Mighty Horm the Harsh

Horm is one of the many Dwarven gods claiming divinity over mining and mountains. Although, he is not one of the more prominent ones. In fact, it would not be unusual for a Dwarve to stare back blankly at mention of his name.

Horm is demanding, egotistical, vain, bombastic, and conceited. He rounds out these "qualities" by being militant, aggressive, and impulsive. Horm is a doer not a thinker. If his quick temper, ill-manners, or vain posturing gets him into more trouble than his hammer can deal with, Horm gets his bigger hammer.

Horm has not found many allies amongst the Dwarven pantheon or elsewhere. This weakness is compensated by having few if any enemies. In truth Horm is mostly just ignored. His followers, called Horm's Order, struggle under similar anonymity.

Horm's lack of followers provides him the opportunity to keep a close watch on each one. Priests especially must "keep in favor", something that with Horm is a great deal of effort. The game master should judge the player's actions or lack thereof through Horm's eyes when granting spells or other boons.

When there is no goddess to chase Horm relieves his boredom by meddling with his followers. He is more likely to "send" challenges for them to prove their worthiness than heal their wounds or banish skeletons they should be crushing themselves. On the other hand, if a trixie fey steals one of his priests' gold, he's likely bestow unlimited endurance, unerring direction sense, and once tracked back to it's mushroom ring or whatever show up in person to smote the cheating Elf himself.

Horm prefers to be worshiped in deep mines or atop lofty mountains but will accept any prayer offered under a sensible roof, that is one made of stone or rock. Suitable sacrifices to his greatness include the smelting of ores, uncut gems, snow from high, remote, sacred mountain peaks, and well fashioned(masterwork) mining equipment. The more valuable, rare, or famous the sacrifice the greater is Horm's appreciation. Twice over is his pleasure if arranging the sacrifice was arduous, challenging, and legend worthy, esp if feats mentioning Horm are recorded in the Sacred Cavern of Deeds. Horm relentlessly demands that Horm's Prayer be carved onto mountains, mine entrances, other god's temples, any and all stone surfaces actually.

Horm admires; most Dwarven goddesses, combat, exploring the unknown, determination, self reliance, and feats of endurance.

He dislikes; most Dwarven gods, skulduggery, orcs, despoilers of mountains(i.e. non-Dwarves), weather, and the "great outdoors".

Symbols; vertically aligned pick superimposed on a mountain peak. Granite gray is the color most associated with him.

Holy Days; All of them, really. Everyday is a great day to honor Horm and his might. There is not a day on the calender that lacks an anniversary worthy of praise. A typical service involves a single solitary priest performing the ritual carving of "Horm's Prayer", recounting the great feats Horm performed on that day, and perhaps a sacrifice if there one worthy of Horm is available. Throughout the rest of the day, a priest is expected to remind all he meets of Horm's mighty accomplishments and unchallenged greatness. The holiest of holy days only comes every 100 years during which initiates to Horm's Order are made priests.