Buggug Angel-Slayer

Buggug Angel-Slayer is an ascended Orc diety, revered in the Orcish Pantheon as a patron to the hunters of monsters, mercenaries specializing in powerful enemies, and those who would join him among the divine. Orcs hold that he has the domain of all who would struggle against and defeat a force greater than themselves. He is known as the Dragoneater for exactly this reason. Through him, divine spellcasters gain access to the Evil, Destruction, Glory, and Strength domains. His sacred weapon, the use of which he was famous for in life, is the Orc Double-Axe. His symbol is the blood-red skull of a dragon.

History

Buggug Angel-Slayer was a pre-Nation Orc whose original territory included much of the highlands of what are now the Shimmering Shores. He is said to have killed his original chief in an argument and assumed responsibility over the entire tribe as a result, an act normally frowned upon in the Orcish Nation. His tribe then proceeded to move their territory even further into the Shimmering Shores, preying on exotic local creatures such as dragons. In one particular episode for which he is particularly well-known, he organized a Horde to fight and defeat a host of angels in an event known as the Purge of High Toor, during which he is said to have made pacts with all manner of creature from Hell. Some time after his death, his tribe was scattered and broken by Petreneans pushing their territory into their north - it is unclear if he was already a divinity by this point or if it was the collective reverence of his descendants attempting to emulate his successes that resulted in his Ascension.

Relationships

Buggug lived in a time before the other orcish dieties were in common currency, and in life was an irreverant follower of the laws of The Fire-keeper. Though he and the Fire-keeper are opposed in alignment, there is a respectable peace between them, and to her he represents a sort of prodigal son. Interestingly, he joins the rest of the Orcish Pantheon in despising Ogharod the Conqueror and Kodo the Devourer, whom he views as potential targets for future campaigns.

Because of his achievements in combat, he is respected by Xuthakug Three-Eyes. Though both arguably espouse the ability of the Orcish Nation to protect its interests, he and Lum Spear-Breaker have been known to go to war with each other over their differences.

As he occupies hell and so has contact with San Meteo, it's worthwhile to note that both recognize each other's divinity. Buggug sees San Meteo as spineless and cowardly, while San Meteo sees his orcish counterpart as a violent and gauche savage. Quite naturally, neither is fully right about the other.

Appearance

Buggug Angel-Slayer is remembered as a wild-eyed, bearded-and-maned orc of imposing physical size, heavily tattooed with depictions of mythical creatures, all of whom he claims to have killed. His trademark weapon, The Devil's Wings, is almost always on his person.

Realm

Buggug Angel-Slayer, by deals made in life and the virtue of his existence as a Lawful Evil diety, has a realm in Hell known as The Colosseum. Here great games are performed, often in the forms of tournaments of the unholy pitting their strength against each other or sacrifice of the souls of the damned who have somehow fallen into his ken.

Providence

The sudden and remarkable defeat of a greater power by a lesser force, individually or en-masse, is often attributed as a sign of Buggug's pleasure. He is said to speak to his followers through their own feelings of rage, potent or impotent, and is particularly popular among Barbarians as a result.

Servants

Some minor devils have fallen into Buggug's authority, either by virtue of deals he made with their betters or as a result of their own machinations. Additionally, Buggug keeps a whole retinue of hell hounds.

Unique Servants

Ikana the Suborned

Buggug's herald is an enslaved Levaloch Devil of impressive size, upon whose rust-red armour Buggug's symbol has been emblazoned. Ikana is said to appear where petitioners have need of his destructive power, or wherever something has happened to so offend Buggug as to require a little divine intervention.

Church

While respected and known throughout the nation, Buggug is rarely worshipped - the tribe he'd lead in life scattered long before his divinity became apparent. It is rare, but not unheard of, for whole communities to form and worship Buggug, as the machinations he breeds in the minds of his followers sometimes leads to conflict even among his followers. Where such communities exist, his priests are known to keep retinues of barbarians and fighters in their service, not unlike Paladins. Far more often, individual orcs themselves worship Buggug to more or less public degrees among the rest of their community.

Worshippers

Many orcs, especially young warriors, flirt with worship of Buggug, especially those in areas where monsters more powerful than orcs are present. Those who stay with this worship usually are adventurers of some kind, often falling into social roles involving the extermination of such creatures. Unique among orc kind's evil deities, Buggug calls upon his followers to maintain most of the orcish norms of life; such worshippers can often be found in communities where they are not actively disposed, meeting in their own small groups for their rites, which usually consist of swapping tales of past trials.

In communities where Buggug is the dominant diety, trial by combat, to the death, can often become a commonplace system of justice.

Clergy

Buggug valued only strength in life, and the same is said of his clergy, who are warlike. In spite of their divine bent, they are often found among the military class, being professional warriors and hunters of great beasts. Tattooed with their divine master's symbol, such clergy are never without a weapon and live a life in a volatile hierarchy that shifts along with the personal strength of individual clerics and oracles versus one another.

Temples & Shrines

Rare and disorganized, followers of Buggug can hold no permanent temples. They consider High Toor to be sacred ground, but until the Great Collapse could not access it, and even now can reach it only with a pilgrimage of great personal risk and difficulty.

In communities where he is held widely, there is usually a yard dedicated to his worship, where slain or captured monsters are brought for slaughter and butchery, and his followers train in both their faith and martial prowess.

Holy Texts

Like many Orcish deities, Buggug's teachings have never been formally codified in a canonical way, but instead are taught as a part of Orcish oral-historical tradition.

Church History

Buggug's church is too disparate to have a cohesive history. From time to time individual settlements or even whole tribes will turn to his worship, without ever organizing amongst themselves.

Holidays

In communities where he is the central focus of worship, and even among small knots of his followers, the festival tradition usually revolves around a Great Hunt, with the targeted monster or creatures being brought back to camp once they are slain, sacrificed in Buggug's honour and feasted upon in the honour of those who slew them. Such feasts are wild affairs with plenty of music and storytelling.