Pathfinder Lore - Norgorber

[Music] hello guys sir vertigo here today's video is a bit of a sensitive subject just discussing some of what we are going to go over is enough to get us both killed so i need to impress upon you the need for secrecy today we are discussing norgaber nor gorber is one of the ascended trio a group of mortals who ascended to godhood through completion of the starstone test with ariden being the original who set the star stone in its current place he is not included in this trinity while he is a shadowy deity with a neutral evil alignment he is not as evil as lamashtu or robaga because he focuses more on manipulation of others and not so much their destruction he is truly an enigma even amongst the gods who keeps his true motives known only to himself even his followers remain ignorant of his true plans and designs with memories being modified for his own benefit in artwork norgerber is often portrayed simply by his symbol that of a black featureless mask often polished until it shines like a mirror other attempts to portray him result in active interference from the deity with the artist being struck with hand cramps or trimmers to prevent completion of their work if they persist the artist can be stuck with more permanent motor function damage or even blindness some artists evoke his presence with a black mask like badge or even an empty black glove the faithful have been known to nail a black glove to a door as a warning to someone who has offended the cult with few if any true representations of himself surviving he is already one of the most mysterious deities around but he has also wiped his true appearance and passed from the minds of the other deities and anyone on gallerian becoming an enigma to every living and unliving being those who have seen him can only describe a nondescript hooded figure in black and gray with the face lost in deep shadows or completely invisible of average height and average build he is vaguely threatening even when speaking with an oft pleasant voice mortals in his presence always have the impression that he's standing behind them even when he is standing in full view of a crowd in an unknown time before 1893 presumably before 1863 norgerberg was born in the port city of vieira in the nissroche bay off the northern coast of chiliax i say before 1863 just because i view norgibor at the youngest as a 30 year old male but truly we have no idea when he was born we know that norgamore was an assassin traveling the world and killing anyone he had a contract on at some point he gained a rival in the form of a fellow assassin who stole a kill from him starting a rivalry that would last until the day he ascended to godhood we will return to this unnamed assassin later on in this video in 1893 ar norgerber passed the starstone test and ascended to godhood knowledge of his life before this is frankly not worth my life to uncover i've already lost a few lore keepers just gaining the bits of knowledge i've been able to gain so far plus to be honest we couldn't find any scraps of info that have survived from before this point in time after ascending norgaber became the god of greed secrets poison and murder unlike most deities norbert is rarely worshipped in his entirety instead his worship is divided between four aspects with each aspect embodying a different domain he rules over with these different aspects almost acting as four separate faiths entirely we will dive into the different aspects much deeper later in this video but here's a summary for discussion purposes black finger is the aspect of norgabird that represents alchemy poison and experimentation for the sake of gaining knowledge alone father skin saw is the aspect that represents murder and is easily the most dangerous and extremist the grey master represents greed and any activities that benefit at the expense of others while the reaper of reputation represents the aspect that focuses on secret knowledge and manipulation through knowledge rather than bodily harm that is not to say norgiber has split personalities but his worshipers split themselves into the aspects they view most important in my own opinion this prevents you from having a rambling murderer amongst your suave and secretive spies by isolating the various aspects it makes it much harder to get a true overview of what the cults are doing as a whole norgerber has made all attempts to remain neutral in dealing with all the other gods less out of fear of them but more out of wishes to be free of their interference he has largely succeeded in his efforts with only six gods viewing him with disdain and refusing to interact with him while this may not sound particularly bad it's hard to gain secrets from someone who refuses to interact with you father skin saw views agachek the god of assassins as an ally with some assassins or murderers saying prayers to the duo before they take another's life norgaber himself is generally welcoming of girona and savannah the goddesses of hatred and extortion and the goddesses of illusion respectively avadar the god of laws views his thievery as an aversion to the laws that society rely on and as an undermining of honest gained wealth kaden kalian a fellow ascended deity views him as a coward and a villain aristill the god of the hunt distrusts him due to the many lives his hand has ruined directly or indirectly amadeus