Tvashtri
Tvashtr, the Heavenly Builder. CG Demipower of invention and creation [He/Him]
Pantheon: Vedic
Symbol: A mechanical bird
Realm: Outlands / Ringlands / Tvashtri’s Laboratory
Let’s talk about Tvashtri, the Vedic demipower of Creation, Artifice, and Science. This cutter’s a true brain box, a patron of all those who tinker and toil with their hands and minds. His followers—a bunch of artisans more interested in hard work than troubling about morals and ethics—are expected to be as sharp as a razor with their problem-solving. Mechanicians and inventors, they sing his praises, seeing him as the absolute pinnacle of their craft.
Back in the early days of the Vedic Age, Tvashtri was a priest with ambitions so barmy, that he thought he could topple wicked Indra from his perch as the king of the gods. He cooked up a son, a real ace, aiming to give Indra a run for his jink. But Indra, not one to be easily outdone, smashed this upstart to bits. Not one to take things lying down, Tvashtri then conjured up a demon called Vritra, so fearsome that Indra had to get clever to defeat it. This tale, it’s a testament to Tvashtri’s knack for invention, and it’s no surprise that he bagged immortality, whether through his own wits or as a gift from the godly sorts.
Now, Tvashtri the Artificer, is name that rings bells in the forges and workshops. He’s the go-to for those who design and dream up newfangled contraptions. Most of his time’s spent hammering out the weapons of the gods, enchanting them so they won’t ever turn on him. But don’t go thinking he’s some larger-than-life figure; in his true form, he’s just another basher.
In his Realm, though, that’s where Tvashtri cuts a figure. He looms large like a clockwork giant, busying himself with this and that. One moment he’s overseeing a new building, the next he’s crafting tools and trinkets with hands as delicate as they are massive. And then there are times he’s doing the dodge from his own followers, who are always buzzing around, itching to show him their latest brainstorms.
Tvashtri is a symbol of ingenuity, a beacon for those who see the world not as it is, but as it could be. Out on the infinite planes, where wonders and horrors abound, Tvashtri’s the reminder that sometimes the greatest magic of all is the spark of a new idea.
Canonical Source: On Hallowed Ground [2e] p105,154,157,179 (brief mentions)
Source: Jon Winter-Holt