Difference between revisions of "Flan (Greyhawk)"

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== Traits ==
 
== Traits ==
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=== Assimilated but Aware ===
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{{ Flan Traits (Apath)}}
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Despite living among other folk, you have clung to your cultural identity.
 
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'''Benefit''': You can imitate the accents and mannerisms of others, concealing your cultural heritage as that of the people you grew up amongst. You gain a +1 trait bonus to Bluff and Diplomacy and one of these skills is a class skill for you.
 
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=== Druidic Empathy ===
 
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Your family has ancient ties to nature.
 
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'''Benefit''': You use the Wild Empathy druid class ability with a bonus equal to your Wisdom modifier rather than your Charisma modifier. If you lack this class feature, you can use it with a bonus equal to your Wisdom modifier.
 
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=== Hidden Survivor ===
 
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Your way of life has often come under attack, and your people have learned to hide and avoid trouble by moving away from it.
 
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'''Benefit''': You gain a +1 trait bonus on Stealth and Survival checks. One of these skills is a class skill for you.
 
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=== Legacy of Vecna ===
 
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You have inherited your people's ancient magic traditions, but they come at a cost. It is all too easy to follow in the footsteps of Vecna.
 
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'''Benefit:''' If you have a spellbook or list of spells known you learn one additional necromantic spell each time you learn spells of a new level. You can learn one necromantic spell of each spell level this way. If there are no necromantic spells on your class' spell list of a certain level, the benefit is lost for that level of spell. If you cast a necromantic spell for a non-destructive, good, and selfless purpose, you take one point of Charisma damage.
 
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=== Totem Bond ===
 
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You have formed a close bond with an animal, reawakening the ancient totemic legacy of your people.
 
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'''Benefit''': If you have a familiar or animal companion as a class feature, that feature works as if you were three levels higher. If you don't have such a class feature, you gain a familiar like that of a first level wizard. Your ties to your totem is unusually strong; you can never change what kind of familiar or animal companion you have, tough you can exchange it for a different-sized animal of the same basic family; exchange a Small viper for a Large viper or a wolf for a dire wolf, for example.
 
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If you have the option to pick a familiar or animal companion as a class feature, you must do so. If you are a ranger, you get your animal companion at first level. If you do not have an animal companion or familiar as a class feature, select an animal that qualifies as a familiar and gain that as an animal companion as if you were a level 1 druid.
 

Revision as of 23:49, 28 August 2012

GreyhawkGreyhawk Arms

Though almost obsolete as a distinct people today, the Flan have had a great influence on present-day Oerdians and to a lesser extent on the Suel - more than those haughty peoples admit. The Flan also left many landmarks, and understanding Flan and their culture can be essential to surviving these.

Strong Abilities

Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom.

Cultural Traits

Generous, Boisterous, Carefree, Superstitious, Brave

Real-World Models

Picts, Celts, northern Native Americans. Flan are the quintessential formerly great people now reduced to the margins of the land.

Alignment

The Flan see alignment as secondary to survival. You do what you have to do and seek what allies you can find. Servitude under evil is better than the oblivion of death. The powers of light are more generally benevolent and to be served when you can afford to, but the powers of darkness can give an advantage at a critical time. A member of the tribe can sacrifice himself by turning to evil to save the tribe, only to be condemned and killed yet honored after death for his sacrifice.

Practices

Genders equal but different (slightly matriarchal), Promiscuity.

Taboos

Masturbation.

Family

Group marriage. Liaisons encouraged, often for religious purposes. Matrilinear.

Magic

Mainly witchcraft, druidic, and sorcerous magic utilizing the natural currents of magic. Protection and divining spells are used to avoid trouble rather than to confront it. Spells that manipulate and turn adversity into gain are popular, such as weather control, charm, geases, divination, and wards. When all else fails, Flan magicians turn to necromancy.

Pantheon

The Flan as a people have largely been assimilated, first by the Oerdians and then into the common culture. But much of their lore survives, and their gods have become very popular and many are a part of the common pantheon. Many modern theologians believe the Flan teachings to be the closest to revealing the true nature of the gods.

The Flan mythology is based around generation cycles, with a first generation of greater gods, a second generation of lesser gods, and succeeding generations of heroes, kings, and mere mortals all the way to the present day and age. Beory is the spirit of Oerth and the main goddess. Pelor and Nerul are her husbands and the progenitors of most of the pantheon. Vecna and Zodal are ascended humans, the last in the cycle of spousal jealousy.

Another important concept in Flan myth is the ages of life. The ages of women are represented by the goddesses Ehlonna (girl), Myhriss (maiden), Berei (mother) and Beory (matriarch) while the ages of men are represented by Olidarma (youth), Obad-Hai (adult), and Pelor (patriarch).

Beory

In the Common pantheon, the various fertility cults have been reduced to one, under the Oerdian name Oerth, tough her worship goes back as much to the Flan goddess Beory. The exact forms of her worship vary widely, and she has a thousand different names.

Beory is the personification of the earth and the supreme mother of the Flan pantheon. All the other flan gods are defined by their relationship to her. She is eternally generous and unable to deny any of her children and lovers, which often leads to tragedy. She is generally identified with Oerth today.

Among Oerdians Oerth is the primal goddess, mother of both the winds gods and the patriarch trio, the wife of Procan. She only figures in some early legends and her name is preserved in tradition, not theology. She has few temples, tough her shadow remains in the cult of the Oerdian Wind Gods.

In Synchretism Oerth is generally recognized as the world goddess, but there is much dispute over what this means. She is the goddess of mothers and the mother of gods. She has been identified with Geshtai the Baklunish goddess of water and life. Beory the Flan mother-goddess. Llerg, the simple but lovable rival of Kord. Dwarves know her as Berronar the patron of safety and marriage, gnomes as Segojan goddess of the earth, halflings as Sheela Peryroyl goddess of agriculture and weather.

Beory (bay-OH-ree) is usually considered a manifestation of the will of Oerth itself. Little concerns her except the actual fate and prosperity of the entire world, and she is a very distant goddess, even from her clerics. Named by the Flan, Beory's name is known throughout the Flanaess. Beory has little time or interest for most other divine beings, even those of similar interests, for her connection to the Oerth consumes most of her attention. Her symbol is either a green disk marked with a circle or a rotund woman figurine.

The Oerth is the wellspring of all life. Whether on the surface, below the waves, or underground, all life is part of the cycle of birth, life, and death, and part of Beory. She inspires every living thing to grow, nurtures them with blessed rain, and calls them to herself when it is time to die. Disasters that cause widespread destruction are agony to her. The actions of individuals are of no consequence unless they threaten the Oerth.

Clerics of Beory are contemplative and spend their time communing with nature. They wander to feel the different sensations of the Oerth, and use their power to relieve the Oerth's pains where it has been wounded. They often associate with druids. When they gather, they defer to the wisest and oldest. As they try to see the greater picture, they tend to be slow to act, but when they do act it is direct and focused on a quick and often violent solution, such as eliminating all combatants on both sides of an overly destructive conflict.

