Ptourge (tor-gai)

God of the Underworld

Dread Ptourge is the deity of the Underworld. Ptourge is often depicted as a tiefling or devil woman working a forge, ash blackening her skin with cracks depicting molten flesh beneath. Her symbol is of an inverted smith’s hammer, the head of the hammer facing down and the haft pointed straight up. She is a member of the Theonínta.
When a shade goes unclaimed by the other gods (as most shades are), they arrive at the Megaron Mori, the entrance of the Underworld and a waiting room until they are brought to Ptourge’s forge, Telikogos, where they are reforged into a devil—the image of Ptourge herself. While it is argued whether this process is painful (most devils either do not recall their reforging or are not willing to share the experience), the result is always the same: the shade is transformed physically and mentally into an entirely new form, and are then allowed to continue on into the bronze cities of the Underworld.
The Underworld itself is largely self-governing. Ptourge is more interested in the forging of the devils rather than governing them, so a complex political system has sprouted up about Ptourge without her input. But as long as the devils remain in the Underworld, Ptourge is content to continue her work.
Many devils are content to “live” in the Underworld, but there are those who remember the mortal world and their old lives and seek to either return or to influence the land of the living in some way—sometimes even seeking to draw the living into the Underworld. Ptourge opposes those who would forsake her domain, and thus communing or bargaining with devils is considered taboo in Koss. While devils themselves are not inherently evil, the understanding of mortals is that those who would break the Ptourgaen law and seek them out must be evil, thus stigmatizing devils as a whole.
Those who worship Ptourge often do so at funerals and when death looms. It is thought that burying the dead with things that represent their life (weapons for a warrior, tools for a smith, instruments for a bard, etc.) aid Ptourge in crafting the form of the departed in the Underworld, and thus particularly affluent individuals often construct great tombs filled with their worldly possession in order to secure what they believe to be a fitting position in the afterlife. It is unclear how long one must wait to enter Telikogos, with some stories implying it could take centuries, so grave-robbing is especially frowned upon and the more paranoid often create elaborate traps to secure their belongings after they are gone to ensure they are still there when they are called to face Ptourge.
Ptourge is also worshiped by craftsmen, who revere both the devils she creates and her cities of bronze to be the highest of art. As such, much art has been dedicated to and depicting Ptourge, with her visage and symbolism gracing works all across Koss. Similarly, like Fytanke Efforos, she is worshiped by those that would themselves create life by their own hands.
Ptourge is a contemporary of Kallipilos, as both of them are craftspeople and create life in their own ways. She is close with Nypoloita due to being deities of death and the Underworld respectively, though the exact nature of this relationship is up for debate as the God of the Underworld is notoriously close lipped.
The cult of Ptourge can be found working in forges across the land, and while her worship is typically a solitary pursuit it is not unknown for great numbers of her cultists to gather at truly epic forges, reading portents from the light of the forge and creating weapons that will surely be recorded in myth. Such weapons are not for sale, but are gifted to those the oracles determine are worthy of them.