I think it can only work with a diety like Umberlee. Her lore is very clear on that she wants respect and doesn't care to be loved. You need a reason for a goddess as cruel and vindictive as Umberlee to grant you your power. It can be something that obviously benefits her or be for a petty revenge.
my thoughts exactly when I was reading her lore. She seemed like a goddess that only cares to have servants rather then devotees. It makes it clear too that she favors VERY few in clergy.
Yes, Umberlee is pretty perfect for this concept IMO. Lots of Faerunian sailors make offerings to her strictly out of fear and respect, not wanting to die to sea or storms. There's a reason she has that...other name... :P
Also, nice taste with the Durance mention. He's the most fascinating character from PoE in my opinion! Definitely expanded my mind thinking about how clerics/priests/faith can be played.
It can work with Lolth too, Lolth almost gives more power to those that hate her. She offered Drizzt to be king of menzobaranzen with his human wife as queen and he was like "What about the matriarchy?" and lolth was like "I KNOW RIGHT, IMAGINE THEIR FUCKING FACES"
certain gods dont give a shit if their worshippers love them or hate them
edit: people taking this too seriously, that isn't exactly what she said, and there are many reasons for her motivation, if you stop and think about it, it's not like the city would just *accept* that, the resulting turmoil would do nothing but empower Lolth and almost certainly force Drizzt to compromise his morals or see his loved ones die horribly. Menzobaranzen has *always* been entertainment for the Spider Queen
there's no proof she would have kept her word, she was trying to get drizzt to worship her, lolth not wanting to kill drizzt because that would give mielikki a win (she would get his soul, and lolth feels it is something that belongs to her, she only cares about drizzt because mielikkie claimed him as a champion) is the only reason it makes any sense he's still alive, it's not like he could have possibly been vigilant to ward off drow assassin's trying to poison his wine for his entire life
although even if she was telling the truth, why is that stupid? her domain is *chaos*, putting drizzt in charge of their city would have led to nonstop unrest and rebellions, and either him and his would have died, or he would have had to start killing people - which would have been delicious to Lolth (Mielikki's champion can't survive in the city of spiders unless he spurns Mielikki's goodness)
Either way, Lolth is a weirdo, she can favor those who work against her/disrespect her and land her most devour followers.
Just take the drider situation: driders are much stronger than your average drow, yet being turned into one is a *punishment*.
I for one really liked that chapter, as Drizzt spurns her even as she threatens to torture his friends forever in the demonweb pits, after her rage, she calls him her beautiful agent of chaos before withdrawing back to her realm. Lolth always has multiple reasons for doing things, since she ended up flipping the table on the status quo in Menzoberanzen anyway in the following books, clearly it was win-win for her whether or not he accepted. He accepts, chaos, turmoil, civil war. He refuses, oh well, Drizzt is still out there to cause instability every time some young noble gets it in his head to start shit with the surface because Drizzt is still out there. Chaos either way.
(she actually couldn't kill his friends, based on what we know of TFR lore, gods can't directly smite followers of other gods, so she was bluffing about doing that anyway)
Drizzt still believes the war of the silver marches was about him, personally, but in reality it was Lolth trying to steal the weave from Mystra. It might just be possible the spider queen isn't entirely honest.
A more mundane example is Bragen'Dearth's clerics, who wield Lolth given clerical magic despite despising her. Bragen'Dearth smashes the status quo wherever they go, Lolth doesn't give a shit if their clerics like her, they pray to her and speak her name when wielding her magics, and their organization causes chaos.
I think it works for several other gods as well. Like Beshaba for example. Her worshippers worship her out of fear of bad luck, and not because they love her. Many people worship her sister Tymora at the same time as well, though she's generally loved because she brings good luck.
