Gorm Gulthyn

Gorm Gulthyn: Fire Eyes, the Golden Guardian, the Sentinel, Lord of the Bronze Mask, the Eternally Vigilant

Symbol: A shining bronze or brass metal mask with two eyeholes of flame
Home Plane: Shurrock/Watchkeep
Alignment: LG
Portfolio: Guardian and protector of all dwarves, dwarven guardians, defense, watchfulness, vigilance, duty
Domains: Good, Protection, War, Dwarf, Law
Worshipers: Dwarven defenders, fighters
Aliases: N/A
Cleric Alignments: LG NG LN
Favored Weapon: "Axegard" (Battleaxe)

History/Relationships: Gorm Gulthyn (GORM GULL-thin) is the guardian and protector of dwarvenkind throughout the Realms as well as the god of all Stout Folk who serve as guardians. Those dwarves who require protection or armed aid pay tribute in appeasement to the Lord of the Bronze Mask. Lawful neutral and lawful good dwarves in particular turn to Fire Eyes.

Gorm is closely allied with Clanggedin, Marthammor, and Moradin, and he has excellent relations with the other nonchaotic and nonevil dwarven deities. Gorm is ever vigilant against Abbathor's suspected betrayals, although he has never proven the Trove Lord's treachery. The Lord of the Bronze Mask has established good relations with the powers of other pantheons who view the world much as he does, such as Arvoreen, Gaerdal Ironhand, and Helm, but he has little patience for those he distrusts, including Baervan Wildwanderer, Brandobaris, and Mask. While Gorm regularly contests with the goblinkin and evil giant pantheons, he reserves his greatest hatred for the orcish god Shargaas, as the Night Lord is the only power to have ever successfully stolen an object the Sentinel was actively guarding. Gorm says little, but has a stern, booming voice when he does speak. He is consumed by the demands of his role as protector and has little interest in or tolerance for foolish activities that might detract from his readiness or sentimentality that might interfere with his dispassion.

The Sentinel is ever on the alert for threats to dwarves, and he is a tireless defender of the Stout Folk, even coming to the defense of gray dwarves when they are beset by foes whose evil makes that of the duergar pale in comparison. While Gorm can dispatch up to two avatars simultaneously, there are always so many battles in which his intercession is critical that the Sentinel can rarely afford for his avatars to remain in any single location for more than a turn. As a result, each avatar is nearly always resident in the Realms, teleporting from place to place to aid dwarves in withstanding armed attacks or powerful monsters, and they return to Watchkeep only when in need of the armory amassed there or to use his Seat of Heating. Gorm acts only when dwarves are already engaged in combat and need his aid. At such times he appears, engages in a frenzied, all-out attack, seeking to do the most damage to the enemies of the dwarves as he possibly can, and then vanishes again. He cannot return to a given locale in avatar form twice in a 24-hour period, but he can manifest himself between his avatar appearances in a continuing battle.

Dogma: Never waver in your duty to Gorm's sacred charges. Defend, protect, and keep safe the children of the Morndinsamman from the hostile forces of the outside world. Be always vigilant and ever alert so that you are never surprised. If need be, be prepared to pay the greatest price so that the clan and the community survive, and your name will be honored for generations.

Avatar/Manifestations: Gorm prefers to act directly, husbanding his power for personal combat. He therefore manifests seldom, except to imbue dwarven individuals with temporary combat powers. This usually involves conferring a temporary +3 protection from good/evil aura, as well as immunity from a specific attack form (for example, fire) or spell. Sometimes Fire Eyes temporarily enchants a weapon, conferring a +3 attack and damage bonus until the conclusion of the current or next battle. On occasion, Gorm rouses sleeping dwarves or otherwise warns of intruders or impending attack by causing a disembodied metal gauntlet to appear and strike any handy metal shield or breastplate. The struck metal rings with a terrific rolling, gonglike noise and sports two burning eyes for the next turn. When the eyes fade, two eyeholes will have been burned in the metal. Dwarves treasure such damaged shields and armor and always display them as trophies, rather than melting them down to make a whole item again.

Agents/Petitioners: Gorm is served by agathinon, azer, earth and fire elementals, einheriar, galeb duhr, guardian nagas, hammer golems, helmed horrors, incarnates of courage and faith, maruts, noctrals, per, sapphire dragons, shedu, silver dragons, and spectators. He demonstrates his favor through the discovery of alestones, amaratha, azurites, fire agates, fire opals, flamedance, jacinths, rubies, and scapras. The Sentinel indicates his displeasure through the discovery of shattered shields, upside-down helms, and ephemeral footprints that quickly fade away if followed.

The Church of Gorm: Gorm is well regarded by the children of Moradin for his unswerving dedication to the defense of the Stout Folk. While most dwarves regard Fire Eyes as stem and humorless, few discount his role in ensuring the continued survival of those dwarven strongholds that have not fallen. Among the other gnome, halfling, and human races, Gorm is well regarded by those of similar disposition who tend to follow deities such as Arvoreen, Gaerdal Ironhand, and Helm, but he is written off as the archetypal dour dwarf by most elves and others of a more chaotic bent.

Temples of Gorm are always plain, unadorned stone caverns or rooms quarried from solid rock. The altar is a stone bench in front of a closed, locked door of massive construction, representing a location that a dwarf might have to guard. Instead of a stone bench, a temple might use an old tomb casket; if occupied, it must be by a fallen, not undead, priest of Gorm. Such chambers are often adorned with visored helms, or if particularly blessed, a shield or breastplate with twin eyeholes burned through, as discussed above under Other Manifestations. The Sentinel's chapels are typically adjacent to an armory, a training hall, and barracks, and most such houses of worship are located amidst fortifications that guard entrances to the halls of the Stout Folk.