Alignment: Neutral

Weapon: Club

Symbol: Clay ball or disc.

Pathfinder Domains

Animal, Earth, Plant, Water, Weather.

Pathfinder Traits

Pathfinder Obedience

Polish and caress Oerth's holy symbol, contemplating the various ways the goddess nurtures the world. Think of your own mate(s) and sing a hymn to them while you fantasize about mating and procreating with them. Gain a +4 sacred (or profane if you are evil) bonus on Survival and Knowledge (Nature) checks.

Evangelist or Feat

  1. Weather Watcher (Sp) endure elements 3/day, resist energy 2/day, or protection from energy 1/day
  2. Experienced Traveler (Ex) As a free action, you can grant yourself and any allies within 30 feet of you the ability to move through undergrowth at normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment, as the druid's woodland stride ability. Your allies must remain within 30 feet of you to gain the benefits. The duration is one hour pet Hit Dice you have, you divide the duration in 1-hour intervals among the creatures touched. This period need not be continuous, but must be spent in one-hour increments for each target.
    Thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that are enchanted or magically manipulated to impede motion still affect you and your allies. While using this ability, you also gain a +4 sacred or profane bonus on saving throws against spells and effects that would cause such terrain-based movement impairment, such as the entangle spell. (Your allies do not also gain this bonus.)
  3. Elemental Ally (Sp) Once per day as a standard action, you can cast summon monster VII to summon a greater elemental of a type you choose. You gain telepathic communication with the elemental to a range of 100 feet, and the elemental obeys your commands perfectly.

Exalted

  1. Green Worker (Sp) entangle 3/day, warp wood 2/day, or speak with plants 1/day
  2. Nature Child (Su) You become resistant to acid, cold, electricity, or fire effects. Each day you can have resistance against a different effect. The first time you take acid, cold, electricity, or fire in a day, you gain resistance equal to 5 + your Hit Dice against that energy type.
  3. Nature's Companion (Ex) Your animal companion develops greater combat prowess, mental acumen, and protection against natural elements. First, your animal companion gains a +1 bonus to its Intelligence and Wisdom scores. Second, your animal companion gains a +2 sacred or profane bonus on attack and damage rolls. Third, your animal companion gains a +4 sacred or profane bonus on all saving throws against cold, electricity, and fire spells and effects. If you don’t have an animal companion, you instead gain the ability to use summon nature’s ally VII as a spell-like ability once per day.

Sentinel

  1. Sky Warrior (Sp) shocking grasp 3/day, elemental touchAPG 2/day, or lightning bolt 1/day
  2. Elemental Aura (Su) You can create an elemental aura as a free action. When you first gain this ability, choose acid, cold, electricity, or fire—once you make this selection, it can’t be changed. When you generate the elemental aura, you are surrounded by the element you chose. Anyone striking you with a melee weapon or natural attack takes 2d6 points of damage of the chosen type, plus 1 point for every 2 Hit Dice you possess (maximum 2d6+10). This aura lasts for 1 round for every Hit Die you possess. The rounds in which you manifest your elemental aura don’t need to be consecutive. You can dismiss the aura as a free action.
  3. Mother's Surge (Su) Once per day as a standard action, you can call upon the earth to strike you with a gout of acid that deals no damage to you but instead seems to fill you with boundless energy. You gain 2d10 temporary hit points, and any fatigued or exhausted conditions you are suffering from end. You also gain a +2 bonus to Strength, and your natural attacks and melee weapons deal an extra 1d6 points of acid damage. These effects last for 1 round plus an additional round for every 4 Hit Dice you possess (maximum 6 rounds). You can call upon this acid when you are indoors, underground, or even underwater or flying.

Action Domain

Animal, Earth, Life, Plant, Spiritual.

Pelor

In the Flan mythos, Pelor is the god of the sun. Pelor is Beory’s favored husband, father of many of the Flan gods. He is a positive male aspect and a fertility god, the eternal enemy of Nerull.

Pelor was known as Sol by the early Oeridians. The Solnor Ocean is named for him.

Among the Bakluni, Pelor is known as Al'Asran. Al'Asran is said to have granted the legendary Cup and Talisman to Al'Akbar.

Among the Flan nomads of the Bright Desert, Pelor is known as Aurifar.

Pelor is the main god in the Common pantheon, not because of his position in a pantheon but because he is a very popular. His cult appeals to common people, knights, and nobles alike.

In Synchretism Pelor is the god of the sun, life, and fortune. To Oerdians, she is known as Sotillion, the goddess of summer and comfort. Ascended mortals sponsored by him tend to focus on one of aspects – fire, agriculture, or fighting evil. Mayahene is an ascended paladin of Pelor and defender of good. Python is the Suel god of nature, beauty, and farming, while Joramy is the Suel goddess of fire, volcanoes, righteous wrath, and unbending will. Velnius is the Oerdian god of the sky and overseer of the seasons, mediator of the wind gods.

Pelor (PAY-lor) is the Flan sun god, known throughout the entire Flanaess. Riding the great kirin Star Thought, he summons flights of eagles and destroys evils with bolts of sunlight. Depicted as an old man in white, with wild hair and a beard of shining gold, he was until recently a peaceful and gentle god concerned with the alleviation of suffering. Then he became a more martial deity who brings his wrath to bear on darkness and evil. This aspect of the cult branched off into the separate sub-cult of Mayaheine, summoned by Pelor for this very purpose. Now he invigorates and heals those who champion the cause of good, but does not fight himself. Still, the stylized sun-face holy symbol is painted on shields and banners across the Flanaess.

The energy of life originates from the sun. This light brings strength to the weak and health to the injured, while destroying darkness and evil. Do not be afraid to challenge the forces of corruption, but remember that just as staring at the sun can cause blindness of the eyes, relentless attention to the destruction of negative forces can blind the heart to the true essentials of life: kindness, mercy, and compassion.

Pelor's clerics are usually quiet, kindly people with a backbone of steel. They are primarily nurturers and protectors, but when the time comes to bear arms they are not afraid to do so. They use their powers to heal, nourish, and otherwise aid the needy, while practicing the skills needed to protect their charges should they be threatened. Clerics of Pelor are free to explore far lands in an effort to drive off harmful beings and spread their god's gift to all who need it.

Alignment: Neutral Good

Weapon: Heavy mace

Symbol: Sun face

Pathfinder Domains

Good, Healing, Nobility, Strength (Resolve), Sun.

Pathfinder Traits

Pathfinder Obedience

The sun lord values the redemptive powers of compassion and patience, and extends them to all who might be capable of good. Offer to heal a stranger of his wounds, usually by using the Heal skill, but magic is encouraged. Tell the stranger it is by the will of Pelor that you share your healing gifts. If you can’t find a stranger who will accept your offer, stand beneath the open sky during the daylight hours. Look at the sun's reflection, preferably on gold or yellow metal, but anything is permissible . Gain a +4 sacred bonus on Heal checks.

