Murlynd

Murlynd, the White Paladin.

"Technology is an instrument of Justice so long as the hand that wields it is True." - Motto of the White Paladins.

If you've been playing Dungeons and Dragons long enough you will eventually come upon that one chucklefuck who wants to have firearms, or at least access to gunpowder. Most of the time the DM can just say no on the ground of there not being any gunpowder or the gods opposing it for some reason. But unfortunately for them Greyhawk has produced a god for this precise reason: one that rather clashes with the tone of the others. His name is Murlynd and he is one of the most bizarre deities in Greyhawk.

Murlynd is a handsome man dressed in worn leather and wears a hat of an unknown style. His weapons of choice are a pair of hand-held weapons that emit powerful projectiles. His holy symbol is a six-pointed star with rounded tips. His holy text is a pulp novel describing his exploits when he was just an adventurer. So in other words, he's a fucking wild west sheriff. In Greyhawk of all places. Whether this is awesome or fail really depends on who you ask, so just roll with it.

Murlynd is the hero-deity of magical technology. He was one of the members of the Company of Seven, a group of adventurers formed by Zagig Yragerne and included Iggwilv, who would later become Graz'zt's lover and sire Iuz with him. He was a paladin of Heironeous, who eventually sponsored his ascension to demi-deity. He later traveled to the plane of Boot Hill, where he obtained his signature weapons.

Out of universe, he was a PC created by Don Kaye, a friend of Gary Gygax who helped him set up TSR and a big-time fan of Westerns who was the major creative force behind Boot Hill. He was rolled-up in Gygax's kitchen during the second-ever session of D&D, making him the first notable instance of a new player wanting to be a "special snowflake." When Kaye died unexpectedly three years later, Gygax decided to pay homage to his friend by highlighting Murlynd, first as a unique character in the Greyhawk setting, and then as a god. Murlynd is also the first case of a player coming up with a name for his character, as the rest of Gygax's group gave their characters mutations of their own name (Gary -> Yrag).

Domain

As the god of magical technology Murlynd is very driven to discover and develop new technologies for the good of the common people. If they encounter inferior technology they will either try to upgrade it or create something better themselves. The discovering and building of weapons and technology is a virtue in the eyes of Murlynd, and technology too dangerous to be used is destroyed. Murlynd's clerics often work together with those of Phaulkon's to this latter goal.

Dwelling

Murlynd has a home in the Land Beyond the Magic Mirror, which is part of the plane of Dungeonland, a classic AD&D adventure module. Note that this land shares a name with the follow-up module, The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror, but Murlynd does not appear in this module. The demiplane that he lives in is just under a mile in diameter, filled with thick temperate forests forming natural pathways. Those who hack their way through the forest will eventually find themselves back where they started. Murlynd's house can be accessed via a mirror in Castle Greyhawk, located on the same level as Zagyg's Crypt.

Followers

The clerics of Murlynd have a lot in common with those of Heironeous: they uphold the virtues of law and good, protect the weak and crusade against evil. Clerics dedicated to him will use their knowledge of technology to improve the lives of the common folk while the paladins dedicated to him (who are more like a sect of Heironeous than an independent faith) use the knowledge of technology granted by their god to destroy evil. They are often dressed in strange garb that they cobbled together themselves and wield firebrands hand-held devices that shoot metal balls at high speeds.