Greater Deity
Symbol: A red drop of blood centered on a flame of black and white
Home Plane: Vellenor Field
Portfolio: Battle, tactics
Worshipers: Clerics, Warriors
Cleric Alignments: LG, LN, LE, N
Domains: Law, Planning, Strength, Courage, War, Destruction, Luck
Favored Weapon: Great Axe
Names: Battle Lord, The Strategist, The Bloodied Blade
Throm was born in the clash between Light and Dark, Good and Evil. When the great powers rose up and engaged each other in immortal struggle, the world was shaken asunder. The intertwined blood of both combatants gave birth to Throm, and he reveled in their battle.
In the first major clash between Ariel and Demos, the world was broken asunder. As their powers crashed against each other, rents in their very essence seeped sparks of their immortal souls into the cosmos. When these shards of god-blood mingled in the presence of their struggle, a new deity was born. While this was not the initial intent of the All Father, he saw the benefits immediately, and vested the new being with power and a bent for lawful neutrality.
Born of battle, Throm focused on little else. As the world was repopulated, races and species came into conflict and drew Throm’s attention. Where there was battle, so too was Throm’s eye. Those warriors who showed great skill and relished the battle were marked as his chosen, his reavers. When those chosen warriors fall in battle, Throm sends his minions to collect their souls and usher them to his home domain of the Vellenor Fields where endless battles are waged. Throm plays out every tactic and battle plan ever used throughout the history of Alduras, and some that are yet to be seen.
Dogma:
For Throm, the world is viewed as a constant conflict. Light rails against darkness. Water tears away the shoreline. Brothers wrestle in the courtyard. And armored lines of marching men meet on the broken fields across Alduras. It is the natural order of the world for the strong to prey on the weak, and for the oppressed to rise up against their oppressors. Whether it is the strong arm defending the weak or subjugating them, battle is inevitable.
Clergy and Temples:
Throm’s clergy is made up of battle priests and clerics. A very small portion of his church run temples and shrines throughout the lands of Forin. There are always soldiers and their loved ones praying for strength in battle or a safe return home. The temples provide the introductory training to new clerics. The majority of Throm’s clergy travel the lands as missionaries of their god, spreading his word and entering the fray of battle in holy worship of their deity. Those clerics that excel at the martial aspects, are sometimes called to be Reavers of Throm. When in combat, these ordained champions bring the true visage of Throm to Alduras. These traveling clerics remain in contact with the church as a whole by visiting the temples at least twice per year, usually on holy days such as the Day of the Blooded Moon or Axeheim. There is a hierarchy among the clergy which is based on a mixture of divine power and battle prowess (strategy or melee), though few outside the church are aware of it. The church of Throm in Forin is led through the joint efforts of the Grand Strategist and his champion, the First Reaver. They make their home at the fortress-temple known as the Seat of War.
Harkening back to an older time, clerics of Throm are still on occasion asked to preside over trials of combat. In the lands that still recognize this ancient decree, the cleric’s word is law. The clerics must confirm that both petitioners acquiesce to the trial and that the terms are agreeable. The cleric then makes sure that the combat is not interrupted, and if terms were not to the death, then to do what is in his or her power to preventing the combatants from perishing once the trial has ended.
Alduras Homebrew Features: Clerics of Throm
Throm bestows his blessings readily upon those honoring him in battle, but can be stingy with his graces in other circumstances.
- Clerics of Throm can rarely heal wounds sustained outside of battle (accidents, traps, self inflicted, etc.)
- When a cleric of Throm defeats an opponent in combat he gains a +1 to his caster level (for cleric spells) for 1 minute / 5 levels (max +1).
- Clerics of Throm may preside over trials by combat. The trials are usually seen as lawful by most governing bodies when a Cleric of Throm is present.