Arn, Lord of Forge and Hammer

The Unbroken, the Guilt-bearer, the Unwilling Ascendant

"THIS WORLD WILL BREAK YOU, IF YOU LET IT. WE WILL TEMPER EACH OTHER, AND WE WILL ENDURE.

In mortal life, Arn was a smith and a follower of Yuross. He labored almost his entire life under and for the Queen of Kings, humble and productive, forging armor and weapons for her military Adjutants. But toward the latter half of his life, the Onyxhammer dwarves began their righteous crusade against the Orcs, and he left his monastery to serve under the banner of Lord Onyxhammer as his master smith. But at one point the fighting grew dire as a certain orc blessed by Kanrog, known by the epithet 'Breaker,' appeared and began to cleave and sunder the dwarven weapons and armor that were their pride and identity. The troops began to despair, and Lord Onyxhammer turned to Arn for an answer or solution.

At first, Arn had none, He despaired - his works were supposed to be perfect, unbreakable pieces of master craftsmanship. How many times had he been praised for these toys that were being shattered by an orc of all things? His despair turned to bitter anger, and he worked it out the only way he knew how: he forged, experimented, built and broke until his already-calloused hands were torn, broken, and burnt. He began to work longer and longer hours, and rumors began to spread that he didn't sleep at all. These rumors were true. His formerly brown eyes shown with golden forge-light, and he worked at inhuman speed for days on end. The fire of his forge took on a noble, magical hue as the August God looked down upon him with favor.
Thus empowered, Arn created 36 armaments of such power that they turned the tide of not only the coming battles - Arn himself even slew the Breaker that had tormented him - but the entire war. Arn's artifacts were so powerful, in fact, that Lord Onyxhammer was able to hunt the Orcs down to extinction. The price of this was the near-extinction of the dwarves at the hands of Kanrog. Though the full story of that event is detailed elsewhere, suffice to say that Arn was wracked with guilt - if he hadn't created those relics, would the dwarves had been able to escape Kanrog's wrath? Perhaps it was irrational, but guilt often is, and it is no less powerful a force for being irrational. Such guilt in the heart of a Dwarf, who are as a rule passionate and duty-driven beyond all else, is a terrible thing, and he could not endure it. Arn leapt into his own glowing forge and was incinerated nigh-instantly.

He awoke at the side of the August God, who had deified him and crowned him the Lord of Forge and Hammer. Now Arn is the patron of the guilty and of devoted servants, craftsmen, and builders. His priests and paladins are generally craftsmen of some kind, though not all work the forge as he did. He is also venerated by those who must endure unbearable burdens; "Arn give me strength" is the favorite phrase of the bereaved widower, the reluctant soldier, and the overworked smith alike.

Divine Domains

Divine Domains
Forge
War
Tempest

Follower Boon: Tempered

Followers of Arn gain the Tempered ability.
Tempered. When you would take bludgeoning, slashing, or piercing damage, you may use your reaction to increase the density and hardness of your skin to take half damage and gain resistance to the triggering damage type until the end of your next turn. You can do so once and regain the ability to do so after finishing a long rest.

Updated 4/11/22

Trivia

Temples to Arn sometimes double as housing for prisoners on a kind of parole. Here they can redeem themselves by learning crafts and becoming productive members of society.