Narzhak

Narzhak is the god of War and lord of the Pit of Trials. Conjured from the inchoate void by the Architect to aid in shaping the cosmos, he is resolved to drive forth its growth with an iron hand. Although his methods are violent and his demeanour brutish, he remains loyal and steadfast in his duties, and the firmness of his word is not to be trifled with.

## Portfolios

### War

Wherever there arise clashing visions and ambitions, wherever there is disaccord, wrath and hunger, the ground is ripe for War. Although the word may evoke the thought of great armies marching to meet each other in the field, that is far from all there is to this ruinous domain. The spirit of strife and conflict can take root within any being, be they cognizant or bestial, mortal or divine, and many a minutious stratagem or prodigious invention can spring from the crude desire to harm and kill one’s foes. Yet, no matter what marvels of ingenuity may adorn it, nor how one may try and embellish it with high-sounding notions of honour and universal necessity, war is an ugly, destructive business from which not even the victor may come out unscathed. At its root, war is the collapse of reason and harmony before brutality and violence, the fall of civilisation and order to primal, entropic chaos.

Narzhak embodies this calamitous aspect of existence and glories in it. With but a thought, he can incite bloodlust in any creature, transforming the meekest of animals into savage monsters and the most serene of mortalkind into gnashing berserkers. In his hands, anything may be fashioned into a weapon; ploughshares become swords, sometimes literally; skin hardens into armoured carapace and nails lengthen into bladelike claws. Likewise, the Bloodied Fist is adept at other aspects of his craft - he is a formidable combatant even among divines, and always has an eye for the best ways to exploit his surroundings and an enemy's weaknesses in a struggle of any magnitude.

### Cannibalism

Like war, the act of consuming one's own kind is rooted in primal urges of violence and craving, and rewards the brutal and unscrupulous. It is a reflection of Narzhak's ideal of strength gained through adversity taken to its competitive conclusion, the world's inhabitants becoming each other's obstacles and victory transitioning into immediate benefit. And, like war, it is struggle manifested in a visceral form, comprehensible to the most primitive minds under the guise of survival, yet ready to mask itself with the elaborate trappings of ritual and tradition, the mechanisms of industry and efficiency, and the lofty concepts of sacrifice and the common good. Although not as ruinous as armed strife, cannibalism is the triumph of greed and appetite over kinship, and brings vital needs to clash with one another, strengthening the one at the expense of the many.

Wielding dominion over this ravenousness, Narzhak can inflame those he wishes with a desire to devour others of their species. His favour allows those blessed by draw unnatural power from such grisly feasts, strengthening their vitality or endowing them with sinister gifts. Conversely, his curses can make those struck unable to eat anything but their kin, or fill them with an insatiable lust for their own flesh.

## Persona

Blunt, brutal and immensely arrogant as befits an incarnation of war, Narzhak revels in his gruesome role and makes no effort to conceal it. Nothing amuses him more than taking full advantage of his godly potency to wantonly ruin and destroy what others have built. At the same time, it would be wrong to think of him as merely a savage hedonist. All his slaughter and rapine has, in truth, a loftier goal than his own entertainment, and that is no less than the betterment of the universe. Coarse and sanguinary though he may be, the Iron God would never stand to be called an ingrate or an oathbreaker, and he is mindful of the fact that he owes the divinity he so relishes to the workings of  the Architect. As such, he considers himself obligated to assist in seeing through the latter’s grand creative plan to fruition, and if he so happens to enjoy it, all the better.

Unfortunately for Galbar and its inhabitants, Narzhak is a steadfast believer in the way of the lash. To get the best out of something, one must pitilessly force it out through trial and torment, without regard for collateral damage; and, being nothing but not dutiful, he will not hesitate to scourge the entire world with tireless ferocity to push it to achieving its full potential. In this unforgiving vision, there is no room for lesser beings as anything other than minuscule cogs in the cosmic machine. Narzhak will scarcely even deign to distinguish among them, exception made for those scarce few who manage to impress him enough to be exalted as harbingers of his entropic ravages. Nonetheless, not even such insignificant gnats are inherently unworthy of appreciation, and he is generous in rewarding those who honour him by their own choice.

Overall, Narzhak approaches his position in the world as a commander would a campaign. There are battles to be fought and plunder to be made, allies to be sought in like-minded deities and enemies to be found in those who would abuse their power solely for their benefit, but above all there is to be a scheme to mark the best way ahead, however vague and flexible. Exultant rage has its place in the heat of combat, but a master of warcraft must know to be cunning and patient when the situation calls for it, and who could understand this better than the god of war himself?

## Appearance

The Bloodied Fist takes on the shape of a titanic figure, rivalling a mountain in size. Although broadly humanoid, this body is grotesque and ogre-like, with a massive torso resting on short, stout legs and powerful arms that end in four clawed fingers. Its skin is covered by gigantic plates of iron, ill-matched and with ragged edges that grate against each other. Through the fissures they leave exposed it can be seen that the god’s flesh below is a raw, grey mass oozing a noisome ichor, in parts fused to the armour, so that it is difficult to say where the one ends and the other begins. The being’s head is little more than a colossal misshapen bulk of metal, a flat, blank visor covering all features but four fiery eyes.

## Abilities

### Ironmonger

While having no divine connection to metal at large, Narzhak has an affinity for iron. He is capable of drawing large amounts of it from the ground with little effort, and shaping it in any state, whether solid or molten, intact or shattered. While the items he thus fashions are flawless from a metalworking perspective, however, with the exception of weapons they tend to be inferior simulacra of already existing objects. Besides this, this ability is quite useful in rapidly mending and altering his iron skin.