Grumbar

Grumbar was the elemental embodiment of earth in the Realms. He was one of the four elemental deities worshiped in Faerûn, also known as Elemental Lords, those primordials that remained on Toril when it was separated from Abeir. Nonetheless, he retained worshipers and had power equivalent to that of a god.

"Grumbar's oath unchanging and true Earth remains strong protecting all"

- Inscription at a Grumbarryn altar

Titles
Grumbar had several titles and honorifics, including the Earthlord, the Boss of Earth, King of the Land Below the Roots, the Gnarly One, and the Boss of Earth Elementals.

Grumbar was venerated as the goddess Etugen in the Hordelands, and as Grome among the duergar of Zakhara.

Description
He appeared as an enormous earth elemental with red eyes that glimmered like rubies.

Personality
Grumbar was a quiet and resolute being, who resisted change more so than other divine powers. He bore the weight of secret knowledge and protected the great riches that were found within the earth.

Worshipers
Like the other elemental deities, with the exception of Kossuth, Grumbar had a minimum of followers in Faerûn. He cared little indeed for most of those worshipers; his power came from the many elemental devotees in both the Underdark and the Elemental Plane of Earth.

The church of Grumbar was organized into small sects known as Holds, each comprising three groups of seven members, divided by their individual skillsets, each supported by a number of lay people. Those who followed the Earthlord could often be found in public preaching against evils of boarding ships and setting sail to uncharted lands, preferring exploration on the continent of Faerûn.

In Faerûn, there were notable Grumbarryn temples found in various mountain ranges, including the Spine of the World, the Giantspires, and the Muaraghal Mountains. He was among the deities worshipped by the continents population of earth genasi.

Among the Tuigan people the Hordelands, Grumbar was known by its many nomadic tribe as a goddess called Etugen. They believed she was the source of most blessings their people received. Such as good pastures, the growth of their herds, and protection against some diseases.

On the continent of Zakhara, Grumbar was called one of the cold gods of the elements. As those were seen as uncaring for human affairs, they were considered opposed to the Land of Fate's pervasive culture of Enlightenment. Only a few Zakharans were willing to worship a cold god in order to gain power. Some yak-men, ever opposed to Enlightenment, helped in the administration of Grumbar's realm on the Elemental Plane of Earth.

In Kara-Tur, Grumbar had another great place of worship found in the Wu Pi Te Shao Mountains.

Orders

 * Disciples of the Changeless Face, stoic monks who protected Grumbarryn knowledge.
 * Sardonyx Knights, stalwart crusaders who protected Grumbar's temples.

Divine Realm
Under the Great Wheel and World Tree cosmologies, Grumbar dwelled within the Great Mountain in the Elemental Plane of Earth. When that plane fell into the Elemental Chaos following the cataclysm of the Spellplague, Grumbar formed a new domain for himself, called Root Hold.

Relationships
Grumbar had ties with other deities of elemental earth, including Geb, Garl Glittergold, Dumathoin, Laduguer, and Urogalan, but these were loose at best. Grumbar was opposed to Akadi and her flimsy and ever-changing ways. In the battle of the archomentals of Sunnis and Ogrémoch, Grumbar secretly balanced one against the other, remaining the most powerful ruler of elemental earth himself.

Ogrémoch was actually one of Grumbar's children, as was his twin, Entemoch.

Grumbar and orcish deity Luthic were involved in a secret romance, unbeknownst to the god Gruumsh.

History
As of the, Grumbar had made only four known appearances on Toril in the annals of recorded history. The first occasion of his divine presence being known was during the creation of the Great Rift in south Faerûn.

During the events of the Second Sundering, in the late 15 century DR. Luthic presented Grumbar with a gift, the Eye of Gruumsh, to reaffirm her love for Grumbar, in the wake of lies and doubts spread by the goddess Shar.

Appearances

 * Novels


 * The Sentinel

Behind The Scenes
Ed Greenwood initially used Grome, one of Michael Moorcock's Elemental gods as found in the original Deities & Demigods 1st edition, as the elemental lord of earth for his home campaign set in the Forgotten Realms. As he stated in Dragon magazine 54, the elemental gods "may later be replaced in (his) universe by 'official' AD&D beings as these are published".