Gods (Pronounced guy-ah-cum)
Associated Tree
Lignum Vitae
Main Attributes and Character
Strong and indomitable. Takes the direct approach
Attitude to Mortals
Desires worshippers who are mighty - or who have an unbreakable determination to become so.
Depiction and Symbols
A warhammer with a hardwood shaft. A warrior, particularly often dwarven.
Known Avatars
A warrior figure from any species or culture. May be heavily armoured or showing a muscled torso, barbarian style. Usually carrying a weapon hafted with lignum vitae wood. In mixed species societies will often choose a dwarven form.
Worship and Worshippers
Temples are often centres of martial training, but may also revolve around the maintenance of secret knowledge of woodworking and building among worshippers as guild members.
Festivals will often include competitive tournaments with arms. However, all who value strength and endurance are welcome to feasting on roasted meat and mugs of foaming beer.
Soldiers, mercenaries and warlords are unsurprisingly the key devotees of Guaiacum. Builders of war machines are also obvious worshippers, but builders of boardways and other civic-scale architecture are also often worshippers, respecting Guaiacum’s strength and asking for it in what they create.
Some dwarves also worship Guaiacum purely because they seem to prefer a dwarven avatar.
Relationship with Other Gods
While Guaiacum’s principle of “might is right” may not be held by other gods, few of them would want to argue the point to their face.
Additional Notes
Lignum Vitae is a wood with remarkable properties, most notably its extreme hardness. The fact that it comes from a relatively small tree seems to be known to all dwarves, and is a fact they are often ready to produce in an argument with anyone larger than them.
Guaiacum is sometimes known as "Old Hardlife", especially among soldiers.