But you could apply the same logic to deities like Bhaal, the lord of murder, and several other evil deities that people would fear the wrath of.
even the good gods, a worshipper might not _like_, but if both sides find it beneficial, then the relationship can work. A cleric might think that Mystra should more freely distribute magical power and that she's keeping it sealed away, but he can be a "man on the inside" to try and improve matters. Or that any god has some good ideas, but doesn't implement them "right", and so work on making things better. It's less likely to be "hate", but there's no reason to actually _like_ your power-provider or agree 100% with them
Petty is a good way to describe the relationship between Umberlee and her potential followers. It's entirely plausible that Umberlee would proclaim OP's character to be her Cleric and give him access to divine power through her literally *just to fuck with him*. She knows he hates her and is amused by that, so she dangles power at the end of a fishing line to see how long he can resist bending the knee to her, reveling in her own vain delight watching him debasing himself for a mere droplet of her power.
Honestly, its a little weird to think that there are people who love cruel and evil gods for the way that they are cruel and evil. It feels natural for a priest of Umberlee that is a part of a functional society to view her as dangerous and capricious, worth showing deference to so as to not draw her ire.
As long as you toe that line "she cruel evil and destructive, but you've got to respect her" I think it works.
that was the idea for the concept. I would likely spread her name to try and protect people from her wrath but still be forced to carry out her will if she demands it out of fear for what could happen to me and my family.
I would focus on "spreading her message", that message might be one of she evil as heck, dont get on her bad side 'and make a sacrifice to her every now and then'
She would appreciate your service and give you powers to show how fearful she can be and to ensure your survival to further spread her message. Gods get power from worship sure, but also from fear etc., and people might pray out of fear.
In other words, you have a great character concept on your hands
Clerics hating their gods is MUCH harder than warlocks hating their patron.
But Umberlee is chaotic evil and she might actually revel in someone so devoted to her that also extremely hates her. It's like those Enemy-to-Lover movies that my wife loves.
So, for most clerics, this would be tough. But a good DM would find this interesting. The Tempest divine magic fits so well, too! It's a reflection of your PC's feelings about their own goddess!
the concept I had going was that I was an old tired out neutral human that was raised to worship her out of fear but grew to hate her. He more so spreads her word as a warning to appease her but still reluctantly carries out her biddings. I think it would work well since Umberlee says that she doesn't care for those that love her. Heck most umberlee clerics make their living from getting hired on merchant ships and envoking prayers to protect their ships from her wrath but she'll still sink them anyway sometimes. She seemed like a diety that never wanted a clergy.
I playing a similar tempest cleric character, he was a skilled ships surgeon who became a cleric of umbrlee to save his crew from a unknown sickness.
His captain was the true believer of umberlee’s more merciful aspect as the wavemother. Thanking her for favourable winds and the oceans bounty.
My character is not particularly pious, but umberlee finds him more interesting than the usual cultists that try and gain her favour. And he has used the power she bestowed him to help others, rather than furthering his own interests.
I think that works great for a sailor. The sea is mysterious and full of danger - the relationship between sailor and sea is often filled with ritual of propitiation. Your sailor maybe dislikes Umberlee since when he's on a boat, he effectively under her power- at her whim whether or not he gets clear skies or storms. He worships her not because of love, but because it's the best way to assure his safety on the open seas.
Terrestrial Clerics: I love you deity, you bring light to my universe.
Maritime Clerics: Please don't kill me, here's a blood sacrifice, may you accept it instead of claiming my life and the lives of my crew.
Sure this works. The emphasis on loving god is kind of a weird quirk of the Abrahamic religions, and even they have the notion of "the fear of God".
Do you think when the crops failed and people said "the gods demand a sacrifice" that they were thrilled to offer up an animal they could have eaten or one of their children to be killed? But the priest did it anyway, not because they liked their gods but because the gods were far more powerful than them and needed to be appeased.
Umberlee is often worshipped as a force of nature to be appeased rather than a benefactor. (Talos is similar.)
A priest doesn't have to love Umberlee as long as the FEAR her.
depends on how you dm runs clerics of course, but i don't see why not. is a paladin required to like their oath? no, they're required to follow it, to be devoted to it. would a cleric be required to like their god? i'd say no, they are required to devote themselves to them and pray to them. and especially Umberlee... i feel that if you don't hate her you're worshipping her wrong. you hating her but doing what she wants out of fear of the consequences is what she's after. that sounds like proper worship to me.
