Who is Torog?

[Jürgen Hubert]

I wish I could give XP just for the Torgo reference =/

You can - that's what the set of scales to the left and bottom of the posts are for.

 

[demonsquidgod]

A bunch of the 4e gods are new altogether, Ioun and the Raven Queen, that serpent one who was originally going to be Set, etc.

Yes but those three represent pretty basic god niches, God of Magic, non-evil Death god, Snake Mosnters, that were either filled by earlier edition's dieties, Kelemvor or Mystra, or common sense, he has lots of snake monsters.

I do feel like Duergar and Derro would be an excellent fit for Torog worshipers.

The bit about Jailers still messes me up. Creatures that live in caves and people that torture, sure. Like something from the movie Hostel or The Descent. But Jailers? Maybe this is me putting too much of my own worldview in to things but Jailers , and jails, are at least in theory typically good things. They keep bad people from hurting innocents and they imply a culture that cares enough to not just execute or banish their criminals. while I get the thematic relation of cold dark places you can't escape from I can't get my head around guards and warden's paying homage to formless horror of cosmic proportions. Slavery makes a lot more sense. Unless I;m missing some vital piece of the puzzle.

 

[malraux]

Unless I;m missing some vital piece of the puzzle.

Well, you're applying a modern sensibility to an ostensibly premodern world.

 

[Voadam]

Yes but those three represent pretty basic god niches, God of Magic, non-evil Death god, Snake Mosnters, that were either filled by earlier edition's dieties, Kelemvor or Mystra, or common sense, he has lots of snake monsters.

I do feel like Duergar and Derro would be an excellent fit for Torog worshipers.

The bit about Jailers still messes me up. Creatures that live in caves and people that torture, sure. Like something from the movie Hostel or The Descent. But Jailers? Maybe this is me putting too much of my own worldview in to things but Jailers , and jails, are at least in theory typically good things. They keep bad people from hurting innocents and they imply a culture that cares enough to not just execute or banish their criminals. while I get the thematic relation of cold dark places you can't escape from I can't get my head around guards and warden's paying homage to formless horror of cosmic proportions. Slavery makes a lot more sense. Unless I;m missing some vital piece of the puzzle.

I don't recognize Avandra, Erathis, Ioun, Melora, Raven Queen, Torog, and Zehir from previous editions.

Just to nitpick Ioun is a god of knowledge, skill, and prophecy, Corellon is the god of magic, Ioun just the study of magic.

Torturers are all jailors. You only torture those you have captured. Jails are punitive, you throw people into dungeons as punishment and confinement.

Jailors as good guys locking away lawbreakers and punishing the unjust would fall under the auspices of Erathis and Bahamut for their law and justice portfolios. It is a soul-corrupting environment though and evil seeps up from below.

 

[doctorhook]

The bit about Jailers still messes me up. Creatures that live in caves and people that torture, sure. Like something from the movie Hostel or The Descent. But Jailers? Maybe this is me putting too much of my own worldview in to things but Jailers , and jails, are at least in theory typically good things. They keep bad people from hurting innocents and they imply a culture that cares enough to not just execute or banish their criminals. while I get the thematic relation of cold dark places you can't escape from I can't get my head around guards and warden's paying homage to formless horror of cosmic proportions. Slavery makes a lot more sense. Unless I;m missing some vital piece of the puzzle.

Consider Torog to be the god of imprisonment, rather than "jails", if it helps make more sense. Torog is the patron of loss of mobility, rights, and personal freedoms.

The Underdark connection, I believe, is rooted in the fact that the Underdark is a world confined. Unlike the great, wide surface above, the Underdark realms are literally encased in stone. Consider that, in D&D culture, the Underdark/"deep beneath the earth" has traditionally been a common place for powerful and dangerous beings to be trapped or imprisoned. (Think Khyber from Eberron, or the imprisonment spell.)

This is how I see things.

 

[greyscale1]

In my campaign the player's very religious characters will soon be interacting with some lawful good ShadarKai who worship Torog more as a patron diety than anything else. To them, he is almost the Erathis of the shadows.

 

[Snoweel]

In premodern societies (as has already been said, these are ostensibly the model for D&D societies) jail wasn't about benign incarceration or social rehabilitation.

Jail was about punishment, pain and torture. The kinds of people that ran these places were sick sociopaths who wanted to hurt people. See the torturers in Passion of the Christ and the jailers in Life of Brian ("Not as nasty as something I just thought of sir!")

 

[Blair Goatsblood]

Torog is the god of the bottomless pit. Sacrifices are cast into unwholesome abysses in the deep earth.

Torog is the great maggot, a dhole god, a massive worm that gnaws at the roots of the world like Nidhogg.

Torog is the deity of cursed treasures, luring seekers into trapped vaults in the depth of the earth, guarded by amorphous sardonic avatars.

Torog is the great reeking toad-lizard worshiped by Troglodytes and toad-things.

Torog whispers into the dreams of those men of sadistic nature and subterranean habitat.

 

[doctorhook]

Torog is the god of the bottomless pit. Sacrifices are cast into unwholesome abysses in the deep earth.

Torog is the great maggot, a dhole god, a massive worm that gnaws at the roots of the world like Nidhogg.

Torog is the deity of cursed treasures, luring seekers into trapped vaults in the depth of the earth, guarded by amorphous sardonic avatars.

Torog is the great reeking toad-lizard worshiped by Troglodytes and toad-things.

Torog whispers into the dreams of those men of sadistic nature and subterranean habitat.

This sounds pretty cool. Where did you find it?

 

[demonsquidgod]

Of course, Torog isn't about jails, he's about DUNGEONS! You're just as likely to be thrown in a dungeon for displeasing the king in some arbitrary way as you are for theft or murder. And they stick red hot pokers up your nethers and put your head on a pike. Iron maidens, the rack, thumb screws, etc.

Not a jail at all.