Urdlen
| Urdlen | ||
|---|---|---|
|
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| Aliases | The Crawler Below | |
| Alignment | Chaotic Evil | |
| Divine Rank | Intermediate Deity | |
| Pantheon | Gnomish | |
| Portfolio | Greed, Bloodlust, Evil, Hatred,, Murder, Uncontrolled Impulse, Spriggans, Weremoles | |
| Domains | 3e: Chaos, Destruction, Earth, Evil, Greed, Madness, Pestilence, Envy, Gluttony, Gnome, Hatred 5e: Death, War |
|
| Home Plane | Great Wheel: The Worm Realm (399th layer of the Abyss) World Tree: Hammergrim |
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| Worshippers | Evil Gnomes, Spriggans, Weremoles, Assassins, Blackguards, Rogues | |
| Favoured Weapon | Great Claw (Claw Bracer) | |
God of Greed and Bloodlust, Urdlen is unique as the only evil god in the entire gnome pantheon, other than the Glutton, who it has been suggested may just be another avatar of his. He appears as an enormous albino (or hairless and pale-fleshed) eyeless mole with jagged steel claws. He despises the other gnomish deities, but Garl Glittergold keeps them from destroying him to use him as a reminder of the dangers of greed and bloodlust to them and their mortal followers.
Worshippers[edit | edit source]
Worshippers of Urdlen are rare, typically found in either secretive cults or lone crazies lurking on the margins of society. They spend their time trying to assassinate the clerics of the gnomish gods or stealing, defacing or destroying works of art and other objects of great value.
Relationships[edit | edit source]
In addition to his mutual enmity with the gnome gods, Urdlen is also hated by the gods of the halflings, dwarves and kobolds. In the Forgotten Realms, the elemental earth deity Grumbar loathes him as well.
Dogma[edit | edit source]
Kill all living things, and destroy all that has been created. Hate, covet, ruin and destroy; sucumb to your bloodlust, revel in orgies of destruction, exult in killing. Be strong and survive. Subjugate the weak. Appease Urdlen, lest he appear to punish you.
Publication History[edit | edit source]
Urdlen debuted in the article "The Gnomish Point of View" in Dragon Magazine #61 (May 1982) for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. That edition republished him in the splatbook Unearthed Arcana (1985); as the only Chaotic Evil deity there, he got an Abyssal layer of his very own in Manual of the Planes. Since he wasn't a demon nor anything that could be related to JudaeoChristian mythology, You Know Who allowed 2e to revive him in Monster Mythology (1992), On Hallowed Ground (1996) and Demihuman Deities (1998).
Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition brought him back with Faiths & Pantheons in 2002. He also appeared in the Player's Guide to Faerun (2004), in the Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss and in the Dragon Magazine article "Seven Deadly Domains" in issue #323.
In Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, he appears in the Player's Handbook and in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. Unofficially, he is statted out and given some more attention in Ulraunt's Guide to the Planes: Acheron, a 3rd party splatbook.