The Reaver, Master of All Weapons, Lord of War
Demipower of Pandemonium, CN
PORTFOLIO: War, skill-at-arms, destruction, plunder ALIASES: Targus DOMAIN NAME: Cocytus/Battle Garde SUPERIOR: None ALLIES: None FOES: Tempus, Red Knight SYMBOL: A five-armed tentacus (a pinwheel of five black, snaky arms spinning counterclockwise, each arm ending in an identical sword) WOR. ALIGN.: LN, N, CN, LE, NE, CE
Some legends claim Garagos (GAH-rah-gos) was the primary war god in western Faerûn until he was overthrown by the upstart Tempus. Certainly Garagos was worshiped in Westgate and the Vilhon Reach during the days of Myth Drannor, and his faith was strong long before that time—reportedly even in ancient Netheril. He was thought killed by Tempus, as he is recorded as slain, but either this means that he was destroyed as the primary war god of Faerûn, a position which Tempus took from him as the spoils of their one-on-one battle, or he was resurrected by some of his diehard cultists along the southern coast of the Sea of Fallen Stars, in the Vilhon Reach, or in the Border Kingdoms. He is most certainly not dead, but alive.
Garagos is associated with the rampaging destruction and plundering of war than tactics, strategies, or armies. The Reaver is linked with the mad bloodlust that overtakes some warriors, resulting in horrifying carnage. (Followers of Tempus claim their god destroyed Garagos by using the Reaver's berserking fury against him.) The scarlet cloak he is portrayed as wearing in religious art is one made of the blood of his foes, and in recent times he is often shown wading through a blood-red sea—again, the blood of his slain enemies.
In 1368 DR, Garagos reappeared to crush an impostor, the marilith Glackzana, a tanar'ri who had been attempting to start a cult in his name using her powers to present herself in a form like that of his avatar. He demolished the temple built to her at the ruined villager of Gosra, located in the Fields of Nun of central Chondath, and ordered it reconstructed in a more grand manner and rededicated to his worship.
Garagos himself scorns the use of armor (though he does not care if his priests wear it) and admires those who give in to battle-lust and merciless destruction in conflict, destroying all that lies in their path and taking no prisoners. He is blood-thirsty and single-minded. He angers quickly and cools down from an emotional boil very slowly. He is feared for the damage he can do and the uncontrolled nature of his fury.
Garagos was even more even-tempered and less prone to explode of old, but since his defeat by Tempus his fuse has gotten shorter, and he has lost all sense of mercy once he becomes caught up in a battle. With the change in his disposition, he no longer felt comfortable in his former abode in Limbo and moved to Pandemonium. Some say that he moved to his new abode when his heart grew hard upon finally giving up all hope for attaining his secret love. Others say this is so much poppycock, and speculate that Garagos is finally going over the edge to outright evil he has been teetering on for so long.
Other Manifestations
The most common manifestation of Garagos's manifestations is the Blood of the God, a fist-sized mist of glowing crimson droplets of blood (often collected reverently by worshipers) that is accompanied by a faint wailing and an intense feeling of danger. These droplets may poison enemies of the Garagathan faith or provide healing, protective magics, or a boost in morale and the removal of fear (similar to the effects of remove fear and the prayer spell) to Garagathans themselves.
Garagos also manifests as the clash of many furiously wielded weapons, and this manifestation may be accompanied by real strikes from unseen weapons upon creations threatening favored worshipers of Garagos or upon worshipers who have behaved against the tenets of the Garagathan faith. Garagos also works his will through berserkers, both alive and dead, and through inspiring a berserk frenzy in a being. Garagos also acts or shows his favor through the appearance or presence of wolverines, weasels, aurumvorae, worgs, dire wolves, and red-and-black hued gemstones.
The Church
CLERGY: Clerics, specialty priests, crusaders, shamans CLERGY'S ALIGN.: N, CN, NE, CE TURN UNDEAD: C: No, SP: No, Cru: No, Sha: No CMND. UNDEAD: C: Yes, SP: No, Cru: No, Sha: Yes
All clerics, specialty priests, crusaders, and shamans of Garagos receive religion (Faerûnian) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency.
Garagos attracts to his priesthood those with a cruel, destructive, reckless streak. Berserkers and sadists who eschew mercy and enjoy causing destruction and eradicating opposing forces often call on Garagos for extra aid even when they profess to worship another deity such as Tempus or Talos. The Reaver has also become something of a fashionable god among brigands, outcasts, and those who regularly raid other peoples or settlements for plunder.