Evangelist or Feat

  1. Healing Spirit (Sp) cure light wounds 3/day, aid 2/day, or remove curse 1/day
  2. Fiery Spirit (Su) You have spent so much time in the sun, reveling in Pelor’s power and meditating on his glory, that its fiery rays have soaked into your very soul. You gain fire resistance 10.
  3. Holy Brand of the Sun (Su) Your devotion to the sun lord allows you to wrap your weapon in his cleansing flames to better bring justice to his foes. For a number of rounds per day equal to 1 + 1 for every 4 Hit Dice you possess (maximum 6 rounds), you can cause flames to wreathe your weapon. Any weapon you hold while this ability is active becomes a +1 flaming burst weapon. (You can use this ability on a ranged weapon, but can’t apply it directly to a piece of ammunition.) If you drop the weapon or give it away, the flame effect on that weapon immediately ends. If the weapon you hold has an enhancement bonus greater than +1, use the higher bonus. Activating or deactivating this ability is a free action, and the rounds in which you use the ability don’t need to be consecutive.

Exalted

  1. Brightness (Sp) dancing lanternAPG 3/day, continual flame 2/day, or daylight 1/day
  2. Healing Sunburst (Su) You can transmute the sun’s burning rays into brilliant, healing fire. You can add your exalted levels to any cleric levels you have to calculate the power of your channel energy ability. In addition, you can spend three of your daily uses of your channel energy ability to channel an especially powerful burst of healing that manifests as a bright burst of sunlight around you. Anyone healed by your channeled energy sunburst who is currently suffering from poison or a nonmagical disease can immediately attempt a new saving throw with a +2 sacred bonus to end the poison or disease effect.
  3. Angelic Ally (Sp) Once per day as a standard action, you can summon a movanic deva (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 28) to aid you. You gain telepathy with the movanic deva to a range of 100 feet. The deva follows your commands perfectly for 1 minute for every Hit Die you possess before vanishing back to its home. The deva doesn’t follow commands that would cause it to violate its alignment by committing evil acts, and it could even attack you if the command is particularly egregious.

Sentinel

  1. Firebrand (Sp) produce flame 3/day, fire breathAPG 2/day, or fireball 1/day
  2. Channel Efficiency (Su) You are a talented healer, and have honed your ability so that you can preserve your resources while you provide aid to the wounded. You can channel positive energy by consuming a single use of your lay on hands ability instead of two uses. If you don’t have the lay on hands class feature (or if you have lay on hands but can’t use it to channel positive energy), you instead gain a +2 sacred bonus on Perception checks.
  3. Sunburst Strike (Sp) Once per day, you can channel the effects of sunburst through your weapon. You must declare your use of this ability before you roll your attack. On a hit, the target is affected as if you had cast sunburst, as well as taking normal weapon damage. The sunburst effect you generate affects only the target you have struck, not an area of effect as it would normally. If you miss with your attack, the sunburst ability is wasted.

Paladin and Liberator Code

The paladins of the sun lord are protectors and avenger. They provide hope to the weak and support to the righteous. His liberators do much the same, but focus more on the interior of Pelor's lands, expunging decadence, harsh rule, and corruption. Their tenets include the following adages.

  • I will protect my allies and charges with my life. They are my light and my strength, as I am their light and their strength. We rise together.
  • I will seek out and destroy the spawn of the death lord, Nerull, such as undead. If I cannot defeat them, I will give my life trying. If my life would be wasted in the attempt, I will find allies. If any fall because of my inaction, their deaths lie upon my soul, and I will atone for each.
  • I am fair to others and expect them to be fair to me. If I am not shown due respect, I am free to wander off, as the sun rides away over the land.
  • The best battle is a battle I win. If I die, I can no longer fight. I will fight fairly when the fight is fair, and I will strike quickly and without mercy when it is not.
  • I will show the less fortunate the light of the sun lord. I will live my life as his mortal blade, shining with the light of truth.
  • The sun shines on all the world, good and evil. I am magnanimous towards those who might be redeemed. I will redeem the ignorant with my words and my actions. If they threaten the faithful, I will redeem them by the sword.
  • Each day is another step toward grace. I will not turn into the dark. My soul cannot be bought for all the stars in the sky.

Action Domains

Air, Fire, Life, Light, Spiritual,

Nerull

The god of the night and of death of the Flan, Nerull is Beory’s second husband and the rival and enemy of Pelor. Defeated numerous times in the legends, Beory always forgives him so that night can follow day.

As god of the dead and undead in the Common pantheon, Nerull is surprisingly respectable, his clerics tolerated as long as they play by the rules. Sometimes his cult exist under the auspices of the church of Pelor, an evil shadow kept to placate the forces of darkness.

In Synchretism Nerull is seen as the power behind Selvekar the Waster among the Baklunish, Telchur the lord of Winter to Oerdians, and has an aspect named Incabolous focused on disease and hopelessness.

Nerull (NEH-rul) is an ancient Flan god; few anywhere do not know and fear his name. He is a rust-red skeletal being with thick, blackish-green hair, a cowl and cloak of rusty black, and eyes, teeth, and nails the color of poisonous verdigris. His sable wood staff Lifecutter forms a scythe-like blade of red force that slays anyone it touches. Fiends answer his call out of fear rather than loyalty, for he hates all life and is not above destroying servants out of displeasure or spite. His symbol is a skull and scythe. Of all other divine beings, the only one he tolerates is Incabulos, whose gifts send many to his realm.

All are equal in Nerull's cold realm. Every living thing is an affront to the Reaper, and every death brings a dark spark of joy to his long-dead heart. Those who pray to Nerull to appease him only attract his attention and their own doom. Those who kill in his name shall be rewarded.

Nerull's clerics commit murder as offerings to their god; when their actions are discovered, they flee their hiding places and move far away to carry out their evil deeds, appearing innocent while occasionally killing wayfarers on their long journey.

According to Erik Mona in Oerth Journal #3, Nerull is known as Tharoth the Reaper among the Bakluni. Though unofficial, this name has proliferated in the fan community.

Alignment: Neutral Evil.

Weapon: Dagger, Scythe, and Quarterstaff.

Symbol: Skull and scythe.

Pathfinder Domains

Darkness (Night) Death (Murder), Evil, Trickery, Void.

Pathfinder Traits

Pathfinder Obedience

Watch a creature die. This can be a sacrifice you make to Nerull, or it can be an intelligent creature that died for any reason at all within the last day. Study the transition from life to death, anticipating and imagining the death of everything around you. Treat your caster level as 1 higher when casting spells with the evil descriptor.

