Khurgorbaeyag, also known as Kuro to the Batiri,[4] was the goblin god of oppression and social order, and the last remaining member of the goblin pantheon after Maglubiyet destroyed all the others.[1] Known as The Overseer due to his supervisory role, he was responsible for the goblin penchant for taking slaves.[5]
Description[]
Khurgorbaeyag appeared as a muscular, 9 ft (2.7 m) tall goblin with flame-red skin flecked with orange and yellow scales, always wielding his signature whip and wearing scale mail armor.[3][5] He was also known to appear to jungle goblins as a powerful ankylosaurus.[4]
Personality[]
Khurgorbaeyag was a cruel taskmaster[1] whose malevolence and aggression was tempered by a rigid sense of order. He practically exemplified the goblin race's desire to take slaves,[3][5] and was delighted when they were used to complete menial, undesirable tasks so that his goblins could be more focused on war and driven to commit their atrocities. He was firmly convinced that goblins would eventually rise to be the rulers of the multiverse and stressed the importance of unity among them in order to defeat all other races. The strict disciplinarian was somewhat prideful but also unerringly cautious and so carefully crafted plans to achieve his true goals.[3][2]
Powers[]
Khurgobaeyag's supernatural abilities centered around subjugation, as he charmed and dominated masses of enemies to submit to his will. He himself was immune to spells meant to demoralize or enthrall him. He was known to be of great physical prowess.[3]
Possessions[]
Khurgobaeyag's only weapon was his great whip, which he used to "motivate" good performance from his goblins in both civilian and war duties. The whip had all the powers of a rope of entanglement was three times as durable, but had the added benefit of producing supersonic snaps when used multiple times in short succession. It's most dangerous, if not deadly, feature, was that those struck by the whip were filled with despair, similarly to how a symbol of hopelessness worked, compelling them to promptly surrender to the wielder. If the victim couldn't resist, they could stay in a depressed state anywhere between a week and several months, depending on their willpower.[3][5]
He was also known to possess small copper cubes, that could be thrown at his foes and expand into a 10 x 10 x 10 ft (3 m) forcecage, after which they would be exposed to the effects of a symbol of hopelessness, although the effect could be resisted as well.[3][5]
Divine Realm[]
Khurgorbaeyag dwelt with the rest of the goblin pantheon on the first layer of Acheron, Avalas, on the cube of Clangor, the greatest goblin barracks in the multiverse. He lived in the fortress city of Shetring which also housed his greatest temple.[2]
Activities[]
Given that Maglubiyet was more concerned with warfare and destruction than the welfare of the goblinoid races, it fell to Khurgorbaeyag to ensure the survival and expansion of the goblin race specifically.[2] The Overseer made sure that the goblins and their slaves followed instructions and completed their duties, the most obvious method of coercion being fear.[5][6] Regardless of his task, he had his own agenda that he secretly worked towards.[2]
Relationships[]
Khurgorbaeyag was the lowest-ranking goblinoid deity, under the chief deity Maglubiyet, the general Nomog-Geaya, and the peacekeeper Bargrivyek and lacking the relative freedom of the somewhat independent but still subservient bugbear deities.[1] Among them, his best relationship was doubtlessly with his immediate superior Bargrivyek, the two of them sharing ideals concerning goblinoid unity and ascendancy.[1][2] Meanwhile, his rival among the pantheon was Nomog-Geaya,[6] who despite being his superior he wouldn't bow towards, the hobgoblin god himself regarding Khurgorbeayag with barely restrained disgust. Khurgorbaeyag competed with Nomog-Geaya for Maglubiyet's favor with intent to prove his people more worthy of the Battle Lord's good graces.[5][2]
Though the paranoid Maglubiyet showed a comparatively high level of trust towards Khurgorbaeyag, this was because the Overseer acted as loyal as possible to his liege, but not out of any sense of true fealty.[2][6] Khurgorbaeyag obeyed Maglubiyet because he had seen what the Battle Lord did to anyone he perceived as a threat, and being the kind of god he was, Maglubiyet saw threats everywhere. Fear only worked so well as a motivator and Khurgorbaeyag planned to usurp his tyrannical master as soon as he could concoct a flawless plan to do so.[2]
The bugbear god Hruggek had something akin to an alliance him since he once aided the Master of Ambush in a battle between the orc gods Bahgtru and Ilneval, and the two still occasionally worked together to fight lesser orcish gods.[3][2] Khurgorbaeyag was the one goblinoid deity that Hruggek wasn't afraid of watching his actions and he was known to secretly compliment the goblin gods plans from time to time. Despite tolerating him however, the cunning Hruggek talked about how sound his plans, and reversely how uninspired Maglubiyet's were, to encourage division between members of the pantheon to secure more resources for his own bugbears.[3]
Worshipers[]
Goblins modeled much of their lives and society off of Khurgorbaeyag's teachings, which pushed them towards more lawful behavior and formed the basis of the autocratic government of their tribes. The lessons of the Overseer granted his followers a dog-eat-dog mentality, that only by wielding the whip could its lash be escaped and that only by enslaving others could they avoid being enslaved. The ability to create a leather whip was often a carefully guarded secret by one family in a goblin tribe, who could therefore control the supply of them, and could instantly launch even a lowly goblin to the highest caste of their society.[1] Whips were holy symbols to be used on captive slaves, goblin enemies, and lower class goblins, but not in actual combat; when subduing prisoners or fighting battles, blunt instruments like maces and clubs were to be used to beat the enemy into submission.[1][3][5]