The Garagathan faith is not really organized overall. It exists as a number of independent churches with individual hierarchies. Two rival churches fight each other for dominance in Amn and Tethyr. Another in the Sword Coast North is seeking to expand its sway over all the Sword Coast and the trade routes that connect to it, and ultimately into Cormyr.
The oldest church, in Westgate, has always been split into warring cults. The currently predominant clergy members in that church are based in Yondath, and two eastern organizations battle with them for control of this branch of the faith. One of these is located in the Great Dale and is seeking to expand into Damara and Thay; the other has established itself in Raurin and is spreading agents both south and west.
The the wake of the construction of Garagos's new temple at Gosra, the established independent churches of Garagos have all sent representatives to help from the hierarchy of the new temple. They are, of course, devoting quite a bit of their efforts to in-fighting in order to determine which church of Garagos the Gosran temple will ultimately belong to, but they have also been forced into rapid preparations for the defense of the new facility as the established churches of Tempus are rumored to be hiring a massive army of mercenaries to destroy the new temple.
Overall, the clergy of Garagos is composed of about 45% clerics, 40% specialty priests, 10% crusaders, and 5% shamans. The organized churches have no shamans in their ranks; the shamans are primarily found in more primitive cultures where berserk raiding is practiced. Garagos used to have many shamans, but his worship has waned in favor of that of Tempus, and their numbers are dwindling.
Garagathan clergy members address each other as "Bloodbrother" and "Bloodsister," adding "High" as a mark of respect if they are speaking to a priest of four or more levels greater than their own. They eschew formal titles beyond the rough rankings of Supplicant (novice), Priets/Priestess of the Blood (full priest), Reaver Lord/Lady (senior priests), and Favored (veteran senior clergy of ruling rank). This last title is added to whatever fanciful, self-styled rank the senior priest wishes to assume, such as Favored High Reaver Ounadar the Blood-Drenched or Favored Storm of Battles Arhaghon Master of Reavers. When attached to a military forces (a rare thing), priests may also hold a rank within that force.
Dogma: Garagathans believe that peace is for weak fools. War makes all who fight strong, and only in head-to-head conflict is honor satisfied. Only cowards avoid battle. Any who strike down a foe from ambush or from behind are to be scorned as the cowards they are. Retreat is never an option, even in the face of a greater foe, for if a warrior's heart is focused on Garagos, he will provide the strength to conquer any foe. Diplomatic solutions are for fools, the soft, and the dishonorable; the only true answer lies in battle. A warrior's word is his or her bond to a friend, and no one can be trusted more than shield companion, but warriors should not concern themselves with keeping a pledge to cowardly dogs or the enemy. Battlelust is a gift from Garagos; with it the faithful find the focus and the strength to defeat any enemy and refuge from the confusion and pain of the battlefield.
The charge given to novices in teh faith of Garagos is: "Bow down to me, and triumph in arms. Seek to awaken bloodlust and reaving everywhere, and take part in these sacred things whenever prudent or possible. Always go armed in readiness for shedding blood. Do battle at least once a tenday for the greater glory of Garagos and shed blood even if you cannot slay. Spread fear of Garagos, and the message of his power that guides and assists believers in every land you enter. At least once a year challenge and slay a greater foe than yourself for Garagos so that you test always the limits of your skill and press it to increase." This last is usually interpreted to mean killing a powerful monster or a priest of another diety of higher level than the Garagathan.
Day-to-Day Activities: Priests of Garagos spend their days formenting strife wherever they go in Faerûn, seeking to cause battle so that bloodlust (the Sacred Goal) is born and wanton destruction begins. Some of them are sly manipulators who deal in intrigue, thievery, and subtle diplomacies to ensure their own enrichment and continued anonymity or at least lack of public connection between them and the troubles they instigate. Others are unsubtle, violent brigands who start tavern brawls and use very public marketplace assassinations and similar crude means to spread Holy Reaving throughout the lands.
Senior clergy of the Reaver are charged with renewing and expanding an ever-growing network of informers, agents, sympathizers, and faithful warriors—and of training and disciplining such folk. The performance of a priest's charges reflect on the priest, for good or for ill, so they often set spies upon their agents, and activate back-up teams to carry out a mission if the first team fails. At the highest levels, Garagathan priests spend their days in ruthless power plays against rival senior clergy members seeking to become head of one of the various independent churches of Garagos.
