Orc pantheon

The orc pantheon, also known as the Tribe of He Who Watches, was a collection of brutal, cruel deities that ruled over the orc race. The Tribe was dominated by the central drive of the father and chieftain of the pantheon, Gruumsh One-Eye, that being the desire to obtain territory through war, the other orc gods simply reflecting the facets of this primary motivation. All subscribed to a "might makes right" attitude, but while evil and lacking in sophistication, they were nonetheless powerful protectors and advocates for their people.

"An orc life is a god-ridden life."

- Elminster's notes in Volo's Guide to Monsters.

Organization
The orc pantheon followed a rigid chain of command with Gruumsh at its pinnacle, wielding absolute authority over all other members. However, the relative positions of the gods in this strict hierarchy depended on the shaman speaking, all of which sought to emphasize their own deity's power and glory and sometimes doing so to the point that they almost excluded mention of Gruumsh himself.

Activities
The interests of the various orc gods naturally conflicted with those of their peers. Each sought to make their followers more powerful than those of their peers, as their own power was derived from that of those that revered them. All struggled for power in one way or another, often against each other, but never risking the anger of Gruumsh himself.

Tactics
The various deities of the orc pantheon each served varying purposes in the lives of their followers. Gruumsh created the orcs and had continued to guide their destiny for eons afterwards, aided by the other warrior deities, Bahgtru and Ilneval, who brought strength and cunning respectively to the battlefield. It was these three who made up the patrons of the raiders and ravagers of an orc tribe, often the only part that was ever seen by outsiders, but there were other roles played among the orc gods.

Deep within a tribe's caves dwelt the followers of Yurtrus and Shargaas, whose cults of mystery and death were filled with orcs too weak for straightforward battle. For orcs in such a position to not join one of the two was to open themselves up to daily humiliation, exile, or death. Bridging the dual aspects of orcish life and death were the caretakers of Luthic, who raised orcs into the warrior life from birth and saw them off when it was finally their time to die.

Part of Gruumsh's advantage compared to a god such as Maglubiyet was that he didn't fear betrayal at the hands of his lieutenants. While much of his time was taken up by the eternal struggle against goblinkind, Gruumsh could afford to dedicate comparatively less of it, and still had time for engaging his personal vendettas. Gruumsh directed the war from his iron fortress, sending Bahgtru or Ilneval to command the troops when needed. Often the two warrior gods would aid their petitioners in battle (aid similarly matched by members of the Goblinoid pantheon) but Gruumsh himself would only send an avatar to intervene when needed for a great battle that neither of them could be entrusted with.

Gruumsh's somewhat hands-off approach to his pantheon did have its flaws, however. As their leader it was his responsibility to ensure their survival, something that became harder for reasons that were partially his fault. Allowing his lieutenants to fight amongst themselves saw them taken by surprise and driven into a corner by their enemies, although knowing they were making their last stand made the pantheon fight all the harder.

Base of Operations
For a pantheon so occupied with obtaining territory, it was notable that the Tribe of He Who Watches lacked a land that they could call their own for much of their history. In the past, they seemed to have been moving from plane to plane looking for a layer to call their own, a kind of orcish Asgard. They had fled from Gehenna to the Nine Hells to most recently Acheron after their forcible movement from Hell by the goblinoid gods, dragging their unfortunate petitioners with them. Eventually they settled on a particular cube in that place, but Maglubiyet's goblinoids lived right on the other side. Both sides refused to move or share the dull cube, insisting on the final defeat of the other so they could claim undisputable dominion.

The home of the orc pantheon was known as Nishrek, though in the World Tree and World Axis Cosmologies this was its own realm rather than part of Acheron. In these cosmologies, however, being separated from the goblinoids did not end the constant battles, instead merely turning the conflict inwards. No matter their embodiment, whether the iron cube of the Great Wheel, the endless plains of the World Tree, or the warped nature of the World Axis, each version of the orcish afterlife was defined by never-ending slaughter. Exactly where the individual orc gods were situated in Nishrek had frequently changed over the course of time as well.

Initially, in Acheron, Gruumsh maintained several citadels on the surface of the cube itself while Luthic, Bahgtru, and Ilneval dwelt in smaller blocks orbiting the realm. Later it was reported that the realm was divided into four quadrants through the trenches dug around the cube face, four trenches around the perimeter and two crisscrossing the center. Six main cities could be found there, four in each quarter, one in the trenches, and one at the center of the realm built on top a pile of bones. Each of these cities was ruled by one of the six greatest orc clans, those under Gruumsh's direct dominion being the Rotting Eye, White Hand, and Three Fang clans. Bahgtru ruled the Iron Fist and Broken Skull, and Ilneval the Blood Armor clan. Luthic's tiny Black Claw clan remained independent due to their control of healing and fertility.

