Gruumsh

Gruumsh: He Who Never Sleeps, the One-Eyed God, He Who Watches

Symbol: Unblinking eye
Home Plane: Nishrek
Alignment: CE
Portfolio: Orcs, conquest, survival, strength, territory
Domains: Chaos Evil Strength War
Worshipers: Fighters, Orcs
Aliases: N/A
Cleric Alignments: CE, CN, NE
Favored Weapon: Spear - "The Bloodspear"

History/Relationships: Gruumsh is the undisputed head of the pantheon of the ores. In pre-history, one or two now-unknown orc gods conspired to depose He-who-never-sleeps, and were destroyed utterly. Since that time, Gruumsh has ruled the other orc gods with an iron grip. He is a fearsome, brutal god who revels in warfare, and ever seeks new territory for his race. This drive to acquire territory and living space is Gruumsh's greatest motivation. He has always felt cheated by the way the gods of humanity and demihumans divided up the world, casting aside the orcs (and himself!) without any respect. Gruumsh drives his people relentlessly, through the work of his priests and shamans, to colonize new lands.

And his deep and abiding hatred of the other gods ensures that he strives to achieve such dominion through warfare, constant and unceasing. Gruumsh tolerates no sign of peaceability from his people. Indeed, orcs have no word for "peace" in their language, only a guttural expletive which means, roughly, "temporary respite from strife". Gruumsh has an abiding hatred of Corellon Larethian for defeating him in battle. Orc religion denies that Gruumsh lost an eye to Corellon, as their story of "in the beginning..." demonstrates. They hold that Gruumsh was tricked and cheated by Corellon's magic, and that the elf-god could not win in a fair fight. Gruumsh seeks to have his people raze and destroy elvish homelands whenever possible. It is as well for the elves that they usually live in homelands far distant from the orc clans.

But then, Gruumsh has an equally deep hatred of dwarves and their gods. The shamanic tales of how Gruumsh and the Elder Ores fought for control of the mountains would weary the patience of any listener. Orcs desire mountains for their stark and barren quality; they are despoilers, and love the bare and bleak. Still, they'll take whatever they can get, and a major strength of the race is their ability to survive almost anywhere. That property, too, is close to Gruumsh's heart. He and his priests weed out ores who are sick, weak, lame, or unfit for the prosecution of war. Gruumsh is a harsh and lawful deity, and iron rule and weeding out the weak is a key element of orc thinking. Since males are physically stronger than females, females are usually relegated to the roles of child-rearing and making sure the warriors have food on the table after a hard day's pillaging and slaughter. "If Gruumsh intended females to be the equal of males he'd have given them bigger muscles" is a less brutish translation of an orcish saying among the warrior caste.

Fortunately for the races of the Prime Material plane, much of Gruumsh's attention is taken up with the eternal battle of orc and goblin spirits in the Hells, where he directs the warfare against them from his iron fortress. But Gruumsh is ever watchful over his race, and is especially watchful for transgressions...

Dogma: Seek unceasing war against your enemies, and kill or enslave those who oppose you. Acquire territory and living space. Destroy elves, their homes, and their lands. Crush the dwarves and take their deep caves for your own. Be strong, and be prepared to show your strength at any moment. Showing weakness is the key to an early death. Those that are too weak to fight for your tribe should be put to the spear. The greatest gift that He Who Watches gave to the orcs was the ability to survive where the weaker races would die. Build your strength in these lands and use them to overrun your enemies.

Avatar/Manifestations: Gruumsh will only send an avatar if this is needed for a great battle, and where Ilneval and Bahgtru cannot be entrusted with the matter at hand. Very rarely, he will send one to stymie some appearance of an elven avatar. His omens usually take such agreeable forms as the sudden snapping of a young shaman's neck vertebrae, or more leniently a cloud of drifting toxic black smoke.

Agents/Petitioners: Gruumsh is served by baatezu, imps, maelephants, rust dragons, rust monsters, and yugoloths. He shows his pleasure by the discovery of eye-sized and shaped bloodstones, carnelians, eye agates, fire opals, garnets, lynx eyes, red tears, and rubies. Sudden blindness in both eyes or a blackened right eye (see above) are signs of his displeasure.

The Church of Gruumsh:

 The followers of Gruumsh often hold positions of power in orcish society, and they often stand behind a chieftain as chief advisor, if, indeed, they are not the rulers themselves. From these positions, they command the vast hordelike armies of the orcs and plot the conquest and plundering of nearby lands. They work often work with (read "bully") the clergy of Bahgtru and Ilneval in such military matters. Of course, the clergy of He-Who-Never-Sleeps also make it the job to ensure the followers of both Arms of Gruumsh are continually occupied in internecine squabbles with each other so that neither group can grow as strong as Gruumsh's followers, and so that both groups don't join together to usurp their authority (although the likelihood of this is very slim indeed). The followers of Gruumsh work well with the clergy of Luthic, but maintain cool, distant, and businesslike relationships with those of Shagraas and Yurtrus.

