Gorm Gulthyn

Fire Eyes, the Golden Guardian, the Sentinel, Lord of the Bronze Mask, the Eternally Vigilant

Most dwarven enclaves, set as they are in the lightless realm below surface, stand in the path of aggressive, rapacious Underdark enemies. Those who protect these realms from attack give blessings to Gorm Gulthyn (Gorm gull-thin), patron of watchfulness and defense. Gorm, a humorless masked warrior, ensures the safety of dwarven clanholds and seeks to defend these realms from their enemies, manifesting on the Prime far more often than his companions in the Morndinsarnman. He keeps vigils on battlements, establishes traps and deadfalls in neighboring passages, and instructs his clerics on the art of planning a steady and reliable defense for the community. Those who have seen him fight on the walls of besieged communities relate his stunning battle prowess, but comment that his combat mancuvers increasingly belie not only millennia of dutiful practice, but a growing desperation, as if each battle might be the Lord of the Bronze Mask's last. Gorm Gulthyn (GORM GULL-thin) is the guardian and protector of dwarvenkind throughout the Realms as well as the god of all Stout Folk who serve as guardians. Those dwarves who require protection or armed aid pay tribute in appeasement to the Lord of the Bronze Mask. Lawful neutral and lawful good dwarves in particular turn to Fire Eyes.
Gorm is closely allied with Clanggedin, Marthammor, and Moradin, and he has excellent relations with the other nonchaotic and nonevil dwarven deities. Gorm is ever vigilant against Abbathor's suspected betrayals, although he has never proven the Trove Lord's treachery. The Lord of the Bronze Mask has established good relations with the powers of other pantheons who view the world much as he does, such as Arvoreen, Gaerdal Ironhand, and Helm, but he has little patience for those he distrusts, including Baervan Wildwanderer, Brandobaris, and Mask. While Gorm regularly contests with the goblinkin and evil giant pantheons, he reserves his greatest hatred for the orcish god Shargaas, as the Night Lord is the only power to have ever successfully stolen an object the Sentinel was actively guarding.
Gorm says little, but has a stern, booming voice when he does speak. He is consumed by the demands of his role as protector and has little interest in or tolerance for foolish activities that might detract from his readiness or sentimentality that might interfere with his dispassion. The Sentinel is ever on the alert for threats to dwarves, and he is a tireless defender of the Stout Folk, even coming to the defense of gray dwarves when they are beset by foes whose evil makes that of the duergar pale in comparison.
While Gorm can dispatch up to two avatars simultaneously, there are always so many battles in which his intercession is critical that the Sentinel can rarely afford for his avatars to remain in any single location for more than a turn. As a result, each avatar is nearly always resident in the Realms, teleporting from place to place to aid dwarves in withstanding armed attacks or powerful monsters, and they return to Watchkeep only when in need of the armory amassed there or to use his Seat of Heating. Gorm acts only when dwarves are already engaged in combat and need his aid. At such times he appears, engages in a frenzied, all-out attack, seeking to do the most damage to the enemies of the dwarves as he possibly can, and then vanishes again. He cannot return to a given locale in avatar form twice in a 24-hour period, but he can manifest himself between his avatar appearances in a continuing battle
Clerics of Fire Eyes, known as barakor ("those who shield") Organize the defense of dwarven communities, act as bodyguards, and instruct local dwarves about the value of alertness and vigilance. Upon entering the church, each barakor is assigned a charge to protect. More powerful clerics often choose to defend important clan personages, but the assignments of novitiates seem to be determined at random, and include children and elderly or infirm members of the clan. All are willing to sacrifice themselves ("paying Gorm's greatest price," in the vernacular of the church) to protect their charge. Temples to the Golden Guardian typically are plain stone constructions featuring a central altar containing the remains of a fallen barakor. Most contain a small armory and are well-fortified against attack.
Barakor pray for spells in the morning, usually before taking a tour of the community to ensure that the night passed with little incident. Holy days are celebrated each festival, with tedious (to procedures that involve formal salutes, rhythmic grounding of weapons, and didactic, chanted prayers.