Khurgorbaeyag's clerics and shamans served the tribe as advisors rather than troop leaders or soldiers,[5] but if forced to fight they would attempt to capture rather than kill,[3] having assistants carry ropes and chains for binding captives on military missions. They encouraged taking back living, if injured, captives in order to use them as slaves or to "instruct them" on their new place in the world, effectively a euphemism for a public torture ritual.[5] As well as maintaining the social castes of their society, Khurgorbaeyag's priests were responsible for capturing, disciplining and "taking care of" a tribe's slaves.[3] Humans were favorites for the purpose of enslavement while dwarves and gnomes were often marked for death after capture. Their traditional religious garb was red scale mail and war helms along with vestments of gray wolf fur.[5]
Though nearly all goblins could technically be counted among Khurgorbaeyag's faithful, the Overseer disliked having to grant his followers divine magic, and occasionally saw fit to gift others with supernatural abilities.[1] The candidate for receiving such power had to show some level of physical strength and force of personality.[3] His priests received powers related to making others do as they said, such as, as they were called in goblin tribes, Boohyag Whips, who dominated small groups of other goblins so that they slavishly followed orders.[1] Other abilities included a resistance to magical charming, domination and fear, and the ability to inflict fear themselves.[3]
Khurgorbaeyag's priests were his greatest servitors which he used to direct the race's path,[2] and as such he took personal interest in their affairs, sometimes sending avatars simply to oversee their slave-taking efforts.[3] He was also known to communicate his opinions, or just his presence, with more esoteric omens such as whip cracks without sources or binding instruments that moved on their own. These signs could even act as boons to the goblin tribe in question, such as if glowing bars of light like those of a forcecage appeared and trapped goblin enemies or others that displeased him. The sudden onset of depression was known to be a sign of his displeasure among worshipers, and once roused from this state they were known to take back up the whip and use it on more creatures with a renewed sense of zealotry.[1][3]
Tribes[]
Khurgorbaeyag was the most widely worshiped god of the Batiri.[4][7] Although many goblin tribes worshiped Khurgorbaeyag, the Kuro tribe of Chult were solely dedicated to him, and knew him as Kuro. They believed that he owned the jungle and could take the form of a huge and powerful dinosaur.[4]
Other Gods[]
As a result of their mutual understanding, Hruggek and Khurgorbaeyag's shamans were allowed to work together in relative harmony, in other words, cautious cooperation. The two held joint ceremonies at times and bugbear guards could be frequently be found guarding Khurgorbaeyag's temples.[3][5] Conversely, goblin and hobgoblin shamans of Khurgorbaeyag and Nomog-Geaya respectively, mutually detested each other, goblin shamans referencing Nomog-Geaya's subtle treacheries and hobgoblin shamans making thinly veiled references to their god's barely contained disgust for Khurgorbaeyag. While the Overseer's shamans claimed that goblin petitioners had to fight all the harder in the goblin afterlife against the orcs do to the clumsy, lazy hobgoblin petitioners, the General's shamans claimed that hobgoblin petitioners had to do the same as a result of the weak, dishonorable goblin petitioners.[5]
History[]
Khurgorbaeyag was once part of the goblin pantheon that ruled over the goblins, until the day Maglubiyet slaughtered all the other deities. Maglubiyet left only a single member of the goblin pantheon, Khurgorbaeyag, alive. Maglubiyet made him the cruel overseer of his goblin worshipers, whilst he took the chief position of all the goblinoid deities.[1]
Khurgorbaeyag once managed to trap the gnome deity of illusion and deception, Baravar Cloakshadow, but they later escaped and got their revenge, beginning their trend of never following the same routine and always wearing a different disguise.[8]
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Mike Mearls, et al. (November 2016). Volo's Guide to Monsters. Edited by Jeremy Crawford, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 40, 42, 52, 182. ISBN 978-0786966011.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Colin McComb (October 1996). On Hallowed Ground. Edited by Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), p. 130.132. ISBN 0-7869-0430-5.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 Carl Sargent (May 1992). Monster Mythology. (TSR, Inc), pp. 44, 50–52. ISBN 1-5607-6362-0.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 James Lowder, Jean Rabe (1993). The Jungles of Chult. (TSR, Inc), pp. 46, 61. ISBN 1-5607-6605-0.
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 Roger E. Moore (July 1982). “Point of View: The humanoids – Goals and gods of the kobolds, goblins, hobgoblins, & gnolls”. In Kim Mohan ed. Dragon #63 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 26, 29–30.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Wolfgang Baur (February 1995). “Acheron”. In Michele Carter ed. Planes of Law (TSR, Inc), p. 8.14. ISBN 0786900938.
- ↑ Eric L. Boyd (November 1998). Demihuman Deities. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 103. ISBN 0-7869-1239-1.
- ↑ Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford (May 29, 2018). Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Edited by Kim Mohan, Michele Carter. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 110–111. ISBN 978-0786966240.
Connections[]
Maglubiyet
Other deities
Bargrivyek • Grankhul • Hruggek • Khurgorbaeyag • Nomog-Geaya • Skiggaret
Deities of unknown worship status in the Realms
Kikanuti