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.

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.

Members

 * Gruumsh One-eye, a greater god of storms and war, and of orcs. He is the leader of the orc deities.
 * Luthic, lesser goddess of fertility, medicine, and orc females; the consort of Gruumsh.
 * Ilneval, lesser god of war strategy, orc cross-breeds, and destruction.
 * Bahgtru, god of brute strength.
 * Shargaas, god of darkness and night, stealth, thieves, and undead.
 * Yurtrus, a feared god of death and disease.