The clergy of Gorm are collectively known as Guardians or Guardian-Priests. Novices of Gorm are known as the Watchful Guards. Full priests of Fire Eyes are known as the Vigilant Host. In ascending order of rank, the titles used by Gormite priests are Lockout of the First Rank, Scout of the Second Rank, Sentry of the Third Rank, Sentinel of the Fourth Rank, Defender of the Fifth Rank, and Guardian of the Sixth Rank. High Old Ones have unique titles but are collectively known as Lord/Lady Protectors. Specialty priests are known as barakor, a dwarvish word that can be loosely translated as those who shield. The clergy of Gorm includes both shield dwarves (48%) and gold dwarves (52%). While there are no formal barriers to either gray dwarves or jungle dwarves joining the ranks of Gorm's clergy, none are known to have done so in recent history.

Day-to-Day Activities: The Vigilant Host guards most clanhold entries, the Gates on the borders of The Deep Realm, as well as all temples of Gorm. Priests of Gorm serve as protectors and bodyguards for all dwarves, especially the young and childrearing parents of both sexes. They instruct dwarven warriors fulfilling such roles in the arts of alertness, blindfighting, and weapons-skills (in other words, in campaigns using proficiencies, the priests of Gorm can tutor dwarves in all proficiencies useful to guardians). The foremost aim of any lesser priest of Gorm is to protect the dwarves assigned to him. Veteran priests of higher rank may choose whom they protect. If this involves sacrificing one's life, so be it; that is "Gorm's greatest price," as every priest of Gorm knows.

Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: Every festival in the Calendar of Harptos is sacred to the priesthood of Gorm. On such holy days, guardians of Gorm gather for a salute, a ritual involving the rhythmic grounding of weapons, and a responsively chanted prayer. Offerings to Gorm are of weapons used, even broken, in the service of guardianship anointed with tears, sweat, and drops of blood of the dwarf making the offering. Rituals involve silent vigils, muttered prayers, and answering visions from the god. At the height of a salute, if the ritual is performed in the chancel of one of Gorm's temples, the door behind the altar sometimes opens by the power of the god and through it may come instructive phantom images, scrolls or potions, weapons, pieces of armor, or even maps - small aids from the god, to help his faithful fulfill their duties.

Major Centers of Worship: At the bottom of the Great Rift, guarding the entrance to the Deep Lands, are the Gates, a pair of titanic metal doors that bar the entrance of outsiders from the Guardcavern immediately behind them, the great city of Underhome, and the Deep Realm of the gold dwarves beyond. Over fifty priests of Gorm garrison the Gates at all times, with two hundred more available at a moment's notice. The Keepers of the Gate are based in Araubarak Gulthyn, the Great Shieldhall of Eternal Vigilance, a soaring subterranean vault adjoining the great Guardcavern in which dwarven caravans muster for trips to the surface Realms.

The task of securing the entrance to the last great dwarven kingdom in Faerun is led by Prince Protector of the Golden Realm Starag Crownshield, son of Vorn, blood of Pyradar. The Great Shieldhall is itself an invulnerable fortress whose defenses have never been breached. Twin adult sapphire dragons lair in the Great Shieldhall's narthex under the direction of specially trained dwarven riders. A series of nine double doors, each a miniature replica of the great hizagkuur Gates, bar entrance to the temple's innermost sanctum. A pair of hammer golems and seven priests of Gorm defend each set of portals.

The chancel doubles as a well-stocked armory, and from its stores an army of five thousand dwarven warriors can be - and has been, on several occasions in centuries past - outfitted to sally forth against great armies seeking to plunder the wealth of the gold dwarves. Above the altar floats the greatest relic of the Gormite faith, a massive bronze mask with eyeholes alight with fire, known as the Face of the Guardian. Aspirants in the Deep Realm seeking to join the ranks of Gorm's guardians stand before the Face during their initiations and are seared by twin beams of fire that erupt from the ever-dancing flames. If accepted by the Golden Guardian, they emerge unscathed, hut those found wanting are reduced to piles of ash.

Affiliated Orders: Numerous knightly orders large and small have been founded in Gorm's name and affiliated with his church over the centuries. Numbered among the legendary Gormite orders of times past and present are the Twin-Bladed Axes of Fire, the Silent Sentinels, the Guardian-Knights of Gorm, the Vigilant Halberdiers, the Company of the Scarlet Moon, the Fellowship of the Stern Gauntlet, and the Order of the Smoking Shield. One of the oldest and most revered knightly orders of Gorm, the Sacred Shields of Berronar's Blessed, may be found in nearly every clanhold and kingdom guarding nurseries full of dwarven children and their parents. Knights of the Sacred Shield are also charged with recovering kidnapped dwarven youths who are to be sold as slaves on the surface or in the Underdark. At least two dwarven clans owe their continued free existence to the rescue of an entire generation of dwarven youth from the clutches of the Spider Queen's priests by the Knights of the Sacred Shield.

Priestly Vestments: The clergy of Gorm favor red and black cloaks and helms, worn over armor of the finest metal and type available. The holy symbol of the faith is a miniature bronze shield that is usually worn around the neck on a burnished steel chain as a medallion.

Adventuring Garb: When adventuring or on guard duty, Gorm's priests always wear and wield the best armor and weapons available. Members of Gorm's clergy never remove all their armor or lay aside all their weapons unless sorely wounded or in need of care. Members of the Vigilant Host often mark their status with red and black armbands on the left and right arms, respectively.