Orcs Worship One-Eye

In my Freeport Trilogy game I had a lot of recurring conflicts using the orcs in Freeport.

The campaign was set in a sort of ancient meditteranean style homebrew with Freeport as a multicultural international hub of commerce with a mishmash of historical analogue countries and fantasy cities like Ptolus thrown in. There were multiple pantheons for different regions including historical and gaming ones interacting as well as worshipping non divine things like giants and dragons.

Before the game went on hiatus as all the players were taken up by VtM20 fever I had an idea for tying the typical orcish identity to the multicultural historical and fantasy theme I was developing for the setting.

Orcs have been brought in from all over to work as cheap labor in Freeport. One orc has become a vicious power in Freeport as a successful ruthless pirate. The party came into conflict with him and he keeps hiring more orcs to work with him or go hunt down the party.

So I was thinking as a running theme the orcs would shout out war cries for their patron god One Eye.

The first time it would be Grummsh, One Eye who sees all and fathered the orcish race from his spilled blood.

But then the next orcish party would shout out war cries invoking One Eye the Allfather with his mighty spear Gunginnir and ask for berserker strength and hope for glorious death leading to Valhalla.

Then the next time ones calling down curses from their patron Balor of the Evil Eye, opponent of the Tuatha de Danan.

I've thought up a few more since then:

One eye'd Polyphemus Man-Eater.

Talos the violent storm god master of the gods of fury.

Horus the war god whose eye was ripped out by Set.

Harrimast, the eye-patched pirate god of Freeport.

Vecna, whose eye is loose in the world.

The Great Mother progenitor of the beholders.

I had not included Tolkien stuff but Sauron fits both the orc and evil eye themes.

Any other one-eyed gods or monsters from gaming or myth that you can think of?

Funnily enough, when I saw your post, the first thing I thought was the character One-Eye from The Black Company.

Seems a bit weak to be a patron god of orcs, though.

Don't forget Odin (Wotan): "poetry, inspiration" as well as with "fury, madness and the wanderer."

Hand of Evil said:

Don't forget Odin (Wotan): "poetry, inspiration" as well as with "fury, madness and the wanderer."

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That was my immediate follow up to Gruumsh

"But then the next orcish party would shout out war cries invoking One Eye the Allfather with his mighty spear Gunginnir and ask for berserker strength and hope for glorious death leading to Valhalla."

I remember at one point talking with my group about how Odin fit right in as Gruumsh, a one-eyed war leader pantheon father who wields a magic spear. His son is known as a big and strong warrior (Thor/Baagtru) and he fights a war against the elven-like Vanir nature gods who are analagous to Correlon and his elvish pantheon.

Hobo said:

Funnily enough, when I saw your post, the first thing I thought was the character One-Eye from The Black Company.

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I thought of something else first, as well... but thought better of saying anything about it.

One-eye from Elf Quest?
sure he died in battle, killed by trolls.
and his fall brought me to tears.

Not sure how relevant that reluctant warrior would be to orcs.