Zursvaater

Zursvaater

(Deity)

Titles

Prince of Steel

Realm

Hyrrfellhame, Malebolge, Hell

Alignment

Lawful evil

Areas of Concern

Conquest
Metal crafting
Tactics

Worshipers

Fire giants; slag giants

Edicts

Conquer the weak, devise plans ahead of anticipated battles, only bring well-maintained weapons to fights

Anathema

Engage in violent infighting, claim anyone but Zursvaater gives you your strength, disrespect a skilled smith

Follower Alignments (1E)

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Domains (1E)

Evil, Fire, Law, Trickery, War

Subdomains (1E)

Ash, Blood, Slavery, Tyranny

Sanctification (2E)

Can choose unholy

Domains (2E)

Fire, trickery, tyranny, zeal
Alternate: None

Favored Weapon

Greatsword

Symbol

Helm with huge fangs

Sacred Animal

Saber-toothed tiger

Sacred Colors

Black, orange

Source: Anvil of Fire, pg(s). 62ff. (1E)
Divine Mysteries, pg(s). 205 (2E)

Alignment details are sourced from Anvil of Fire 62ff.. In Anvil of Fire, Zursvaater's portfolio contained slavery and weapons instead of metal crafting and tactics. The religious symbol, sacred animal, and sacred color for this deity are listed exclusively in the Divine Mysteries Web Supplement.

Ⅰ

Zursvaater is proclaimed the father and patron of the fire giants, having created them millennia ago by granting them the secrets of fire and metal in exchange for their devotion. Fire giants call him the Prince of Steel. He is a secretive deity who instructed his followers to abandon inter-tribal warfare and instead attack other races.

History

According to fire giant folklore, over 10,000 years ago, Zursvaater came into being when, as the greatest volcano on Golarion—then called the Molten Summit,—he sensed the presence of a stone giant clan climbing him and formed a humanoid shape from the mountain range of volcanic rocks and ash to speak to them. He offered them the secrets of metal and volcanic fire in exchange for their worship and souls, and they accepted, being then consumed by Zursvaater and spat out as the first fire giants.

Appearance

Zursvaater is depicted as a mighty, armored fire giant with a closed-face helmet, wielding a heavy chain in one hand and his red-hot adamantine greatsword, Blood of the Mountains, in the other.

Home

Zursvaater originally lived in Jotungard, the shared divine realm of all giant demigods, on Elysium. After being exiled, he arrived in Hell and became fond of volcanic Malebolge. After an age of conflict with Malebolge's ruling archdevil Moloch, Zursvaater was awarded Hyrrfellhame by Asmodeus; it is an immense cavern with three active volcanoes on the edge of Malebolge, given as both a punishment for Moloch and a way to gain Zursvaater's grudging thanks.

Church of Zursvaater

Zursvaater vehemently dislikes bloody infighting between fire giant clans, instead insisting they focus on raiding others for additional war effort supplies. He urges worshipers to conquer those weaker then them, to always enter any upcoming battle with a plan, and to maintain battle-ready weapons. His followers should not disrespect any skilled smith, nor say their power comes from anyone else but Zursvaater.

His clerics often tattoo themselves with his religious symbol—a helm with huge fangs—etched in gold or copper.

Relationships

Zursvaater concerns himself more with mortal events then interactions with other deities and divine creatures.

Zursvaater despises the patron of frost giants, Thremyr, due to the opposition of their elements as well as Thremyr's raging fits and bloody style of warfare, which he considers disgusting and lacking in tactics. He similarly found Gorum's warlike disposition pointless. He considers Minderhal a pale imitation of himself, much as Minderhal's stone giants are merely components of his own fire giants. Zursvaater considers Torag's dwarven followers persistent pests, but grudgingly respects him as, and only as, a talented smith and encourages his followers to enslave dwarves.

References

Paizo published a major article about Zursvaater in Anvil of Fire.

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.