Kostchtchie

Aliases: Kostchtchie, the Ice Hammer
Symbol: Huge hammer, sometimes made of glacial ice.
Alignment: CE
Portfolio: Brutality, Cold, Courage, Rage, Strength, War
Domains: Cold, Evil, War
Favored Weapon: Hammer

The worship of Kostchtchie is prevalent only amongst the Ice Giants of Vosgaard and Rjurik, although it is said that both ice giants and orogs in Thaele worship the Ice Hammer.

Again sages of Cerilia argue whether this god actually exists, particularly as the shamans of the Ice Giants are few in number and often derided as mere druids (except in Rjurik).

The faith of Kostchtchie is centered around strength and endurance - mercy is for the weak but patience is seen as a virtue - the impatient or wasteful rarely survive in the frozen north.

The holy symbol of the church is that of a huge hammer made of dense glacial ice, the faith is not known to hold certain days as holy - unsurprising given that months can go by in unending darkness during winter.

The church is despised by the church of Kriesha despite the common tenets of cold winnowing the weak and therefore survival of the fittest. Priestesses of Kriesha despise the male-dominant church of Kostchtchie and its glorification of mere strength over guile which they see as exemplifying the worst of the church of Belinik without that church's respect for the wrath of Kriesha.

Belinik's hatred is ensured by the tendency of some Vos warriors to follow the giant-god; the rare Vos followers of Kostchtchie delight in proving the weakness of Belinik's faith by trapping a priest of Belinik in the ice and leaving them to die of exposure.