Thard Harr

Thard Harr was the dwarven deity of jungle survival and hunting, one that lived with the beasts of the wild as kin. The Disentangler was also the patron protector of the wild dwarves, watching over them and working to ensure their continued survival against the rampaging beasts within the jungle and the incursions of intruders without.

Description
Thard appeared as a tall dwarf with dark skin covered by tattoos. When looking upon the potbellied, feral-looking creature, naked but for his long beard and thick, matted tufts of hair covering his torso, few would suspect Thard Harr to be a member of the Morndinsamman. Hiding his face was an ornate copper helm fashioned in the shape of a crocodile head and festooned with dangling teeth the Disentangler had supposedly torn from his kills.

Personality
Thard rarely spoke, but had been known to purr, growl, snarl, and roar like a great cat. He was an emotional being prone to vast mood swings and grand gestures, and had zero tolerance for pretentiousness, social restraint, or civilized ways of any kind.

Powers
Once per day, Thard Harr could breathe out a spicy, greenish-blue gas that prevented the unleashing or activation of spells or magic items for the next nine minutes, though current magic still continued to function, but couldn't be altered in behavior, strength, or target. Thard had a special empathy with the beasts of the jungle; they never attacked him, and so long as an outside force wasn't controlling them, he could mentally command any within of him, expressing his intent perfectly.

Thard was immune to charms, illusions, and had no sense of fear. The Disentangler couldn't be restrained by holding magic, webs, adhesive, shrubbery, vines, or jaws, and could feather fall any distance. He was immune to poisons and unenchanted weapons, and even if struck was oblivious to pain, able to reattach his severed or torn off limbs as if he was a troll.

Manifestations
Thard Harr's manifestations involved a low, continuous thudding and sounds of snarling, seemingly emanating from the beings he empowered. The sounds could not be stopped and the entity he empowered (a gift he could grant by touch) would glow with a crawling, pulsing nimbus of cherry-red light. While imbued with the Thard's power, which would last for about ten minutes, the being in question (either a wild dwarf or beast of the jungle) would gain access to special powers.

Empowered wild dwarves would be filled with energy and rapidly recover from injury. They tossed their weapons aside to fight with their hands, which would transform into rending talons known as the "Claws of Thard Harr" or "Claws of the God". Empowered beasts, would become immune to entanglement, natural or otherwise, unable to be charmed, tricked by illusions, or otherwise mentally influenced, and would become fearless, fighting to the death for wild dwarves regardless of fire, magic, the size of opposition or the ferocity demonstrated by their foes.

Thard Harr made clear his favor when one discovered gems like diamonds, emeralds, gold, or green spinels, and in items like metal weapons, calantra wood carvings and zaiantar wood rods. He demonstrated his displeasure when precious gems shattered, accompanied by the unseen roar of some great beast, when the target of his wrath got tripped and tangled in vines, or by causing items to degenerate, such as metal rusting, wood rotting, and leather decaying.

Possessions
Thard Harr wore scaled, adamantine gauntlets ending in jointed, razor-sharp claws strapped to his forearms at the elbow (as high as they reached). Though the wild dwarves sometimes spoke of opponents or forces so powerful or dangerous that they might "blunt the claws of Harr himself", they never alluded to the claws being broken, for they were supposedly unbreakable.

Realm
Thard Harr's home in the Outer Planes was called the Forbidden Plateau, a heavily forested location that, much like Chult, was swarming with dinosaurs. The actual location of the jungle plateau varied based on cosmology; in the Great Wheel it was located in Krigala, the first layer of the Beastlands, whereas in the World Axis it was either on the outer edges of Dwarfhome or within the Labyrinth of Life, the vibrant, mazelike rainforest in the House of Nature.

Activities
Though Thard Harr "lived" on the Forbidden Plateau, he was said to have no permanent home; he loved to wander all three layers of the Beastlands, stalking, hunting, running, and otherwise interacting with the many animals there as one of them rather than living apart from them. Given his preference for roaming that plane, he rarely appeared in the Realms, preferring to aid his worshipers through manifestation rather than direct appearance.

