves that couldn't ordinarily do so.

Relationships

Within dwarvish folklore Thautam acted as a kindly uncle to Moradin, choosing to mutter advice to the Soul Forger from time to time. His allies included many earth elementals of various sizes, his herald being an elder member of their kind of astonishing toughness.

Worshipers

The followers of Thautam believed that the spark of magic lied within all things, and they worked relentlessly to summon forth the dormant magic in everything from the weapons wielded by dwarven warriors to the mighty walls of a dwarven citadel. Becoming one of his clerics meant learning how to create magic items, especially weapons and armor, with his followers usually being accomplished artisans or smiths and the majority of them knowing how to create at least one kind of magic item.

Rituals

Dwarves dedicated many of their magic weapons and armor to Thautam and his clerics blessed weapons and armor before battle, as well mines and other construction projects. Given Thautam's blindness, prayers to him were particularly descriptive.

Temples

Temples dedicated to Thautam were typically small since his followers were less numerous than Moradin or Mya's, but there was always an obvious magical element to their creation, some floating in the centers of caverns and other featuring spires and buttresses more whimsical (and gravity-defying) than seen in traditional dwarven masonry.