Hello everybody Jorphdan here the PH is silent.
Today we’re talking about Grumbar and Gwaeron Windstrom!
One is an earth based elemental god while the other has a last name, which is cool I
guess.
Let’s dive in!
Grumbar!
The Gnarly One, King of the Land Below the Roots, Boss of the Earth Elementals.
God of elemental earth.
Grumbar is one of the four elemental lords.
According to the AD&D Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting he is an uncaring inhuman being from
the Inner Planes.
He cares little for humanity or worshipers.
Grumbar is a powerful deity, normally depicted as an immense earth elemental with bulky,
muscular arms and eyes that blaze like shimmering rubies.
He represents stability and resistance to change, much like a rock.
Grumbar might be considered a lesser deity because of this lack of followers but he is
actually quite strong.
But since Grumbar doesn’t care much for his devotees they are often depicted as cults
rather than an organized religion.
Grumbar has been known to send servants from the Elemental Plane of Earth to aid his followers.
A mighty Xorn or some lava children could appear and help a follower of Grumbar with
a specific task, or defense.
Which normally the elemental spells are mainly for wizards and sorcerers to control, it would
be fun to touch that magic from a divine perspective.
To be a part of Grumbar’s clergy one can be of any alignment.
The earth elemental god does not care what you motives are anymore than he cares he is
being worshiped.
Grumbar has cleric worshipers but also monks that that fulfill duties of the church.
Grumbar’s reactions are predictable in end and result; he resists change and development,
opting always for maintaining the status quo.
Thus the priesthood takes it upon themselves to resist change at every possible turn.
Not just within the church but a priest of Grumbar would oppose changes within government,
other churches, or even geography.
Priests of Grumbar can summon earth elementals to assist with work at the blessing of Grumbar.
These elementals are often used to create foundations for and the construction of new
churches.
Despite not liking change, Grumbar enjoys creations in his honor.
Sculptures that are created in his image are made as offerings to Grumbar.
They are buried within the earth for him to find.
In return Grumbar will gift his followers with locational knowledge of rich lodes of
ore or gemstones.
Grumbar’s priests are organized into holds.
Each “hold” comprises 21 priests, seven clerics, seven monks, and seven crusaders
(which I’m assuming are sort of like Paladins or maybe Knights).
Each Hold is of a particular alignment so the Hold’s purposes are in line with its
followers.
The special priests of Grumbar are known as earthwalkers, and the monks are known as cornerstones.
There are plenty of titles given for specific ranks, a novice is known as an Unspoken, and
when taking the oath to become a devotee of Grumbar that Unspoken becomes known as an
Oathbound.
Shrines or temples to Grumbar are always made of stone with gems and other precious minerals
used for decoration.
The teachings of the church preach a resistance to change that Grumbar wills.
Grumbarryns take oaths very seriously, your word is the rock you stand on and any follower
of Grumbar will not break an oath.
If they do break an oath they could be cast out from their church.
Much of their religion revolves around trying to be more like Grumbar.
In the DnD book Faiths & Avatars there are some specific Grumbarryn spells that clerics have access
to.
To bring this to 5th edition maybe you could borrow some of the elemental spells from Xanathar’s
guide to a cleric.
Also an elemental monk would make a great follower of Grumbar for 5th edition D&D.
Finally in 4th edition lore Grumbar was discovered to be an ancient primordial, much like Ubtao
and some of the other elemental gods.
Still worshiped as a deity but in reality is a powerful primordial from the elemental
chaos.
For all those people that enjoy 4th edition lore, which might be just me… but that’s
ok.
There are literally dozens of us!
Dozens!
Up next is Gwaeron Windstrom.
Known as the Mouth of Mielikki, the Master Tracker, and the Tracker Never Led Astray.
Gwaeron is worshiped mostly in northern Faerun.
He is more difficult to find in other areas such as Zakhara.
Gwaeron is content in forests of the north, a demigod that happily guides rangers who
are lost.
Gwaeron was said to be a mortal man, who was elevated to godhood by Mielikki.
Gwaeron was a master ranger who protected nature by hunting and killing the aspect of
Malar.
In fact he killed numerous manifestations of Malar in such a short period of time that
Mielikki blessed him and he became a deity.
He is a perfect tracker and a dedicated foe to evil creatures such as Orcs and Trolls.
He is said to look like an older man with a white beard, but still physically fit and
mighty.
Rangers worship Gwaeron because much of the forest work a ranger of the north does is
reflected with Gwaeron.
Also rangers know that Gwaeron will speak to Meliekki on their behalf, so it’s like
getting two gods for one!
Gwaeron has no temples, but shrines to him can be found in the forest.
On a tree, or in a grove, his symbol of a paw print with a star in it will be present.
These are ideal places to pray and commune with Gwaeron.
I suppose it’s the nature aspect of Gwaeron but he also feels like he’s be an ideal
Druid deity.
Perhaps not though, as druids would rather pray directly to Melikki rather than through a former human
ranger.
But to rangers Melikki is too wild to understand so they take comfort knowing Gwaeron will
speak on their behalf.
Gwaeron doesn’t have a specific church, so much as a loose following.
Although there are few, clerics of Gwaeron pray for their spells at dusk and they observe
no holy days other than what is celebrated by Mielikki.
Their dogma revolves around harmony with nature, living in the wild without destroying it.
Embracing the forest and not fearing it.
You must live as one with the woods and teach others to do so as well.
And that’s it!
I really like the idea of a Grumbar cleric casting a bunch of earth spells.
Maybe a Forge Domain cleric or something new.
Some interesting dwarf cleric of Grumbar that can mold the earth around him.
And Gwaeron, although perfect for a ranger to worship it would be interesting to see
a nature cleric that followed Gwaeron.
Talking to animals and protecting the forest.
It could be a lot of fun to worship a smaller god, more localized.
Thanks for watching everyone, we’ll be back with more deities next Wed!
I’ll see you in the next video!