Ithiss (Culdus)

The Divine Emperor

“I am Irhhisz*, slayer of Giants! I claim the Brass Mountains as the home of my kin, and banish you southward. Obey, lest you defy the will of a God himself!”

— Ithiss to Vigni, King of the Giants.

*Dwarven for Ithiss

Summary

Culdus, or Ithiss as he is called in the current era, was the only Elder God to tether himself to the Material Plane. While some Elder Gods had manifested themselves as other creatures, such as animals, Culdus was the only one to appear in what is believed to be his true form. Known to mankind and the Elves as the Lord of Mountains and Stone, Culdus created the foundation for the continent of Yund by shaping materials from the Elemental Planes of Earth and Fire. However, he saw limited worship from Elves and Man; they focused their prayers on Shae, the Goddess of Nature and the Harvest. After all, it was bountiful harvests that sustained them most—they did not stop and think to worship he who had created the soil.

“Culdus was angered by his lack of recognition and envious of Shae's standing with the tethered. ‘Why is it that she should receive all the prayers?’ he roared, ‘It was I who laid the foundation for her work! I who rose stone from a sea of magma to create something from nothing! Yet the puny races below adore her! I shall forge a more perfect race!’”

— Excerpt from ancient text.

And so upon exiting the heavens and tethering himself to Yund, Culdus began to work in the Underdark on his "more perfect race": the Dwarves. They would refer to him as Irhhisz, which roughly translates to "Divine Emperor," and from that point onward he was then known as Ithiss in the common tongue.

Ithiss towering above one of his subjects.

In the portrayal above, created by humans, Ithiss is represented as more man than Dwarf. The Dwarves more often depict him as bearded and wielding a massive hammer, but most everything else is similar.