Boons

  1. Master of Undeath (Sp) inflict light wounds 3/day, desecrate 2/day, or animate dead 1/day
  2. Bolstering Channel (Su) When you channel negative energy to heal undead creatures, you infuse the targets with negative energy made more powerful by Nerull’s influence. Any undead creatures healed by your channeled energy increase their movement speed by 10 feet for 1 round for every Hit Die you possess. If you cannot channel negative energy, you gain the ability to channel negative energy once per day as an evil cleric of a level equal to your Hit Dice.
  3. Ally from the Grave (Sp) The death lord's servants have taken notice of your deeds and answer your call. Once per day as a standard action, you can summon a bhuta (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 41) to serve you. You gain telepathy with the bhuta to a range of 100 feet. The bhuta follows your commands perfectly for 1 minute for every Hit Die you possess before vanishing back to its home. It doesn’t obey commands that would make it perform overly good acts, and such instructions could cause it to attack you if they are particularly egregious.

Action Domains

Darkness, Death, Illusion, Mind, Spiritual.

Berei

The Flan goddess of matriarchy and motherhood. The daughter and incarnation of Beory, Berei is the first human and queen mother of the Flan people just as Beory is the mother of the Flan gods. She is not as impartial as Beory, more worldly and practical.

Berei (BEAR-ay) is possibly a splinter cult of Beory that has taken on an anthropomorphic persona. Berei is the life-giving soil and the strong stone that is the foundation of a safe home. She is shown as a strong-backed woman of brown skin and kind demeanor, and her holy symbol is a sheaf of wheat stalks. As the goddess of the home and family, she blesses weddings, gives fertility, protects the household and its members, guides the hands of those who till the soil, and teaches ways to care for the land. Beory is her mother, Obad-hai and Incabolous her suitors. Who her father is is not considered important among the Flan, but in the Common culture it is Pelor.

The family is the strongest tie between individuals, and one must learn to support and depend upon one's family to survive. A community is a form of large family, and when another family is in need it is the duty of the community to provide for them. The birth of a new child in a time of plenty is a great blessing and an opportunity to resolve differences and restore frayed connections within the family. Care must be taken with every planting so that life can begin there again the next year.

Clerics of Berei tend to stay close to their families, serve as advisers and protectors, advise farmers on crops, and restore barren land. Some of her clerics choose to wander, planting seeds, looking for exotic crops, and carrying news between communities. They often adopt their traveling companions as family members, and consider these bonds as sacred as those of blood relatives.

Alignment: Neutral Good.

Weapon: Sickle.

Symbol: Sheaf of wheat stalks.

Action Domain

Earth, Life, Light, Plant, Spiritual.

Pathfinder Domains

Community, Earth, Good, Plant, Protection.

Pathfinder Traits

Pathfinder Obedience

Watch the land around you, contemplating how they can be foraged and cultivated to support you and your allies. Think of your own mate(s) and sing a hymn to them while you fantasize your progeny and their destiny on this land. Gain a +2 sacred bonus on Fortitude saves.

Evangelist

  1. Weather Watcher (Sp) endure elements 3/day, mature plant 2/day, or plant growth 1/day
  2. Homestead (Ex) As a free action, you can grant yourself and any allies the ability to move through undergrowth at normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment, as the druid's woodland stride ability. This effect covers a 100 ft. radius around the locale you made you most recent obedience.
    Wherever you are, you also gain a +4 sacred or profane bonus on saving throws against spells and effects that would cause such terrain-based movement impairment, such as the entangle spell. (Your allies do not gain this bonus.)
  3. Elemental Ally (Sp) Once per day as a standard action, you can cast summon monster VII to summon a greater elemental of a type you choose. You gain telepathic communication with the elemental to a range of 100 feet, and the elemental obeys your commands perfectly.

Exalted

  1. Green Worker (Sp) entangle 3/day, warp wood 2/day, or speak with plants 1/day
  2. Nature Child (Su) You become resistant to acid, cold, electricity, or fire effects. Each day you can have resistance against a different effect. The first time you take acid, cold, electricity, or fire in a day, you gain resistance equal to 5 + your Hit Dice against that energy type.
  3. Nature's Companion (Ex) Your animal companion develops greater combat prowess, mental acumen, and protection against natural elements. First, your animal companion gains a +1 bonus to its Intelligence and Wisdom scores. Second, your animal companion gains a +2 sacred or profane bonus on attack and damage rolls. Third, your animal companion gains a +4 sacred or profane bonus on all saving throws against cold, electricity, and fire spells and effects. If you don’t have an animal companion, you instead gain the ability to use summon nature’s ally VII as a spell-like ability once per day.

Obad-Hai

Obad-Hai, also known as the Shalm, is the deity of nature. He is a patron of druids and a friend to those who dwell in harmony with their natural surroundings. Characters or creatures who despoil or wantonly harm either animal or vegetable life are his foes.

Patriarch god of the Flan. The first king, husband to Berei and father of the Flan. Obad-Hai is a god of nature, hunting, and weather. His role is to kill as required to feed the tribe and to make room for new life.

Obad-Hai (OH-bahd HI) carries a hornwood staff called the Shalmstaff, which allows the bearer swift and easy passage through floral and faunal hazards, and the woodwind instrument from which he takes his title. He shown as a lean and weathered man of indeterminately old age, dressed in brown or russet and looking like a hermit, although nonhuman communities show him as one of their own race. His symbol is an oak leaf and acorn. Because of their difference in perspective, Ehlonna and Obad-Hai are unfriendly rivals, and he also counts Phyton as his enemy.

One should live in harmony with nature in all of its variety. Those who destroy or otherwise harm nature deserve swift vengeance in an appropriate manner. Those who are one with nature have little to fear, although the well-meaning but foolish are sometimes brought down by a danger they could not avoid or divert The wilds can be ugly, dangerous, or terrible, but these things are a part of nature and should be respected as much as those that are beautiful, harmless, or wonderful.

Most of the Shalm's clerics are male, whether human, gnome, halfling, or fey. Most get along very well with rangers and druids. They serve as protectors of nature, acting as the agents of retribution when their protection is insufficient or too late. They teach hunting in the way that nature's creatures do (choosing the weakest of the herd, etc.).

Alignment: Neutral

Weapon: Quarterstaff

Holy Symbol: Oak leaves and acorn.

Action Domains

Animal, Earth, Life, Plant, Spiritual.

Pathfinder Religious Traits

Pathfinder Obedience

Kill an animal for food. Take care of all the different parts of the animal, thinking of a use for each. Bury the heart of the animal or burn it in a fire, sending the soul back to the goddess to be born again. You lose all scent. You cannot be tracked by scent, and creatures with the scent ability cannot use that to locate you.

