LORKHAN
Lorkhan, the New God of the Orc Kind (Orocs and Orcs and Half-Orcs), Lightning, Strength, Hallowing, Mischief and Animal Husbandry. He is the deity mainly worshipped by Orcs, Ogres, and warriors.
Lorkhan is the unblinking god of storms and thunder, unleashing his rage and strength against the outposts of civilisation. He appears to be a savage god, but ultimately, is the embodiment of strength manifested over generations across the Morgoron descendants.
Church of Lorkhan
Worshippers
Lorkhan is mainly revered by Orcs, Orocs, Half-Orcs, Ogres, some Goblinoids and warriors, mercenaries and mistakenly savage barbarian tribes. The faithful Orcs of Lorkhan are called "the Breakers".
Lorkhan is a god of strength and of his people. He drives his people on through trials of strength and competition, in order to spread their power, by whatever necessay or brutal means they wish. His shamans advise chiefs and warmongers to kill, raid and conquer.
Temples and Priests
Most temples and priests of Lorkhan are built on or around battlefields, to the fallen orcs of their land, or around sacred cairns to which the dead are buried - places where storms are often abundant. Either before a battle or after a great victory, the temples are decorated with the skulls of their fallen enemies.
His priests carve out one of their eyes as a sacrifice and a homage to their one-eyed god, blessed with magic in return. They often wear skulls on their robes and lead great hordes into battle in the name of the One Who Watches.
Realm
Lorkhan rules over the
Ancestors Moot in Acheron, where most Orcs stay and serve under his leadership - joining their Morgoron line, to meet the Agron, the Ogron, the Ogres, Orocs, and Orc ancestors.
Holy Books & Codes
THE SAGE OF BLOODFALL
Most Orcs cannot read, and see no value in learning. The holy words of Lorkhan are thus preserved and spread through the oral tradition. Young acolytes entering Lorkhan's services are taught to learn the Sage of Bloodfall by rote, and they recieve cruel punishment each time they make a mistake or forget an element of a verse. The Sage is, in many ways, a combination of orc battle chants, poems and prose, all recited in an old dialect of the giantish language. Only shamans and priests of Lorkhan may recite lengthy passages of The Sage, although any worshipper is encouraged to memorize to recite their favourite sections.
Tenets of Faith
Lorkhan told his worshippers to do the following:
- Gather and breed, and your numbers shall flourish.
- Rise up in hordes and seize that which is rightfully yours.
- Raid. Kill. Conquer.
Divine Goals & Aspirations
Lorkhan wants to see the world to burn under his boot and drown in blood. He wants the Orcs to wander the lands in great hordes and kill every other humanoid, as Lorkhan is envious of the stature of the elves and humans have among other gods.
Personal History
Lorkhan was born a mortal in the Divine Era, and back then, the Orcs paid homage to their great ancestors, all the way to Morgoron. Through the great pilgrimage north, a weakling back then, he sought strength... and thus came to the body of Morgoron. He beseeched the ancient Titan, and wished his people and his race freedom from the cruelty of his bigger cousins, the Ogron. With this, Morgoron came and granted him power to prove himself - he may gain power should he be able to wield lightning.
Thus, he came to the Cyclops', and sacrificed his eye and tricked them to capture lightning... and he held it and took it back to Morgoron... pleased. The ancient Titan granted this promise. He rose with the power of the primordial, and was hungry for more.
First, he united the Orcs and Orocs and put the larger Cyclops' under his heel, taking the storms under their fray, and then hunted down the Ogron. He took their strength, and heralded their spirits into his own. Taking their strength and uniting it with his own. Being able to change his size and form - growing larger and larger. With it, he called to the other divinities and demanded that he be known as an equal to them, and treat the Orc people, his people, that which he blessed with his own blood... as equals.
Lorkhan's enmity with the other gods started with a lottery. The god of the dwarves, elves, gnomes, halflings, humans and orcs met to draw lots to determine which parts of the world to be inhabited by their respective worshippers. The non-orcish gods rigged the lot.
Elves got the forests, dwarves the mountains, the humans the right to live wherever they wanted, and so on, but there was no lot prepared for the orcs.
Lorkhan was mocked and insulted by the others for this and was enraged over the others cheating the orcs into destitution as part of a joke. He lifted his hammer to strike caves and holes into the world and claimed these for his followers and vowed that they will grow stronger there to ultimately kill everyone of the cheaters and take everything from them.
In a past time, Lorkhan fought many battles with the elven god Arvanos. He meant to paralyse and break the god with his magical hammer; this attack failed and initiated an epic battle. During the course of these battles, Lorkhan often injured Arvanos, but he ultimately lost.
During the Cataclysm, Lorkhan fought hand in hand with Toridon and Sekoloth against the Great Leviathan of the waters that his Orc people feared and dominated the seas - seeking to waylay this great fear, and hunting one of the Primordials to prove his strength. He did so, and asked of Toridon and Sekoloth to grant his people passage across the waters - Toridon offered passage to a select few across his back, and they became the separate entities of orcs that reached the lands of eastern Aetha'Shar and eastern Lorthal. Sekoloth offered to take a share of the oceans with some of his people, and to have future combats against his Sahuagin in a blood tourney, to keep them and their people both strong - giving rise to the aquatic dwelling "Blue Orcs".
In addition to aiding the Primordial Green, he aided against the return of Baphomet and Yeenoghu - as they caused great destruction upon his homeland. Sending his aid to Erathis, in her combat against Baphomet the Prince of Beasts - Lorkhan dealt a mortal blow against the Horned King, breaking one of his great horns, and thrusting it upon his spearhead. The two were rewarded by the Season Riders, Erathis was given provenance over the Minotaur, hoping to bring order and law to their being and drive them away from the corruption of the Abyss. On the other hand, Lorkhan was granted the blessing of Asterion's former power, of being Master of Beasts, and animal husbandry - falling under the Storm Lords purview, it blessed his peoples with abundant butchering seasons and fishing seasons. Though he was not entirely pleased, he felt it right to hold purview over majestic beasts and can make them stronger, just as his folk.
During the Cataclysm, he fought another of the Demon Lords - the one that won him the enmity of the Elves in the first place... Lolth the Fate-Weaver. She had spread her influence beyond the Underdark, and even toward his homeland in Avengiir, Vangolia. With lightning bots, he impaled her upon a cliff-face and reigned devastation across the Drow that fled like insects on the ground under his storm and rage. While Lolth watched. The being thrust her back into the Abyss, blasted by the full force of his powerful lightning, scarring her form.
The Storm Lord had been flung into a wild rage - and in the aftermath of the Cataclysm, it was only Promethea that stood up against him, facing off against the impossibly strong foe and weathered his storms - bringing him down to one knee, and calming him down. The two exchanged mutual respect of each other's strength, and they left the Material Plane behind. Lorkhan understood the risks if the gods ever suffered another exchange like this, and he trusted in his people to remain strong, always keeping his watchful eye out for them.
Lorkhan's influence flourished in recent decades with the growth of the orc population, and as other humanoids came under his sway.
