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Message: <blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 589604" data-attributes="member: 2067"> HRUGGEK The DecapitatorAlignment: Chaotic EvilWorshipers: BugbearsDomains: Chaos, Evil, Trickery, WarFavored Weapon: MorningstarHome Plane/Domain: Perdition/The Hall of HeadsPantheon: BugbearDivine Rank: Intermediate Deity (15)Classes: Ranger, Rogue, Fighter, BarbarianPortfolio: Stealth, Ambush, Violence, Bugears, LightningSalient Abilities: (18) Alter Size, Avatar, Battlesense, Call Creatures (bugbears), Control Creatures (bugbears), Divine Blessing (Strength), Divine Blessing (Dexterity), Divine Celerity, Divine Inspiration (Dread), Divine Skill Focus (Move Silently), Divine Weapon Focus (morningstar), Divine Weapon Specialization (morningstar), Energy Storm (electricity), Extra Domain (war), Increased Spell Resistance, Instant Move, Irresistable BlowsSpecial Possessions: "Striker," a shocking, screaming, shocking burst, screaming burst morningstar that Hruggek uses two-handed due to it's sizeAlternate Domains: StrengthSymbol: A morningstarDescriptionFrom Defenders of the Faith: "He is the god of violence and combat, delighting in masterful ambushes and sneak attacks."Hruggek appears as a powerful-looking bugbear, often clad in dark, stormcloud grey, weidling a morningstar that glows with an eerie, blue Saint Elmo's Fire when wet (with blood or water). He delights in random and senseless violence, especially if the victims are caught off guardDogmaStrike from the shadows unseen. Never be noticed unless it's too late. Revel in the power secrets give you. But negelect not your strength and brawn, for that is what makes sure the hidden strike hits home. Like a bolt of thunder, you must surprise, frighten, and destroy.Hruggek preaches the virtues of sneakiness and or destruction, teaching those who would follow him to grab what the desire, and to desire the act of grabbing itself, done in such a way that the victim only knows what has hit them as their life is flowing from their flesh.Clergy and TemplesThose who pay homage to the Decapitator generally serve as advisors and wise men, and often cheiftains themselves. They are great warriors who pride themselves on striking the others unprepared. They advise courses of action -- which game to hunt, which city to raid -- based on which will be the easiest to catch unaware. Surprise is paramount to them, and they often will refuse to go with a plan if they do not have that advantage, and, by extention, Hruggek's blessing. They often dress in stormy gray, and many take levels in any of the classes Hruggek posesses (fighter, ranger, barbarian, but especially rogue) as well as being clerics.The temples of Hruggek's faithful are dark and ominous, often only being lit by a single sputtering fireplace in the center of a vast cavern, which barely illuminates the unsettling decor: the heads of the tribe's victims are clearly and prominently displayed, hung from the ceiling, nailed to the wall, or driven onto spikes in the ground. Often, they will be surrounded in an effect not unlike Faery Fire, glowing with an eerie radience, and perhaps flickering with electrical energy. The priest will frequently speak from these heads instead of revealing herself, adding quite a bit of fright to those who are being talked to by the head of one of their own people. These serve as planning rooms for raids and wars, and sometimes as storehouses for the trophies.Rites and RitualsPriests of Hruggek make a habit of adorning themselves with the heads of their conquests. They are well aware of the proper csevering, uring, tanning, and shrinking methods for the heads (covered in their Knowledge (religion) skill), and frequently use these heads as a divine focus for their magic, causing the head to speak and the spell to manifest. They'll also carve their morningstars to look like heads on spikes. They most often clad themselves in dark grey, with adornments of copper that easily conduct many of the electrical spells they are fond of.Great rituals occur in the society whenever storms brew, and bugbear raids will often be planned to coincide with great nighttime lightning storms, earning the creatures a nearly supernatural reputation in some communities. Copper is considered a sacred metal to them,  and many words of affection would be said to it, including the copper coins they receive, which they tend to buff and care for very much.MythographyWitness the evolution of Zeus, here in the dank caves of the