Evangelist
  1. Weather Watcher (Sp) endure elements 3/day, animal aspect 2/day, or longstrider (greater) 1/day
  2. Experienced Traveler (Ex) As a free action, you can grant yourself and any allies within 30 feet of you the ability to move through undergrowth at normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment, as the druid's woodland stride ability. Your allies must remain within 30 feet of you to gain the benefits. The duration is one hour pet Hit Dice you have, you divide the duration in 1-hour intervals among the creatures touched. This period need not be continuous, but must be spent in one-hour increments for each target.
    Thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that are enchanted or magically manipulated to impede motion still affect you and your allies. While using this ability, you also gain a +4 sacred or profane bonus on saving throws against spells and effects that would cause such terrain-based movement impairment, such as the entangle spell. (Your allies do not also gain this bonus.)
  3. Elemental Ally (Sp) Once per day as a standard action, you can cast summon nature's ally VII to summon a treant. This creature lacks the animate trees ability and is not under your control, but it will defend the location it is summoned in against any despoilers and invaders.
Exalted
  1. Green Worker (Sp) entangle 3/day, warp wood 2/day, or speak with plants 1/day
  2. Nature Child (Su) You become resistant to acid, cold, electricity, or fire effects. Each day you can have resistance against a different effect. The first time you take acid, cold, electricity, or fire in a day, you gain resistance equal to 5 + your Hit Dice against that energy type.
  3. Nature's Companion (Ex) Your animal companion develops greater combat prowess, mental acumen, and protection against natural elements. First, your animal companion gains a +1 bonus to its Intelligence and Wisdom scores. Second, your animal companion gains a +2 sacred or profane bonus on attack and damage rolls. Third, your animal companion gains a +4 sacred or profane bonus on all saving throws against cold, electricity, and fire spells and effects. If you don’t have an animal companion, you instead gain the ability to use summon nature’s ally VII as a spell-like ability once per day.

Worshipers, Clergy & Temples

Obad-Hai's faith has developed mainly in wooded regions under human dominance. Most of the worshipers of Obad-Hai are human or half-elves. It is also reported that gnomes, hobbits, certain woodland creatures, fey and dwarfs living in nature pay homage to him. They serve as protectors of nature, acting as the agents of retribution when their protection is insufficient or too late.

Most of Obad-Haï's followers are simple people, living in contact with nature. They are hunters, gatherers, peasants, loggers, shepherds, etc. They live with nature on a daily basis and it is where they draw their sustenance. For this reason, game, plants, trees, forests are precious, even sacred, to them.

Of all the Druids, those from Obad-Hai are the most concerned with uncultivated land and wild animals. They perceive hunting as a natural balancing element of the ecosystem and teach to practice it in a reasoned way, by choosing for example the weakest element of a herd and on the contrary avoiding to kill the pregnant females. On the other hand, they actively fight against any excessive or unnecessary hunting. In the same spirit, although they protect wild lands, they allow and supervise the controlled exploitation of certain areas while taking care to counter any abuse.

Clerics maintain hidden woodland shrines that are usually located far from civilization. They keep to the wilderness and to themselves, rarely getting involved in society.

Vestments Obad-Hai's clerics wear russet-colored clothing, with vines, leaves and twigs often intertwined into the fabric. They often carry quarterstaves.

Hierarchy

The clergy is dominantly by druids and druid ways of thinking, no hierarchy exists and the druids treat each other as equals, regardless of level. However, the elders of a congregation are always listened to with respect, the highest wisdom coming with age. If a conflict develops, it is solved ether by a strong majority making one side step down, or by ritualized duels.

The Obad-Hai druids located in the same geographical area constitute a branch of their order. Every Druid is attached to a chapel, a church, or more rarely to a sacred natural place (druid sanctuary, sacred grove, circle of raised stones, magic spring, etc.). The number of druids present then depends on the size and importance of the place of worship. Most of the time, there are no more than three Druids; however, some congregations have more than twenty Druids.

Hierarchical Progression & Obligations: An ordinary aspirant studies under a mentor, while keeping a rural occupation (groom, beekeeper, cultivator, breeder, etc.). He spends most of his time near the church/grove to which he is attached. He can also be assigned to the service of a powerful druid and find himself responsible, for example, for maintenance of the dwelling of that druid. This bondage is very well accepted because, in return, it is the opportunity to have a powerful mentor and solid support to climb the druid hierarchy.

Junior initiates are the cornerstone of the Druidic order, and generally devote all their time to their faith. They most often live in small stone or wooden houses and protect either a small part of nature (a wood, a valley) or a village or a group of hamlets. Those who opted to protect a village have often become respected leaders in their community.

Senior initiates have considerably widened their area of influence. The latter can now include entire forests or small mountain ranges. Although attached to a given chapel or church, they generally stay there infrequently. In fact, they spend most of their time traveling through the territory for which they are responsible and looking after the ecosystem. When their territory includes villages, they often spend some time there to teach hunting, to bless the fields or to care for men and animals. When they are in their church, they create potions, teach novices or prepare their future expedition. The regional authorities respect (or fear) them and many call upon them as advisers.

When he officially obtains the title of druid, their influence and responsibilities take on proportions that go far beyond the framework of their clergy. They continue to watch over the flora and fauna inside their region but they must also devote more energy to the selection of aspirants and to the tutoring of initiates placed under their control. From time to time, the Grand Druid of their elementary circle can entrust missions to one of his nine druids.

Temples

All the churches and chapels dedicated to Obad-Hai are made of wooden logs. Their interior is always sober and functional. Most of them are simple huts. They are found in rustic places, most often small villages on the fringes of civilization. However, there are some very elaborate ones, which can sometimes be in the trees, which host powerful Druidic congregations. They are found in the deepest forests, out of sight of men. These temples are usually defended by dozens of guardian animals and other denizens of the wilderness, many of whom are content to observe visitors from a distance.

All Druid shrines are sacred areas, imbued with the magic of nature. They generally consist of oaks planted in concentric circles around a pool of clear water.

Rituals

Obad-Hai's prayers and psalms often start with a reference to birth or growth and end with a reference to death or ending. One common prayer for guidance begins, "Shalm, my thirst for knowledge grows/Lend me your wisdom and bury my doubts." Services involve the consecration of earth, fire, living flowers, and water. Rites in Obad-Hai's name are seasonal, often triggered by events such as the year's first birdsong or snowfall.

The Awakening: Those who are attempting to gain acceptance of Obad-Hai are often taken into the woods to attune and survive in nature. This rite is one which is generally not dangerous, however they can turn dangerous (as Obad-Hai teaches).

Midsummer's Night: Worshippers of Obad-Hai consider Midsummer's Night to be the holiest of all. All quarrels between the faith of the Shalm and other sects are set aside, and they join in celebration of the Oerth and the Balance they serve. This is considered the best night to harvest mistletoe.

Picking mistletoe: This solemn ceremony involved picking mistletoe when the two moons of Oerth are full. According to the oral tradition of the Old Faith, the mistletoe is able to capture the essence of the two moons of Oerth in the form of magic energy, which can be used for healing purposes. This plant serves as a material element for many druid spells.

Ordination: When one is ordained aspirant-druid, the novice must appear naked before his peers. They then offer him his first clothes, his weapons (according to his choice), his first sickle and his sacred symbol.

