Abbathor (AB-bah-thor)

Great Master of Greed, Trove Lord, the Avaricious, Wyrm of Avarice

Abbathor the Avaricious is the dwarven god of greed, venerated by most evil dwarves and nearly all evil dwarven thieves. He represents the worst aspect and major weakness of dwarven character. Many dwarves and even nondwarves consumed with treasure lust and greed, or those who seek to steal valuables, make offerings to him.
The Great Master of Greed was once interested purely in the natural beauty of gems and metals, but became embittered when Moradin appointed Dumathoin the protector of mountain dwarves - a position Abbathor felt should be his. From that day onward, Abbathor has become ever more devious and selfserving, continually trying to wreak revenge on the other dwarven gods by establishing greed, especially evil greed, as the driving force in the lives of all dwarves.
The Trove Lord maintains an uneasy truce with the god Vergadain, but he is otherwise estranged from the dwarven pantheon. Abbathor particularly hates Dumathoin and Moradin for denying him his rightful place in the pantheon, and he secretly works against both. He hates Clangeddin for Clangeddin's self-righteous noble stance and certain past insult, and Clangeddin returns the favor. Berronar loathes Abbathor's deceitfulness, and Dumathoin shields treasures from the Great Master of Greed, to Abbathor's unending frustration and fury. Unlike Laduguer, however, Abbathor is tolerated by the other dwarven gods, although none trust him. Despite the fact that he embodies everything they teach their followers to avoid, he has sided with them in epic battles of the past and is still a valued member of the group. Abbathor never helps any nondwarven deity or being, however, with the notable exception of Task, draconic god of greed.

Manifestations

Abbathor appears as a squat and hunched dwarf, despite his height. He seems to slither and sidle along as he walks, never making much noise but often rubbing his hands together. If carrying gems or gold, he often caresses these in a continuous, unconscious, overwhelmingly sensuous manner. At times, this has made ignorant folk attack him, overcome by lust to gain the treasure he holds. The Great Master is said to have burning yellow-green eyes (blazing yellow when eager for treasure or when pouncing upon it, hooded and green while scheming or when thwarted). He has a sharp hooked nose like a giant eagle's beak and always dresses in leather armor and furs, both fashioned from the skins of creatures who have opposed him and died to regret it. He is said to have a harsh, husky, wheedling voice and a quick temper, hissing and spitting when angry. Abbathor is governed by his insatiable lust for treasure, especially gold, and is treacherous in his dealings with dwarves. He roams many worlds, including the Realms, in avatar form in search of treasure. Abbathor uses any means, no matter how evil, to further his ends, which typically involve the acquisition of wealth. Should the Great Master of Greed see treasure worth more than 1,000 gp or any magical item, he attrated to steal it outright or slay the owner and then take it anyway. If frustrated in an attempt to steal an item, Abbathor tries to destroy it so as not to he tortured by the memory of his failure. Abbathor wields a diamond-bladed dagger with jewels set into the hilt. He also often carries a pair of golden lions (like figurines of wondrous power) concealed in a pocket. He has been known to use these when hard-pressed, hurling them to the ground and commanding them to fight for him while he makes good his retreat. He is also said to carry a shield that features a variety of powers.
Abbathor is served by aurumvorae, crysmals, dragons consumed with avarice, earth elemental vermin, earth weirds, ghost dragons, hetfish, incarnates of covetousness, khaasta, rappers, rust monsters, dao, werebadgers, and xavers. He manifests his pleasure through the discovery of gold and jewels of all sorts and his displeasure through the despoiling of treasure - causing gems to split apart, sacks of gold to tear, and so on.

The Church

CLERGY: Dwarven clerics, dwarven thieves
CLERGY’S ALIGNMENT: LE, NE, CE; CN (noroghor only)
DOMAINS: Trickery