He protected the jungle dwarves from beasts and outlanders alike, often manifesting in one dwarf at a time during the same conflict so that trespassers would have to fight one empowered dwarf after another. He never helped the same dwarf for more than an hour a day, but sometimes granted aid in separate visits (whether appearing before them or through manifestations) to make up the hour total if the threat was persistent.

Relationships
While Thard Harr undoubtedly shared the blood of Moradin and had always been a member in positive standing, he was emotionally and geographically estranged from the rest of the Morndinsamman. His relations with the others were friendly, but practically nonexistent, and on the rare occasions the entire pantheon was brought together, he alienated the others more than anything else, especially as a result of him communicating through strange animal calls and physical gestures.

Moradin was still his superior, but the Disentangler didn't have a close relationship with him. Abbathor wasn't Thard's explicit foe, nor was he an ally, though the duergar deities Laduguer and Deep Duerra were definitely enemies of his. The only dwarves that interacted with Thard on a regular, but still infrequent basis was Sharindlar and Dumathoin, the former being interested in the jungle's rampant fertility and the latter for the Chultan dwarves that fell into his purview and who occasionally came into contact with their wild dwarf kin.

Others
The Lord of the Jungle Deeps greatly preferred the company of nature deities as opposed to that of his relatives, having made allies and enemies with the other inhabitants, past and present, of South Faerûn's jungles. He was the only ally of Ubtao, with whom he had a cordial relationship, the Forbidden Plateau being the patron god of Chult's secondary domain. Other notable allies of Thard included the couatl god Jazirian, Nobanion the Lion King, and Uthgar of the Savage Frontier's Uthgardt barbarians. The halfling goddess Cyrrollalee and the gnome god Baervan Wildwanderer, were also allies of his, and though not actual deities, Thard had forged close relationships with many of the Beastlands' Animal Lords.

At the same time, Thard was the sworn enemy of many jungle deities and demons that went unnoticed by Faerun's more civilized inhabitants. His most notable foe was Shar, who had absorbed an aspect of Ubtao to operate in Chult under the name of the shadow deity Eshowdow. Other important enemies were the Great Snake Sseth, a yuan-ti deity and aspect of Set, and Khurgorbaeyag, who led the jungle goblins known as the batiri as the ankylosaurus Kuro. Thard opposed the goblinoid pantheon in general, as well as the gnomish god of greed Urdlen.

Worshipers


While some hunters of all races and philosophies in jungle regions sometimes turned to Thard for guidance, his chosen people were the wild dwarves, or dur Authalar (their word for "the people"). Nearly all wild dwarves, regardless of their alignment, beat their drums for the Lord of the Jungle Deeps, viewing him as the patron of their kind, a font of wisdom and a source of greater experience. Worship of Thard Harr had been ingrained so deeply and firmly in wild dwarf culture that no matter their morals or ethics, it was practically impossible for them to conceive of an alternative faith, with few even considering the possibility of other religions.

Only on rare occasions did the wild dwarves make offerings to the other dwarven gods, and even if they did, they only truly worshiped the Disentangler. Most were completely ignorant to the existence of the Morndinsamman, a failing Thard had done nothing to correct. In the practically monotheistic folklore of the wild dwarves, the Morndinsamman were reduced to mere powerful nature spirits, typically associated with certain landmarks or natural phenomena. On the other hand, Thard was far removed from the cultural concerns of hill and mountain dwarf life, and was only venerated by a meager handful of gray, gold, and shield dwarves, assuming they even knew who he was.

The clerics, druids, and specialty priests of Thard, the latter of which in particular being known as the vuddor (a dwarvish word loosely translated as "those of the jungle"),enjoyed a position of reverence in their sheltered homelands as a result of their kind's religious focus. At the same time, the wild dwarves had a strong tradition of divine magic, taking the blessings of Thard as transmitted through a spellcaster for granted and treating them as no more unusual than fighting prowess or survival skills. Many were called upon to serve Thard in a multitude of ways, though most arcane magic made them anxious due to inexperience. Commonly they were combination druids, rangers, and barbarians, with clerics also being ordinary.