Consecration of a Sickle: The sickle must first be purified in spring water. It is then passed through an open flame and then left to cool in the wind. It is essential that the blade of the sickle is silver or gold, these noble metals better preserving the powers of plants than steel or iron.

Birth: When a child is born, the druid picks plants and braids a cradle with them. The object is then offered to the infant's family. Druids believe that this crib protects the newborn from evil spirits while sleeping and guides him on the path of wisdom.

Death: The death of a person is an event like any other for Obad-Hai Druids, even if that person was dear to them. It is a moment of meditation. The deceased is almost always buried and a tree is then planted near his grave to protect him. The tree can be of any type but, when the dead is a druid, it is always an oak which can sometimes become a Sylvanian.

Festivals

Froidenoce, Regain, Chaudenoce, Brassine: These four festivals are important religious holidays, marked by the summer solstice, winter solstice, fall equinox and spring equinox. It is on these occasions that the Druids meet and exchange news. Groupings often take place in the area of the highest ranking Druid living in the region.

Orders

Orders include The Hidden Watchers, The Warriors of the Wood, and the Black Deer Trackers:

The Black Deer Trackers: These are fighters affiliated with Obad-Hai, who can be found in the darkest and oldest corners of the forests of Flanaess, working to maintain the balance between the different creatures who reside there. They obviously have a lot of respect for the Druids of Obad-Hai and most often follow their directives. However, each of them is free to act and, within their order, no one imposes their will on the others.

Any tracker can call-to-arms when he deems it necessary, and any tracker can refuse to join. Their symbol is a golden tassel and their clothes are dark green, almost black, in order to hide more easily in the dark woods they appreciate so much. The trackers are not very active but when they act, it is with rare efficiency and deadly precision. Their favorite weapons by far are axes, spears and long bows. They never wear a shield and their favorite armor is light leather armor.

Dogma

No one can live a happy life if he does not know how to live in harmony with nature in all its forms. Those who harm nature deserve swift vengeance in an appropriate manner. Those who are one with nature, however, have little to fear, although the well-meaning but foolish are sometimes brought down by a danger they could not avoid or divert. The wilds can sometimes be ugly, dangerous, or terrible, but that these things are a part of nature and should be respected as much as those that are beautiful, harmless, or wonderful, for these characterizations mark a newcomer's perspective.

Appearance, Manifestations

Obad-Hai is most often shown as a lean and weathered man of indeterminately old age, dressed in brown or russet and looking like a hermit, although nonhuman communities depict him as one of their own race. He plays a shalm (a double-reed woodwind musical instrument, also spelled "shawm") and takes his title from this instrument. He also carries a staff.

Relationships & History Because Obad-Hai strictly adheres to neutrality, his primary rival is Ehlonna. However their rivalry is more competitive then aggressive. While Obad-Hai is a chief nature deity, his brother Rillifane Rallathil of The Seldarine is worshipped by the Elves.

Circle of Life Myth According to the ancient traditions of the Old Faith, Obad-Hai is reborn every spring, hatching in the form of a young boy from the fruit of a sapling that grows from his own grave. By summer Obad-Hai takes the form of a strong young man, the Stag King, leading the Wild Hunt against those who would defile Nature. By autumn he has grown into the weathered old man of his standard depictions. When winter begins he is slain by Nerull, who hangs his corpse on the Summer Tree. After seven days, Pelor cuts him down and buries him in the earth, where Beory's tears cause a new sapling to grow, which drops the fruit that hatches into the young Obad-Hai once again in the spring.

Allitur

The Flan god of propriety and diplomacy, Allitur is the son of Beory and Pelor, brother to Rao. He is a minor god with no pretenses to greatness, but important to maintain peace.

Allitur (AH-lih-toor) is an old Flan god, representing the need to maintain traditions, laws, and ethical behaviors between tribes and generations of people. Often considered the younger brother of Rao, he maintains close ties with all of his pantheon and often acts as a liaison to other pantheons because of his gift of divine diplomacy; it is this interaction that has gained him some awareness beyond the Flan people in this century. He rides an untiring horse named Keph; his symbol is a pair of clasped hands.

The people should understand and respect their cultural traditions, else breakdown of society should result.

Allitur insists on the performance of traditional rituals, and most of the Flan customs about home and family can be traced to his teachings. He also introduced the concept of laws and punishment to the Flan, and his name is invoked at trials, diplomatic meetings, and other official situations where fairness is expected from a bargaining partner.

Allitur's clerics arbitrate disputes, carry messages between tribes and nations, act as legal advisers or judges when needed, scribe laws and other documents for the common folk, travel to teach the proper traditions to children and heathens. They also have a martial aspect because of their role as enactors of punishment for criminals, violators of taboos, and oathbreakers. Allitur's worshipers are expected to comply with clerics when they serve this function. These roles carry them far into hostile lands where their belief comes into conflict with heretics and the uncivilized.

Alignment: LG

Weapon: Spear

Symbol: Pair of clasped hands.

Action Domain

Life, Light, Mind, Order, Spiritual.

Pathfinder Domains

Community, Good, Knowledge, Law.

Pathfinder Traits

Pathfinder Obedience

Write a truth or a symbol of truth on a pebble, roll the pebble in honey, and hold it in your mouth until the honey dissolves. Gain a +2 sacred bonus on Wisdom checks and Wisdom-based skill checks.

Boons

  1. Adept Debater (Sp) comprehend languages 3/day, zone of truth 2/day, or tongues 1/day
  2. Eye of Insight (Sp) You can cast silenced true seeing three times per day. This ability is the equivalent of a 7th-level spell.
  3. Thunder of Truth (Su) Once per day, you can emit a powerful roar that affects a 60-foot cone with the effects of a holy word spell and also deals 2d6 points of sonic damage to all creatures in the area (Fortitude negates; DC 10 + 1/2 your HD + your Cha modifier). This is a sonic effect.

Celene

Celene is the small moon that is only visible around the seasonal festivities, a psychopomp and goddess of mysteries and the Shadowfell. Unlike her sister Luna, she is unfailingly honest; her messages can be faint and hard to understand but are never false. She is depicted as a blue star, a faint blue moon, or as a young girl or old crone draped in a blue veil that holds a flickering candle or glowing soul-gem.

To the Flan she is the daughter of Nerull and Beory, ever-shifting between life and death, and a goddess of the unknown, reincarnation, and a psychopomp godess.

A few apocalyptic cultists worship her as the goddess of the end times. It is said that Celene slowly approaches Oerth, growing ever larger as she approaches. After untold millennia, long after Luna has drifted away, Celene will be a large face in the sky and witness the end of the world and act as the psychopomp of Oerth herself.

As a psychopomp, she is sternly opposed to undead, seeing them as a breach of the natural cycle. Good and neutral clerics of Celene always channel positive energy. Evil clerics of Celene channel positive energy to harm undead or negative energy to harm the living; they cannot channel energy to heal.

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Weapon: Kukri.

Symbol: Blue crescent.

Pathfinder Domains

Darkness (Moon), Liberation, Repose (Souls), Travel, Void (Stars).

