Goblinoid deities

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In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, goblinoids worship a variety of deities. Each of the three main types of goblinoids (goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears) each has its own pantheon of deities (or a single deity in the case of hobgoblins) that they worship.

Goblin deities

Bargrivyek

Bargrivyek
Game background
Title(s) The Peacekeeper
Home plane Nine Hells of Baator
Power level Lesser
Alignment Lawful Evil
Portfolio Co-operation, territory
Design details

In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Bargrivyek is the goblin deity of cooperation and territory. He is known as the Peacekeeper because he tolerates no war between goblin tribes. However, he is not a gentle god and he desires to see goblins destroy their enemies, particularly orcs.

Publication history

Bargrivyek was first detailed in the book Monster Mythology (1992), including details about his priesthood.[1] His role in the cosmology of the Planescape campaign setting was described in On Hallowed Ground (1996).[2]

Description

Bargrivyek appears as a large (8 feet tall) goblin with a high domed forehead. He wears a calm expression and carries a white-tipped flail.

Bargrivyek is on good terms with the goblins' racial god, Khurgorbaeyag, because both desire the rise of goblins to domination of other races. He fears the head of the goblin pantheon, Maglubiyet, as well as the god of the hobgoblins, Nomog-Geaya.

Hruggek urges Maglubiyet to act against Bargrivyek, because Bargrivyek seeks to unite goblins and bugbears, something Hruggek disapproves of.

Bargrivyek's deceptively titled realm of The Peacable Lands can be found on Avernus, the first layer of Baator. Here he trains his goblin armies and leads raids against the realm of Kurtulmak, god of the kobolds.

Shamans of Bargrivyek strive to reduce conflicts amongst the goblins and turn aggression outwards toward external foes. They also advocate the expansion of goblin territory. Their holy weapon is the flail.

Bargrivyek sends omens to his clergy in the form of falling stars, speaking in strange tongues, and speech following violent stuttering.

Khurgorbaeyag

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Khurgorbaeyag is the goblin deity of slavery, oppression, and morale. He acts as a trusted lieutenant of Maglubiyet, though he secretly harbors a desire to rule the goblin pantheon himself.

Maglubiyet

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Meriadar

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Stalker

Stalker
Game background
Home plane Wanders
Power level Demigod
Alignment Neutral Evil
Portfolio Hate, death, cold
Design details

In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Stalker is the goblinoid deity of hate, death, and cold. This god has no true worshippers, and is an enemy of all things that live. Its symbol is a creeping shadow.

Stalker was first detailed in the book Monster Mythology (1992), including details about his priesthood.[3]

Stalker takes the form of a slow shadow, its size varying from two to twenty feet in length as the entity desires. It continuously radiates magical fear, and is especially proficient with cold-related spells. Stalker is related to the racial root stock of all goblinoid races (in this context, this includes orcs and other races as well). Stalker hungers for all lives and souls, but it is not powerful enough to oppose Gruumsh, Maglubiyet, or the races under their protection, so for this reason it focuses its hate on bugbears, kobolds, urds, gnolls, and mongrelfolk. It particularly despises Meriadar, who works to bring self-respect to the goblinoid races. Stalker occasionally strikes up an alliance with the bugbear god Skiggaret, with whom it has a mutual tolerance. Stalker is sometimes considered by bugbears to be a member of their pantheon.

Stalker will send its single avatar to prey on weak communities or those damaged by war. Other goblinoid gods will often permit Stalker to take a share of souls after such conflict, for they find its stirring up of violence to be useful. In pre-history, Stalker is said to have dwelled in a dark underground complex before being driven out by the intrusion of a goblinoid race. Ever since then, Stalker has wandered the world, searching for revenge. It is possible that Stalker is responsible for the pools of animated darkness haunting Darkpool; this is credited to an unnamed humanoid deity.

Stalker and its hate are strengthened by the deaths of goblinoids, so it always seeks to inspire war, conflict, and death. Stalker has no worshippers, but many fear it. It has no priests or shamans. Goblinoids usually do not bother to attempt to propitiate Stalker, as it seldom does any good. The only exception that has found to be effective is ritually dancing to death while promising Stalker a battle with deaths and souls to be devoured; this will sometimes satisfy Stalker enough to turn away from the rest of the community.