Thard's clergy eschewed many of the traditional aspects of dwarven religious institutions. Instead of a formal hierarchy of titles, priests were called shamans and High Old Ones were collectively known as the Lords and Ladies of the Jungle. Most priests were male, but since the wild dwarves stopped following dwarven tradition regarding deity and gender long before the Time of Troubles, this gender disparity was far less noticeable than in other clergies, being a mere 60/40 split in favor of males. Lawfulness and/or evil was not allowed, and each individual priest received a title in a dream on the night of their initiation, such titles typically including the name of a great jungle beast the priest was believed to then receive a small amount of supernatural control over.

Thard Harr's priests were meant to be his representatives, protecting the dur Authalar with their god given powers, leading them on prosperous hunts and cautious expeditions, acting as generals for their loose armies, and speaking for their people and society as a whole. Part of this responsibility was eliminating persistent, non-dwarven intruders that trespassed into wild dwarf territory, leading the attacks with the dauntless diligence of Thard himself. If unable to defeat the foe, they tried mentally calling Thard himself, who often responded with either a manifestation or very rarely an avatar.

There were no formal Thardite military orders, with the clergy instead collectively deciding when it was best for the wild dwarves to go to war. The best warriors of the widely scattered hunting bands formed "the Pack" including bloods (weaker warriors) war leaders (more powerful warriors) and priests of demonstrable fighting skills. Like an orcish horde of North Faerun, the Pack was nearly unstoppable as it carved its path, and once their objective was completed, such as the destruction of a batiri village or yuan-ti enclave, the members would quickly disperse and the survivors would return to their small hunting bands.

Dogma
The Disentangler's dogma was that the jungle was the fullest expression of the rain, the earth, the sun and the wind. The wild dwarves were to live in harmony with nature, neither against nor apart from it, under the wise benevolence of the Lord of the Jungle Deeps. Thard's clerics and druids spread teachings to wild dwarves on how to survive in the harsh jungle, such as through the practiced evading of offensive jungle plants.

He also taught them to respect and emulate the ways of beasts, a divergence from the traditional teachings of Moradin that no race, including animals, were to be considered superior to them. This lesson regarding beasts was particularly true regarding great jungle cats, such was their reverence for the felines that most refused to hunt them. Like the great tigers of the jungle, the wild dwarves were to be both strong and wary, skeptical of all creatures, whether they walked on two legs or four.

Outsiders often sought to pillage and destroy, bringing misery with their unnatural ways, but that wasn't to say that Thard preached ignorance or isolationism. The wild dwarf ways, Thard's way, was to be honored and was the best for his children, but the wild dwarves weren't to assume that it was the only way. It was important to try and understand that which you didn't, especially since, as Thard's wisdom taught, one could best defeat a foe that one knew well.

Seasoned wild dwarves tried capturing at least one intruder for questioning, sometimes with intent to sacrifice after, but to be spared if it seemed likely that their were possible future benefits in doing so. Wild dwarves were interested in trade, exchanging pelts, meat, and even live beasts for metal and glass objects and tools. They conducted said trade so long as they could pick the location, so as to set up traps and ambushes in case of treachery under the guidance of Thard's priests, and they were to be wary of bringing unknown gifts into their homes.

Rituals
Thard Harr's priests prayed for spells in the morning. Their ceremonies of veneration were held on nights of the full and new moon, during which the highest ranking follower or followers in the region formally called together several hunting bands. The drums, chants, and screams of the wild dwarves that resulted from this mass congregation echoed throughout the jungle, striking such fear in the hearts of wild beasts and intelligent beings alike that even the most desperate interlope would be scared away.