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: Garagos demands to be worshiped in two ways: A believer who slays any foe in battle can shout out the power's name over the body of his or her victim to dedicate the death to Garagos as an offering. The second way to worship him is at a stone Blood Altar in one of his shrines or temples. Prayer to Garagos at a Blood Altar must begin with drops of blood being spilled into troughs in the stone altar. Then the devout entreats the Reaver to heat, promises to perform some act of battle valor involving death and destruction, however small, and then calls on the Master of All Weapons for aid, strength, or guidance.
There are no calendar-related Garagathan religious rituals. Any gathering of seven or more priests may call a Blood Festival. A Blood Festival involves a feast wherein at least some of the food must be butchered at or next to the table and subsequently devoured while still bloody (that is, not fully cooked). Initiations of priests to the Full Blood, the ceremony by which novices are made into full priests, must take place at a Blood Festival. Initiation into the Full Blood involves dipping the supplicants' hands into fresh blood and then painting their cheeks with the symbol of Garagos with blood. The blood used must be that of one or more monsters (dangerous creatures) slain by the supplicants to be initiated and full priests of Garagos with no other assistance.
Major Centers of Worship: Garagos's greatest worship occurred in the area of what is now Westgate. The sewers and underground passages of that city are rife with his old altars and symbols. That Inner Sea city still boasts an important underground temple to Garagos, the House of Steel, where an ambitious priestess, Chaless the Cruel, leads a congregation of murderers, outlaws, and half-orc brutes. The House of Steel is defended against nonbelievers by many animated swords.
However, the House of Steel is not currently the largest or most prominent center of the Garagathan faith. That honor is held by the Vale of the Reaver in Yondath. The Vale of the Reaver is the valley below the headwaters of the Thornwash River, between the western Cloven Mountains and the Thornwood. It is located north of Saelmur and Ankhapur and south of the Deepwash. In this valley, Ounadar the Blood-Drenched has recently risen to power, gathering berserkers, criminals, and disaffected and violent folk of all sorts to follow the faith. He and his congregation have been practicing slaughter on the creatures spawned from several captive deepspawn in caves above the valley. Ounadar dreams of capturing and ruling the city of Westgate.
Another veneraged Garagathan site is Godswalk Keep in the Barony of Great Oak in the Border Kingdoms. It is said to have been a proud fortress-city in the days when Netheril was in proud ascendance. On certain nights, for unknown reasons, an avatar of Garagos walks in the ruins, slaying all creatures he finds. This event is called the Meeting of the Three, or the Howling (after the sound Garagos makes), because avatars of Jergal and of Sharess appear at the same time, and Garagos howls madly upon meeting them because he cannot slay them.
Affiliated Orders: The few crusaders of the Garagathan faith all belong to the Brothers of Blood, an order dedicated to crushing the foes of Garagos. Its members unfortunately tend to die young, however, as making constant attacks on the church of Tempus tends to make anyone's life short and bloody. The various independent churches of Garagos have ties to the Red Wizards, the Zhentarim, the Iron Throne, and the Shadow Thieves, though none of these connections are very strong. For unknown reasons, Garagos forbids acting against the church of Shar, though he also does not allow his churches to ally with hers.
Priestly Vestments: Priests of Garagos wear the best armor they can obtain, though it is usually extremely battle-worn. Many clergy members wear red boots and gloves. High priests usually wear scarlet or crimson overrobes or tabards. Specialty priests often have embroidery or ruby ornaments on their ceremonial robes in the shapes of teardrops of blood. Garagathan clergy members may have belt buckles or cloak pins fashioned in the shape of the tentacus of Garagos or even bear daggerlike belt weapons sporting a basket hilt in the shape of a whirlwind of five blades.
Most clergy of Garagos carry a tentacus as a symbol of their faith and are skilled in its use as a weapon. A tentacus does 1d4+2 points of slashing and piercing damage to small or man-sized creatures and 1d3 points of slashing and piercing damage to L-sized or larger beings when held or thrown. It has a speed factor of 3, is size S, and weights 1 lb. It has a range of 1/2/3.
Adventuring Garb: Priests of Garagos wear almost the same outfits in the fields as they do to ceremonial functions, sporting armor, red boots and gloves, crimson capes, and decorative ornamentation in the shape of the tentacus. They carry a tentacus as their holy symbol.
