Valok

Greater (native): Gorethar | O'Ma | Dru'El | Toran | Mikon | Forian | Valok | Aarilax | Maleki
Greater (foreign): Clangeddin | Titania | Corellon Larethian | Tobin | Ptah | Gruumsh | Blibdoolpoolp
Intermediate: Andria | Dagath | Hurine | Ingoren | Mishlekh
Lesser: Angadar | Berryn | Dra'Nar | Dre'Ana | Fegall | Senath | Skern | Ti'si'faan | Verossa | Vorin | Wilsash | Yeraiah
Demi: Aryeh Gidol | Balgar | Cha'reth | Evrak | Harpinger | Kelvos | Keros | Lesa | Naren | Paragus | Pelar | Ra-Ghul | Seven | Stephanus | The'ton | Xenon | Zhitaril

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Colors: Gold

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Worshippers' Alignment: Lawful Neutral, Lawful Evil

Area of Control: Orcs, Politics, Intrigue, Deceit

Clerical Domains: Evil, Knowledge, Protection, Trickery

Holy Warrior: Dominator

Religious Orders: The Order of Valok

Center of Worship: Brekon

Good and evil are all relative. There really is no one undisputable "Good" with a capital "G". What's good for one is evil for another. Many of these so-called "good gods" preach that you must give aid to others so that they can go onward. The thought here is that giving aid is always a good thing. They are wrong. You know that bum on the street that everyone has encountered somewhere in their lives? The bum that asks you for money all the time? Giving him money is a "good" thing right? After all, you are helping the poor soul. Wrong. How do you know what that man will do with the money? What if he uses it for "evil" purposes, like hiring an assassin? What if he amasses enough money from begging to buy him an entire fiefdom, which he then uses to make war on the very people who donated the money? Who's to say he won't do that?

Valok is the father-god of Orcs. They follow his mindset.... that it's ok to get what you want, but don't make people hate you in the process. Having friends can be very helpful for getting what you want later. Now, if someone screws you over, by all means, take care of him or her. But not in public! Ideally, we can all get along with everyone else if only they just wouldn't get in our way. We don't want to destroy them. We just want to win as much as we can.

The followers of gods that are dubbed "good" or "neutral" all have one major problem. They do not give enough time to the development of the self. But what does this have to do with enlightenment, and how does one achieve it?

Enlightenment is within. If doing something for someone else will not help YOU, then you have no business doing it. Only self-discipline and devotion can help YOU. Focusing on things outside of yourself is a waste of time, because you are not responsible for anyone else but you. "Self maintenance is a monumental task." the holy saying goes. You have ENOUGH things to do with improving your own spiritual predicaments. What do you get by doing things for the spiritual predicaments of others? Absolutely nothing with the possible exception of maybe a "good" feeling.

The one who has disciplined their mind and calmed their inner senses will know Valok's Glory and Will. Glory is a better term to describe a "good" feeling that is directed inward. Valok hails glory. We should all strive for glory for it is Valok's way of condoning our actions and telling us that we are making improvements within ourselves.

So how should others be treated? Smile. If others are expecting a sense of "good", then give that to them. It is not wrong to give someone something if it benefits you in the end. It is ESPECIALLY not wrong to give someone something when it is an empty thing and you have lost nothing from giving it.

If there are people who do not approve of your self-improvement quest, then you should have understanding towards them. However, do not let them walk all over you. Get around them. Intrigue was the tool Valok gave us to help ourselves when others will not allow it. If you cannot go through something, go around it. Compose yourself and be disciplined. Know that Valok approves of what you do and it is not becoming of one of his followers to be obtuse. An obtuse mind is not a disciplined one.

Word has recently spread that Valok and Hurine had married and produced a daughter, Ethraeli. In 2 A.R. she conspired with Stephanus and later Andria, along with many mortal agents in a scheme that later became known as The Humbling of Angadar.

Ethraeli grew up in the shadow of her father's great ambitions, and resented the lesser status she perceived her mother Hurine to have. As she grew into adulthood, she learned of the great injustices surrounding the persecution of Orcish mages in the past, of their official blessing by Valok, of the determination of the church to hunt them down anyway, and Valok's ultimate inaction to correct the church in any way. Though Valok later put down this dissention officially, a great deal of damage had already been done to Brekonese society and Orcish culture writ large in the years between. Ethraeli saw all these things and believed her father corrupt, incompetent, and weak, and a poor husband to her mother. She set out to take his place and right his wrongs, and she decided to do this by a form of redress, by striking at the killer of Valok's lover Tianna, Angadar.

Ethraeli's plan was successful. Valok acknowledged that his daughter had shown great aptitude, and accepted that she was more than worthy of taking his place among the Nine Greater Gods of Avlis. Ethraeli now rules in her father's stead.

Valok has temples in Mikona, Crullath, and Verloghokbol; Brekon is the center of his worship on Avlis.

Trivia

Valok was an elf prior to becoming the god of the orcs on Avlis.