While Abbathor is publicly reviled in dwarven society ("gone to Abbathor" is a dwarven expression for lost treasure), most dwarves have been consumed on more than one occasion with the lust for treasure that he embodies. Rare is the dwarf who does not recognize the streak of avarice infecting the Stout Folk, and thus the Trove Lord's rightful place in the dwarven pantheon. Like an unliked and self-serving member of the clan who nonetheless is not known to have ever betrayed his kinfolk, the Great Master of Greed is venerated as a member of the Morndinsamman by most dwarves, even as they decry his beliefs.
Temples of the Great Master of Greed are always in underground caverns or secret, windowless rooms. Sacrificial altars are massive, plain blocks of stone, blackened by the many fires laid and burnt upon them. (Note that nondwarves tend to panic when sacrificial fires are lit, and the smoke begins to billow!) Abbathor's places of worship can easily be mistaken for treasure vaults, as they are typically painted in gold leaf and filled with a cache of purloined treasures. In fact, the most sacred places of the Trove Lord are caverns that once housed the hoards of ancient wyrms.
Novices of Abbathor are known as Goldseekers; full priests are known as the Hands of Greed. In ascending order of rank, the titles used by Abbathoran priests are Coveter of Copper, Seeker of Silver, Luster of Electrum, Hoarder of Gold, Plunderer of Platinum, and Miser of Mithral. High Old Ones have unique individual titles but are collectively known as the Masters of Greed. Clerics that select Abbathor's Domain (see below) as their domain choice are known as aetharnor, a dwarvish word that can be loosely translated as those consumed with greed. Male priests still constitute most of the priesthood (97%). Abbathor secretly supports some leaders of the Wyrm Cult (described below such specialty priests are known as noroghor, a dwarvish word that can be loosely translated as "beast followers."
Lastly, some sects of Abbathor manage to establish much larger footholds in dwarven society, typically in those fortresses that contain access to the Underdark. These sects calls themselves the Übzar Gunnör (Deep Seekers) and they work hard to capture all the trade with the other Underdark races that might otherwise be considered too dangerous to deal with. In the places where such trade agreements are formed, the Übzar Gunnör become quite powerful, both politically and financially.
Dogma: Seek to acquire all that shines or sparkles, and revel in the possession of such. The wealth of the earth was created for those dwarves strong and crafty enough to acquire it by any means necessary. Greed is good, as it motivates the acquisition and the holding of all that is truly precious. Do not seize wealth from the children of the Morndinsamman, however, nor conspire against the favored of Abbathor, for such strife in the name of avarice weakens the clan.
Day-to-Day Activities: Like their deity, priests of Abbathor strive to enrich themselves, taking advantage of their positions and influence to steal or deal themselves some personal wealth. Such funds are typically cached in remote, fiendishly welltrapped hideaways, as amassing enough loot to retire in luxury is a game and a driving motivation among priests of this god.
As noted above, however, there is one strict rule: no priest of Abbathor can steal from any other dwarf, or influence events to cause harm to the person or wealth of any rival priest of Abbathor. This is the infamous Abbathor's Commandment, of which dwarven thieves are often reminded. Priests of Abbathor do not like to remember so readily that it was uttered purely in order to preserve some followers of the god after angry fellow dwarves had slaughtered thief after thief in the robes of Abbathor's clergy.
The wider aims of the priesthood are to enrich all dwarves, working with the clergy of Vergadain and Dumathoin where possible toward that end. Across the Flanaess, priests of Abbathor are always looking for a chance for common dwarven profit (and their own personal gain) through underhanded and shady arrangements. The underground ways known to dwarves make them ideal smugglers, and many borders are undercut by tunnels enabling dwarven merchants to avoid duties and restrictions in transporting goods from one land to another. Dwarves are prevented from dominating the smuggling trade purely by their aversion to water, which effectively excludes them from shipborne activity.
Priests of Abbathor trade (on the sly) with anyone, including duergar, drow, illithids, Zhentarim, ores, giants, and other undesirable creatures or traditional enemies of the dwarves. Dwarves have been slain by axes sold to ores by priests of Abbathor on more than one occasion. This contrariness, however, is an essential part of the dwarven nature, as is the goldlust that drives many dwarves on occasion - at such times they are said to be under the spell of Abbathor or in Abbathor's thrall. Priests of Abbathor can be considered to be permanently in this condition, but to have learnt subtlety and devious cunning in its pursuit, rather than simple, crude acquisitiveness. Beings who need something underhanded done can always contact priests of Abbathor if they know where to find them.(Usually only dwarves know how to do so.) For a fee, a known worshiper of Abbathor will often arrange a meeting between an outsider (such as a human) and one of the god's priests. The priest and the worshiper will both work to arrange the meeting so that the priest is in little danger of attack, kidnapping, or arrest.
Priests of Abbathor secretly work to undermine the faith of Dumathoin and Berronar - the former in revenge for the Silent Keeper's assumption of a position meant for the Trove Lord, and the latter in response to the Revered Mother's concerted efforts to prevent thefts. Since such actions must always be kept secret from all but their fellow clergy members and may never endanger the immediate safety of the clan, the Hands of Greed must proceed very slowly in this task.
Important Ceremonies/Holy Days: Solar eclipses and days when volcanic eruptions or other causes bring darkness during daytime are always considered holy days.