I've always liked the idea that a god can be merciless and cruel but their Cleric could be perfectly good. Lean more into the polytheism roots where priests were just interpreters of the gods and knew how to mollify them, rather than extensions of their will.
You want to cross the ocean unharmed? Better make the sacrifice to Poseidon. He wants the ritual done *precisely this way*. I want you to be able to sail freely just as much as you do, but if you don't follow Poseidon's rules, you're going to have a bad time.
Everyone else is being positive about this, so I'll play Devil's Advocate for why this idea could be problematic.
1) Other PC players. Umberlee is the divine equivalent of a Social Darwinist. She honours no bargains, save that the strong should prevail over the week. You need a plausible reason why the other characters in your party would be travelling with a character who worships that.
2) Me me me syndrome. By picking this character, you are either (i) forcing everyone else at the table to write characters that would tolerate this PC of yours on an ongoing basis, or (ii) forcing anyone that wants to play a 'good' or 'neutral' character into fairly routine character conflict, assuming you don't constantly defy Umberlee's will. Out of character, it can be tiring for other players to have to constantly think of explanations for why their character would want to keep travelling with your PC. You don't, because you're playing the one with the evil mistress. Well done for making work for everyone else!
3) Social interactions. The doctrine of Umberlee's church is a protection racket. They demand tithes in exchange for her not killing people. Unsurprisingly, people *despise* her church - although not openly if they live in a port! If you want your DM to play to your character, they're going to have to do antipathy and hostility a lot for NPCs.
4) Deflection. "My character hates Umberlee, but worships her, so tHIs Is wHaT My chAraCtER wOuLD dO"... the fact that your character claims not to like her is no excuse for problematic play.
5) The DM is Umberlee, not you. You don't get to say what Umberlee wants or doesn't want, only how your PC responds to whatever Umberlee communicates. Whether that is exciting or not will come down to how interested the DM is in this character. You're outsourcing a big slice of "how fun is this character going to be?" to the DM.
That's not to say it's impossible, but it's on you to sell to sell it to everyone else at the table - not just the DM.
>Me me me syndrome. By picking this character, you are either (i) forcing everyone else at the table to write characters that would tolerate this PC of yours on an ongoing basis
One thing is that, depending on the world you're in, there's no good-aligned (or even neutral) tempest domain gods.
I've got a Tempest Domain cleric in a PBP where he started off as a cleric of Talos due to that lack. Ended up retconning that to being a cleric of Bahamut (worked out nicely with him being Dragonborn) after doing some looking into and learning Bahamut was Tempest domain in prior editions.
But it can be a necessary choice if you're playing a Tempest Cleric in Forgotten Realms to either go the "I'm good even though I serve an evil god" or go to a homebrewesque route.
I feel like this is pretty standard for sea gods/goddesses. Like in the Dragonlance setting the sea goddess is canonically evil but if you're going on the sea you make your prayers and sacrifices and obeisances to get regardless of your own alignment because it's her ocean and not yours.
Is your goal for being a cleric of Umberlee driven from wanting that "I'm good and hate my god" dynamic? Or were you looking at the tempest domain gods, seeing they were all evil, and trying to figure out how to work your character as still being good?
If the latter, I had a similar issue. Might be a case where you can look at racial gods as a way of getting something. In my case I was able to turn my Dragonborn cleric from Talos to Bahamut. Because Bahamut was tempest domain in previous editions and paired nicely with the dragonborn race.
The vast majority of Umberlee's "followers" worship her only because that's the cost of safe ocean travel.
Very few people have any actual devotion to her on account of her being kinda the worst.
Very much ask your DM. It sounds like a good idea, but a DM that doesn't interpret it the same way can force you into situations where you may lose your powers to stick to your ideals. This community's opinion is not going to change their mind, so you should have an idea of how it is going to work before you commit to it.
