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Message: <blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 1061153" data-attributes="member: 2067"> LADUGUER The TaskmasterAlignment: Lawful EvilWorshipers: Duergar, CraftersDomains: Earth, Evil, Law, WarFavored Weapon: WarhammerHome Plane/Domain: Sheol/The ForgePantheon: DwarfDivine Rank: 12 (Intermediate)Classes: Expert, Fighter, WizardPortfolio: Crafts, Labor, Magic WeaponsSalient Abilities: (15) Alter Size, Area Divine Shield, Create Object, Create Greater Object, Divine Blessing (Int), Divine Earth Mastery, Divine Shield, Divine Skill Focus (Craft (Weapons), Craft (Armor)), Divine Spellcasting, Divine Weapon Mastery, Extra Domain (Earth), Master Crafter, See Magic.Special Possessions: The Artificer, an unholy hammer that grants a +20 bonus to any Craft checks made with it.Alternate Domains: Artifice, Protection, Community, MagicSymbol: A shield bearing a shattered crossbow boltDESCRIPTIONFrom Defenders of the Faith: "He is the patron of crafts -- particularly the creation of magical weapons -- as well as protection, magic, and his gray dwarf race"Laduguer is a tall, gaunt duergar with gray-brown skin, bald, and with a continual scowl on his face. He is a gray dwarf in all respects, and so can occasionally appear larger, or even disappear all together (with his racial spell-like abilities). He is often heavily armored, with only his smith's hammer as his weapon.DOGMAWork hard, or else. Toil. Slave for your craft, and sacrifice all to it. If you surrender your desires and your impulses to something greater than yourself, greatness can be achieved. Protect the greatness you carve for yourself, and do not tolerate those who will not share your burden. Your arduous work will pay off, and that alone is the goal of true worship and true perfection.CLERGY AND TEMPLESDefenders of their cities and preservers of the status quo, clerics of Laduguer who are duergar themselves maintain a strict order and hierarchy within their cities, and hone their crafts at least as much as they demand others hone their own. They tend to dress in grays or browns, and are often quite well-equipped when they take up arms against invaders, or simply tresspassers.The temples to Laduguer are simple, effecient affairs that are basically community forges, where the people of the city go to toil day after day. Great, looming, frowning images of Laduguer are the only decoration, giving the place an appearance of being watched over by a disapproving master. The priests never slack the pace of forging weapons, armors, and more utilitarian goods, unless it is to enforce their pace on others who come to 'show their holiness' by working there.Occasionally, worship of Laduguer will be taken up by a dwarf in a more traditional community, or even by another race. Any who desire expertise in crafts are potentially swayed by the Taskmaster to worship him as their most efficient goal. Laduguer is one of the few evil deities tolerated in more neutral communities, as they are rarely violent, warlike, sadistic, or cruel, except to their own worshipers.RITES AND RITUALSThose who worship Laduguer show their dedication with the gear and equipment they wear and take care of. Mending a nicked sword, or repairing dented armor is a sacred act for those who hold the Taskmaster sacred, as is the process of mining. A special reverence is held for metals of all types, and Adamantium is considered a test from the god, to test one's dedication to the craft. Of course, making a weapon or a shuit of armor is also considered a sacred event, and it is a holy item when finished, as long as it is of sufficient quality.MYTHOGRAPHYLaduguer combines many interesting deific traits in one heartless package. First, there is the phenomena of a subrace-god, a deity who has taken a special liking to a particular culture of a particular race, and has seperated from the larger whole. Laduguer is often considered to have shorn with the dwarven patheon at about the same time Diirinka did, though the two have never been allies. Still, the marked bent of cruelty and wickedness of these two dark dwarven deities makes them reviled by the dwarven majority. In addition, these two gods practice magic very well, which gives a motive for the dwarves to distrust and resist the force to this day. Dwarves who do persue magical paths are thus often forced into the worship of Laduguer or Diirinka (if they don't forsake their race altogether in favor of a more 'human' deity), often leading them to paths of wickedness and evil themselves, even if they weren't as such to begin with. This gives dwarves a very reliable mythological motive for mistrusting and loathing the force of arcane magic that exists...their number that practice it often turn to very wicked persuits.Another point in which Laduguer is intriguing would be how the dwarves recieved their reputation as great craftsmen. Certainly, much of it had to do with the mountain and hill dwarves fighting the various savage races of the underground, and the way in which a constant war of that nature breeds progressively better weapons and defenses faster than peace ever could. However, several stories tell of absolutely gorgeous and inherently magical crafts that the more common dwarves often can't (or won't) accomplish. Though many attribute the tales of magic and crafts to the gnomes (who, to the ignorant or easily confused, could easily be mistaken for jovial dwarves), the duergar are also a likely source for these myths, especially the ones that speak of deep, dark designs in deep, dark caverns (where even the svirfineblin fear to tread), and of dwarves whose prices are often outrageous, and occasionally deadly. LEGENDSOther than the ancient (and occasionally forgotten) dwarven legends reaching back to the period of the splintering races, Laduguer appears in precious few legends. This can probably be mostly attributed to the deity's (and the race's) standoffish nature. Due to their isolation and desire to stay that way (violently, if need be), any newer legends would have to filter out of their own dour, usually silent mouths. The few stories we have tell of amazing feats of engineering and production that amount to little less than a industrial revolution, far below the surface, sponsored and kept by the magical lore of these gray dwarves. Assembly lines, magical energies, and explosive power threaten to change the face of underdark warfare, and soon.ETCPrC's· Master Crafter: An expert who can imbue their crafts with magical and mystical energy· Explosives Expert: A manufacturer and user of mystical explosives, from the mage-bomb to the spell-cannon.Alternate Rules· Magical Craftsmanship: A Craft check of 30 or higher can apply a magical effect to what you have crafted. You can apply a 500 gp magical effect for each point your Craft check exceeds 30. For particularly difficult crafts (those that require a Craft check to get right), add +20 to the original DC to get the DC required to craft a magical item. Only creatures with the proper feats (Craft Magic Arms and Armors, Forge Ring, etc.) can craft magical equipment. In this way, a craftsman need not have a spell to imbue an item with magic.Plot Hooks· The Bomb: The experiements of the gray dwarves in magical weapons has reached it's final and hideous confirmation -- a single explosive with enough mystical energy inside to utterly obliterate a city. At least these fairly peaceful people have no need or desire to use it...though perhaps the drow who've gotten wind of the weapon do...· Evil Destroying Evil: The duergar and the derro have never been on particularly friendly terms, though they share much in common. Unfortunately for the PC's, neither race likes other races that much, either. To thwart the growing threat of a derro savant, the PC's must seek out the duergar who can forge the instrument of his destruction...but convincing the gray dwarf to agree to forge the weapon is an excersize in diplomacy, intimidation, and, ultimately, desperation...</blockquote>

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