| Urdlen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Vital statistics | |
| Titles | The Crawler Below |
| Deity Power | Intermediate Deity (Gnome) |
| Home Plane | The Golden Hills |
| Symbol | White mole |
| Alignment | Chaotic Evil |
| Portfolio | Greed, bloodlust, evil, hatred, uncontrolled impulse, spriggans |
| Domains | Chaos[1], Earth, Evil, Gnome[1], Hatred[1] |
| Favored Weapon | Great claw (claw bracer) |
| Cleric Alignments | CE, CN, NE |
| Worshipers | Assassins, blackguards, gnomes, rogues, spriggans |
Character and Reputation[]
Urdlen (URD-len) crushes life without regard. There is nothing it does not want to spoil or destroy. The Crawler Below is a genderless, half-mad, blindly destructive impulse. No one can predict where it will strike next or what its plans are to further the cause of evil among the Forgotten Folk. The nature of its plans to bring evil into the hearts of gnomes are not understood even by the other gnome deities. It is said that Urdlen lusts for precious metals, jewels, and the blood of any humanoid.
Clergy and Temples[]
The church of Urdlen is secretive in the extreme, a murderous cult within the communities it infiltrates or a lurking threat outside the margins of society. From their subterranean warrens, Urdlen’s clerics wage an unending war on communities of the Forgotten Folk, particularly the clergies of the other gnome deities. When not hunting other creatures, members of the clergy work to steal objects of value, particularly gems and works of art, and then destroy or deface them. They generally share their lord’s love for evil and deadly pranks directed against all creatures, including gnomes.
Clerics of Urdlen pray for their spells at midnight, when the world is buried in darkness. In a regular ritual known as the Feeding, Urdlen’s clerics appease their deity by pouring the blood of creatures they kill into the ground and burying it. Jewels and valuable metal goods are also sacrificed to Urdlen by ruining them (breaking, tarnishing, melting) and then burying them. On Midwinter Night, followers of the Crawler Below gather in subterranean caverns to offer blood sacrifices to the deity in an effort to appease its wrath. If Urdlen is displeased by the volume of blood or the value of the despoiled goods offered on the Night of Blood, it may appear and slay all the assembled worshipers in an orgy of unbridled destruction. Many clerics multiclass as assassins, blackguards, divine seekers, or rogues.
History and Relations with other deities[]
Urdlen’s place in the gnome pantheon is unquestioned, though the deity is greatly feared and reviled by nearly all the Forgotten Folk. Urdlen hates all the other gods of the gnomes with a passion, and it has garnered the enmity of the dwarven and Halfling deities as well. Other enemies include the kobold gods and Grumbar.
Dogma[]
Succumb to the bloodlust. Hate, covet, crush, despoil, and kill. Revel and exult in orgies of death and destruction. That which is living or created by life must be murdered or destroyed. The strong survive and the weak are their cattle. Propitiate the Crawler Below so it does not come for you.
See Also[]
References[]