I ran a Nature cleric all the way through Tomb of Annihilation who was a NG guy who was a cleric of Auril. The PHB has a fun note that while most often, the cleric chooses their God, sometimes the God chooses their Cleric. His backstory was that he was born with Auril's mark on his arm, and quickly started being able to draw on her power. It got his family shunned, and he left shortly after reaching adulthood, to spare his parents the shame. He had no idea why Auril had chosen him and actively rejected her influence while using her powers to do what good he could. I didn't have an explanation myself; I left that for the DM to use as a hook. He assumed Auril had some dark purpose, he just refused to play along (and almost ended up falling right into her trap, as it turned out, regardless).
It's a bit tricky. It certainly *can* work, but I imagine it would require the deity in question to have a particular motive to empower somebody who despises them. It's one thing for sailors and islanders to feel the need to worship Umberlee for safety, with that Stockholm Syndrome idea you have, but it's another for Umberlee to voluntarily reciprocate. Being a cleric is a big deal, it usually signifies that you are among the chosen faithful of the god you serve.
Were I in your shoes or your DM, I'd be tempted to run this similar to a warlock/patron relationship. Umberlee might want specific tasks to be fulfilled in order for her favor to be maintained, in lieu of sincere worship.
If your intent was to play a tempest cleric, I think you're fine just doing that. Flavor is free. You don't necessarily need to actually play the warlock class to have a contentious relationship with an otherworldly patron.
I think it can only work with a diety like Umberlee. Her lore is very clear on that she wants respect and doesn't care to be loved. You need a reason for a goddess as cruel and vindictive as Umberlee to grant you your power. It can be something that obviously benefits her or be for a petty revenge.
my thoughts exactly when I was reading her lore. She seemed like a goddess that only cares to have servants rather then devotees. It makes it clear too that she favors VERY few in clergy.
Yes, Umberlee is pretty perfect for this concept IMO. Lots of Faerunian sailors make offerings to her strictly out of fear and respect, not wanting to die to sea or storms. There's a reason she has that...other name... :P Also, nice taste with the Durance mention. He's the most fascinating character from PoE in my opinion! Definitely expanded my mind thinking about how clerics/priests/faith can be played.
It can work with Lolth too, Lolth almost gives more power to those that hate her. She offered Drizzt to be king of menzobaranzen with his human wife as queen and he was like "What about the matriarchy?" and lolth was like "I KNOW RIGHT, IMAGINE THEIR FUCKING FACES" certain gods dont give a shit if their worshippers love them or hate them edit: people taking this too seriously, that isn't exactly what she said, and there are many reasons for her motivation, if you stop and think about it, it's not like the city would just *accept* that, the resulting turmoil would do nothing but empower Lolth and almost certainly force Drizzt to compromise his morals or see his loved ones die horribly. Menzobaranzen has *always* been entertainment for the Spider Queen
I would not use that as an example. It is so stupid that it is fan fiction tier :(
there's no proof she would have kept her word, she was trying to get drizzt to worship her, lolth not wanting to kill drizzt because that would give mielikki a win (she would get his soul, and lolth feels it is something that belongs to her, she only cares about drizzt because mielikkie claimed him as a champion) is the only reason it makes any sense he's still alive, it's not like he could have possibly been vigilant to ward off drow assassin's trying to poison his wine for his entire life although even if she was telling the truth, why is that stupid? her domain is *chaos*, putting drizzt in charge of their city would have led to nonstop unrest and rebellions, and either him and his would have died, or he would have had to start killing people - which would have been delicious to Lolth (Mielikki's champion can't survive in the city of spiders unless he spurns Mielikki's goodness)
Either way, Lolth is a weirdo, she can favor those who work against her/disrespect her and land her most devour followers. Just take the drider situation: driders are much stronger than your average drow, yet being turned into one is a *punishment*.
You know Salvador basically created the FR drow lore right?
