Torog

Titles: The King Who Crawls, the Dweller Below

Home: Gargash, the Living Den, within the Underdark

Alignment: Lawful evil

Portfolio: Imprisonment, torture, pain, the Underdark

Domains: Death

Symbol: A skull with a chain running through its eyes

Favored Weapon: Whips, spiked chains

Teachings

 * Bind tightly what is in your charge, and restrain those who wander free.
 * Delight in the giving of pain, and consider pain you receive as homage to Torog.
 * Seek out and revere the deep places beneath the earth.

Followers and Clergy
Torog and his followers are often considered a necessary evil. Executioners, jailers, inquisitors, and others related to the darker side of justice and judgement revere the King who Crawls. Surprisingly, many criminals also pay grudging tribute to Torog, hoping that his favor will help them avoid capture. Nevertheless, Torog’s worship is often kept secret and tucked away, much like the Dweller Below himself.

Among the duergar, Torog is praised openly and boldly. Along with Asmodeus, Torog helps maintain their brutally lawful society, and both gods were responsible for the duergar’s freedom from the mind flayers. Torog taught the duergar to harness their pain and oppression, using it to manifest psionic powers and magical abilities that could overthrow their illithid masters. Priests of Torog enforce all aspects of law enforcement in duergar society, and they are particularly fond of binding criminals into constructs that power off of their pain.

Many among the shadar-kai also revere Torog, as his teachings of self-inflicted pain help them ward off the gloom of the Shadowfell. The Raven Queen is unconcerned with this devotion, as she recognizes Torog’s aid in keeping demons and the forces of chaos at bay. Torog and his followers often engage in necromancy, but mostly as a punishment for those cursed to serve the Dweller Below beyond the grave.

Traditions and Practices
The Pain Cults of Torog are terrifying to behold. His worship often occurs in secret basements and cellars, and the torture devices are often disguised as farm implements or smithing tools. Public executions and tortures are dedicated to the King Who Crawls, and the priests of Torog often bless those who attend and observe the proceedings.

His clergy practice horrific self-mutilation and body modification, including ritual scarring, burning, and piercing. The more pain they can withstand, the more power the King Who Crawls will grant them. Among civilized folk, they are experts at disguising and hiding these scars, but among duergar or shadar-kai, their scars are signs of honor.

Clothing and Symbols
Low ranking Torogites generally wear simple robes of black emblazoned with Torog’s symbol, the skull and chain, in white. Higher priests will often integrate torture into their holy vestments, wearing robes lined with barbs or painfully jagged jewelry or ceremonial armor. Extreme piercing and body modification is encouraged.