Campaign Design - The Lords of Hell: Surtan

Surtan

Evil Prince of Fire; Flame of the Underworld; Lord of the Black Forge, Demon Lord of Fire Giants and Greed

Alignment: Chaotic Evil.
Cleric Domains: Fire, Flame, Greed, Havoc, Pact, Passion.
Unholy Warrior Domains: Evil, Fire, Greed.

Summon Monster: Surtan's clerics and favored souls can summon fiendish and ignan creatures using summon monster spells.

Symbol: A red hand with black fingernails wrapped in flames.
Favored Weapon: "The flame of Hell" (greatsword).
Related Classes: Unholy Warrior.
Related Prestige Classes: Champion of the Dark Seven.

Surtan is the demon lord of fire, and appears as a huge fire giant with reddish black skin and a great mane of hair made from huge streaming red flames who breathes flame from his mouth and nostrils. He is said to be surrounded by an aura of heat so intense that none save Wünd and Hœnir has ever been able to approach him in combat. In battle he is said to wear a suit of crimson mail and carry a great two-handed sword made entirely of fire. During the War in Heaven, Wünd and Hœnir combined with Hler to overcome and then douse Surtan's fire to cast the Demon Lord down.

In folktales and legends, Surtan is portrayed as by far the most dangerous of the giant lords. Clever and cunning in ways that Lug is clearly not, and possessed of an instinct for planning and foresight that elude the rash and rage-filled Iku-Tyrma, Surtan combines the strength of the giants with an intelligence and skill at crafting that makes him the most dangerous of the three to deal with. Surtan is, in addition to his other skills, the blacksmith of Hell, and under his guidance a legion of his servants forged the mighty weapons used by the demonic hordes in the War in Heaven. When he appears in stories, it is often because heroes attempt to infiltrate his workshop to steal some implement of war that he has crafted, and in the versions the giants tell, such thieves always end up cast into the blazing furnaces of Hell.

Surtan hates both Hler and Wünd, but holds a special animosity towards Hœnir due to his offense at being defeated by a mere machine, a defeat that offends Surtan's pride. In a strangely perverse kind of mockery, Surtan's fire giants frequently forge great metal servants to do their bidding and serve as engines of war. Surtan has a surprisingly large following of humans and evil dwarves, but most of his servants are fire giants, who hold him as the patron deity of their kind.

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