Lum Spear-Breaker

Lum Spear-Breaker is an ascended Orc diety, revered in the Orcish Pantheon as a patron to citizen militias, and those who live outside the confines of orcish fortified settlements. Orcs hold that he has the domain of all who would take on the defense of the kingdom. Through him, divine spellcasters gain access to the Liberation, Protection, Strength, and War domains. He has no one sacred weapon, and those who would be entitled to a weapon proficiency through their worship of him gain proficiency in improvised weapons instead. His symbol is a stylized depiction of a type of orcish dwelling known as a Porcupine Dugout. Unsurprisingly, Porcupines are his sacred animal.

History

Lum Spear-Breaker is perhaps the most recent of all Orcish Gods. Born a mortal half-orc, he ascended upon his death after the Green Knoll Purge, a battle in the settling of the Frontier Counties by Bastonians. Together with several others, he staged the defense of a hilltop at Green Knoll, the culmination of a year-long campaign of scorched-earth retreats that spared most of his tribe from slaughter, and was martyred for his efforts. He is known for having revitalized a type of fortification known as the Porcupine Dugout as part of this campaign, the use of which had died out after several more peaceful centuries in the history of the nation.

Relationships

Lum is the new kid on the divine block and he knows it. Accordingly, he is unfailingly polite to any of the gods who would have anything to do with him. He is known to have a rivalry with, and occasionally go to war against, Buggug Angel-Slayer, with whom he can never quite see eye to eye.

Appearance

Lum appears as he did at the time of his death - a bedraggled, hungry, one-eyed orc with a traditional braid and a gold-banded tooth. Protected by his divine nature, he arrives even in combat in nothing but a set of a farmer's leather trousers. If he came to make war he does so with a variety of weapons, but more often than not, he will improvise from what is available.

Realm

By the universal law, Lum finds his ream in Elysium, where he has a minor holding near Elypetra named Lum's Hollow. Those who follow his example of self-sacrifice and the defense of others are said to find their home in the afterlife with him there.

Providence

Sudden reinforcement and succor is Lum's specialty. If he communicates with his followers at all, it is in their bones, the hairs of the back of their necks, and the pit of their stomachs, intimating good and bad feelings rather than clear messages.

Servants

Lum has no use for the Azatas that are native to the realm of Elysium. Instead, he calls those who died following his example his companions and calls upon them for help as needed.

Unique Servants

If Lum has a herald, he has yet to make use of it for anything.

Church

Seen as new and exotic, Lum's church is especially established in the Northern Horde, where the same enemies that slaughtered his people and martyred the Spear-Breaker keep the living awake at night and make things like citizen militias and night patrols necessary. With his legend fresh in the minds of Orcs he is known throughout the Orcish Nation and remembered by all who must, to one degree or another, fend for themselves.

Worshippers

Though the Orcish Nation has no standing army, rare is the adult orc of any gender who does not know their way around at least one weapon, commonly the axe; such is the price of living in the Lordless Lands, under the shadow of attack from all sides. While those who live inside fortified towns and cities enjoy a degree of comfort, for a swineherd out on the plain, the only meaningful defense is the walls of your home and the squeals of warning from your pigs.

Anywhere the threats of Orc-kind's enemies mount, worshippers of Lum emerge, hoping to borrow some of his courage for themselves and protect their clans through his examples.

Clergy

Lum's clergy do not dress meaningfully differently from those of The Fire-Keeper, nor do they often claim to be much else than ordinary shamans. Lum makes no special demand of belief or obedience, requiring only the reverence of one's ancestors and the defense of ones living relatives. Those who follow him in particular will usually adorn themselves in some way with his mark, and those who do not share his reputed knack for making use of anything to hand as an effective weapon rarely go anywhere unarmed.

Shaman of all kinds who follow Lum become champions of the collective defense of their communities, pushing chiefs to take preventative actions and encouraging the return of traditions like the Porcupine Dugout into cultural currency in their areas of influence.

Temples & Shrines

Gul's church is too young to have any unified structure of worship or holy places. Green Knoll is the best contender for a site sacred to his followers, but it would take the Orcish Nation rallying together and making war against Bastonia to reclaim it, which all save for the most radical of his followers agree would do more harm than good.

Holy Texts

Gul left behind no writings, like most of the gods of the Orcish Nation. His legend is well-remembered, being only a few lifetimes old, and so is a popularly-told tale known well by his followers and other orcs on its own merit.

Church History

Gul's church is too new, and his followers too focused on practical matters, to be considered historically significant. While his religion is popular and growing, and that zeal may indeed push the orcish nation into unifying behind a new Warlord either in defense or to reclaim its former northern holdings in Bastonia, it's unclear if the future holds as great a promise for them as the present seems to.

Holidays

During festivals it is not uncommon for followers to dedicate some portion of the sacrifices they make to the Fire-keeper to Lum directly, and to sacrifice these animals in the same way - as burnt and eaten offerings. His followers also enjoy harmless combat sport against each other at such times, as a way of strengthening bonds and developing instincts that may serve them better in the worst case scenario.