Divine Domains

War

Divine Symbols & Sigils

Shining bronze mask with eyeholes of flame

Tenets of Faith

Never waver in your duty to Gorm's sacred charges. Defend, protect, and keep safe the children of the Morndinsamman from the hostile forces of the outside world. Be always vigilant and ever alert so that you are never surprised If need be, be prepared to pay the greatest price so that the clan and the community survive, and your name will be remembered for generations.

Holidays

Every festival in the Calendar of Harptos is sacred to the priesthood of Gorm. On such holy days, guardians of Gorm gather for a salute, a ritual involving the rhythmic grounding of weapons, and a responsively chanted prayer. Offerings to Gorm are of weapons used, even broken, in the service of guardianship anointed with tears, sweat, and drops of blood of the dwarf making the offering.
Rituals involve silent vigils, muttered prayers, and answering visions from the god. At the height of a salute, if the ritual is performed in the chancel of one of Gorm's temples, the door behind the altar sometimes opens by the power of the god and through it may come instructive phantom images, scrolls or potions, weapons, pieces of armor, or even maps - small aids from the god, to help his faithful fulfill their duties.

Divine Goals & Aspirations

Day-to-Day Activities

The Vigilant Host guards most clanhold entries, the Gates on the borders of The Deep Realm, as well as all temples of Gorm. Priests of Gorm serve as protectors and bodyguards for all dwarves, especially the young and childrearing parents of both sexes. They instruct dwarven warriors fulfilling such roles in the arts of alertness, blindfighting, and weapons-skills (in other words, in campaigns using proficiencies, the priests of Gorm can tutor dwarves in all proficiencies useful to guardians). The foremost aim of any lesser priest of Gorm is to protect the dwarves assigned to him. Veteran priests of higher rank may choose whom they protect. If this involves sacrificing one's life, so be it; that is "Gorm's greatest price," as every priest of Gorm knows.

Priestly Vestments

The clergy of Gorm favor red and black cloaks and helms, worn over armor of the finest metal and type available. The holy symbol of the faith is a miniature bronze shield that is usually worn around the neck on a burnished steel chain as a medallion.

Adventuring Garb

When adventuring or on guard duty, Gorm's priests always wear and wield the best armor and weapons available. Members of Gorm's clergy never remove all their armor or lay aside all their weapons unless sorely wounded or in need of care. Members of the Vigilant Host often mark their status with red and black armbands on the left and right arms, respectively.

Social

Contacts & Relations

Gorm Gulthyn is dying. Somehow, as he gave his essence to avatars battling for the preservation of dwarven kingdoms over the many centuries, his very existence became tied to the fate of those kingdoms. With each fall of a clanhold, something inside Gorm Gulthyn died; the divine fire licking the eyeholes of his mask grew dimmer by almost imperceptible increments. Proud nonetheless—Gorm has confided his condition only in Clangeddin, Marthamor, and Moradin, whom he considers his closest friends. All hope that the Thunder Blessing and the resurgence of ancient dwarven bloodlines will return strength to the Sentinel, but no reverse has yet observed. With each manifestation, Gorm throws more carelessly into his defensive actions, perhaps seeking an end to his condition on the tip of an enemy sword.

Symbol: Shining bronze mask with eyeholes of flame
Home Plane: Dwarfhome, Shurrock/Watchkeep
Alignment: Lawful good
Portfolio: Guardian and protector of all dwarves, dwarven guardians, defense, watchfulness, vigilance, duty
Worshipers: Dwarven defenders, dwarves, fighters
Cleric Alignments: LG, LN, NG
Domains: War
Favored Weapon: "Axegard" (battleaxe)
SUPERIOR: Moradin
ALLIES: Arvoreen, Cyrrollalee, Gad Glittergold, Gaerdal Ironhand, Helm, the Morndinsamman (except Abbathor, Deep Duerra, Laduguer)
FOES: Abbathor, Deep Duerra, Laduguer, Urdlen, the goblinkin and evil giant pantheons

Divine Classification

Lesser Power

Current Location

Mount Celestia, The Seven Heavens

Aligned Organization

The Morndinsamman