Bhuka deities

Kikanuti

Kikanuti
Game background
Title(s) Mother Deity
Power level Lesser
Alignment Neutral Good
Portfolio Protection, fertility
Domains Earth, Good, Magic, Protection, Plant, Summer[4]
Design details

Kikanuti is the goddess of the desert goblins, known as bhukas, in some campaign settings of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. She is one of the rare good-aligned deities of the goblinoids. Bhukas believe that Kikanuti brought them forth from the Lower World, a great cavern that they call the Second Womb. She nurtures and protects them in the Upper World from more savage races and against the harsh desert environment.

Kikanuti appears most frequently as a bhuka woman with braids of corn, dressed in a brightly painted tunic. She also takes many other forms. Her symbol is a clay pot painted with a stylized bird.[4]

Priestesses of the bhukas are called Grandmother. Her worshipers participate in ritual dances wearing masks.

Kikanuti and her followers are on unfriendly terms with the head of the goblin pantheon Maglubiyet. They believe that he enslaves his people and keeps them underground, cut off from the light and the joys of life. Kikanuti's holy weapon is a mace.

Hobgoblin deities

Nomog-Geaya

Nomog-Geaya
Game background
Title(s) The General
Home plane Infernal Battlefield of Acheron
Power level Lesser
Alignment Lawful Evil
Portfolio War, authority
Design details

In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Nomog-Geaya is the hobgoblin deity of War and Authority. He is the patron deity of hobgoblins, but hobgoblins are also known to worship Maglubiyet. His symbol is a crossed longsword and handaxe.

Publication history

Nomog-Geaya was first detailed in Roger E. Moore's article "The Humanoids: All About Kobolds, Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Gnolls," in Dragon #63 (TSR, 1982).[5]

Nomog-Geaya was detailed in the book Monster Mythology (1992), including details about his priesthood.[6] His role in the cosmology of the Planescape campaign setting was described in On Hallowed Ground (1996).[7]

Description and worship

Nomog-Geaya appears as a huge, powerful goblin with rough, ash-gray skin, cold orange eyes, and teeth like a shark’s. He almost always has his broadsword in one hand, and his hand axe in the other. He is said to have no expressions other than a grim, tight-lipped look of domineering authority. He is quiet and only speaks when he must.

Nomog-Geaya is subservient to Maglubiyet, and detests Khurgorbaeyag, the patron deity of goblins. Maglubiyet allows Nomog-Geaya and Khurgorbaeyag to live in his realm of Clangor on the plane of Acheron, to better keep an eye on them.

The Five Directives of the Soldiers of the Last Order are:

  • Arm yourself with fire and steel.
  • Rally all hobgoblin tribes under your banner.
  • Hunt elves and goblins and put them to the sword.
  • Burn prisoners alive in sacrifice to Nomog-Geaya. Nomog-Geaya will accept no other sacrifice.
  • Honor no god above Nomog-Geaya.

Nomog-Geaya is the patron deity of hobgoblins, second only to Maglubiyet in hobgoblin religion. The fanatic, heretical cult known as the Soldiers of the Last Order was founded by Galtai, a messianic cleric of Nomog-Geaya. This cult, active in Western Oerik, seeks to follow five directives given to them by their founder. If they do these things, they believe Nomog-Geaya himself will appear on Oerth and bring about a new age. Nomog-Geaya grants members of this cult spells, but he is reluctant to support them too openly for fear that Maglubiyet may deem them a threat to his rule. In Western Oerik, Nomog-Geaya also grants the domain of Fire.

Bugbear deities

The bugbear pantheon is usually led by Hruggek, the god of violence and combat. The pantheon is primarily worshiped by bugbears, a race of savage humanoids described as goblinoids in the context of the game.

Publication history

The bugbear pantheon is first mentioned in the first edition sourcebook Deities and Demigods, which states that there are six deities in the bugbear pantheon, including gods of earth, death, fertility, hunting and fear. Despite this, only Hruggek is detailed, and is stated to be a lesser deity.

