Kurtulmak

Gnomesmasher, The Watcher

• Intermediate Deity
• Symbol: Gnome skull
• Home Plane: The Nine Hells
• Alignment: Lawful evil
• Portfolio: Kobolds, trapmaking, mining, war
• Worshipers: Kobolds
• Domains: Trickery

Kurtulmak (kurt-uhl-mak), the deity of kobolds, appears as a particularly large kobold. He is about 5 feet tall, with scaly skin mottled black and green. His ratlike tail is long and tipped with a wicked stinger.

Kurtulmak taught the kobolds the arts of mining, ambushing, and trapmaking. Garl Glittergold, deity of the gnomes, once collapsed Kurtulmak’s cavernous home as a joke. The event wounded Kurtulmak’s pride on two fronts, as he considered himself both an expert trickster and a miner without equal. Since then Kurtulmak has hated Garl and all gnomes. Kurtulmak hates being bettered by any means, especially by some frivolous method such as an illusion or a practical joke. He carries grudges and has a huge chip on his small shoulder.

Dogma

Kurtulmak is a savage deity who is always attentive to events on the Material Plane and eager to secure any advantage for his people. He teaches the kobolds that fair fights are for fools or for the unlucky. It is better to flee and fight again than to be defeated, and no fight is truly over if even one kobold lives. Revenge is sweet, says Kurtulmak, even if it takes years to arrange. Kurtulmak also teaches his people that a quick wit, a good plan, and a well-laid ambush are far better than a strong sword arm.

Clergy and Temples

Kurtulmak’s clerics lead war and raiding parties, see to tribal defense (especially the construction of traps), and oversee each tribe’s mining operations. Others lead expeditions to explore new areas and probe dwarf and gnome settlements for weaknesses the kobolds can exploit. No kobold community is complete without a temple or shrine to Kurtulmak. They are usually dug out of solid rock and accessed through narrow, twisting passages guarded by traps. Inside, a temple to Kurtulmak is cramped and usually decorated with piles of gnome skulls.

Avatars

Kurtulmak’s avatars look just like he does. He sends them to assist kobolds in important raids or battles, and to counter interference in kobold affairs from other deities, especially Garl Glittergold.