During these ceremonies (often when the moon was new but always if it was full) at least one blood sacrifice was offered to the Lord of the Jungle Deeps. Wild dwarves weren't cannibals and normally didn't consume intelligent beings, but the sacrifices of captured beasts and/or intruders were nearly always eaten (while still-warm) regardless of species with intent to become closer to Thard. Even so, it was some of the more isolated tribes that would occasionally sacrifice good humans in this manner, a practice that Thard disapproved of, but had not acted to dissuade.

Clothing
Priests of Thard, regardless of gender, could never cut their beards, instead having to braid them into ropes and tie them around their waists and shoulders. Only if the priest themselves chose to cut the hair would there be an issue, it being a sign they were turning from Thard and that they could no longer expect his assistance. Like normal wild dwarves they rarely wore clothing, their hair sufficing for this purpose. Exceptions to this included a beast helm, the skull of a large jungle animal like a rhinoceros, great cat, or giant crocodile, and the pelts or skins of jungle monsters, which would be worn as robes for ceremonial purposes.

Priests of Thard covered their bodies with tattoos and bore their holy symbol in tattoo form, usually on one shoulder on on their overgrown scalps. In cases where they would normally present their holy symbols, they could simply cross their forearms at the wrists several inches in front of their chests. Unlike ordinary dwarven priests, their stabilizing focus was not a nearby stone or metal holy symbol but contact with the earth or a firmly rooted plant.

Their bodies were also often covered in grease to make them difficult to hold onto and to keep insects away from them, and when going to war they plastered their hair and bodies with mud that, when combined with the grease, became a crude but useful form of armor. They favored metal tools and weapons if possible, but would otherwise use clubs, fists and the Claws of the God.

Temples
Thard Harr sponsored no formal temples, and rarely did the holy sites he did possess incorporate buildings, carved caves, or other artificial structures. Instead, the Disentangler was worshiped in remote sanctuaries of nature, his followers taught to treat locations of astounding natural beauty and abundant life as gathering places for reverence. Deep in the heart of Chult's jungles were his most common holy sites; soaring cliffs, deep gorges, natural caverns, volcanic mud flats, hot springs, great waterfalls, and untamed gardens.

Like the druid grove of North Faerun, these areas were strong in faith-based magic, and could often serve as a source for great and powerful mystic rites. Normally these places were overseen by up to a dozen of Thard Harr's priests who could call upon nearby wild dwarf tribes and nearby beasts to defend the sites.

History
Outside of the Chultan peninsula, Thard and the wild dwarves were regarded as little more than legend. Even the gold dwarves of South Faerun regarded him more as myth than anything else, but long ago he was more tightly tied to the other dwarven subraces.

Back in the days of Shanatar, Thard Harr was venerated by deep-dwelling shield dwarves as the Lord of the Green Mantle, god of the forest above and dwarven god of nature. By the time High Shanatar was founded in -5960 DR, the concept of patron dwarven gods affiliated with individual kingdoms had passed, but it was nonetheless considered his domain. With the fall of High Shanatar, he was only remembered as a lost god in ancient dwarven tradition and the ancestral tales of a few gold dwarves, particularly those dwelling near High Shanatar's ruins.

Rumors and Legends
High above the Jungles of Chult was the Emerald Crater, the truncated cone of a shattered volcano completely overgrown with flora and overrun by fauna to a degree not seen even in most of Chult's fertile tropics. While they only visited it rarely, since their stories taught it was a crime to hunt the life there, Thard himself was to have visited the beauteous place on several occasions, and part of the reason for its position in wild dwarven culture (normally such a place would be abandoned after a generation or two) was the presence of Esmerandanna.

The emerald dragon was a great wyrm that had lived in the crater since its creation in 77 DR and the sagacious entity had long been fascinated with wild dwarf customs and history. The Resplendent Queen, as she was known, had forged a bond of friendship with the disparate Thardite priests, having over the centuries overcome the paranoid impression typical to her kind that they planned to steal her treasures. The two parties had come to an agreement where the wild dwarves would come to the Emerald Crater to venerate Thard and she would guard their most sacred runestones and carvings that they recorded thee. The draconic protector was firmly woven into the wild dwarf mythos as the Daul (daughter) of Thard.