Hey guys long time no see. I've finally been talked into getting back in the game after a year and a half hiatus. I've created a deity for my CN barbarian/druid (shapeshift variant) that I'll be playing, but I'm looking for some opinions, ideas, and a name for my four legged savior of choice. I've basically mixed Norse mythology of Fenrir with a ice and winter wolf motif that's less about eating the sun, killing Odin, and ending the world and more about hunting and eating everything else. Side note: sorry about all the alias names being used. I hope it doesn't cause confusion just can't think of a name and got tired of typing The Winter Wolf over and over.
Name: Ideas or suggestions? Just no Fenris or Fenrir. Doesn't have to be Nordic at all just something cool.
Alias: The Winter Wolf, The Artic Wolf, Killing Perfection, Icing Death.
Alignment: Chaotic Evil. -I thought about Neutral Evil since with the wolf theme there seems to be a type of pack structure to his followers. Thoughts?-
Domains: Animal, Destruction, Winter or Water, Strength or Spite. -Water seems like the core version of winter, but there is a winter domain. Spite seems like a more evil, chaotic, and less war based version of the strength domain. Any thoughts?-
Symbol: Two large curving fangs of blue ice over lapping to form a crescent moon.
Weapon: Winter's Bite: +5 Keen Frost Brand/Bite. -Thought about adding vicious?-
Worshipers: Barbarians, Druids, Lycanthropes, Hunters, Artic Dwellers, Winter Wolves, Wolves, Intelligent Beast.
Ideology: The Winter Wolf is as cruel and unforgiving as his artic home, knowing that there is no place for comfort or rest The Winter Wolf strives to expand his followers and kingdom to encompasses all living creatures. He believes that the universe, the world, and life itself is a hunt were everything is prey. The strong and smart survive all others with be destroyed or used.
Goals: Icing Death's main goal is to ensure he then his followers are the top predator, and to ensure he can continue hunting and killing with abandonment. In order to archive this he promotes the expansion of his artic domain.
Temples: The Artic Wolf's temples are usually just hunting and war lodges. However these lodges aren't only occupied by his human followers, but are also littered with winter wolves, wolves, and other canine devotees. All temples have an alter with some symbol of Icing Death. These symbols are usually the fur of a winter wolf, a giant skull of a dire wolf, or a masterfully crafted great sword.
Enemies: The Winter Wolf views dragons as one of the few creature that could topple him from the top of the food chain because of this respect he promotes the slaughter of all dragons. This ideology has provoked both the ire of Bahamut and Tiamat. -I wanted him to fear something. I wanted that something to be bestial in form. However even in D&D not much is going to scare a giant god ice wolf, but there's a reason this game is Dungeons and DRAGONS.-
Apperances: Icying Death usually appears in one of two forms. His first avatar is that of a giantic winter wolf of truely astonding size, with eyes of ice, and bellowing blue liquid gas coming from his mouth with every movement and word. Icing Deaths second form is that of a tall regal looking barbarian with eyes of ice, long white hair, dress in white furs and a dragon hide breastplate. He is also weilding Winter's Bite a frost brand made of blue ice (Frostburn: ice that's as hard as iron that takes forge level heat to melt.) -I felt he needed a humaniod form to relate to human followers.-
Thanks
Fizz
From Norse Mythology: Skoll.
I like the idea that the god consumes life and heat.
The alignment should definitely be CE. The winter wolves are not standard wolfs. The biggest, meanest and most cunning lead the rest follow. Weakness leads to regime change. Also priests of the god could still be NE.
When you mentioned the symbol of the god, I instantly thought deer horn knives would be a great weapon of choice. (Picture of a Deer Horn Knife)
I also thought temples for the god can be more open in nature. maybe a clearing with a tree or rock bearing white death's symbol and half consumed corpse of strong enemies draped on/around it. Also give a temple guardian 'wolf' who manages the area, feeds of offerings and punishes any who defile the alter.