Once a year, priests of Abbathor sacrifice a creature on an altar. It must be an enemy of dwarves but can be anything from an elf to a boar. Orcs, trolls, and giants are the most favored sacrifices. The faithful of Abbathor then bring gems in offering to the god, and these are placed upon the body, they must touch the blood of the sacrifice. The value of the sacrifice is said to determine the amount of Abbathor's favor that will benefit the offerer in the year to come. Even priests refer to this practice as "buying grace." The sacrifice is then burnt to ashes, gems and all. If magic or especially valuable gems are sacrificed, these sometimes disappear before the body is consumed, taken by Abbathor for his own (or pocketed by the priests for their own use, some say).
Abbathor's favor is said to include minor things like causing guards to sleep or become distracted, shaping shadows and moon-cloaking clouds to hide the features or exact position of a fleeing dwarven thief, or allowing a trapped thief an occasional battle-aid (in the form of an initiative roll bonus). Dwarves in need of Abbathor's immediate favor may make offerings at other times throughout the year. It is also customary to make an offering when one first worships at a particular temple.
Major Centers of Worship: Aefarn, the House of Gold, is a fortified temple complex housing much of the collected wealth of Abbathor's clergy. The temple is located deep within the Rakers mountain range. The treasure vaults of the Hands of Greed are located in a cavern complex hewn millennia ago from the surrounding granite by the great white wyrm Flezanzegroth, Spawn of Ancallagorthorax, before he died defending his hoard from the avaricious Abbathor. In the year 262 CY, a trio of Abbathoran priests stumbled across the wyrm's long-hidden lair after following a trail of gold coins placed - or so they suspected - by the Great Master of Greed. After an arduous adventure bypassing the long-dead wyrm's many traps, the three priests finally penetrated Flezanzegroth's inner sanctum early the following year. There they discovered that the great wyrm had survived, after a fashion, as a ghost dragon, his spirit unable to rest until his fabulous horde was replaced in kind. The Trove Lord then appeared to the three priests in a vision and directed them to muster the faithful (along with their personal hoards) scattered throughout the Cold Lands - the territory loosely incorporating the Thillonrian Peninsula and the regions now belonging to Ratik - in the ghost dragon's lair. This mass assemblage of treasure would allow the spirit of the Trove Lord's ancient antagonist and kindred spirit in greed to rest at last. When this was done, Abbathor appeared to his assembled worshipers in avatar form and directed them, under the leadership of the Three Coinlords (as the trio was thereafter known), to build a temple honoring him. This structure would house the assembled trove of treasure (possibly the most valuable to ever exist in the Flanaess), as well as all new wealth that its clergy acquired in the wider world. In the nearly four centuries since the founding of Aefarn, the caverns that make up the House of Gold have been entirely covered with gold leaf and studded with precious gems. The three seniormost priests of the temple compose the ruling triumvirate (still named for its founders), although Abbathor's assembled priests work collectively to defend the House of Gold from interlopers. Each priest has his own heavily trapped set of chambers in which his personal share of the temple's wealth is hoarded. Thus those seeking to plunder the House of Gold find themselves faced with innumerable smaller fortresses in addition to the formidable collective defenses.
Affiliated Orders: While Abbathor has no knightly orders associated with his faith, the Great Master of Greed has secretly embraced one of the most prominent cults in dwarven society as his own and begun granting spells to its priests, who are known as noroghor. The Wyrm Cult can be found in isolated dwarven communities throughout the Flanaess, but it seems more common in the northeast than in areas south of the central lands. Its priests are few and secretive, employing dwarven sympathizers as spies and rewarding them for their aid by allowing them opportunities for recreation or revenge in beast form. The Wyrm Cult worships various beasts (especially dragons and other powerful creatures that dwarves treat with respect) and seeks to increase the power and wealth of its adherents by slaying and confounding enemies with the powers of beasts. Consumed by a burning anger against all types of creatures who have oppressed or slain dwarves in the past, Wyrm Cult priests have taken to attacking all nondwarven adventurers who wander within their reach throughout the wilderlands of the northeast. Currently in need of wealth and power, they seek both through increased influence and greater numbers of worshipers as well as through the acquisition of magical items and controlled territories.
Also, as mentioned above, the Übzar Gunnör possess great power and influence in the dwarven kingdoms that suffer connection points to the Underdark. The most notable of these is the Übzar Gunnör of Urrakbek-Duum, located in the southern spur of the Crystalmist Mountains along the southern border of the Yeomanry.
Priestly Vestments: Priests of Abbathor always dress in red - a brilliant scarlet, worn as underclothing for everyday use and as over-robes for ceremonial occasions. Over this they wear leather armor with leather caps (never helms). If this armor must be discarded, dark crimson robes are worn to echo - and yet conceal the brightness of - the scarlet underclothing. Clergy of Abbathor never wear wealth openly because of the god's saying: "The best is always hidden." The holy symbol of the faith is a gold coin at least two inches in diameter, which is stamped with the symbol of Abbathor on both faces.
When expecting open combat, the Trove Lord's priests gird themselves in the best available armor and weapons with which they are proficient, in the fashion of most dwarven warriors. When stealth is required, however, members of Abbathor's clergy prefer the garb and tools of rogues. In all cases, however, the Hands of Greed keep the signs of their calling - including their scarlet underclothes and their holy symbols - concealed, as it is considered an affront to Abbathor to proclaim his name or his symbol openly.

