Dumathain

Dumathain is a Greater God in the Clan: the pantheon of Gods worshipped by the majority of Dwarves on Oberon.

Typical depiction of Dumathain ©2016-2019 MilonasDionisis

Epithets

The most common epithet for Dumathain is 'the Learned' but, occasionally, he is referred to as 'the Librarian' - mainly as a 'joke' by worshippers of the other Gods of 'the Clan'. He is sometimes referred to as the 'Keeper of Secrets'.

Symbol

The symbol of Dumathain is a yellow, unfurled, scroll on a stone-grey background.

Sphere of Influence

Dumathain's spheres of influence are:

• Knowledge
• Secrets
• Construction (specifically dwellings)

Depiction

Dumathain is usually depicted as a slim male Dwarf with stone-grey hair and beard. Some depictions have Dumathain wearing a monocle or even spectacles. Almost all depictions have Dumathoin laden down by books and scrolls.

Relationships

Dumathain is said to have good relations with all of his brothers in 'the Clan' but he, Clangeddin and Duathal form a 'trinity' that provides protection for all Dwarves: Clangeddin asks for Dumathain to research possible threats, and Dumathain send Duathal out into the world to gather intelligence. Whilst it's not exactly a spy network it's very much how 'the Book' in the 'Book and Hammer' (the symbols of office of the Dwarven Kings) is intended to represent the defence of Dwarven civilisation.

Festival

Worshippers of Dumathain are expected to observe the festival known as "Orgilde". This is festival which takes places towards the end of Decembus (typically the 40th to 43rd) in which fireworks are set off to ward off the dark of the long winter nights. After fireworks, candles are lit and kept going all night. This is thought to be a nod to scholars working throughout the night to seek knowledge that will ward against the 'darkness' of ignorance and provide wisdom for future generations. At dawn a celebratory prayer is said and is followed by a traditional breakfast of honeyed gruel.

Worshippers

All worshippers of Dumathain do so because they believe that knowledge is the true source of Dwarven strength - knowing how to overcome obstacles is key to their prosperity and safety. The Dwarven symbols of the 'Book and Hammer' very much place knowledge as equal to physical strength in Dwarven culture.

Of those worshippers that have an identifiable 'class', most are Clerics or Wizards. Some Bards also pay their respects to Dumathain but he is not a God of 'performers' but scholars.

Clerics

Clerics of Dumathain seek to bring enlightenment through practical, verifiable facts and they typically do this by following the 'Knowledge' domain. Such Clerics are masters of reasoning and many Clerics of Dumathain can, with a few minutes of contemplation and prayer, deduce how most things work. Unlike Wizards, Clerics do this by placing their faith in Dumathain's vast knowledge and working through the 'signs' with their intuition to reveal the 'secrets'. Clerics of Dumathain actually believe that there are no real secrets in the Universe; only facts that Dumathain has decided/sought fit to withhold until such time as they are needed.

Wizards

In contrast to the Clerics of Dumathain, Wizards who follow this deity's teachings specialise in the 'Divination' school of magic and hope that Dumathain will allow them to forsee events rather than to imbue then with some specific skill or ability. The difference here is that Dumathain's wizards believe that they are intelligent enough to already deduce how to overcome an obstacle as long as they know what that obstacle will be ahead of time. They rely on their intellect prowess rather than expecting Dumathain to provide the knowledge.

Some Dwarves believe that the Wizards have the best understanding on how Dumathain expects his followers to behave - through acquiring knowledge to deal with adversity and letting Dumathain tell them when and where that adversity will occur. The Clerics, on the other hand, believe that it is impossible for any singular, mortal, Dwarf to have all the answers but having faith in Dumathain will ensure that the correct knowledge will be available when it is needed.

Acknowledgements

Dumathain is based on the Dwarven deity, 'Dumathoin', who is detailed in the 1992 TSR book "Monster Mythology" (©1992 TSR Inc). Although the Oberon version does differ in some key aspects I feel that it's worth acknowledging the 'source' material here. The image chosen for Dumathain's depiction on Oberon is by an artist that I found on Pinterest called "MilonasDionisis". The image is used for a "Librarian" class published by 'Wayward Rogues Publishing'. I am assuming that the artist still owns the copyright for the image above.