the last of the ascended trio believes he has evaded justice for too long and is suspects his hand in the death of aaron himself sarin ray the sun goddess has been burned too many times by him feigning remorse and redemption only for it to be a ruse to further an evil plot get it burned taurag the dwarven deity sees the activities he promotes as a cancer that can destroy even the most well-protected city from within nowadays he spends much of his time in dusk fathom the undercity that's located below the other planer city of axis he spends his time there plotting whispering in the ears of mortals and twisting the luck of thieves murderers and spies galerion-wide but no one truly knows what goal he is guiding them to divination into dusk fathom from outside is impossible as is teleportation in or out there are portals within dusk fathom that lead to the upper layers of hell abaddon and the abyss and denzians of these planes will use these portals to raid upper axis on occasion when one of norgiber's servants die i believe they travel through the bone yard and are delivered to axis to join norgaber in the dusk fathom i've not truly found any proof of that that's just my speculation while undead in general are the work of ergotha shadows are often also associated with norgaber indeed some worshippers of norgaber refer to shadows as emissaries of the greymaster or blackfinger's claws and they believe that the god takes the shadows of the faithful after death and makes them his proxies in the mortal world some clerics of norgomer know the secrets of summoning these shadows to safeguard their midnight places of meeting and worship worshippers of norway are cultists by all standards of the inner sea region with open worship forbidden in almost every nation except absalom where it is tolerated at best his followers naturally tend to be rogues barns and assassins but he also has a surprisingly significant portion of his followers who are clerics all of his followers wear masks to identify themselves while also being a symbol of devotion with some embracing multiple masks to signify different emotions followers will only remove these innermost masks in private amongst the people they trust trust most these masks are often elaborate with hinged jaws colored lenses and muted colors of various shades due to this dependence on masks and all of those followers having one collectively the worship of norgiber are known as sons and daughters of the mask worshiping norgober follows many of the traditions of a thieves guild with a typical service being conducted by a masked senior priest he will lead the guild in prayer with other followers mummering ascend while sharpening blades or shaking coins in a cup holy services are rare in norgaber worship with much of his praise being more physical acts such as thefts murders political manipulations or any other act that might fall within his domain norgamer's influence is subtle even in the most direct of his interventions when pleased a pickpocket may find a gold coin in an otherwise poor man's coin purse a spy may learn a juicy bit of info from an unexpected source or a weapon's poison may prove especially potent however when his anger is roused his ire is carefully measured and dealt out at the appropriate time a thief may find she's lost the jewel she was supposed to steal a speaker may find themselves tongue-tied during an important speech or a poison blade may nick the hands of even a master assassin borgemer is disinclined to kill his own followers as long as they can still prove useful even if they may know too much he prefers to punish them by a social humiliation sickness or a crippling injury he is all too used to wiping the memories of followers who have failed him and he has even been known to wipe the mind of his greatest followers all in an effort to keep his master plan secret nordimer's edicts are simple and any who wish to follow norgiber should expect them you must keep your true identity secret even to your fellow worshippers you must sacrifice anyone deemed necessary and you must take every advantage in a fight you must learn from the shadows and you must never operate in nordober's name in an open his anathema should be equally as obvious with punishments coming to any who allow their true identity to be connected to your dark dealings if you are caught in a raid and unmasked not only would you face legal troubles but norgavr would not look favorably upon you for allowing yourself to be captured with mask you must never share a secret freely and showing mercy is a quick way to earn the god's ire each aspect has worshippers who worship norgiber in a different way for example black finger worshippers are typically assassins alchemist and herbalist they worship this aspect that embraces alchemy poisons and experimentation his followers breed poisonous animals such as spiders and scorpions they use these animals to create more potent venoms vivisect victims to learn the secrets of the flesh and supply criminals with powerful poisons paralytic agents and memory fogging drugs they often wear masks of smoked glass to protect their eyes from the acidic substances they work with and to signify their positions as alchemists amongst his other followers blackfinger also draws in a few druids and witches who serve him not as a result of his four domains but due to his patronage of all