Kossuth

Kossuth

Kossuth (pronounced: /koʊˈsuːθ/ koh-SOOTH), or the Lord of Flames, is the god of elemental fire. Kossuth is symbolized by the holy symbol of a twining red flame and his portfolio covers elemental fire and purification through fire. As of the late 15th century DR, he is no longer considered a true god, but actually an elemental primordial - a being whose power rivals that of a true deity.

Relationships

Deities

The supremely powerful elemental being known as Kossuth has lorded over fire since the earliest moments of the multiverse, though whether or not the contemporary Kossuth is the same primordial being or one in a long line of similarly named successors is a matter of much conjecture. The Lord of Flames rarely intervenes in affairs in the mortal world, spending most of his time embroiled in the intrigues of the Inner Planes.
Kossuth's doctrine of elemental supremacy virtually assures conflict with the other elemental lords. Kossuth is vehemently opposed to Istishia and his clergy. He is watchful of the upstart archomental Imix, who is always trying to undermine his better, but while Kossuth remains clearly the true master of the element of fire, the Grand Sultan of the Efreet is the only being on the plane who holds even a slightly comparable level of power. The Firelord interacts very little with the other Deities of Faerûn. Moradin and Flandal Steelskin honor him for the heat of the forge, but he rarely responds. The Return of Bane pleased Kossuth, however; the two deities seem to agree on the importance of a strong religious hierarchy and have a common intolerance for the ephemeral and unpredictable nature of chaos.

Worshipers 

The church of Kossuth is rather hierarchical and mostly impersonal. The Church's aims tend to revolve around the acquisition of land, power, and wealth. The followers and clerics are often of the lawful neutral alignment. Compared to the many other gods of Faerûn, Kossuth and the three other Elemental Primordials are well known for their relative silence when it comes to communication with their worshipers. However, of the four, Kossuth is the most active and vocal. Many Red wizards of Thay worship Kossuth and the Flaming Brazier of Eltabbar is supposedly the largest temple of Kossuth in all the realms.
After death, bodies of worshipers are cremated.

Clerical Orders in Thay

• Burning Braziers
• Black Flame Zealots
• Brothers and Sisters of the Pure Flame
• Order of the Salamander

Monastic Orders 

Kossuth's church has three different traditions of monk. Normally, monks lose the possibility to obtain further mastery over their monastic arts when they learn the arts of something else. Kossuth's monks, however, enjoy more freedom. They can learn to become clerics of the Firelord without sacrificing their potential as monks. The three orders are:

Disciples of the Phoenix

The good branch of the three. They rigidly order their members' studies and behaviors and put their focus on the purifying aspect of their deity.

Disciples of the Salamander

The evil branch of the three. They are seen as necessary for the renewal aspect of their deity and some members' view on destruction bordered Talos'.

Brothers and Sisters of the Purifying Flame

The neutral branch of the three. Their goal is to strike a balance between purification and destruction and act as the go-betweens of the other two monasteries.

Worship in Zakhara

On the continent of Zakhara, Kossuth is called one of the cold gods of the elements. "Cold" because they are seen as uncaring for human affairs, they are considered opposed to the Land of Fate's pervasive culture of Enlightenment. Only a few Zakharans are willing to worship a cold god in order to gain power.

Domain

Kossuth dwells in the Crimson Pillar, a 10 mile wide globe made of the primordial power of fire that floats over the Sea of Fire on the Plane of Fire. It is said that the blue-white flames of the Pillar give off a heat that makes the rest of the plane seem chilly in comparison.

History 

Noted Historical Interventions

• -150 DR: Powerful Raumatharan wizards managed to summon Kossuth from his elemental home and instructed him to destroy a besieging army of hated Narfell. This he did, but he soon turned against the wizards, incinerating their city for their arrogance. The resulting conflagration consumed much of the northern coast of the Alamber Sea, and the fires of Kossuth's anger burned strong for more than a decade after his withdrawal from Toril.

Perceived Historical Interventions 

• The Salamander War (1357 DR): Kossuth is credited with limiting this disastrous event in Thay's history, by his faithful. Without his influence, they say, the War would have turned into an even greater debacle.
• Time of Troubles: Kossuth is not one of the deities spotted on Faerûn during their exile of the gods by Ao.