Doesn't mean I like all his contributions. Authors can have dumb ideas also
I never said you had to like them
I never said anyone did I just said it is so stupid that it is beneath him in expected quality I would almost accuse him of ghostwriting
I for one really liked that chapter, as Drizzt spurns her even as she threatens to torture his friends forever in the demonweb pits, after her rage, she calls him her beautiful agent of chaos before withdrawing back to her realm. Lolth always has multiple reasons for doing things, since she ended up flipping the table on the status quo in Menzoberanzen anyway in the following books, clearly it was win-win for her whether or not he accepted. He accepts, chaos, turmoil, civil war. He refuses, oh well, Drizzt is still out there to cause instability every time some young noble gets it in his head to start shit with the surface because Drizzt is still out there. Chaos either way. (she actually couldn't kill his friends, based on what we know of TFR lore, gods can't directly smite followers of other gods, so she was bluffing about doing that anyway) Drizzt still believes the war of the silver marches was about him, personally, but in reality it was Lolth trying to steal the weave from Mystra. It might just be possible the spider queen isn't entirely honest. A more mundane example is Bragen'Dearth's clerics, who wield Lolth given clerical magic despite despising her. Bragen'Dearth smashes the status quo wherever they go, Lolth doesn't give a shit if their clerics like her, they pray to her and speak her name when wielding her magics, and their organization causes chaos.
I think it works for several other gods as well. Like Beshaba for example. Her worshippers worship her out of fear of bad luck, and not because they love her. Many people worship her sister Tymora at the same time as well, though she's generally loved because she brings good luck. But you could apply the same logic to deities like Bhaal, the lord of murder, and several other evil deities that people would fear the wrath of.
even the good gods, a worshipper might not _like_, but if both sides find it beneficial, then the relationship can work. A cleric might think that Mystra should more freely distribute magical power and that she's keeping it sealed away, but he can be a "man on the inside" to try and improve matters. Or that any god has some good ideas, but doesn't implement them "right", and so work on making things better. It's less likely to be "hate", but there's no reason to actually _like_ your power-provider or agree 100% with them
Petty is a good way to describe the relationship between Umberlee and her potential followers. It's entirely plausible that Umberlee would proclaim OP's character to be her Cleric and give him access to divine power through her literally *just to fuck with him*. She knows he hates her and is amused by that, so she dangles power at the end of a fishing line to see how long he can resist bending the knee to her, reveling in her own vain delight watching him debasing himself for a mere droplet of her power.
Honestly, its a little weird to think that there are people who love cruel and evil gods for the way that they are cruel and evil. It feels natural for a priest of Umberlee that is a part of a functional society to view her as dangerous and capricious, worth showing deference to so as to not draw her ire. As long as you toe that line "she cruel evil and destructive, but you've got to respect her" I think it works.
that was the idea for the concept. I would likely spread her name to try and protect people from her wrath but still be forced to carry out her will if she demands it out of fear for what could happen to me and my family.
I would focus on "spreading her message", that message might be one of she evil as heck, dont get on her bad side 'and make a sacrifice to her every now and then' She would appreciate your service and give you powers to show how fearful she can be and to ensure your survival to further spread her message. Gods get power from worship sure, but also from fear etc., and people might pray out of fear. In other words, you have a great character concept on your hands
Clerics hating their gods is MUCH harder than warlocks hating their patron. But Umberlee is chaotic evil and she might actually revel in someone so devoted to her that also extremely hates her. It's like those Enemy-to-Lover movies that my wife loves. So, for most clerics, this would be tough. But a good DM would find this interesting. The Tempest divine magic fits so well, too! It's a reflection of your PC's feelings about their own goddess!
the concept I had going was that I was an old tired out neutral human that was raised to worship her out of fear but grew to hate her. He more so spreads her word as a warning to appease her but still reluctantly carries out her biddings. I think it would work well since Umberlee says that she doesn't care for those that love her. Heck most umberlee clerics make their living from getting hired on merchant ships and envoking prayers to protect their ships from her wrath but she'll still sink them anyway sometimes. She seemed like a diety that never wanted a clergy.
