Gods of Lyrion - Kronus

Kronus, another of the five primary gods of the Three Seas region, is Lord of the Underworld, and the god of Fortune, be it good or ill. Kronus typically appears as a bald, obsidian-skinned man with piercing silver eyes, wearing a silver toga, and holding a black spear in one hand. Other times, he appears as a large crow with silver eyes, or even as a pale-skinned maiden with silver hair and black eyes that, within them, may reflect a man's past and future. He is sometimes referred to as "Old Night". His symbol is black obsidian disc.

Among that dubious class of folk known as "adventurers", Kronus is a frequent patron, or, at least, given frequent homage and offerings in the hopes of currying favor, tipping the scales of fortune towards the good end, and especially when trespassing in his realm: the Underworld, as adventurers so frequently and unwisely do.

The temples of Kronus are typically flat-topped pyramids constructed of black basalt, and filled with a warren of tunnels, chambers, and odd, well-like shafts leading straight down or at odd angles. The innermost tunnels are often kept unlit, and some are rumored to lead either to natural caverns deep in the earth or to access points to the Underworld itself. Solar eclipses are the highest holy days of the temple, and offerings (sometimes live ones) are burnt upon the flat top of the pyramid. The temples of Kronus seem to attract flocks of crows, for some reason, though they curiously never defile the stone with their droppings.

The priests of Kronus typically adorn themselves in gauzy black togas, sometimes over silver scale-mail, and typically wield scimitars (unlike some other cults, they have no proscription against the shedding of blood). Males and females alike shave their heads bald, and have a strong aversion to defiling the sanctity of their bodies with piercings or tattoos. It is considered to be highly unlucky, if not ruinous, for anyone to refuse free room and board to a traveling priest of Kronus. Beginning at 2nd level, clerics of Kronus are ignored by any undead whose HD is less than their level (similar to the effect of a Sanctuary spell). Clerics also have a cumulative 10% chance per level of being sent a crow familiar (as per the Magic User spell, Find Familiar) by their patron.