Garagos

Garagos (), known as Targus in the times of ancient Netheril, was a Faerûnian demigod of war and exarch of Tempus, focused more on barbaric war: the aspect of destruction and plundering than the strategy or logistics. Targus was the former Netherese god of war and victory over beasts, especially dragons. Seemingly existing only to destroy, The Reaver was a whirlwind of slaughter linked to the savage bloodlust that led to horrific carnage.
==Description==
Garagos preferred to appear as a scarred, rugged, tall humanoid; he could grow arms out of his massive shoulders at will, never having fewer than five but unable to keep more than ten. He wielded a different weapon in each of his hands, from which streamed out a cloud of bloody mist. This mist surrounded him, and within it could be heard a faint, continuous wailing, said by his priests to be "the lament of the lost as their essences flow out of them into the blood sea of battle." Garagos was usually half-naked and shunned the use of armor, though portrayed in religious art wearing a scarlet cloak said to be made from the blood of his enemies.
==Personality==
Garagos was a bloodthirsty and single-minded god with a love for violence and admiration for those that gave into merciless battle frenzy, destroying everything standing in their way. He himself was a practically elemental force of destruction, his mindless rage uncontrolled by nature, and in contrast to his short temper, he would take a long time to cool down from an emotional boil. While he shunned the use of armor, he did not prohibit his believers from wearing them. In older times, Garagos was more composed and less likely to burst into violence, but his loss at the hands of Tempus saw his fuse shorten and his new self was utterly devoid of the craftiness he once had.
Just as Garagos had lost his wiliness, so too had he lost any sense of lenience of restraint when he was caught up in the heat of battle. While still chaotic neutral, the debased and insane deity teetered on the brink of evil. Some claimed that his heart had hardened because he had lost all hope for attaining his secret love, but this idea was dismissed by others who themselves speculated that this was just the logical conclusion of the course he was on, and that he was finally going over the edge to outright evil he had long been standing on the brink of.
==Activities==
When Garagos manifested his avatar, legends said he wandered Godswalk Keep in the Barony of Great Oak in the Border Kingdoms, killing every creature he could find. There, he railed against the manifestations of Jergal and Sharess, whom he could not harm. His vehement frustration during these times, known to sages as the Meeting of the Three, spawned a different name for the event: the Howling.
==Relationships==
Garagos was the only enemy of Tempus whom the latter actually acknowledged. When he was merely a young demigod, Tempus managed to defeat Garagos, purportedly winning a century long battle by using the Reaver's own berserker fury against him and taking the position of the god of war as the spoils from their duel. Garagos still harbored deep resentment towards Tempus over this, but unless his destructive abilities could someday surpass his tactical weakness, he would suffer if they met on the battlefield.
For some reason Garagos was still tolerated by Tempus and allowed to dwell in Warrior's Rest despite being hostile to everyone else there. Some sages speculated that Tempus kept Garagos around to act as bait, preferring to let the Bloodreaver lure out potential challengers. Others, meanwhile, suggested that there was one aspect of war that even Tempus found personally distasteful, the rabid rage of a mindless, murderous frenzy, and that he deliberately left it behind with Garagos when he became Faerun's main god of war.
The Red Knight disliked Garagos based on what Tempus had told her of him, but the two never personally came to blows. Garagos had resentment against her, the catspaw of Tempus. Some said that Tempus had uplifted the pragmatic and strategic goddess so that she could to act as his natural counterbalance.
During the age of Netheril, The Reaver as Targus the god of war had allied with Shar and was an enemy to Moander. For an unknown reason, he had his worshipers to not act against the churches of Shar, but also not be their ally.
==Symbol==
The symbol of The Reaver, a counterclockwise circle of five arms clutching swords or a pinwheel of five blacken snaky arms spinning counterclockwise with each arm ending in an identical sword, was known as the Tentacus amongst his followers. It was also realized as a piercing, sharp thrown weapon. Garagathans may have belt buckles or cloak pins fashioned in the shape of the tentacus or even bear daggerlike belt weapons sporting a basket hilt in the shape of a whirlwind of five blades. Most clergy of Garagos carried a tentacus as a symbol of their faith and were skilled in its use as a weapon.
==Worshipers==
Known as Garagathans, worshipers of The Reaver were reckless fighters, savage warriors or bloody outlaws. From society, some were from military organizations. During his Targus era, The Reaver had responsible commanders and honorable combatants under his faith. Titles among the faithful included Bloodbrother, Bloodsister, Supplicat, Priest/Priestess of the Blood, Reaver Lord/Lady, and Favored. The priests were a short fuse, irritable and physically active.
=== Orders ===
* Bloodreavers: Specialty priests of Garagos. Both weapons masters and clerics in one Garagathan, they were immune to command and enchantments. They also could fight like a berserker and even fight against the faithful of Tempus.
* Brothers of Blood: Crusaders of Garagos. They were dedicated to crushing The Reaver's enemies and have a tendency to fight the faithful of Tempus, both leading to short and bloody lives.
* Brothers of Steel and Honor: Military units who served Garagos as a collective alliance, when The Reaver was Targus.
==History==
During the age of Myth Drannor, the war god was worshipped in Westgate and the Vilhon. During the age of Netheril, Garagos, known then as Targus, was the Netherese pantheon god of war and victory over beasts, especially dragons. His largest Netherese temple was the Temple of Targus in Akintaer, an Netherese enclave devoted to Targan worship. Some time around or shortly after the fall of Netheril, the interloper deity Tempus managed to slay Garagos. Survived by die-hard followers in several regions surrounding the Sea of Fallen Stars and a church in Westgate, Garagos mysteriously and unexpectedly reappeared in Westgate's harbor during the Time of Troubles. Much quicker to anger and slower to show mercy than he was before his death, Garagos found most of his followers in brigands, bandits, and priests of the Deities of Fury who paid him lip service in battle.
In the , Garagos appeared personally to slay a marilith named Glackzana who was building a temple to herself in his guise in Gosra, located in the Fields of Nun of central Chondath. He ordered this temple to be reconstructed in a more grand manner and rededicated to his worship. The Spellplague forced him to become an Exarch of Tempus to survive. He also changed alignment from Chaotic Neutral to Chaotic Evil.
== Rumors and Legends ==
In legend, Garagos was the primary god of war across western Faerûn during the age of Netheril.
==Appendix==
===Gallery===
File:Powerscover.jpg|Powers & Pantheons Garagos cover.
Powers and pantheons - Page 19.png|Garagos, Jergal, and Red Knight.
Powers & Pantheons priests 1.jpg|A priest of Garagos, among others.
===Further Reading===
*
*
*
* 
===References===
===Connections===
Category:Exarchs
Category:Demipowers
Category:Greater deities
Category:Chaotic neutral deities
Category:Chaotic evil deities
Category:Chaos domain deities
Category:Destruction domain deities
Category:Seven Lost Gods of Westgate
Category:Strength domain deities
Category:War domain deities
Category:Human deities
Category:Netherese pantheon
Category:Faerûnian pantheon
Category:Gluttony domain deities
Category:Wrath domain deities
Category:Inhabitants of Warrior's Rest
Category:Inhabitants of Cocytus
Category:Inhabitants of Pandemonium
Category:Inhabitants of Limbo
Category:Inhabitants of the Outer Planes
Category:Inhabitants of the Great Wheel planes
Category:Inhabitants of the Neutral Planes
Category:Inhabitants of the World Tree planes