Abbathoran Domain

Clerics of Abbathor may select the Abbathoran Domain instead of the Trickery Domain if they choose.

DOMAIN SPELLS

Cleric Level	Spells
1st	alarm, distort value
3rd	alter self, maskstone*
5th	Abbathor's greed*, incite greed
7th	conceal riches*, Leomund's Secret Chest
9th	mislead, modify memory

*indicates a new spell described below.

An Offer They Can't Refuse

Starting when you choose this domain at 1st level, you get advantage on any rolls made on Charisma (Persuasion) checks in which an offer is being made. This offer can be for a monetary exchange or otherwise (DM's discretion).

Channel Divinity: Seek Gems

Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to locate hidden gems. As an action, you can instantaneously discover the location of any gems within 30 feet of you. Gem values are not known, but it must be worth at least 1 GP in order to be successfully detected.

Channel Divinity: Cloud of Darkness

Beginning at 6th level, you can use your Channel Divinity to create a cloud of darkness (as the spell darkness) that lasts until the end of your next turn.

Divine Strike

At 8th level, you gain the ability to infuse your weapon strikes with poison — a gift from Abbathor. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with a weapon attack, you can cause the attack to deal an extra 1d8 poison damage to the target. When you reach 14th level, the extra damage increases to 2d8.

Treasure Lust

At 17th level, you can use your action to create treasure lust in sentient beings within 30 feet. Each creature in that range must make a Wisdom saving throw against your cleric spell save DC or be overcome with an all-consuming avarice for the most valuable object they can see. Anyone who fails this saving throw will try to obtain by force the identified item. Creatures can repeat their saving throws at the end of each of their turns. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Abbathoran Spells

Maskstone

2nd level transmutation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: touch
Components: V, S, M
Duration: Permanent

This spell strengthens the concealment of a stone secret door or compartment by causing the seams, openings, gaps, and imperfections to seal more tightly and securely so as to make the methods of normal, non-magical discovery much more difficult. Any door so hidden makes any attempts to discover them or determine a means to open it to be made with disadvantage. The spell will not function on any door or other secret compartment larger than a 10 foot by 10 foot area. The spell will also not function on any material other than stone or a stone-like substance (DM's discretion).
The material components are an eyelash (from any creature) and a pinch of dust or sand. The reverse of the spell requires a scrap of gauze and a piece of phosphorous or a handful of iron filings.

Abbathor's Greed

3rd level divination
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: self (30 ft.)
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous

The priest who casts this spell can determine the single most valuable item within 30 feet of you. Note, however, that the information gained involves an item's monetary value only. Magical items are revealed to be only as valuable as the materials from which they are made. This aside, the caster learns the item's exact value (in terms of gold pieces).
This use of this spell is not without risks. For every 1,000 gp value of an item, there is a 1% cumulative chance that Abbathor takes notice of the item and desires it for himself. If this occurs, there is an equal chance that Abbathor sends an avatar to retrieve the object. The total chance will not exceed 95%.
The avatar's sole purpose is to retrieve the desired item and return with it to the Gray Wastes. Under no circumstances does the avatar of Abbathor become involved in the affairs of the priest. Any attempt to prevent the avatar from carrying out its duty is dealt with accordingly.

Conceal Riches

4th level illusion
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: touch (1 person or area up to a 20 foot cube)
Components: V, S
Duration: Permanent

Conceal riches makes all the items worn or carried by one person or within an area up to 20 X 20 X 20 feet look worthless, fine clothes look shabby, and new, expensive, or luxurious items appear old and worn. This illusion is used by priests of Abbathor to disguise themselves or their treasure hoards and abodes (or those of others, for a fee) to thwart robbery attempts. They also use this spell to decrease the chance that they are detained or molested when traveling from one locale to another while carrying great wealth or dressed in the finery they admire. The effect is permanent until dispelled or dismissed by the caster.

Intermediate God

Dwarven Pantheon

Titles
Great Master of Greed, Trove Lord, the Avaricious, Wyrm of Avarice
Sphere of Influence
Greed
Alignment
Neutral Evil
Symbol
A jeweled dagger
Home Plane
Gray Waste of Hades

Superior
Moradin
Allies
Task, Vergadain
Foes
Berronar, Brandobaris, Clangeddin Silverbeard, Cyrrollalee, Dumathoin, Moradin, the gnome pantheon, the goblinkin and giant pantheons
Worshipers
Dwarves
Worshiper's Alignments
LE, NE, CE
Domains
Trickery, Abbathoran