D&D 5E (2014) Faerun: pantheon for non-evil orcs

[Mirtek]

• Silvanus or the 4 elemental princes of good: Isthia, Grumbar, Akadi and Kossuth

Those are the 4 elemental deities, the 4 elemental princes of good are: Ben-hadar, Sunnis, Chan and Zaaman Rul

 

[Shades of Eternity]

Decided to put it on a spin on the orcish personality in Angus guide to Amn (or a travel log done by a minotaur).

I mixed the merchant goddess with the orcish god of tactics to make a new local god called the goddess of acquisitions

I did the following dogma to make things interesting.

"strike down the old gods of brutishness as they only brought darkness and a never-ending cycle of poverty! Foreclose on their bones!" and giving equality to female orcs because of the change of religion really gives them a different flavor.

They also have their largest population around a gargantuan granary turned bakery.

 

[Eltab]

Many-Arrows orcs might also be inspired by the orc war legion abandoned by the Zhents after "Ghengis Khan" (forget his FR-analogue's name) was defeated in Thesk. The legion blended into Theskian society because they were war heroes not just thuggish brutes. What deities did those orcs adopt?

 

[Cleon]

Orcs have closely related good-aligned counterparts in the Forgotten Realms, the Ondonti, who worship Eldath.

Quoting from Ruins of Zhentil Keep (1995):

"North of The Ride, in a secluded part of the Tortured Lands, dwells a race known as the ondonti, a close cousin of the orc. This race lives as peaceful farmers and gatherers, taking only what they need from the land to survive. In outward appearances, ondontis resemble orcs."

and:

"Ondontis revere Eldath, the Goddess of Peace and Quiet Places, and their culture attempts to embody the pacifist teachings of Eldath. Ondonti oral history recounts that “the Founders” brought 30 young ondontis to the lands they still consider theirs long ago, and laid down the teachings that provide the foundations of ondonti society in a cycle of tales called Tarek-Passar (the Way of Peace). One sage has theorized that the original ondontis were in fact infant orc orphans, brought from their lands and taught by a reclusive group of priests of Eldath."

They also have an entry in Monstrous Compendium Annual Three (1996).

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I think I'll just stay away from an official pantheon for now, instead having them worship different pantheons based on their individuals preference. Since, in my FRs, the gods are silent since the time of troubles (the ''year 0'' for my time-frozen FRs) and cleric can still use divine magic, the obligation to have a deity is less there.
The Kingdom of Many-Arrows has many temples dedicated to the orc gods, with some cleric worshiping the Thronebreakers Faith (classic Grummsh faith) and the other the new Kingmakers Faith (Obould took its family to Warrior's Rest to stay with Tempus). Some worship the spirit of great heroes and other the primal forces of the gods of the First Circle. In the capital, along the Path of Stones (the main way between Dark-Arrow Keep and Mithril Hall) there's many large temples dedicated to less known dwarven deities adopted by the orcs. There's also a large temple to Tempus where the other orcs gods are treated as the new generals of the god of battles alongside The Red Knight, Valkur, Uthgart and Garagos.

 

[Coroc]

Hey,

in another thread today I described some parts of my own take on the Realms, including the fact that the Kingdom of Many-Arrows had a population of non-evil (well, not automatically evil) orcs. I never put much thoughts behind it because I never had many players interested in that part of the world.

But...orc society is really tied to the cult of Gruumsh and its savage, brutish and cruel sons. So what FR gods would a kingdom of non-evil orcs worship? So far the story is that after the Times of Troubles, Obould Many-Arrows ascended as a Power after founding the first orc kingdom, becoming the Orc god of civilization. After its death, a strange witch took the direction of the kingdom, teaching the orcs the power of primal magic to protect themselves against the outsiders that abound in the Savage Frontier. The witch is Dargentum, a great silver wyrm in disguise, playing kingdom-maker in the north. Now that their ties with Grummsh a faded a little, I thought of having them build a new pantheon with the ''orc-ification'' of some other gods:

• Obould Many-Arrows
• Silvanus or the 4 elemental princes of good: Isthia, Grumbar, Akadi and Kossuth
• Tempus
• Shaundakul
• Gwaeron Windstrom

OR

- Obould + the giant pantheon (with a focus on giant-kin)

OR

- Cult of the Ancient, like the Valenar elves of Eberron. The orcs, after being bound to a god for thousands of years, decides that they dont need'em, instead one can achieve god-like status like Obould did by becoming a Paragon and having a great legacy.

Which one would seem good?

Maybe instead something shamanistic, nature oriented?

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I think I'll also do the same thing with the elves. Now that the gods are silent, the old hatred between the dark elves and the surface elves would have lessened a little in some individuals. The Shadar-kai are still worshiping the RQ as she can still answer them because she's not theoretically a goddess. Elves of Cormanthor and Evereska are turning to the wisdom of the Baelnorn (ala Undyings from Eberron) or Archfeys to replace their usual communion with Corellon. The Crusader of Angharradh lead the charge against the drows in Cormanthor.

The drows mostly worship Loth and her familly, but some drow inhabitants of the earth motes and chasms, with more exposition to the surface world, turned to worship Ellistrae (or her sacrifice, since she died). A new faction called the Dawnbreakers of Araushnee help the passage of drows from the underdark to the surface, thinking that if the elvenking are one once again, Lolth would be redeemed.

The Elves of Evermeet are still living in isolation, but Eldreth Veluuthra has gained power and taken control of the clergy of the seldarine in many great cities, saying that the humans and their gods were the cause of the general banishment of the gods. If they could clear the lands from all non-elves, the gods could come back. Some leaders try to find ways to take Evermeet to Arvandor (the gods are forbidden entering the prime, but can the prime enter the realms of the gods?). Others employ terrorist factions to trigger fey-portals in high density populations to merge the prime with the feywild, making it one step closer to Arvandor.

 

[Beleriphon]

Maybe under the teaching of the Silver Witch, they could have found another side to the usual orc pantheon. Maybe in their new faith, Obould went to orcish heaven and add a talk with the other gods and convinced them to change their ways a little. So the orcs pantheon would exist in two time: the Kingmaker Faith (the pantheon under Obould) and the Thronebreaker Faith (Under Grummsh)

I like a deified Obould personally. I'd make it like the Talos worship in TES/Tiber Septim. He's a deified mortal, that actually gains divine status upon his death.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I like a deified Obould personally. I'd make it like the Talos worship in TES/Tiber Septim. He's a deified mortal, that actually gains divine status upon his death.

Yup, exactly my inspiration.