       Temples dedicated to Gruumsh are usually ramshackle affairs when compared to the worship halls of the more civilized races, but are much better than the dank and dismal temples of the lesser orc and other humanoid deities (which are usually caves at best). Many are huts of the typical orc pattern, with the only real difference being one of scale. The altar is usually nothing more than a large flat-topped stone, with crudely carved idols depicting Gruumsh (or in some cases just his eye) on either side. Large rust-colored stains tend to cover both altar and idols.

       Although there is no standard nomenclature for the clergy, many similar titles tend to be used by local hierarchies. Many novices tend to be called the Eyeless or the Blind. Other titles include the Unblinking Eye and the Unsleeping Eye, although exactly what position in the hierarchy these are varies from location to location. The highest ranking priest in an area is more often than not called the Right Eye of Gruumsh. Calling any of his clergy the Left Eye of Gruumsh is a deadly insult and would most likely result in the speaker being hunted down and horribly killed. 

Day-to-Day Activities: Fully 50% of Gruumsh's priesthood are clan shamans and witch-doctors; only large clans have specialty priests. They strive to become warrior-leaders (or key advisers to such), and wage war. They maintain physical fitness, and spread the worship of Gruumsh through inspiration, fear, and iron rule. To become a shaman of Gruumsh, an orc must pluck out his own left eye. Proper worship of Gruumsh requires blood in large quantities (elven is best of all).

Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: Midwinter night, the longest, darkest night of the year, is the holiest time for the follower of the One Eye. The all-enveloping darkness symbolizes Gruumsh's coming triumph over the accursed light-loving races and their weakling gods. Total eclipses of Selune are also considered sacred to Gruumsh's clergy, as the blood-red color of Toril's satellite during these time resembles a huge red eye in the heavens.

       The most important ceremony for the followers of Gruumsh is the Plucking. When an acolyte is accepted into the clergy, he shows his unswerving loyalty to his faith and his god by gouging out his own left eye. If the acolyte does not faint during or after the bloody operation, he is heartily received into the faith. Those unable to stay conscious, while still accepted as a member of Gruumsh's faithful, are looked down upon for their weakness and often tend to be twice as fervent in their subsequent careers to make up for such an embarrassing beginning.

       Gruumsh is placated by frequent blood sacrifices. He pleased if the sacrifice is of a sentient being, and looks with great favor upon those who sacrifice elves to him.

Major Centers of Worship: In the middle of Thesk, upon the highest hill for miles around (high for flat Thesk that is; elsewhere it would be hardly considered a hill at all), a group of orcs have built the House of the One Eye, a large temple dedicated to He-Who-Never-Sleeps, in the ruins of a manor house burnt by the Tuigan horde. These orcs were among those sent by Zhentil Keep during King Azoun's crusade against the Tuigan, and they have grown immensely wealthy raiding caravans traveling along the Golden Way. Right Eye of Gruumsh Dohglek leads a large community of fanatic orcs who have gained control of a rather large area of central Thesk, having become all but independent after the fall of Zhentil Keep.

       In a long-forgotten valley between Raven's Bluff and Sevenecho lay the holiest site of ancient Vastar. Here the kings of the fallen orcish realm would come to consult with the priests of the One Eye, and on rare and important occasions with the avatar of He-Who-Never-Sleeps himself. Any orc who sleeps among the ruins in this isolated valley will experience vivid dreams sent by Gruumsh himself. Those non-orcs who enter the valley will experience a vague sense of unease, and have blood-curdling nightmares if they attempt to sleep there.

Affiliated Orders: The Tusks of the Unblinking Eye, a group of orc warriors, crusaders, and priests of Gruumsh, have recently become the terrors of the Goblin Marches. This large band has taken to heart the expansionist dogma of the followers of Gruumsh and have come to dominate a number of humanoid villages and towns. Flushed with success, they continue to raid and attack other goblinoid cities, believing that they will soon bring the entire area under their control. They either don't know or ignore the fact that many such bands have followed the same path over the years and each and every case it led to over-extension and ultimate collapse. But for now they are riding high, and wouldn't care even if they do know.

Priestly Vestments: Orc war priests wear a patch over one eye to symbolize their worship of the orc deity.[2] They also dress in dark red vestments, armored with war helms and black plate mail. Gruumsh's sacred animal is the giant rat, his holy day is the new moon, and he is worshiped in orcish lairs where blood is sacrificed to him monthly.

Adventuring Garb:

Clergy of the One Eye tend to wear the best armor and use the best-crafted weapons they can lay their hands on. Since as they are more often than not the leaders in their settlements and are able to claim the best of any arriving booty, their equipment may of be of surprisingly quite high quality (at least at first).