At some point, Nishrek and Clangor (the goblinoid realm) managed to be separated by their deities. Like its previous inception, Gruumsh was said to rule three faces, Bahgtru two, and Ilneval one, with Luthic deep at its center from which she sent forth plagues. In the World Tree cosmology, the Iron Fortress of Gruumsh remained a constant. Gruumsh surveyed the battles from it, occasionally supporting armies by letting them stay there or favoring them in a fight, both for no apparent reason. Bahgtru and Ilneval stayed with him, fighting with or for him at his command, while Luthic and her female petitioners tended to the wounded in a great cavern below. The World Axis cosmology was similar, though Ilneval was seemingly absent while the exarch Obould was present.

While most of the orc gods lived with Gruumsh, where he could keep his cycloptic eye on them, Shargaas and Yurtrus were notably detached from the entire arrangement. The two sinister sides of the pantheon had remained in their own domains in Gehenna and Hades respectively. In both the World Tree and World Axis, Shargaas's dark domain, the Night Below, was somewhere away from Gruumsh's fortress in Nishrek. Yurtrus's Fleshslough, where permanent death was dealt out (as opposed to the eternal cycle of death and revival typical in Nishrek's World Tree incarnation) was located atop a mighty hill above the battlefields, though his location in the World Axis was unclear.

In any case, more recently the pantheon was reported to be fighting Maglubiyet once more in Acheron, although the precise state of affairs was unknown.

Relationships
"Humans and dwarves call the deities of the orc pantheon, evil, but in fact, they're simply powers who grant their worshipers strength, plunder, and pleasure, the things every sensible person wants. In contrast, the Lady of Loss, who seeks the destruction of the entire world, her own followers included. Only a lunatic would pledge himself to a patron such as that."

- Kesk Turnskull's musings. The traditional enemies of the orc pantheon included the Morndinsamman and Seldarine, the pantheons of the dwarf and elf god respectively. This also included Maglubiyet and his goblinoid gods, who they were in a state of perpetual war with, which most other deities used as an example of the folly of violence for its own sake. While Gruumsh had come to view the conflict as an opportunity for the orcs to prove themselves before their gods, Maglubiyet sought to bring the orc pantheon to heel, subjugating them as he had many gods in the past.

Vaprak, the ogre and troll god, was among the minor deities Gruumsh had managed to put under his thumb (at least during the Spellplague). He had also worked with Kurtulmak in the past, though the kobold god was reluctant to work with other goblinoid gods (goblinoid in this case including orcs, goblins, bugbears, and related races) and considered both Gruumsh and his pantheon stupid and oafish.

Worshipers
The destructive behavior of the orcs was at least partially motivated by their need to satisfy their deities, and their utterly socially Darwinistic attitude was partially the result of the influence of said gods. The orcish deities actually encouraged war (to an extent) between tribes, believing that it was the best way to weed out the weak and promote the growth of the strong. They paid no attention to the idea that this method might waste their best talents on each other where non-orc foes may have been a better target.

Orcs believed their gods to be invincible, seeing the principles that defined them at work every day in the natural world, namely that the strong were rewarded and the weak eliminated. Furthermore, the orcs lived in constant terror of their own deities, to the point where they didn't so much revere as fear them. They believed that their influence could be seen everywhere in the world, from animal markings and behavior to sudden natural phenomenon, to sometimes blessings in the form of unholy offspring. Tribal priests were relied upon to identify the omens of the gods, which they might be able to do if similar signs had been encountered before.

However, signs from the gods might have no clear explanation, leaving the priests to meditate for hours or days in the hopes of receiving a vision of its meaning. Every orc tribe had their own superstitions about the gods, on how to bring their favor or avert their wrath; the rules and tenets varied between tribes, though they were often based in past experience. Any seemingly unimportant event or discovery could very well be interpreted as divine communication, and it was this mentality in which orc behavior was rooted. Fear and deep-seated uncertainty manifested as relentless savagery as the orcs ravaged and killed to appease their gods and hopefully escape divine retribution.

Meanwhile, intertribal conflict was sustained by religious bigotry. While all tribes usually paid some homage to Gruumsh as their king, each orc tribe normally worshiped a particular patron god, so divisions were normally made along cult lines, to the point where a tribe's symbol was often that of their god. All gods were worshiped relatively equally, and the typical orc not bound to worship Gruumsh above any other god. Even as most orcs in a tribe worshiped the same deity however, orcs within a tribe usually selected the one that most closely aligned with their own interests and temperaments.

History
The orc pantheon had lost many of its members over the course of time. In pre-history, one or two orc gods conspired to depose Gruumsh only to be utterly destroyed and since forgotten, marking the beginning of Gruumsh's iron-fisted methods. It was not clear if this was related to the one or two orc demigods that were destroyed by Ilneval; the Crafty Warrior systematically destroyed all rivals to his position and secretly worked to undermine Gruumsh's son as well. Also potentially related were the one or two orc gods that Ilneval deposed in his rise to power, relegating them to lesser status in the process.

Orcgate Wars
The orc pantheon made a notable impact in the history of the realms in -1076 DR during the period known as the Orcgate Wars. Five years prior, in -1076 DR, on a southern portion of the Plateau of Thay, a horde of orcs was unleashed, quickly overrunning the territories of Mulhorand and Unther. The orcs were from another world, having discovered a massive Gate opened years earlier by the rebel wizard Thayd, and poured through seeking new lands to plunder.