The second edition sourcebooks On Hallowed Ground and Monster Mythology feature Hruggek, Grankhul and Skiggaret as members of the bugbear pantheon. Hruggek is stated to be an intermediate deity in this edition.

Hruggek is featured in the third edition sourcebooks Defenders of the Faith and Faiths and Pantheons. The revised third edition sourcebook Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss briefly mentions Grankhul and Skiggaret. Hruggek is briefly mentioned in the Complete Divine sourcebook.

Hruggek is featured in the fourth edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, where he is presented as an evil exarch presiding over the sphere of ambush.

Grankhul

Grankhul
Game background
Home plane Infinite Layers of the Abyss
Power level Lesser
Alignment Chaotic Evil
Portfolio Hunting, senses, surprise, stealth
Domains Celerity, Chaos, Evil, Knowledge, Travel, Trickery
Superior Hruggek
Design details

In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Grankhul is the bugbear deity of hunting, senses, and surprise. Grankhul's symbol is two eyes that are ever open in the darkness.

Publication history

Grankhul was first detailed in the book Monster Mythology (1992), including details about his priesthood.[8] His role in the cosmology of the Planescape campaign setting was described in On Hallowed Ground (1996).[9]

Description

Grankhul appears as a tall, relatively lean bugbear with large, protruding eyes and very long, thin fingers.

Grankhul is described as being always aware, and prone to violent tantrumns. It is stated that Grankhul was the being that taught the bugbears to be stealthy, allowing them to function effectively in small numbers.[8]

Grankhul's avatars are depicted as tall, lean bugbears with bulging eyes who are incapable of being surprised. It is stated that Grankhul uses his avatar forms to subtly drive away goblinoids and other humanoid races who operate too close to bugbear settlements.

The bugbear pantheon is dominated by Hruggek, though he doesn't really rule it. There is more of an understanding among the bugbear gods that no one acts against Hruggek's interests, and in return Hruggek leaves the others alone. Hruggek's priests often have to keep a wary eye out for the sneakiness of Grankhul's priests, however. Other bugbear deities include Skiggaret; local pantheons often include a god of earth, a god of fertility, and a god of death (often Stalker).

Grankhul shares the realm of Palpitatia on the 241st layer of the Abyss with his fellow bugbear god, Skiggaret.[10] This layer is eternally dark, populated by shadows and spectres, with fear eternally radiating from every inch of the grim terrain.

Grankhul values dexterity, speed, and at least a modicum of wit. Grankhul is said to have been the god who gifted bugbears with their ability to surprise their prey. He is a very violent god, prone to terrible tantrums and swift murder.

Grankhul is worshipped by hunters, assassins, and other bugbears who prize stealth and surprise.

Grankhul's priests are expected to excel in the qualities favored by their deity. They are hunters, scouts, and explorers among their people, charged with helping to provide food for their bands and to harass their enemies with guerrilla assaults. They are arrogant, confident of their intellects and stealthiness. Their favored weapon is the longsword.

Hruggek

Hruggek
Game background
Home plane Windswept Depths of Pandemonium
Power level Intermediate
Alignment Chaotic Evil
Portfolio Violence, combat
Domains Chaos, Evil, Trickery, War[11]
Superior none
Design details

In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Hruggek is the chief deity of bugbears, the deity of violence and combat. His symbol is a morningstar.

Publication history

Hruggek was created by James M. Ward for the Deities and Demigods cyclopedia (1980).[12]

Hruggek was detailed in the book Monster Mythology (1992), including details about his priesthood.[13] His role in the cosmology of the Planescape campaign setting was described in On Hallowed Ground (1996).[14]

Hruggek was described briefly in Defenders of the Faith (2000),[11] and Evermeet (2012).[15] His priesthood is detailed for 3rd edition in Complete Divine (2004).[16]

In the Basic D&D setting, Hruggek was known as Bartziluth.[17]

Description

Hruggek appears as a huge, powerful bugbear, twelve feet tall. He has great fangs and clawed hands and feet, and wields a 10-foot-long (3.0 m) morningstar.

