Gruumsh
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Epithets: The Lord of Rage
He Who Watches
Old One Eye
Bloodbringer
Tenets: Ruin. Ravage. Kill.
The weak exist to be crushed by the strong. Be the strong.
There are no emotions but fury and joy. The rest are weakness.
Domains: Grave, Trickery, War
If you are trained in religion or were raised in an orcish culture, you may know the following
He Who Watches
Old One Eye
Bloodbringer
Tenets: Ruin. Ravage. Kill.
The weak exist to be crushed by the strong. Be the strong.
There are no emotions but fury and joy. The rest are weakness.
Domains: Grave, Trickery, War
If you are trained in religion or were raised in an orcish culture, you may know the following
There are stories about the origins of the world, where Gruumsh was nearly cheated out of his place in the world and with his great iron spear in hand, carved swaths from the land to give his people a place to live and thrive. There are stories where Corellon wounded the god of anger, shooting out his eye that let him see the future, but leaving him with only the eye that allowed him to see the past and thus he was forced to dwell on the offenses dealt to him and his desire for vengeance grew. There are stories of him sweeping his hand across the land and people falling into murderous rampages, thirsting for destruction and ruin. There are stories of Grummsh molding orcs from the clay of the earth and giving them the purpose to seek out all art, beauty, and life and to end it wherever they find it, inspiring an unnatural rage within them that would drive them across the world.
These stories are still told today, but typically told as cautionary tales. Except for in remote places that praise Gruumsh and raise icons to him, stories of his deeds are warning against dwelling on old grievances and to dissuade giving in to the bloodlust of battle. Some societies claim that all orcs are descendants and children of Gruumsh and are more susceptible to his corruption, but this idea is disputed by many scholars and priests. This idea was more common hundreds of years ago in Pharea before the seas calmed and more orcs and half-orcs arrived on the shores, it was a time when the only orcs that were seen were exiles, whether forced or self-imposed, and they were usually impressive warriors. Rumors conjured by those that either wished to isolate these wanderers more, give a reason to eliminate them from their lands, or to make them seem more fearsome and raise their price as a mercenary. These stereotypes have fallen out of favor over the last few centuries as has the associating all orcs with followers of Gruumsh.
It is said that within all battles there is a struggle within each soldier between the influence of Gruumsh and Kord. While there have only been a handful of documented cases of a warrior truly falling under their sway in battle, there are hundreds of times it is said that their hands were there to guide the fight. When an army give in to the frenzy and sacks and razes a city to the ground it is said that they had succumb to Gruumsh’s corruptive rage. When a soldier becomes so focused on the fight, the world falls away from them that none of their comrades or companions words can reach them, Kord has afflicted them with battle-blindness. Neither are viewed as beneficial except by worshippers of that god, but people are quick to blame One-Eye for the destruction wrought from a war.
Because Gruumsh is one of The Dark Ones, it is considered taboo in most orcish cultures to worship him. In his place there are dozens of orcish lesser deities and demi-gods that are worshipped in his place. His former wife, Luthic, is a goddess of healing and home who is said to have tried to temper his rage, but eventually left him behind after he became so consumed by it that he fought with their children. Bahgtru, Ilneval, Yurtus, and Shargaas are his children, most of which broke away after they saw he was trapped by his obsession with the past. Bahgtru is a god of brute strength and loyalty, his followers are monks and berserkers that fight without armor and sometimes without weapons and a prone to devoting themselves to a cause until it becomes too foolish to continue. Ilneval is a goddess of strategy and skill, she led the armies when Gruumsh could not until he rebuked her for having the armies not spill enough blood in his name as he wanted a carpet of gore to walk across the battle on. Yurtus is the silent god of death, he lacks a mouth and conducts his work with apathy. The is a phrase in the orcish language that means “it will never happen” that translates to “when Yurtus speaks”. Shargaas is the only one of his children that still serves and works to further Bloodbringer’s goals, a god of darkness and assassins, he blesses servants of Gruumsh with tools to allow them to slaughter their enemies unseen.
These stories are still told today, but typically told as cautionary tales. Except for in remote places that praise Gruumsh and raise icons to him, stories of his deeds are warning against dwelling on old grievances and to dissuade giving in to the bloodlust of battle. Some societies claim that all orcs are descendants and children of Gruumsh and are more susceptible to his corruption, but this idea is disputed by many scholars and priests. This idea was more common hundreds of years ago in Pharea before the seas calmed and more orcs and half-orcs arrived on the shores, it was a time when the only orcs that were seen were exiles, whether forced or self-imposed, and they were usually impressive warriors. Rumors conjured by those that either wished to isolate these wanderers more, give a reason to eliminate them from their lands, or to make them seem more fearsome and raise their price as a mercenary. These stereotypes have fallen out of favor over the last few centuries as has the associating all orcs with followers of Gruumsh.
It is said that within all battles there is a struggle within each soldier between the influence of Gruumsh and Kord. While there have only been a handful of documented cases of a warrior truly falling under their sway in battle, there are hundreds of times it is said that their hands were there to guide the fight. When an army give in to the frenzy and sacks and razes a city to the ground it is said that they had succumb to Gruumsh’s corruptive rage. When a soldier becomes so focused on the fight, the world falls away from them that none of their comrades or companions words can reach them, Kord has afflicted them with battle-blindness. Neither are viewed as beneficial except by worshippers of that god, but people are quick to blame One-Eye for the destruction wrought from a war.
Because Gruumsh is one of The Dark Ones, it is considered taboo in most orcish cultures to worship him. In his place there are dozens of orcish lesser deities and demi-gods that are worshipped in his place. His former wife, Luthic, is a goddess of healing and home who is said to have tried to temper his rage, but eventually left him behind after he became so consumed by it that he fought with their children. Bahgtru, Ilneval, Yurtus, and Shargaas are his children, most of which broke away after they saw he was trapped by his obsession with the past. Bahgtru is a god of brute strength and loyalty, his followers are monks and berserkers that fight without armor and sometimes without weapons and a prone to devoting themselves to a cause until it becomes too foolish to continue. Ilneval is a goddess of strategy and skill, she led the armies when Gruumsh could not until he rebuked her for having the armies not spill enough blood in his name as he wanted a carpet of gore to walk across the battle on. Yurtus is the silent god of death, he lacks a mouth and conducts his work with apathy. The is a phrase in the orcish language that means “it will never happen” that translates to “when Yurtus speaks”. Shargaas is the only one of his children that still serves and works to further Bloodbringer’s goals, a god of darkness and assassins, he blesses servants of Gruumsh with tools to allow them to slaughter their enemies unseen.
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