The god-kings of Mulhorand and Unther emerged from their towers and mustered their armies before charging against this hitherto unknown race known as "orcs". In response the orc shamans (using magic since lost to their descendants) summoned avatars of their own gods to counterattack. The war would rage on for the next four years, culminating in heavy losses on the sides of both armies until a fateful day in -1071 DR. Despite enemy tactics, the orcs nearly overwhelmed the hastily assembled human forces, who only survived by the grace of Re, Lord of Sun and leader of the Mulhorandi pantheon, blinding the orc army.

This act drove Gruumsh into a fury, resulting in him and his divine allies charging forward and, at great personal cost to themselves, slaying the god-king of Mulhorand, thus committing the first act of deicide in the Realms. Re's death was not in vain however, for Anhur, Lord of War, had devised a brilliant trap. The elite forces of both Unther and Mulhorand had been held in reserve up until this point, and once the orcs charged had smashed into their flanks. In -1069 DR, two years after Re's death, the Mulhorandi and Untheric pantheons rallied to defeat the orcs and drove them from the region.

Gruumsh, along with the rest of his pantheon, found themselves forced to retreat from the field. The battle with Re had left them severely weakened, and while they had managed to slay Re (as well as the Untheric gods Inanna, Girru, Ki, Marduk, Nanna-Sin, Nergal, and Utu), the price of this unprovoked conflict was steep. Many divine manifestations, incarnations, and possibly full-fledged deities from his side had died as well, and part of their power was left to be absorbed by the deities left behind.

Recent History
During the Time of Troubles, the traveler's god Shaundakul was said to have slain at least one demipower, possibly of orcish origin, in the ruins of Myth Drannor. During the Spellplague, Gruumsh's grip on the pantheon as a whole tightened, whilst Maglubiyet was relegated to one of the many exarchs of Bane.

After the Second Sundering, Maglubiyet was once again independent of Bane, and so did the orc pantheon recommence their eons long duel with the goblinoid gods. Those who studied the ebb and flow of the cosmic battle suspected it would never end, though the archmage Tzunk put forth a different idea. He suggested that Maglubiyet had never faced a foe as ferocious and protective as the goddess Luthic, and that the war would end with her the last deity standing, rising to lead her warrior children as their divine matriarch.

Members
The orc pantheon was on the surface, a small one. There was the First Family, comprised of Gruumsh, Luthic, and Bahgtru, the war god Ilneval, and lastly the most sinister members Yurtrus and Shargaas. However, these six were simply the most powerful of the orcish gods, and in truth there were a large number of them, representing such spheres of influence as swordsmanship and hunting.


 * Gruumsh: The One-Eyed God, Gruumsh was the patron deity of the orcs, the god of war and territory, and leader of the orc pantheon. Believing the orcs to have been wronged in the ancient past by the other gods, he led his pantheon to exact vengeance and take what they were owed through unending holy wars. He did not fear an uprising at their hands, yet watched them closely all the same.


 * Luthic: The Cave Mother, Luthic was the orc goddess of healing and home, a maternal figure of the pantheon and Gruumsh's mate. Though all feared her claws, the other orc gods barely respected her, which she secretly resented, though she often got her way through bending the ears of her husband and son. While frequently seen as Gruumsh's servant, she was not wholly loyal to her husband, who usually failed to pay her heed.


 * Bahgtru: The Fist of Gruumsh, Bahgtru was the orc god of brute strength and loyalty, as well as the son of Gruumsh and Luthic. His divine peers feared the idiot god's great might, but called upon him when needed. He trusted only his parents and completely so, but when forced to choose between them would unfailingly follow his mother, a minor defiance Gruumsh grudgingly permitted from his otherwise obedient son.


 * Ilneval: The War Master, Ilneval was the orc god of strategy and martial skill, serving as Gruumsh's first lieutenant. He saw Shargaas and Yurtrus as dishonorable cravens but was smart enough to make effective use of their insidious talents. He secretly coveted Gruumsh's position (as Gruumsh was aware) and wife, but was also terrified of Bahgtru, leading Gruumsh to tolerate, if not trust, his ambitious right hand.


 * Yurtrus: The Lord of Maggots, Yurtrus was the orc god of death and disease (whether by choice or assignment was unknown), and punished orcs who strayed from Gruumsh's dictates with plagues. The mouthless god was not prone to forming relationships but had a cold alliance with Shargaas to counterbalance the influence of the pantheon's war gods. While Gruumsh could likely kill him, even he was said to fear getting that close.


 * Shargaas: The Night Lord, Shargaas was the orc god of darkness and stealth, and served as Gruumsh's head of assassins. He hated all life, including that of the orcs and their gods, only using them as disposable killing tools and allying with the pantheon out of pragmatic self-interest. He was the most coldly calculating of the orc gods and dangerous to all except Gruumsh, yet viewed even him with vengeful hate.