Luthic
| Luthic | ||
|---|---|---|
| Orcish Rune for "Home" or "Cave" | ||
| Alignment | Evil (varies between Lawful, Neutral and Chaotic depending on edition) | |
| Divine Rank | Lesser God | |
| Pantheon | Orc | |
| Portfolio | Fertility, medicine, servitude, caves, healing, home, orc females, wisdom | |
| Domains | 3E: Cavern, Evil, Family, Healing, Orc 4E: Earth, Protection, Moon 5E: Life, Nature |
|
| Home Plane | Great Wheel: Nishrek (Acheron) World Axis: Chernoggar |
|
| Worshippers | Female Orcs, Orc Midwives, Orc Healers, Orc Witches, Orc Monks, Orc Runecasters, Half-Orcs | |
| Favoured Weapon | Claws or a Clawed Bracer | |
Luthic is the sole female member of the Orcish pantheon in Dungeons & Dragons. Wife of Gruumsh and mother Bahgtru, she embodies the various aspects of female orc culture, such as it is in their oppressively patriarchal society, and serves as the mother-goddess figure of their brutal religion. Known as the Cave Mother and the Blood Moon Witch, she is the protector of orcish women and children, guardian of their fertility, queen of caves and mistress of magic. She is depicted as a fertile orc matron with huge, razor sharp claws made from her overly long, sharpened, magically unbreakable fingernails.
She first appeared in the article "The Gods of the Orcs" in Dragon Magazine #62 for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition. From there, she made it into the first Unearthed Arcana source book. In 2nd edition, she was detailed first in Monster Mythology, then in On Hallowed Ground. In 3e, she appeared in Faiths & Pantheons, whilst in 4e she made her return in Secrets of the Plane Above, and finally she returned in the Player's Handbook and Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide for 5th edition. Her religion was greatly fleshed out in Volo's Guide to Monsters for 5e as well.
Ironically, despite being the orcish goddess of sex and beauty, and thus the embodiment of everything that an orc female should be to be attractive, even with the growing popularity of orc monstergirls, no fan has ever given her a similar make-over.