DUERGAR CULTISTS OV ZARGOTH

Violent, militant souls dwelling in the UnderEarth of Testoria worship the demigod Zargoth. Once an extremely shrewd and cruel red dragon of immeasurable power, Zargoth – through methods unclear and mysterious even to the wisest of sages – ascended to divine power in a dark ritual that nearly brought about the ruin of the Taros Mountains.

The domains associated with Zargoth are Destruction, Evil, Fire and Law. His favored weapon is the flail, and his symbol is a large eye weeping tears of blood.

Followers of Zargoth generally disdain shields and armor, believing them to be the tools of cowards. They revel in melee combat, and provoke bloody brawls for their own savage amusement. Warriors and clerics of Zargoth frequently tattoo themselves with the visage of a dragon’s skull each time they defeat an opponent in combat; many high priests of the dragon god were covered from head to toe with intricate drawings.

Strangely, the worshipers of Zargoth include a vast variety of humanoid beings, many who would be mortal enemies under ordinary circumstances. Dwarves, duergar, kobolds, and orcs all worship Zargoth with equal fervor, and it would not be unusual to see a dwarven holy warrior of the dragon demigod leading fanatical legions of goblinoids into battle. For this reason, most of these same races fear and distrust any followers of Zargoth, and temples dedicated to the mighty dragon deity tend to be secluded in desolate underground regions.

Because they are such bloodthirsty fighters, many worshipers of Zargoth take the Cleave and Great Cleave feats. Further, clerics devoted to the evil dragon demigod are able to choose four unique feats in addition to any others that are available to them.

Each use of any of these unique feats costs the character a minimum of one turn or rebuke attempt from the total number of attempts per day. If no turn or rebuke attempts are left to the character, these particular feats cannot be attempted.

Each of these unique feats takes a standard action to activate (which provokes an attack of opportunity). For clerics of Zargoth, this action is the gruesome act of self-flagellation. Once blood is drawn, the feat is considered to be active.

Characters possessing more than one of the feats listed below may only activate one feat per round, although their effects can overlap and are cumulative (where applicable) if multiple feats are activated.

DIVINE WILL

Prerequisite: Ability to turn or rebuke creatures, Smite Heretic.
Benefit: As a standard action, spend one of your turn or rebuke undead attempts to a gain a +1 bonus on all Fortitude, Reflex, and Will saving throws, and a +2 dodge bonus to Armor Class against all opponents that you engage in melee combat. This bonus lasts for 1 minute.

IMPROVED SMITE HERETIC

Prerequisite: Ability to turn or rebuke creatures, Smite Heretic.
Benefit: As a standard action, spend one of your turn or rebuke undead attempts to a gain a +2 bonus on all damage rolls against all opponents that you engage in melee combat. This bonus lasts for 1 minute.

SMITE HERETIC

Prerequisite: Ability to turn or rebuke creatures.
Benefit: As a standard action, spend one of your turn or rebuke undead attempts to a gain a +4 bonus on all damage rolls against a single opponent in melee combat. You must specify this opponent when the feat is activated, and may not change this opponent so long as the feat is active. This bonus lasts for 1 minute.

WRATHFUL SPIRIT

Prerequisite: Ability to turn or rebuke creatures, Endurance.
Benefit: As a standard action, spend one of your turn or rebuke undead attempts to temporarily gain +10 hit points. This bonus lasts for only 1 minute. If you are reduced to between -1 and -5 hit points after the effect wears off, you must receive some sort of magical healing within 1d4 rounds or immediately fall to -10 hit points and die. If you are reduced to between -6 and -9 hit points after the effect wears off, you immediately fall to immediately fall to -10 hit points and die, and cannot be resurrected, reincarnated, or raised from the dead.