Pathfinder Traits

Pathfinder Obedience

Collect small bones whenever it is convenient and respectful to do so. When it comes time to perform your obedience, lay out the bones in a circle. Outside the spiral write the name of someone newly born. Inside the circle, write the name of someone newly deceased. Chant hymns while proceeding solemnly around the circle, trailing a black, blue, grey, or white scarf on the ground behind you. Gain a +2 sacred bonus on attack rolls made with a kukri.

Evangelist

  1. Preserver (Sp) sanctuary 3/day, gentle repose 2/day, or speak with dead 1/day
  2. Strike the Unrestful (Su) As a free action, you can grant the ghost touch weapon special ability to a weapon that you hold. If that weapon is not magical, it is considered magical while under the effect of this ability. This ability affects only weapons held in your hand; if you drop the weapon or give it away, the effect ends on that weapon. You can affect a weapon in this way a number of rounds each day equal to 1 + 1 for every 4 Hit Dice you possess (maximum 6 rounds). These rounds don’t need to be consecutive.
  3. The Veil Is Drawn Aside (Su) You gain the Extra Revelation feat, choosing a revelation from either your chosen mystery or the Bones mystery. If you don’t have the revelation class feature, you instead gain a +4 sacred or profane bonus on saving throws against necromancy spells and death effects.

Exalted

  1. Quietude (Sp) forced quietUM 3/day, silence 2/day, or hold person 1/day
  2. Decomposition (Su) You can ensure the final rest of a creature. As a standard action, you can touch a corpse and cause it to dissolve into blue ash. A corpse dissolved this way cannot be raised as an undead creature by any means short of a miracle or wish. The blue ash left behind can, however, be used as the “corpse” for spells that return the dead to true life—such as raise dead—as long as the entire collection of ash is kept together.
  3. Ally from the Moon (Sp) Once per day as a standard action, you can summon a pair of vanth psychopomps (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 4 221) and gain telepathy with them to a range of 100 feet. The vanths follow your commands perfectly for 1 minute for every Hit Die you possess before vanishing. The vanths don’t follow commands that would cause them to aid or permit the existence of undead, and they could attack you if the command is particularly egregious.

Sentinel

  1. Undead Slayer (Sp) hide from undead 3/day, defending bone 2/day, or halt undead 1/day
  2. Disrupting Strike (Su) Three times per day, you can channel disruptive energy through your weapon against an undead creature. You must declare your use of this ability before you roll your attack. If your attack hits an undead creature, you deal an extra 1d6 points of damage plus 1d6 points of damage for every 4 Hit Dice you possess (maximum 6d6). If your attack misses or your target was not an undead creature, the use of the ability is wasted.
  3. Tethered to the Moon (Ex) You cling ferociously to life—you will go to Celene’s realm when she calls you and no sooner. You are immune to ability damage to Constitution, and ability drain to Constitution becomes ability damage.

Action Domains

Darkness, Death, Life, Light, Spiritual.

Ehlonna

The forest maiden is the goddess of forests, spring, the hunt and of youth. Many elves living among humans favor her. She is also the patron of performing art, shown variously as practitioner, teacher, sponsor, or audience.

Called Ehlenestra by the Elves, to whom she is a goddess of life, innocence, immortality, and the hunt.

To the Flan Ehlonna is the eternal maiden, the divine child, goddess of children, Beory in her girl aspect, and both huntress and prey in the eternal cycle of life.

In the Common pantheon Ehlonna is a goddess of hunters, virgins, and the the symbol of pastoralism to people who revere nature without actually depending on it, the guide and guardian of travelers.

In Synchretism Ehlonna is the goddess of renewal, spring, and youth and also a patron of arts. She is also the protector or travelers. She manifests as Lydia the Suel godess of light and music, Phyton the suel god of beauty and agriculture, Lirr the Oerdian goddess of literature and art, and Fharlanghn the Oerdian god of travel and roads.

Ehlonna (eh-LOHN-nah) is a very old goddess. She combats those who would harm or despoil the forest of its resources and beauty. Shown as either a dark-haired human woman or a golden-haired elf maid (in which form she is known to many as Ehlenestra), she is served by Novelee, a planetar whose heart is so pure it makes unicorns weep. She has a hostile rivalry with Obad-Hai, but is friendly with the elven gods and most good-aligned deities. Her symbol is the unicorn.

The woodlands are a beautiful place full of life. The secrets of the forests should be learned and taught so that people can live in harmony with nature. Those who would harm or exploit the woodlands must be driven out or destroyed. The plants and animals of the forest are things that nature gives as gifts, not things to be stolen.

Most of Ehlonna's clergy are female, whether human, elven, or fey. They live in the forests, are friendly with rangers and druids, and watch for encroaching humanoids, hunters, and loggers. They educate those who wish to live in harmony with the forest, just as the animals do. They are gentle in their first warning to those who would harm the forest and ruthless in stopping those who persist. They travel to spread their teachings or to protect a forest in danger.

Alignment: Neutral Good.

Weapon: Longbow or Longsword.

Symbol: Unicorn or unicorn's head.

Pathfinder Domains

Animal, Glory (Heroism), Good, Plant, Sun (Day).

Pathfinder Traits

Pathfinder Obedience

When you take this feat, choose a plant that you protect and spread; this plant is usually either beautiful, medicinal, or edible. Plant five seeds from this plant in fertile earth, spacing them out in the shape of an arrow. If no soil exists, leave an arrow with the seeds. Mark your gifts with Ehlonna’s sign, and say a prayer. Gain a +4 sacred bonus on Survival checks.

Evangelist

  1. Unicorn's Blessing (Sp) cure light wounds 3/day, shield other 2/day, or remove disease 1/day
  2. Twin Fang (Ex) Once per day as a standard action, you can summon an exact double of your animal companion. The double acts and thinks like your animal companion in every way, and obeys your commands just as the original would. Your original animal companion and its double understand and trust each other perfectly. The double remains for 1 round for every Hit Die you possess, and then vanishes. If you don’t have an animal companion, you instead gain the ability to use summon nature’s ally V as a spell-like ability once per day.
  3. Faithful Archer (Ex) You are particularly skilled at using Ehlonna’s favored weapon. When using a longbow, you add your Wisdom bonus on attack and damage rolls against targets within 30 feet.

Exalted

  1. Animal Friend (Sp) charm animal 3/day, animal messenger 2/day, or summon nature’s ally III 1/day
  2. Hunter's Ally (Sp) Once per day as a standard action, you can summon a half-celestial unicorn of neutral good alignment. The unicorn follow your commands perfectly for 1 hour for every Hit Die you possess before vanishing. The unicorn can be ridden without penalty for lacking a saddle. The unicorn don’t follow commands that would violate their neutral good alignment. Such commands will not only earn refusal and scorn from the unicorn, but could cause them to attack you if the command is particularly egregious.
  3. Communal Table (Sp) Your devotion to caring for your community allows you to evoke Ehlonna’s divine bounty to feed your friends with a banquet of cooked game and simple beverages. Once per day, you can use heroes’ feast as a spell-like ability. Creatures that eat from this communal table, a process that takes 1 hour, gain a +2 sacred bonus on attack rolls and Will saving throws instead of the usual +1 morale bonus. Anyone who eats from the communal table gains concealment in woodland terrain and the deuid's woodland stride ability. The benefits last for 12 hours.