Specialty Priests (Bloodreavers)
REQUIREMENTS: Strength 13, Constitution 11, Wisdom 9 PRIME REQ.: Strength, Wisdom ALIGNMENT: CN, CE WEAPONS: Any ARMOR: Any MAJOR SPHERES: All, chaos, charm, combat, divination, law, protection, travelers, war MINOR SPHERES: Creation, guardian, healing, necromantic, thought MAGICAL ITEMS: Same as clerics REQ. PROFS: Endurance, tentacus BONUS PROFS: Blind-fighting, charioteering
Bloodreavers are immune to magical commands of less than divine or semidivine power (such as those given by powers, avatars, divine manifestations, greater tanar'ri and baatezu, tanar'ri and baatezu lords or princes, divine proxies or messengers, and like beings). Taunt, forget, suggestion, domination, geas, demand, succor, command, enthrall, quest, exaction, and other spells that place a direct verbal command upon a single individual automatically fail when used upon them. Bloodreavers are immune to the effects of a great many magical items that play upon the emotions or loyalties. They are not affected by rods of beguiling, rods of rulership, rods of splendor, rods of terror, staffs of command, rings of contrariness, rings of delusion, rings of human influence, or wands of fear. However, they save at a -4 penalty against the affects of philters of love (or similar magical effects) or philters of persuasiveness used against them. Bloodreavers can incide a berserker rage in themselves. The rage lasts for 1 turn. During this time, the bloodreaver has a +2 bonus to attack, damage, and all saving throws and a +1 bonus to initiative rolls. A bloodreaver may use this ability once a day. The berserker rage lasts a full 10 rounds. If the bloodreaver runs out of enemies to fight, she or he must attack the closest living target in the area (even a friend). Bloodreavers receive Constitution hit point adjustments to their Hit Dice as if they were warriors. At 5th level, bloodreavers have the ability to cast chaotic combat (as the 4th-level priest spell) once a day. At 7th level, bloodreavers have the ability to cast blood mantle (as the 4th-level priest spell) once a day. At 7th level, bloodreavers can make three melee attacks every two rounds. At 9th level, bloodreavers have the ability to cast whirlwind of steel (as the 5th-level priest spell) once a day. At 10th level, bloodreavers cast all spells from the combat sphere at double damage and at a -2 penalty to their targets' saving throws, when saving throws are allowed. At 13th level, bloodreavers can make two melee attacks per round.
During the time of Netheril, Garagos could grant the following two abilities to his high-level bloodreavers. Since his reduction in status to the level of a demipower, he has not done so. It is unclear whether this is a consequence of his loss of status or an intentional decision on his part:
At 15th level, bloodreavers are able to cast blade barrier (as the 6th-level priest spell) once a day. At 20th level, bloodreavers automatically are under the benefits of a double-strength prayer spell whenever they engage in combat. This condition works just as if a bloodreaver has cast a prayer spell, but it takes no time to come into effect nor does it count as an action on the part of the bloodreaver. This ability combines with a chant spell in the same way as a cast prayer spell. This ability does not work if a bloodreaver's opponent is unaware, helpless, or unarmed.
Garagathan Spells
4th Level
Blood Mantle (Pr 4; Alteration, Necromancy)
Sphere: Protection, Necromantic Range: 0 Components: V, S, M Duration: 5 rounds/level Casting Time: 7 Area of Effect: The spellcaster Saving Throw: None
This spell enshrouds the priest in a cloak of swirling blood-red droplets. This magical mantle seems to shimmer and swirl, even if there is no wind present, and moves to interpose itself between any attack and the priest. Any weapon used to strike the priest seems to impact an iron wall as the ferrous droplets momentarily coagulate to form a bulwark against the imminent attack.
While protected by a blood mantle, the spellcaster has a +3 bonus to his or her Armor Class and a +3 saving throw bonus against fire and cold (magical and nonmagical). Blood mantles are particularly conductive to electrical attacks, however, and bearers of the blood mantles receive a -3 penalty to their saving throws vs. lightning and electricity (magical and nonmagical) while protected by this spell.
In addition, the caster can remove the blood mantle and hurl it up to 10 feet away to form a 10-foot-square curtain of droplets. Once it reaches its desired position and configuration (mentally selected by the spellcaster as the blood mantle is hurled), the curtain is immovable until the spell expires. In this form, the blood mantle acts as a wall of iron identical in effect to the barrier created by the 5th-level wizard spell wall of iron except that it is impervious to the attacks of rust monsters and similar corrosion attacks, is much smaller in area of effect, and is of limited duration.
The material components of this spell are a ruby or other red gemstone of at least 24 gp value and the priest's holy symbol.
