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: Unknown. Please fill in.

The Church of Gruumsh: The church of Gruumsh are the real driving force behind the orc hordes and clans. While the chief may be the head of the clan, the priesthood is the brain, the eyes, and the ears of it. They use the chief to control the tribe by stating what Gruumsh’s will is.

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: N/A

Major Centers of Worship: None particularly. Gruumsh is so revered by the orcs that wherever they go is a site of worship for the bloodthirsty war god. Also, it should be noted that the tribes do move around quite a bit, and orcs are not known for building much of anything, much less a temple. Therefore it is improbable that an actual site where Gruumsh is worshipped actually exists.

Affiliated Orders: None particularly. All of the orc race serves as a tool for Gruumsh, so there is no need really for a specialized group besides the priests.

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: See Above.