Kaijos the Scaled Schemer (Kai-Joes)
The God and Patron of the Kobolds, the Cowardly Wyrm, the god of cunning, greed, artifice and vengeance. Born from the line of the powerful Linnorms and attained godhood through his own ingenuity and cunning, once being the ward of Venarion, but his own selfish desires of control and power dismayed him and put him on the path toward Sincainea, whom he fostered his fury and greed for power. He was never loyal, loyalty meant death - Greed allowed him to survive - his cunning to manouevre between the Dragon deities gave him his power.
Gnomesmasher, Watcher, Steelscale, Stingtail, Horned Sorcerer, Devourer.
The teacher of the Kobolds of thieving and pillaging. His eon-long feud and hatred against the gnomes. Stealing the gift of sorcery from the dragons to his people - becoming the 'dragon-wrought'. Master of traps, ambushes and artifice. The Kobolds once held land to the small forests, caverns and burrows... before they were stolen from by the Gnomes.
Also known as the Shining One, a war-leader and tactician that came across an ancient artefact, a suit of plate mail with various properties, most notably the ability to flare up and blind enemies, from which he earned his moniker.
Though the Gnomes represent progress - the Kobolds may represent defiance, debunking, flexibility, disproving ideas, instinct. They are great masters of sieges, construction, demolition, tearing down the old and in with the new. Mining, and cursed by greed (rather than making art or beauty, they make things to work or to possess). Fighters of skirmishes, guerrilla warfare, surprise tactics, dirty tricks, cunning - working around problems instead of directly through them. Fair play and bravery are frowned upon - cowardice and tricky dealings, that is what allows them to survive and is better seen then brute strength. Revenge, no fight is over as long as they live. Believing in reincarnation, celebrating the lost in death, while others become giant beetles, not monsters and woodlouse, whom are hunted. Divination for searching for precious metals. Kobold's don't breathe like other dragons an elemental breath or fly... but they rather breath greed, envy and gluttony. "To survive, and escape". The art of escaping from danger is his forte, said to be born with half a heart, instead of two, thus is not as brave nor as strong as the other draconic deities, and seeks to fill that gap with pleasures and treasures. Resourceful rather than ingenious, or having acuity. Having a inferiority complex. Having metal poisoning and an aversion to sunlight, presiding in the dark depths of the world. Using technology for profit and exploitation, not by morality or rationality, only for selfish drive and desire to overcome others and to subject others to their whim - not curiosity or for the greater good, but greed and wrath.
Church of Kaijos
Worshippers
Kaijos insists that his clerics train under military discipline, learning doctrines for setting ambushes, building defences, and otherwise defending the kobold people. The final test for a would-be cleric is to survive a run down a corridor filled with deadly traps. At births, kobolds celebrate the return of the souls of those kobolds who have fallen in the service of their tribe, which they believe return to their original lairs for reincarnation. Those who die as traitors are reincarnated as giant beetles, who are hunted by kobolds for armour.Clergy
His priests wear orange scale mail and iron helms. His sacred animal is the rook. His clergy began their careers as miners, learning how to appreciate the kobold work ethic. Then those who regularly sustain injuries while mining are selected to become adepts or clerics (before they end up getting killed on the job). Such clerics train under military discipline, learning doctrines for defending and leading the kobold race. Coming of age rituals involve finding and defeating traps.Orders
Temples & Shrines
Kaijos is worshipped at the crescent moon in cave temples. His temples are carved out of earth and used to house adepts, clerics, and the tribes most valuable treasures. These temples are protected with small, twisting tunnels and a staggering array of deadly traps. His temples are claustrophobic warrens bristling with traps, but they often have the accumulated wealth of a kobold community in their treasury. The enemies of kobolds are sacrificed to Kaijos monthly (under the crescent moon) in a gory ceremony. Prayers to Kaijos have a rhythmic quality to them that can easily be recited while swinging a pickaxe. Prayers can also take the form of battle cries and promises of revenge. "By the point of Kaijos' spear and the tip of his poisonous tail, I will see every member of your family perish."Realm
His realm is in Draukari in Baator, part of Avernus in the Nine Hells. Draukari is a warren of caverns, its tunnels narrow and short-ceilinged. Warped, spectral forests grow on the surface. The twisting tunnels of Draukari are filled with blood and reek of death, and they twist so maddeningly that a body's sure to get lost in them. Anything larger than a halfling has to crawl through the mud, which is filled with traps and other nasty surprises. Towns in Draukari include Frekstavik, Nibellin, and Snjarll. While he is no great threat to the safety of the Hells, various baatezu archdukes curry his favour as one more ally in the continual power struggle between factions. Kaijos smiles graciously, takes any and all aid, and proceeds to rob the archdevils blind while maintaining his front as an ally against other powers.Divine Domains
Arcana - Forge - Trickery - WarHoly Books & Codes
Divine Symbol
Tenets of Faith
- Win battle by any means, retreat to fight another day, and mete out revenge on every enemy, regardless of how long that retribution takes to achieve.
- Kill and slaughter all Gnomes wherever you find them.
- Fair play is for fools, it is better to flee and live to fight again then to die for the sake of bravery.
- Revenge is a dish that tastes as sweet cold as it does hot.
- Quick wit and traps are more effective than brute strength.