poisonous creatures the grey master is revered by extortionists street thugs thieves and all who benefit at the expense of others his followers range from petty crooks to violent gangs and nearly legitimate organizations and they use a hooded cowl or strips of cloth to cover the face below the eyes as a form of concealment they promote any activity that benefits themselves as long as it comes at someone else's expense but mainly if it leaves them with their life the reaper of reputation is worshiped by spies and politicians alike and they consider him the key to keeping knowledge secret and manipulating their opponents followers of the reaper range from benign manipulators of politics whose social maneuvering benefits others as well as themselves to groups such as the anaphysia the anifexia is a group centered in yustelov who hoard esoteric knowledge and kill anyone who would possess these secrets worshipers will typically wear domino or masquerade style masks or black spirals that cover their mouths meanwhile the skin saw cult is the most dangerous and most extreme of the cults father skin saws faithful include mass murderers and bandits who believe every murder is a prayer and will commit brutal killings in norway's name no matter who's died in these slaughters they believe that these killings advance his plans members of this aspect of the cult wear masks of human skin enchanted to allow them to detect their victims vulnerable spots now this is not directly an aspect but there is a strange connection to the halfling god damir gixx now thamer gixx is the halfling god of greed opportunity and thievery and was first mentioned in historical records shortly after norgavr's obsession leading some to believe that thaamir was fueled by norgibber's rise to a godhood while others believe thaamir was already a god who assisted norgaber in the starstone test in return for the power to return to common knowledge however my researchers and i agree that it seems to be a stretch to believe that two separate gods of greed and thievery happened to come back into popular knowledge at the same time i put forth the idea that famer gixx is simply a fifth aspect of norgaber but for what purpose i can't really say halflings are embarrassed to admit that some of their race worship norgavr even if it is those who have turned to crime or those that have grown unhappy with the normal role in life enough of this race of ex-slaves exists that there are halfling only cults but they are viewed harshly amongst other halflings despite this halflings that follow norgaber often retain a loyalty to the communities secretly aiding them using their darker talents most halflings will follow the gray master with many of them being inquisitors others with a penchant for poison will follow black fingers however there are halflings that follow father skin saw but they are as rare as they are insane norgerber has four servants that he uses for various reasons usually in assassinations or to send a murderous message the stabbing beast is norgaber's herald a being that is the living will of norgiber it takes the form of a gigantic silver scorpion-like entity that can also shift into the form of a darkly armored humanoid with a large scorpion's tail he is regularly sent to galerion to aid his worshippers in hiding secrets or performing audacious thefts the stabbing beast is norgaber's herald a being that is the living will of norgamer it takes the form of a gigantic silver scorpion-like entity that can also shift in the form of a darkly armored humanoid with a scorpion's tail he is regularly sent to galerian to aid his worshipers in hiding secrets or performing audacious thefts the stabbing beast has been killed on a number of occasions but norgaber has always resurrected it after its deaths he leaves its memories intact to avoid the mistakes that led to its previous incarnations demise leading to a progressively more dangerous individual spoiler for those of you out there who enjoy lore this info has been retconned slightly in all pathfinder first edition books the stabbing beast would be resurrected have its memories wiped and be led to have its own belief that it could only be killed by norgiber himself but now as seen in the agents of edgewatch the stabbing beast is a copy of the original but with memories intact venomfist is a large green water elemental infused with poison with the type varying according to its whims at the moment of summoning the summoner may be able to convince it to use a particular toxin by offering it a sample of a deadly concoction whether that be animal venom potion poison mineral sample or some alchemical creation it particularly loves to drown creatures within its body especially if the victim is naturally poisonous or has been paralyzed for this purpose yellow tooth is a wear wet rogue that has the power to transform into an entire swarm of rats the secret shade is a unique fiendish shadow of the assassin that was once norgibber's rival the pair would attempt to one-up each other with every new kill and they were evenly matched until the pair arrived in absalom when norgaber emerged from the starstone as the newest descended deity his rival greeted him at the bridge in congratulations however the norgibber that emerged from that test now saw him as a threat in the moments after becoming a deity he saw this assassin as the last