Crom

Religion in NetHack
priests alignment alignment record altars atheism anger gods sacrifice prayer turn undead

In NetHack, Crom is the neutral god of the Barbarian pantheon.

Origin

In the Conan the Barbarian stories of Robert E. Howard, Crom is a deity that is worshiped as the chief god of the Cimmerian pantheon, including by the titular Conan. Crom is the only member of the Cimmerian pantheon to be named with any regularity, and is exclusively worshiped by the Cimmerians, to the point that Conan invoking his name readily identifies him as a Cimmerian. The name Crom may probably be derived from the Old Irish deity Crom Cruach or Crom Dubh.

Crom is a gloomy and savage god said to live on a great mountain from which he sends forth doom or death, and calling upon Crom is considered useless: he is attested as hating weaklings and not caring whether individuals live or die, and his name is typically only invoked as an oath or curse. The Cimmerians believe that Crom provides his followers courage, free will and the strength to fight their enemies, and that this is all they need from him. Unlike Mitra and Set - who are also part of the Barbarian pantheon in NetHack - Crom is never conclusively shown to intervene or even exist in any form within the Conan stories.

Variants

dNetHack

In dNetHack and notdNetHack, Crom is a neutral god of neutral holiness, and his minions consist of the standard neutral elementals: air elementals, water elementals, fire elementals, earth elementals, and mortai.

Encyclopedia entry

Warily Conan scanned his surroundings, all of his senses alert
for signs of possible danger. Off in the distance, he could
see the familiar shapes of the Camp of the Duali tribe.
Suddenly, the hairs on his neck stand on end as he detects the
aura of evil magic in the air. Without thought, he readies
his weapon, and mutters under his breath:
"By Crom, there will be blood spilt today."

[ Conan the Avenger by Robert E. Howard, Bjorn Nyberg, and
   L. Sprague de Camp ]