| Category | Higher Powers |
| Power | Greater |
| World | Avalas |
| Alias | Maeraddyth |
| Race | orc |
| Gender | male |
| Alignment | lawful evil |
| Symbol | unwinking eye |
| Domain | Domination, Evil, Strength, Tyranny, War |
| Enemies | Athena, Ares, Naraz-Nâru, Corellon, Set |
| Born | 3 Witchrite 8774 GE |
| Godhood | 21 Hollow 588 HE |
In the Demon Spawn War, Gruumsh had a different name and was of a different race. He was General Maeraddyth, a Kriavfahliil serving Corellon's armies on Kriav. Part of the Covenant, they battled the demons invading the worlds of the Quara'tun System.
On his last mission for Corellon and the Covenant, General Maeraddyth was tasked with a very risk operation. He didn't like the idea of going out to die. Maeraddyth carried out his orders, taking his highly decorated, crack commandos to the world of Nasudex. Once there, they launched a quick surgical strike on a demon lord named Hezxis. The mission was successful. When word of their leaders death reached them, demon morale broke, chaos swept through their ranks with infighting, wanderlust, hopelessness, and joy at no longer being controlled. Corellon's armies, the 21st and 46th Roots, heavily engaged with Hezxis's forces attacking Liamenor, were saved from annihilation.
The demon retreat was not from lack of leadership, they had good leaders, very good leaders. Hezxis led from the rear, he was no military commander. What he did have was a demon lord's control over his minions. When this is broken, the natural chaotic and individualistic ways of demon is left to run free. I imagine some asked why they were here risking life and limb, some were concerned with the jockeying of power that would happen back home, and the safety of their concerns. Local commanders bickered, fought, planned, and some executed assassination on their rivals. Maeraddyth's sacrifice ended twenty years of war, and a removed a demon lord from the Abyssal Hegemony.
- Corellon , from the book Maeraddyth's Sacrifice - "One for the Cause"
The Maeraddyth Brigade was not so lucky. After completing their daring mission into the Abyss, they retreated towards the rift. With demons pursing and others retreating back through the same rift, orders were given to capture Maeraddyth's soldiers. One of Hezxis's loyal concubines, one said to have been the true power, planned to make an example of Corellon's most prized expeditionary forces. The captives were tortured to no end, then infused with demoniac energy. Of the half that survived this process, they found themselves transformed into something savage, with only a slight resemblances to the Kriavfahliil they once were. They became known as the Orc race. Over centuries of indoctrination, they were instilled with a hatred of elves that often supersedes other enmities. General Maeraddyth was one of the survivors. He ditched his elven name, thereafter calling himself Gruumsh. He was to prove incredibly useful to his demon makers, undertaking war and mayhem in exchange for praise, honing his combat skills, and carrying out what he considered the petty whims of his demon supporters.
In the Lith-Crillion Era, Gruumsh traveled many lands across many worlds. He became a storied warlord, seeking out fighting, and starting it when he could find none. His life prolonged by a pair of Cairn Scythes, he became more wicked and bloodthirsty with each passing century. Resurrected dozens of time, he had a fanatical following. Some became liches or sought out magic to continue along his side. By the end of the Lith-Crillion Era, his war notoriety and fame rivaled that of Ares.
In the Horgon Era, Gruumsh was engaged in a great conflict with the goblin god Maglubiyet. Their armies battled it out on Avalas, with Gruumsh seeking to make himself a god by conquest. In charge of his military intelligence was a Lith-Crillion named Blac'drugulois. This figure, one who would one day create the mightiest orc empire of Bal-Kriav, found a way of reaching Maglubiyet. His team put up magical wards, keeping anyone from getting in or out by magic. Gruumsh took the lead in a very risky surgical strike against the head of goblin leadership, and a god no less. Killed on his home world, his immortality severed, Maglubiyet was permanently retired from the ranks of Higher Powers on 21 Hollow 588 HE. Gruumsh, a mortal, by the Rule of Divine Conquest, took Maglubiyet's tyranny domain making himself a Cult Power.
In the Second Epoch, Gruumsh's former intelligent advisor Blac'drugulois, was instrumental in increasing Gruumsh's divine power. The heart of this worship is on the world of Bal-Kriav with the Orchish Empire.
Gruumsh has a bitter hatred for the deity Set and his Khazarkar followers. The Khazarkar Empire is by all accounts, stronger and larger than the Orchish Empire, which makes Gruumsh push his flock to attack and lay waste to the Khazarkars. Wasteful to both empires, neither gaining much headway against the other, they are often carried on long enough to sate the blood-thirst of their respective deities.
| Core Worship | Proselytizers |
|---|---|
| Antokepf | Batanullêth |
| Bigmar | Feloren |
| Orchish Empire | Grathirgim |
| Crimson Eye | Grathirgim |
| Ashnákh | |
| Roringrak |
| Trait | Description | Restriction |
|---|---|---|
| Bitter Foes | +1 damage versus Kriavfahliil and Khazarkars | none |
| Beacon of Strength | +2 inherent strength bonus | priests |
| Trait | Description |
|---|---|
| Divine Toughness | +8,000 hit points as Greater Power |
| Modulating Energy | +25 modulating energy damage for all attacks |
| Pounding Blows | anyone hit by his melee attacks must make fortitude save or be dazed and slowed |