connection to his pre-deity self and post-deity self so without a word he murdered his rival he kicked his corpse into the pits surrounding the starstone cathedral he purged valerian of all memory of his rival's existence as well as his own existence so that even other deities had no memory of them he then ripped the shadow from his rival's corpse and forced it into the form of his first servant with shattered scraps of his memory the secret shade has an urge for validation that it never received in life it has accumulated pieces of info about the past both his and gerber's past but has so far been unable to connect more than a fl few fragments outwardly the temples of norgaber are more akin to a thieves guild than any kind of religious site their true nature is hidden transformed during the night to be obvious to the most trusted of faithful the most guarded temple of nargober lies in viere not because it is the most treasured but because no one can discover that that's his birthplace blackfinger temples operate more like a merchant's guild with a legitimate front that will sell exotic substances only opening the temple to trusted followers in the night as far as church history goes we know nephes norgaber and sarin ray were involved in the oath wars a series of increasingly violent battles between worshipers of the three gods in northern west garand in 2498 ar this war lasted about 62 years and would have continued if the city of azir had not created the laws of mortality which barred all deity worship within the territory with no clergy allowed the religious war sputters to an end in 2560 ar clothing worn by worshippers is predominantly black gray and brown attracting attention to the church by standing out from local fashion is frowned upon so clothing will follow current trends to allow easier blending in shrines are uncommon in this following any place with a large enough population will support a secret temple but this leads to little need for another location that the public could discover but the skin saw cult may bury remains in a public location and will treat this area as a shrine albeit with no obvious markings black finger followers may pick a spot in town as a dumping ground for alchemical leftovers creating a blighted space of dead land where nothing grows or the gray masters may pick a place as a dead drop for stolen loot rituals change from temple to temple and from aspect aspect skin saw cults will abduct and murder rivals or innocents while black finger cults may ingest or design new and increasingly potent poisons this was some of the hardest information to find for rituals are easily the most guarded of norgaber's worship favor spiders and snakes anything that has poisons that can be milked and refined into useful poisons or paralytics he also shows favor toward rats crows and jackdaws or any other back alley lurking creatures norgaber has no known holy items with the only thing remotely related to him being the blade of the wheeling martyr and the anafexia robes the blade of the wheeling martyr is a plus three king vicious dagger with theories being that the dagger was held by norgaber during his accession to godhood but there is no proof to this claim it is a powerful weapon however with the unique ability to forge a link of souls between the wielder and a target when one dies the other dies unless severed by a break enchantment or remove curse spell currently the dagger is in possession of the pathfinder society held deep beneath the grand lodge in epsilon the anaphexus robes appear as plain versions of ferasman holy vestments but with the added ability to telepathically speak to anyone else wearing anaphexis robes or carrying a norgarber unholy symbol within 100 feet it also grants a plus 10 to disguise checks to appear as a simple ferasman monk and a plus 10 to sleight of hand checks to conceal weaponry there are 17 short texts that are associated with norgerber's faith all with various code names and various bindings nothing or nate to lend them a plane and denial air among the faithful these collected texts can be known as the words behind the mask although any two cults may have different ideas on how the chapters are organized the specific wording of certain phrases and which sections stand most important cults that allow bloodshed will celebrate norgibber's accession in midwinter by snatching a random person from a busy street bringing them to the local temple and quietly murdering them with poison they will then hide the body where it will never be found leaving no trace of where the poor victim went cults that avoid killing might plant incriminating evidence on a target drug a target and place them in a compromising position or steal something valuable in such a way as to humiliate its owner and with that i believe i've covered everything we've discovered on nordenberg so far i know it's not a ton of research but i do have researchers in deep cover within a few of the cults across scalarian so we could always find more information on him in time but for now i think that's did you did you hear that [Music] you

Channel: Sir Vertigo

Views: 14,360

Keywords: pathfinder, Pathfinder 2, Pf2e, pf1e, Pathfinder Lore, Pathfinder 2 lore, Golarion, Norgorber, Pathfinder Deity, Pathfinder Norgorber

Id: 83UGJFup7qo

Length: 25min 44sec (1544 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 07 2021