bugbears. Hruggek is on the cusp of becoming a god greater than many of the deities of the savage humanoids. His portfolio is expanding, and his areas of influence and control continue to grow. Originally a simple god of stealthy ambush, the meatphor with lightning has nearly catapulted this thuggish god into the realm of natural storm-god. He has recieved worship from even savage human and degenerate orc tribes in recent years, and his popularity is growing in unexpected ways. He is becoming something of a fey, a spirit of the natural world, the wickedness embodied in the sneaky, ambushing lightning, and his race is becoming more and more honed by that direction of worship. Largely, it is how he has been able to keep such a tight hold on the leadership of this chaotic and free society -- he has the most powerful motif behind him, and his priests do not balk any nay-saying. Quickness, sudenness, and wrathful power have been the concerns of the Decapitator, and this has led him to association with a powerful force in the world -- powerful enough to perhaps cause him to break the cusp of intermediate godhood, and channel himself into greater godhood. Certainly, the budding pantheon is ripe, his people growing stronger and more numerous daily. If this happens, it will be the latest example of a goblinoid race 'evolving' a greater god, since Maglubiyet took up the mantle, and the bugbears being such a mighty race in comparison, one would hope that they don't become more concerned with domination and conquest than they have been, recently. Speed and power of lightning...but will they crave a world of thunder?LegendsLike many goblinoid deities, there are legends of the alliances and betrayals of Hruggek, but they are infrequent. Hruggek makes few alliances, because all are worthy prety in his book, and there is little virtue in 'teaming up' with anyone who will cause his hunts to fail. There are many legends of him hunting great beasts, and surprising them, and the more canny and cunning the beast, the greater the victory. Many tales are sung about his defeat of one of the sons of Corellon Larethian of the elves, and the head mounted in his hall in Perdition. Trophies of beasts, and of people, are many in this great room, and exhaustive lists of the creatures both extinct and alive that adorn his walls and floor are one of the most popular legends.There also exists a tale of Hruggek's domination of a human storm god, from which he recieved his morningstar, considered to be one of his crowning achievements. It is said the storm-god's head is located inside his morningstar, and that is what causes it to glow eerily, and scream.Finally, Hruggek's few interactions with the rest of the golin pantheon are told about in dark corners, where the lesson is to fear the bugbear lord, and to turn the enemy against itself. Workds of his teaming up with Khurgorbaeyag, a goblin god of slavery, captivity, and hopelessness, and urges him to work against the goblin god Maglubiyet. This serves to keep his main competators busy with their own petty squabbles. His main enemy in these efforts of stirring up troule is Bargrivyek, a goblin god of unity, but recent slight alterations in the pantheon have shown that the bugbear strategy has perhaps been fairly successful -- the goblins do not get along nearly as well as they used to, and Maglubiyet's stranglehold on the race seems to be weakening.Etc.Prestige Classes· Stormstriker: A PrC that focuses on stealth and speed, and adds a few electric and sonic powers to boot· Taskmaster: As the natural dominators of the rest of the goblinoids, having one focused on getting slaves to obey you is somewhat important, whey you can't just threaten to kill them in their sleep.· Fetishist: A PrC whose point revolves around heads. The use of, the severing of, the animating-for-various-purposes of...head games.Plot Hooks· 'Twas a Dark and Stormy Night: Bugbears are moving into the area, with a coalition of disposed orcs and human barbarians. A stormy summer night is interrupted as the creatures descend upon the town that the PC's are in, glowing with a blue light, and flying.· Get Ahead (And Other Bad Puns): When the local bugbear tribe have gained posession of a head that was said to be from a powerful wizard -- that is still alive -- it falls to the always-effective Adventurers to find the brain-case, wrest it from bugbear control, and hope that it doesn't get crushed or somehow damaged in the process.</blockquote>

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