Lore Question w / regards to Character Creation

[Hikuen]

A while ago I came up with a character concept and finally have a chance to play it, so I would love some assistance in fleshing it out so that it fits within the canon lore of Golarion. I'm very familiar with the Pathfinder system, but most of my gaming experience with it hasnt been within the canon world so Im pretty shaky on alot of the lore.

The character concept is as follows: A dwarf from a clan that has odd burial practices. Instead of burying their dead, they cremate them in their great forges, and then use the power from those forges to create weapons and armor that are in turn imbued with the spirits/souls of their ancestors. They then use those weapons/armor to fight undead threats, ensuring both the removal of a vile threat, and the furthering of both their own glory and the glory of their ancestors.

So far I know I want the character to be a dwarf, a weapon/armor crafter, and have the ability to imbue/activate powers within their own gear with the flavor text of calling upon the ancestors within their equipment.

Best I have been able to figure out would be a Pahmet Dwarf, Warpriest of Magrim (possibly Forgepriest archetype). My thinking is that Pahmet Dwarves seem the most likely to be ok with this sort of "rebirth" for the purposes of fighting undead (maybe the clan could even be tomb guardians, forging their own afterlives for the purpose of guarding the greater dwarven families?), and Magrim has bits of lore about using his forge to rebuild souls into a new form for a different purpose, as well as the Repose domain. Warpriest fits with a sort of self buffing weapons/armor, although Magus works too (warpriest just works WAY better with themes and stats).

Would there be anything in the lore that would prevent me from playing a character like this? It seems a little hypocritical to (in a way) reanimate your own dead for the purposes of battling undead, so I wasn't sure where the gray area in Dwarven religions (or any other religions) might allow for something like this to exist.

If there is some other deity that would work better, a better class/archetype option, or any other suggestions, lemme know.

My largest concern is ensuring that Im not choosing a patron deity and then making a character whose story/abilities are antithetical to their domains/beliefs.

[zza ni]

up untill the part of fighting undead\vile things. using the forge to collect the souls of the dead and make them keep on fighting should be right up the ally of Droskar the dwarven god of Toil (he has specific monsters that are latterly forge-chained undead). he also has the Daemon subdomain .daemons are masters of using souls in soul gems for crafting and other such uses. see 'cacodaemon' and 'the soul trade'.

so a splinter sect that use the teaching but not the goal maybe? as a N.Evil god, true neutral clerics can still follow him (going for the less evil part of his worship)

as a side note his followers gain access to one of the most broken traits, the toilcrafter - let one use ranks in craft\profession instead of caster level to applpy for craft magic armor\weapon feat. and even without the feat can craft +1 armors,weapons and shields.

[Mark Hoover 330]

If you're looking to go strictly into the Golarion-centered lore you're looking for an entirely evil or at least non-good clan of dwarves. In the setting canon souls are an extremely powerful and thus lucrative commodity in the afterlife. They supposedly generate at one end of the River of Souls, flow down to the Prime where they become the mortal they are destined to be, and then in death return to the River to eventually make it to the Boneyard, the realm of Pharasma, whereupon they are judged and sent on to their final rest.

Trapping souls in items circumvents the natural order of the universe. Doing this once in a while MIGHT go unnoticed but long-term practice in this process could bring retribution from Inevitables, Psychopomps, or other outsiders concerned with the natural order. Outside the Droskar worshippers suggested by Z-dawg upthread, I can't think of any dwarves that might be down for this.

Another way to style it though might be Ancestor Worship instead. Basically the bodies of the fallen are still cremated but the cremains are then added to the iron and carbon during the forging process. This binds the item to a particular ancestor which in turn allows you to call upon an aspect of their spirit in battle. You're not necessarily trapping their soul in the item; rather the item is like a conduit to them in the afterlife.

For example you might begin the day by taking out your +1 dwarven longhammer and saying a prayer to your granther who was legendary for his prowess in battle. This prayer in turn justifies the item being +1 for the day. You could even work with your GM for perhaps 1/week or 1/day special powers, like a spontaneous Rage spell or the Bane quality against a type of monster hated by your ancestor. I don't know.

[Java Man]

How about an ancestor spirit shaman who does item crafting?

[Lelomenia]

Mechanically, i think a Reliquarian Occultist would be a neat way to go here; would give a real connection between your ‘power’/class features and the soul-crafted equipment (trappings of the warrior for full BAB; Legacy Weapon is great and very on-theme here). I think Phlegyas is the only deity with Artifice and Repose domains (Reliquarian gets one domain). For the lore side of things, sounds like what you are thinking isnt an easy fit, but (1) i think you could probably adjust your description so that maybe while the furnace/forge is powered by the cremation, the souls arent actually imbued into the items and/or (2) ask gm to allow some flex on the lore where a character idea requires it and it is t specifically contradictory to the AP/module in question.