Mozik
From Zok
Mozik is the only god every to have been murdered. He the second-eldest of the war gods, brother to Dezzik and Gulzek and Hirzek. Mozik and Hirzek had a great deal of emnity for each other, and after centuries of constant war Mozik's youngest sibling became enraged enough to make a dark pact with Krai, and sacrifice his own life force and the life force of each of his followers in exchange for the power to destroy his brother. Mozik, standing on the Plains of Glass, was obliterated by the force of Hirzek's curse, and his blood rained down upon the Lands of the Dead below, blessing the ground as it fell {the origin of Godsblood Forest). Mozik's soul (for even Hirzek was not mighty enough to rend asunder the soul of a god]] plummeted down to land upon the same soil as his blood. It is forbidden for a soul to leave the Lands of the Dead once it enters, unless it is saved by a greater soul, and so Mozik's spirit was relegated to the same grey eternity as every other. He has erected a mighty city in the Lands of the Dead, and Mozik now reigns over all unclaimed souls. He has taken his death in stride, and now focuses his former abilities as a god of war against the minions of Krai who slither forth from the Damned Sea.
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Statistics:
The Dead God
- Intermediate Deity
- Symbol:
- Home Plane: The Eternal City, Land of the Dead
- Alignment: Chaotic Good
- Portfolio: Art, The Dead
- Worshippers: The Dead, Gnomes
- Cleric Alignments: Any Good
- Domains: Repose, Charm, War, Good, Chaos, Trickery
- Favored Weapon: Pick (Backscratcher)
Dogma:
Mozik's teachings haven't changed significantly since his death, though his Aspects were destroyed with his body, and though he has few living clerics. Mozik exhorts his followers to achieve happiness not through peace but through friendly conflict. He is the inventor of the practical joke (the first one was played on Zokthis, who greatly enjoyed it), and he claims that laughing at your opponent is often just as deadly a blow to his cause as striking his head from his shoulders. Where Gulzek and Dezzik focus on warfare's more physical aspects, Mozik joins with Hirzek in teaching victory through less conventional means. The best way to defeat an enemy general, Mozik claims, is to convince his soldiers to join your side; the best way to get people to join your cause is to convince them that the symbols of other causes are laughable and too silly to be given serious thought.
Mozik is the lord of the Land of the Dead, though his control over his domain is in reality limited to a few days' journey from the Eternal City. As such, he claims the souls of any who reach the Land of the Dead unclaimed, though he rarely exerts control over his subjects or forces them to do anything against their will. He is, after all, dead himself, and he's quite sympathetic to their plight.
Temples and Clergy:
Mozik's temples in the mortal world vary a great deal. In the largest Gnomish cities in Urthos, there are still great cathedrals venerating The Prankster and the Jade Prince, both Aspects long since dead.
The Prankster:
Temples to the Prankster are no longer built, though any cunning but nonlethal trap was once a shrine to his ideals. There are still several well-tended temples to this Aspect of Mozik in major Gnomish cities, especially in Urthos. They are usually squat, humble sorts of buildings, with a simple arch leading into a hall with the altar at the front. This hall often has buckets of water or slop positioned above the arch, and tripwires in the aisles, and the larger ones sometimes have enchanted traps as well. The temple is often filled with trophies and treasure tricked out of the hands of any the clergy could effectively con. Less-tended temples often become dangerous, especially in uncivilized areas where monsters move in. More intelligent creatures often alter the harmless traps to work in more lethal ways, and steal or lay claim to whatever treasures the temple possessed.
The Jade Prince:
Temples to the Jade Prince are, first and foremost, centers of military strategy for Urthos. They are still used as such, even though the power of the god they serve has fled. Carved of stone, in most cases, and designed to give a tactical advantage to defenders, temples to the Jade Prince are armed to the teeth and garrisoned with gnomish soldiers. Clerics of this aspect of Mozik, in the old days, taught careful tactical consideration and mind-games to play with the enemy before combat was ever joined, and their military traditions are still handed down from gnomish officer to gnomish officer.
The Dead God:
Temples to the Dead God are the only gnomish temples which still recieve worshippers (though older temples to Mozik occasionally house a fanatical pilgrim or three). They are dim and somber places, usually built into the side of a hill or mountain, with no windows. They serve as the site of funerals for whatever community they are in, especially gnomish communities. There is always a central chamber in which rites are performed, and rooms off to the side (or wings off to the side, depending on the size of the temple) which house the clergy and storerooms for their food. A staircase from the central chamber leads to the top of the hill or mountain, and funerary processions wind up it into the open air for a symbolic celebration of the life of the deceased and of his or her ascension into the ranks of the Ancestors before finally burning the body.
