For any that's interested, yesterday I introduced the Orc deity into my game. I figured making one from scratch would be better rather than try to pigeonhole one. Plus, I have to get a feel for deific creation as a DM, and I may as well start here.
KODOS, the god of self-sacrifice, is chaotic good. His title is The Martyr. Kodos desires that all orcs, like himself, may one day be turned to the side of good. He is revered (but not worshipped, which Kodos discourages) by non-evil orcs, other non-evil humanoids, and those who admire voluntary self-sacrifice, asceticism, and the denial of one's own desires in favor of a more exalted purpose.
The domains Kodos is associated with are Chaos, Good, Endurance (Exalted Deeds), Pact (Complete Divine), and Purification (Complete Divine).
Kodos' favored weapon is the longsword. His symbol is that of two hands crossed and lashed together at the wrists, with the ends of the last knot being held in the hands themselves, suggestive of self-imposed restraint.
Story:
Kodos was once a mortal who lived the typical immoral life of an orc until he 'saw the light'. Ironically, this came about by his raiding party, starving and ill-equipped, being destroyed by an errant paladin, and nearly Kodos himself along with it. Kodos was the strongest and the last to fall. Before the killing blow could be dealt, he bargained for mercy, and the paladin gave him quarter on the condition that Kodos swear an oath of poverty and service to the paladin. Thinking that slavery was to be the price for life, Kodos agreed.
The paladin did not try to proselytize his new ersatz henchman, knowing full well the darkness that was in the hearts of all orcs. Nevertheless, living by example and the occasional episode of trouble in which both the paladin and Kodos had opportunity to save each others' lives, they grew to become reluctant friends as well as master and servant. The paladin was not blind to the effects that a life spent doing good deeds was having on his companion, but kept to his habit of silent instruction.
On one last great adventure they went together, an extended quest on behalf of the paladin's church to recover a stolen relic. The pair were ambushed by a band of spell-wielding mercenaries who bore the regalia of the church of a rival deity. In the battle, the paladin fell, but not before he and Kodos were able to slay most of the brigands and drive off the rest. Dying, the paladin released Kodos from his oath of service, but Kodos, addressing him as friend, swore to the paladin that he would complete their task before seeking his own fortune.
Kodos buried his friend in a nearby field, performing the last rites of the paladin's own church as nearly as he could remember, and took what equipment of his friend he could use. He devoted himself to the service of the paladin's god till the quest was completed and his friend's belongings could be returned to his order. There, Kodos embraced the faith of his late mentor, unknowingly fulfilling his friend's secret lifelong goal to genuinely redeem at least one goblinoid from evil.
Kodos spent the next seven years unflinchingly tracking down leads on the stolen relic, and by the end of it all he had gathered several followers of his own, each one sworn to fulfill the same quest he himself dedicated himself to. The orc and his band were faithful to their oath of poverty until the end: in the last hours, the relic itself literally was within sight in the inner sanctum of a temple of that same rival church who had struck down Kodos' friend, where nearly every member of the party, including Kodos, was slain in combat with the temple guardians. A pair of survivors (themselves newfound acolytes of the paladin's and Kodos' faith) were able to flee and return in sufficient force to recover the relic before it could be hidden elsewhere.
Kodos, in recognition of sacrificing all in the name for a faith that at first was not his own, and for the sake of his true friend, was elevated to the status of demigod, and granted the title of "The Martyr".