As well some Alternate titles: Slaughterfang, the White Hunger and the Immortal Stalker
Generally when naming homebrew deities, I go to a site like Behind the Name and search for names that have similar meanings or connotations, then I pick two and cludge them together, sometimes dropping or replacing letters to make it flow better using what little I know of language drift from taking on Linguistics class in college.
For example, the goddess of the elves in my current homebrew is named Lintaniss, which is a combination of "Lind", and archaic english word for "serpent", and "Tannith" the Phoenician goddess whose name roughly means "Serpent Lady" (and who is likewise a goddess of love and fertility).
That said, I like the sound of the old Nordic word "Varg" or the Serbian "Vuk" for an evil wolf deity. Combine that with the above suggestion of Stoll, and you get Stoll-Varg, or Stolvarg or Stalvarg, or Stoll-Vuk,or Stolvuk, or Stalvuk. I think I like "Stalvarg" the best of those options.
Hope this was helpful.
-C.Robert Brown
Vorir
Uhlgraf
Vargguk
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Good place to find Norse name elements
There's also Garm, from Norse myth, yet another big nasty wolf.
As a tweak, perhaps the wolf-barbarian takes on a female aspect, as with many moon-goddesses? She can still be a bloodthirsty patron (ahem) to male barbarians, but she's slender and sleek, moving swiftly and tirelessly through the snow, unlike the more masculine bear-god. Like the biting cold of winter itself, the wolf doesn't rely on brute strength, but on relentless perseverence, outlasting and wearing down the prey, until they succumb to their own weakness. Instead of hibernating away the winter, she remains active, and continues to drag down prey larger than herself, through endurance, teamwork and ruthless patience.
Her wolf form could have white fur and black claws, but in human form, she's got skin as white as snow, and night-black hair instead, with the same yellow eyes in either form (alternately, pale blue eyes, like many huskies, would work, too).
A culture who doesn't understand the local customs of the characters tribe might think there is something a little iffy about a strapping male barbarian worshipping a female warrior goddess, but the barbarian himself would, in the tradition of his people, consider himself 'wed' to the goddess, and while he would take other lovers, the most devout (especially male Clerics and Druids of the goddess, but any worshipper could make this choice) choose to never take a permanant wife.
This sort of tradition would be a tweak on the concept of a clergyman being 'married to the Church' and forbidden to wed, although, being from an earthier tradition, there would be no taboo against sex, just marriage. The goddess would be seen as jealous (possibly violently so!), and consider all of her clergy to be her 'pack,' and hers alone. As a result, her clergy would become a sanctuary for individuals who weren't all het up to get married anytime soon anyway, such as the usual moody loner Barbarian, Druid and Ranger types!
Did you consider Surma, of the finnish mythos ?
The word Varulf means werewolf in some Scandinavian languages. It would also be a good name, although I like Skoll as well. Another suggestion is Glittertind (which is actually the name of a mountain in the Hardangervidda. I think it means glistening tooth).
Have you considered making the priests winter werewolves? I once made a Skadi cult with winter werewolves and it worked perfectly. Or you could make a prestige class of winter werewolves linked to the cult and give them berserker powers (as in Deities and Demigods).
Garm is the guardian of Niflheim, where the goddess Hel rules. So he is a very specific wolf. You could compare him with Cerberus in the Greek mythos.
I like your idea a lot. I am a great fan of the Viking mythos.
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In old slav mythology, werewolves were mages that could transform into wolves. When they die, they become vampires. In ancient times the wolf was Serbian totem animal, and our national saint is called the Shepherd of the Wolves, sort of Gandalflike figure, and representation of old Slav supreme god. Lord of the wolves in our ancient mythology was called Veles or Volos. He was a chtonic deity and ruler of the underworld. He could transform into the giant wolf with bad front left leg, and he rode in chariots pulled by wolves. But, he was just the other side of the sun god. By the day sun flew through the sky, by nigh it traveled under the earth to reach the east again. But, in slav and serbian mythology wolf was not an evil animal, more neutral, and god of the underworld was a deity of fertility, not evil. I hope this helps a little.