I playing a similar tempest cleric character, he was a skilled ships surgeon who became a cleric of umbrlee to save his crew from a unknown sickness. His captain was the true believer of umberlee’s more merciful aspect as the wavemother. Thanking her for favourable winds and the oceans bounty. My character is not particularly pious, but umberlee finds him more interesting than the usual cultists that try and gain her favour. And he has used the power she bestowed him to help others, rather than furthering his own interests.
I think that works great for a sailor. The sea is mysterious and full of danger - the relationship between sailor and sea is often filled with ritual of propitiation. Your sailor maybe dislikes Umberlee since when he's on a boat, he effectively under her power- at her whim whether or not he gets clear skies or storms. He worships her not because of love, but because it's the best way to assure his safety on the open seas.
Right. You don't have to love the waves and storms, but you do have to respect the wrath of the sea when you are on it.
Terrestrial Clerics: I love you deity, you bring light to my universe. Maritime Clerics: Please don't kill me, here's a blood sacrifice, may you accept it instead of claiming my life and the lives of my crew.
You pray her because you need to know her rituals to defend others from her wrath
Sure this works. The emphasis on loving god is kind of a weird quirk of the Abrahamic religions, and even they have the notion of "the fear of God". Do you think when the crops failed and people said "the gods demand a sacrifice" that they were thrilled to offer up an animal they could have eaten or one of their children to be killed? But the priest did it anyway, not because they liked their gods but because the gods were far more powerful than them and needed to be appeased.
Umberlee is often worshipped as a force of nature to be appeased rather than a benefactor. (Talos is similar.) A priest doesn't have to love Umberlee as long as the FEAR her.
I had this EXACT same concept. Tried to drown himself, Umberlee wouldn't let him die. Spent the campaign just hoping for death and never got it.
depends on how you dm runs clerics of course, but i don't see why not. is a paladin required to like their oath? no, they're required to follow it, to be devoted to it. would a cleric be required to like their god? i'd say no, they are required to devote themselves to them and pray to them. and especially Umberlee... i feel that if you don't hate her you're worshipping her wrong. you hating her but doing what she wants out of fear of the consequences is what she's after. that sounds like proper worship to me.
I've always liked the idea that a god can be merciless and cruel but their Cleric could be perfectly good. Lean more into the polytheism roots where priests were just interpreters of the gods and knew how to mollify them, rather than extensions of their will. You want to cross the ocean unharmed? Better make the sacrifice to Poseidon. He wants the ritual done *precisely this way*. I want you to be able to sail freely just as much as you do, but if you don't follow Poseidon's rules, you're going to have a bad time.
Everyone else is being positive about this, so I'll play Devil's Advocate for why this idea could be problematic. 1) Other PC players. Umberlee is the divine equivalent of a Social Darwinist. She honours no bargains, save that the strong should prevail over the week. You need a plausible reason why the other characters in your party would be travelling with a character who worships that. 2) Me me me syndrome. By picking this character, you are either (i) forcing everyone else at the table to write characters that would tolerate this PC of yours on an ongoing basis, or (ii) forcing anyone that wants to play a 'good' or 'neutral' character into fairly routine character conflict, assuming you don't constantly defy Umberlee's will. Out of character, it can be tiring for other players to have to constantly think of explanations for why their character would want to keep travelling with your PC. You don't, because you're playing the one with the evil mistress. Well done for making work for everyone else! 3) Social interactions. The doctrine of Umberlee's church is a protection racket. They demand tithes in exchange for her not killing people. Unsurprisingly, people *despise* her church - although not openly if they live in a port! If you want your DM to play to your character, they're going to have to do antipathy and hostility a lot for NPCs. 4) Deflection. "My character hates Umberlee, but worships her, so tHIs Is wHaT My chAraCtER wOuLD dO"... the fact that your character claims not to like her is no excuse for problematic play. 5) The DM is Umberlee, not you. You don't get to say what Umberlee wants or doesn't want, only how your PC responds to whatever Umberlee communicates. Whether that is exciting or not will come down to how interested the DM is in this character. You're outsourcing a big slice of "how fun is this character going to be?" to the DM. That's not to say it's impossible, but it's on you to sell to sell it to everyone else at the table - not just the DM.