Other gods worshiped or feared by the bugbears include Grankhul, the god of hunting, senses, and surprise; Stalker, the god of darkness and death; and Skiggaret the god of fear. Hruggek and the other gods of his pantheon have an understanding - they don't act contrary to his interests, and in return he leaves them alone. He has a slight alliance with the goblin god Khurgorbaeyag, and urges him to work against Maglubiyet, chief of the goblin gods. He doesn't get along with Bargrivyek, who seeks to unite the goblins and hobgoblins, something Hruggek sees as dangerous. He urges Maglubiyet to act against Bargrivyek, and thereby he attempts to keep the goblin pantheon divided, and less of a threat to him.

Meriadar is particularly opposed to the gods of the bugbears, including Hruggek.

Hruggek's cave in Hruggekolohk, his realm in the second layer of Pandemonium, Cocytus, is surrounded by severed heads of various races, which continually cry his praises or beg for mercy, and gift him with powers against their respective peoples. Hruggek didn't make the heads - they were already there when he arrived, remnants of more ancient gods who carved the plane's tunnels.

Hruggekolohk is unusually honeycombed and filled with many standing pools, interspersed with bones and garbage. These pools are magically heated, and various forms of pallid, grublike life grow within them. The petitioners congregate in villages on the banks of these pools, often hunting the sickly pond creatures.

Hruggek delights in savage combat, but he believes his people are too small in numbers to make mass warfare practical. Instead, he urges that stealth and wiles be used to pick off foes in small groups.

Hruggeks' priests dress in black and wear skulls on their heads. They're warriors and leaders, and keep an eye on the priests of other bugbear deities. They cooperate casually with the priests of Khurgorbaeyag. Hruggek will occasionally send his priests omens in the form of gruesome utterances from severed heads.

Temples to Hruggek take the form of halls built in natural caves.

Sacrifices of blood are made to Hruggek once a month, when Luna is full.

Skiggaret

Skiggaret
Game background
Home plane Infinite Layers of the Abyss
Power level Demigod
Alignment Chaotic Evil
Portfolio Fear
Design details

In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Skiggaret is the half-mad bugbear deity of fear. Skiggaret's symbol is a black claw.

Publication history

Skiggaret was first detailed in the book Monster Mythology (1992), including details about his priesthood.[8] His role in the cosmology of the Planescape campaign setting was described in On Hallowed Ground (1996).[18]

Description

Skiggaret appears as a bugbear with jet-black fur, red lips, red hands, and red feet. The smile playing around his mouth is at least half insane. Skiggaret prowls the Oerth in avatar form, driving bugbears to acts of destruction and aggression through the terror he inspires.

Hruggek is the dominant member of the bugbear pantheon, though he doesn't really rule the others. Other members of the pantheon include Grankhul, god of hunting, and sometimes Stalker. Local bugbear pantheons often include a god of fertility and a god of earth. Skiggaret is the only deity that Stalker does not hate; they seem to understand one another to some degree.[8]

Skiggaret's position in the bugbear pantheon is described as being that of a messenger, conveying the will of the other gods to their followers. It is noted that this role grants him a great deal of power despite his position as a demigod. Additionally, Skiggaret is described as having an alliance of mutual tolerance with Stalker.[8]

Skiggaret shares the realm of Palpitatia on the 241st layer of the Abyss with his fellow bugbear god, Grankhul.[19] This Abyssal layer is eternally dark, populated with shadows and spectres, where fear radiates from all things.

Bugbears believe that if they survive Skiggaret's fear, they will be strengthened, and that Skiggaret helps protect them by scaring off oppressors who seek to overcome them. In extreme situations, Skiggaret can be appealed to help his people in this manner, if given sufficient sacrifices to bribe him.

Skiggaret is not worshipped by bugbears; rather, they seek to propitiate him by sacrificing the lives and sanity of their captives, torturing them to death to satisfy the terrible deity. Bugbears are ever on the alert for the rare signs and omens that Skiggaret sends, which take the form of the raising of hackles and fur, sudden chills, and magical pools of darkness. These are interpreted as signs that the gods are wrathful, and Skiggaret has been sent to make them afraid. In that sense, Skiggaret is the messenger of the bugbear gods.

Skiggaret is not worshipped by bugbears, and as such has no clergy. He is instead described as using fear to make bugbears act for him.

References

Additional reading