Gulzek
From Zok
Gulzek is the third of the war gods. He is brother to Dezzik, Mozik, and Hirzek, and consort to Lady Anata. Gulzek was the inventor of the art of healing, which he created to aid his children (the elves) in their defensive battles against the goblins and orcs. Gulzek came to Mozik’s aid when the latter was assailed by Hirzek’s forces (the source of the age-old bond between the elves and the gnomes), and he engaged in single combat with Dezzik in an attempt to defend Tyani. Both efforts against his evil brothers failed, and Gulzek has given his oath that he will die before he allows another affront to his loved ones. Violently opposed to both Dezzik and Hirzek, Gulzek is the patron god of both elves and the nation of Pallon.
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Statistics:
The Crippled Soldier, The Protector
- Greater Deity
- Symbol:
- Raised disk within a disk with lines representing walls
- Any crutch
- Home Plane: Thigul, The Plains of Glass
- Alignment: Lawful Good
- Portfolio: War, Chivalry, Duelists, Valor, Healing
- The Crippled Soldier:Courage, Soldiers, Good, Medicine, Mercy, Rebirth, Suffering, Trust
- The Protector:Civilization, Family, Law, Loyalty, Nobility, Protection, Strength, Watchfulness
- Worshippers: Elves, Paladins, aristocrats, healers, defending soldiers, cripples
- Cleric Alignments: LN, LG, NG, CG
- Domains: War, Protection
- The Crippled Soldier: Good, Healing, Strength
- The Protector: Community, Law, Nobility
- Favored Weapon:
- The Crippled Soldier: Longsword (Druk-Hathi, forged by Gern to replace Gulzek’s arm)
- the Protector: Tower Shield (The Wall of Souls)
Dogma
Gulzek teaches his worshippers loyalty and service to their families and their communities. He claims that it is the duty of any being to lay down its life to protect its family or friends, or those who are incapable of protecting themselves. Gulzek’s clerics often organize the foundations of militias or firefighting units within their communities, and they give out free healing to any who need it (though spells with an XP cost require compensation for the cleric doing the casting). Gulzek teaches chivalry and honor, and advocates well-run duels as a means of resolving conflicts among equals. He abhors cheating or murder, and demands that his followers never raise a weapon except in defense. He does understand, however, that sometimes it is best to fight a defensive battle far from home rather than from one’s own city walls, and he does not ask his followers to wait until an enemy has already struck before acting defensively. Gulzek teaches diligence, loyalty, and perseverance through cooperation.
In addition to his worshippers, Gulzek claims the souls of any who die trying to protect someone or something to which they felt loyalty, and he can choose to claim the souls of any who die while in Thigul.
Clergy and Temples
The Crippled Soldier:
Gulzek is a god of healing as well as a god of defensive warfare. Temples to the Crippled Soldier often serve as hospitals or infirmaries as well as training grounds for militias, and they are built as such. Often shrines or temples to this aspect of Gulzek are placed within a temple to Gulzek as the Protector or to some allied good deity for protection of the injured. Any who visit a temple to the Crippled Soldier can expect to receive free healing unless they are obviously servants of an evil power, and food and board as well, at least for a while. Temples of the Crippled soldier will provide their services as regenerators of limbs to all who can afford it, and they are willing to provide work for those who can’t, that they might save up money.
The Protector:
Temples to the Protector are found throughout civilized society, but especially in the elven nations. They are high gabled buildings, usually in the center of the town or city, and they have thick walls with narrow entrances and many slits for archers. Clerics of the Protector teach self defense to anyone who will listen, and have at least twenty contingency plans in case their stronghold is attacked. Whenever possible, temples to the Protector have large stockpiles of food and deep wells in case of siege, and underground tunnels to send noncombatants to safety. Temples to the Protector often contain smaller shrines to allied deities or to the Crippled Soldier if they’re large enough, especially to Tyani or Gulzek.
Allies:
- Gern: God of the Dwarves
- Mozik: The Dead God of the Gnomes
- Tyani: The Goddess of the Fauns
- Lady Anata: The Goddess of Love (Consort)
