Vatun

In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Vatun is the god of Northern Barbarians, Cold, Winter, and Arctic Beasts. His symbol is the sun setting on a snowy landscape. Though rather popular among the Suel barbarians of the Thillonrian Peninsula, Vatun was not worshipped by the Suloise Imperium and is not generally considered part of the Suel pantheon.

Description
Vatun appears as a massive Suel barbarian dressed in the skins of polar bears. His beard is made of snow and ice, and his breath is a frozen fog. He wields a mighty battleaxe called Winter's Bite, made completely of ice.

Relationships
Vatun's only allies are his brother, Dalt, and the Suel god Llerg. His enemies include Telchur, Iuz, and the archdevil Belial.

Realm
Vatun's previous divine realm is the Hall of the Hunter in the Heroic Domains of Ysgard. However, he is currently trapped in the Plane of Cold in the Prison of Ice.

Dogma
Vatun teaches that winter is an opportunity to cull the weak from the strong, and that cowards should be covered by snow and forgotten. The Great God of the North also speaks of a "Great Winter" which will cover the land, allowing the northern barbarians to inherit the Oerth.

Worshipers
Vatun is worshipped primarily in the Barbarian States of the Thillonrian Peninsula.

Clergy
Vatun's priests are charged with aiding their tribe in battle, helping their people survive winter, and healing the injured members of their community. The most capable priests seek the legendary Five Blades of Corusk, which will free Vatun if the five are united. Their favored weapon is the battleaxe.

Vatun's priests preach that cowardice is to be despised, and that Telchur's faith is to always be opposed, preferably with violence. They are also foes of devils and those who serve them.

Vatun's imprisonment has made it more difficult for his priests to use their magic. In order to prepare and cast spells, they need to be within ten feet of a burning flame, no smaller than a torch.

History
Legend says that some time after the Invoked Devastation and the Rain of Colorless Fire, when the fleeing Suel houses of the Fruztii, Cruski, and Schnai had settled the Thillonrian Peninsula, a great barbarian empire was created by the warriors of Vatun, hailed as "the Great God of the North." Vatun himself was said to have granted the title of "Fasstal of all the Suelii" to the king of the Cruski, a title which made the bearer preeminent among all the nobles of the Suel, and granted him the authority to pronounce judgement on any member of the Suel race. This great empire, if it did indeed exist, lasted only as long as the first fasstal's lifetime.

About the same time as the Battle of a Fortnight's Length (-110 CY), Vatun was imprisoned by priests of Telchur, who were perhaps aided by Belial. Vatun's imprisonment is said by some to have caused the fall of the barbarian empire.

In 582 CY, Vatun was said to have finally returned to Oerth, appearing on the Thillonrian Peninsula. Vatun successfully united the Frost, Ice, and Snow Barbarians, along with the natives of the Hold of Stonefist, and led this great force to invade Tenh, an event which kick-started the Greyhawk Wars. However, it wasn't long before this "Vatun" was revealed to be the demigod Iuz, and the alliance soon fell apart.

As of 591 CY, the real Vatun remains imprisoned.

The Departure of Vatun
Some legends claim that Vatun was betrayed by a companion deity. Others blame Telchur entirely. There is also a myth that says the barbarians proved unworthy of their patron, so he withdrew of his own accord.

It is said that when the Five Blades of Corusk are reunited, Vatun will return and recreate the barbarian empire of old.

Creative origins
Many fans of the World of Greyhawk setting note that Vatun shares many characteristics with Odin and point out that Robert J. Kuntz's character, Lord Robilar, was a follower of Odin in the early days of Gary Gygax's campaign, before the setting was published.