Ontaar

Sovereign of Fire and Forge.

Ontaar is met at the anvil. His followers progress the long way — from apprentice, to journeyman, on to master, and through great effort the grandmaster. He serves those who want their craft to last: a blade that holds its edge long after its maker has passed, a hinge still swinging when the hall has fallen silent. The best of them can light a forge with no tinder, give light with no fuel, or wield a blade of pure flame.

Every follower has a maker’s mark — a personal stamp or signature flourish — and sets it on what she creates. The mark is a promise struck into her works: I made this, and I stand by my work. A thing made well is a prayer, and she honors Ontaar best by owning her works.

Traditions that teach him: the Archaist and the Dwarven Forgepriest alike.

His worship day is Mol, when the forges are banked and cold and even the busiest smith takes a day of rest. He shares Mol with Shaarat, whose acolytes stand ready to take up the blades that Ontaar’s acolytes forge.

Strictures

Archaist and Dwarven Forgepriest

• A follower of Ontaar must always display a holy symbol of Ontaar (crossed hammer and tongs), and it must be a talisman she forged, sculpted, or assembled with her own hands.
• A follower of Ontaar must set her hand to her craft each day, making or mending something with her own hands, and give the first working of the day to Ontaar — offered, not sold. The daily work takes one hour (6 turns) at the least.
• On Mol, Ontaar’s holy day, she instead rests from strenuous labor, letting the forge go cold. She must not work, fight, or delve for her own profit. Should emergency or authority compel her to labor or take up arms, she may accept no payment for it.
• A follower of Ontaar must set her mark on all her works, and stand behind them. She may not sell her craft as another’s, nor another’s as her own.
• A follower of Ontaar must never knowingly pass off poor craftsmanship. What she cannot make sound, she sells as scrap or not at all.

The mark

The daily offering should be proportional to one’s skill. An hour of work given freely to others, craft for its own sake, is prayer to Ontaar’s ears.

Spoil is not pay. Where a true emergency or lawful order forces combat on the holy day, the acolyte of Ontaar does what must be done and takes no pay, but in victory she need not deny herself an honest share of spoil taken from foes whose villainy stole her respite.