Blood Rage (Pr 4; Enchantment/Charm)
Sphere: Combat Range: 10 yards Components: V, S, M Duration: Special Casting Time: 7 Area of Effect: One creature Saving Throw: Neg.
This spell imbues a living, sentient being with the battle rage and blood lust of a berserker. Although it can be cast on the spellcaster or his allies, many priests of the Reaver enjoy surreptitiously casting this spell on an opponent in a group of his friends and then quietly leaving the scene. All attacks by the target creature are made in a mad frenzy with no thought to tactics, personal risk, or the consequences of any action. Unlike a true berserker, the target of a blood rage spell has no ability to tell friend from foe. While under this spell's effects, a creature frenetically attempts to shed the blood of any being it encounters, moving from one opponent to the next based on proximity and noticeability. (For example, the target of a blood rage spell would ignore a pixie 5 feet away in lieu of attacking an ogre 10 feet away, but if the ogre was 50 feet away, the pixie would be attacked first.) Aside from the situations mentioned below, a blood rage spell ends only when the target goes three continuous rounds without a warm-blooded creature within 50 yards to attack.
While in a blood rage, beings have phenomenal resistance to pain and some forms of magic. They are immune to the wizard spells charm person, friends, hypnotism, sleep, irritation, ray of enfeeblement, scare, geas, and similar incantations. They are immune to the clerical spells command, charm person or mammal, enthrall, cloak of bravery, symbol, and similar magics. They receive a +4 bonus to saving throws against the wizard spells blindness, Tasha's uncontrollable hideous laughter, hold person, charm monster, and confusion, and the clerical spells hold person and hold animal. The emotion spell has no effect unless the fear result is chosen. In that case, if enraged beings successfully save vs. spells, they are unaffected, but if they fail, the blood rage spell immediately ends. The effects of a finger of death spell, whether the saving throw is successful or not, are delayed until the blood rage ends. In addition, while in a blood rage, beings receive a +1 to their attack rolls, a +3 bonus to damage, and 5 phantom hit points that are subtracted first when damage is suffered (and then disappear when the spell ends if not used).
Entering a blood rage has numerous disadvantages as well: Targets of this spell have no real sense of how much damage is being taken. (The DM keeps track of how many hit points a being has left, not any player.) They cannot use ranged weapons and cannot take cover from ranged missile fire. Spells such as bless, cure light wounds, aid, cure serious wounds, cure critical wounds, heal, and regenerate are delayed from taking effect until after the blood rage ends. The taunt spell is automatically successful. And at the blood range's conclusion, its targets automatically suffer from complete exhaustion—an effect identical to that of a ray of enfeeblement spell.
Unwilling targets are unaffected by the spell if they succeed at a saving throw vs. spell. The spell can be dispelled prematurely with a successful dispel magic or a successful spell or spell-like effect that removes mind-affecting magics. This spell has no effect on berserk berserkers, enraged dwarf battleragers, berserk bloodreavers, or other blood-crazed warriors who have already entered a state similar to that created by this spell.
The material components for this spell are a bloodstone or pieces of bloodstone and the priest's holy symbol.
5th Level
Whirlwind of Steel (Pr 5; Conjuration/Summoning, Evocation)
Sphere: Combat Range: 5 yards/level Components: V, S, M Duration: 1 round/level Casting Time: 8 Area of Effect: Special Saving Throw: ½
This spell creates five phantom arms wielding scimitars. Both limbs and weapons are magical constructs and not actual, tangible things. The floating, flying limbs hack silently at targets until they are dispelled, warded away by magical barriers, or willed out of existence by the caster. They strike twice per round at THAC0 8. Each scimitar inflicts 1d8 points of slashing and piercing damage but is considered a +2 enchanted weapon for purposes of determining what it can hit.
When whirlwind of steel is cast, the caster irrevocably chooses one of two missions for the scimitars: They either remain within a stationary 10-foot cube whose center is seen and chosen by the caster at the time of casting and attack all creatures entering that area, or they attack a single target creature, moving to accompany that creature at MV Fl 18 (B) and revert to the first type of mission only if the target is slain or teleports away. (The stationary 10-foot cube in this case is either centered 5 feet above where the target falls dead or 5 feet above the floor at the spot from which the target teleported.)
All creatures are allowed saving throws for half damage against every scimitar strike from a whirlwind of steel. The caster always successfully makes such saving throws if she or he is hit by a scimitar. (The caster is not immune to the scimitars' attacks.)
The material components for a whirlwind of steel is a fragment of a metallic bladed weapon.