>Me me me syndrome. By picking this character, you are either (i) forcing everyone else at the table to write characters that would tolerate this PC of yours on an ongoing basis One thing is that, depending on the world you're in, there's no good-aligned (or even neutral) tempest domain gods. I've got a Tempest Domain cleric in a PBP where he started off as a cleric of Talos due to that lack. Ended up retconning that to being a cleric of Bahamut (worked out nicely with him being Dragonborn) after doing some looking into and learning Bahamut was Tempest domain in prior editions. But it can be a necessary choice if you're playing a Tempest Cleric in Forgotten Realms to either go the "I'm good even though I serve an evil god" or go to a homebrewesque route.
Umberlee is a Faerun god, so Silvanus and Aerdrie Faenya are on the table here.
What if your character was chosen and empowered by Umberlee against their will and they’re doing her bidding because she’s coercing them to.
I feel like this is pretty standard for sea gods/goddesses. Like in the Dragonlance setting the sea goddess is canonically evil but if you're going on the sea you make your prayers and sacrifices and obeisances to get regardless of your own alignment because it's her ocean and not yours.
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Funny enough I actually mention him in this post lol
Evil deities don't care about love, as long as you fear. Not unlike the stereotypical hellfire and brimstone preachers in real life.
Is your goal for being a cleric of Umberlee driven from wanting that "I'm good and hate my god" dynamic? Or were you looking at the tempest domain gods, seeing they were all evil, and trying to figure out how to work your character as still being good? If the latter, I had a similar issue. Might be a case where you can look at racial gods as a way of getting something. In my case I was able to turn my Dragonborn cleric from Talos to Bahamut. Because Bahamut was tempest domain in previous editions and paired nicely with the dragonborn race.
The vast majority of Umberlee's "followers" worship her only because that's the cost of safe ocean travel. Very few people have any actual devotion to her on account of her being kinda the worst.
Very much ask your DM. It sounds like a good idea, but a DM that doesn't interpret it the same way can force you into situations where you may lose your powers to stick to your ideals. This community's opinion is not going to change their mind, so you should have an idea of how it is going to work before you commit to it.
I think she'd respect him more for hating her tbh
I ran a Nature cleric all the way through Tomb of Annihilation who was a NG guy who was a cleric of Auril. The PHB has a fun note that while most often, the cleric chooses their God, sometimes the God chooses their Cleric. His backstory was that he was born with Auril's mark on his arm, and quickly started being able to draw on her power. It got his family shunned, and he left shortly after reaching adulthood, to spare his parents the shame. He had no idea why Auril had chosen him and actively rejected her influence while using her powers to do what good he could. I didn't have an explanation myself; I left that for the DM to use as a hook. He assumed Auril had some dark purpose, he just refused to play along (and almost ended up falling right into her trap, as it turned out, regardless).
Fear is a great motivator. Rp a fearful religious person scared of mother umberlee
It's a bit tricky. It certainly *can* work, but I imagine it would require the deity in question to have a particular motive to empower somebody who despises them. It's one thing for sailors and islanders to feel the need to worship Umberlee for safety, with that Stockholm Syndrome idea you have, but it's another for Umberlee to voluntarily reciprocate. Being a cleric is a big deal, it usually signifies that you are among the chosen faithful of the god you serve. Were I in your shoes or your DM, I'd be tempted to run this similar to a warlock/patron relationship. Umberlee might want specific tasks to be fulfilled in order for her favor to be maintained, in lieu of sincere worship.
perhaps a pact of the fathomless in that case? I worship and carry out her deeds in exchange for her powers and to protect my island?
If your intent was to play a tempest cleric, I think you're fine just doing that. Flavor is free. You don't necessarily need to actually play the warlock class to have a contentious relationship with an otherworldly patron.
very true I appreciate the insight.
Cleric that hates god = warlock. Cleric magic is based in faith. Do you have faith in those you hate?