Sentinel

  1. Sureshot (Sp) longshotUC 3/day, shock arrow 2/day, or daybreak arrowUC 1/day
  2. Tough Hide (Su) When you wear armor made from leather or animal hide, the armor provides an extra +2 armor bonus to your AC. This bonus improves the normal armor bonus granted by the armor; in other words, it stacks with the suit’s normal armor bonus. If you wear no armor, you gain a +2 luck bonus to AC. You also mystically subsume some of the qualities of the animal that gave its life for the armor. Gain the scent ability.
  3. Planter's Bond (Su) Your time spent planting seeds has given you a bond with plants. You can cast speak with plants 3 times per day. If you spend at least 1 hour during the day in direct sunlight, you don’t need to eat that day. Finally, you become immune to poisons ingested from whole plants (not distilled poisons, such as assassins use) and any poison from attacks or effects generated by plant creatures.

Paladin/Liberator Code

The paladins of Ehlonna are value beauty and innocence. They seek to preserve the integrity and beauty of woodlands. Their tenets include the following affirmations.

  • My woodland comes first, and I will contribute to it all that I can. If I don’t give something back, who will?
  • I must offer the poor and the lost assistance, but I may not do the work for them—instead, I must teach them to survive.
  • When danger threatens, I work to reduce its consequences. I seek first to make sure the weak and innocent are safe, and then I quell the danger.
  • I keep to the old ways, the true ways. I am not seduced by the lure of money or power. I remember that true honor comes from within, not from the accolades of others.
  • I remember that beauty is everything and comes from the beauty of the soul. Mine is pure and bright, and I will mend it if it is broken or tarnished. I test the beauty of others to see if they are falsehood in disguise, but if I find them true I accord them protection and respect.
  • I am honest, trustworthy, and wise. When I leave lands than have been under my protection, I ensure that they will be tended in my absence. Even when duty calls, my duties to beauty and innocence come first—I go forth only to defeat threats to them.

Action Domains

Animal, Life, Light, Plant, Spiritual.

Gruumsh

Gruumsh is the patron of orks and savagery, a wild and untamed god that demands bloody trial.

Gruumsh is the god of wrath in the Common pantheon The one-eyed slayer has become something of a generic god of strength in adversity, might making right, and hardship. Street gangs honor him, as do humanoids living among humans or who have lost their racial traditions.

To the Flan he is the enemy, the despoiler of herds, the slaver and stealer of brides, eternal enemy of Ubad-Hai.

In Synchretism he is the good of savagery and strength through trial. Each tribe has its own name for him and he actively sets these different aspects and their tribes at each other's throats. He is Vatun to the Suel barbarians of the north-east and Erythnul to goblins and Oerdians, and is known under a variety of other local names. He actively encourages warfare between the followers of his different avatars.

Gruumsh (groomsh), deity of orcs, is chaotic evil. He appears as a hulking orc in black full plate armor. He has one unblinking central eye. He harbors a special hatred for Corellon Larethian, Moradin, and their followers. In ages past, Corellon Larethian put out Gruumsh’s left eye in a fight. Some orc clerics dispute this tale, claiming that the elven deity stole the eye because he could not beat Gruumsh in a fair fight.

Gruumsh demands that his followers be strong, that they cull the weak from their numbers, and that they take all the territory Gruumsh thinks is rightfully theirs (which is almost everything). He tolerates no sign of friendliness from his people. Unceasing warfare is his creed, though Gruumsh does not object to simple colonization if that can be arranged. Gruumsh dislikes everything that is not an orc or of orcish make, and he feels particularly spiteful toward elves (over the matter of his eye). He feels equal malice toward dwarves, who contested with the orcs for control of the mountains and won; a state of affairs Gruumsh regards as strictly temporary.

Gruumsh’s clerics strive to become the war leaders of their communities or the key advisers to those leaders. They also see to the culling of the weak and unfit through feud or sacrifice. They usually wear fighting gear. A temple or shrine to Gruumsh lies at the heart of nearly every orc community. They tend to be oppressive places full of acrid smoke and the stench of blood. Temples and larger shrines invariably have holding cells where sacrifices to Gruumsh are kept, and many feature gladiatorial areas as well.

Alignment: Chaotic Evil.

Weapon: Battle axe.

Symbol: Empty eye socket, or a single unwinking eye.

Pathfinder Domains: Chaos (Demon), Destruction (Rage), Evil (Demon), Strength (Ferocity), War.

Action Techniques: Impress, Melee, Ride,

Incabolous

In the Common pantheon The god of pestilence is rarely worshiped. Ceremonies are made to placate him, and his cult always gains adherents during times of famine and plague.

To the Flan Incabolous is a suitor Berei refused, a petty god seeking revenge against her children, the Flan. The cycle of recurring suitor trouble is very central to Flan myth and an admonition to women to manage their lovers well. His weapons are famine and pestilence; he kills humans, plants, and game alike to weaken the tribes. He is an avatar or reincarnation of Nerull.

Incabulos (in-CAB-yoo-lohs) is a dread power feared by mortals, fiends, and (it is said) even some gods. The bringer of disease and blights is a terrifying figure—deformed body, skeletal hands, nightmarish visage, and garbed in a black robe lined with orange and green. He rides a nightmare and is accompanied by hags. He causes a nightmarish slumber in any who meet his eyes, and his great staff causes seeping wounds and withers flesh with a touch. His symbol is the magic icon for the eye of possession. Incabulos hates all other gods, although he is indifferent to Nerull, who completes the work Incabulos starts.

The suffering of the world is meat and bread to Incabulos. Sickness, famine, and other curses bring him power. Some feel that the Black Rider can be warded off or appeased by prayers; but this only delays the inevitable. The world of dreams is his battleground, and he wages war against minds just as he rots bodies.

Clerics of Incabulos are secretive and paranoid. Justifiably fearing persecution by good and evil alike, they rarely reveal themselves for what they are except in times of great despair when they can fan the emotions of the suffering. Greater clerics use this state of fear to encourage junior members to maintain secrecy. They enjoy torturing others, inflicting disease, and spreading blight. They travel to find new locations or people to infect, escape those who would destroy them, or find strange lands where exotic diseases can be found.

Alignment: Neutral Evil

Weapon: Quarterstaff

Symbol: Eye of possession

Action Domains

Animal, Darkness, Death, Life, Spiritual.

Pathfinder Domains

Darkness (Loss), Death, Evil, Destruction, Plant (Decay).

Pathfinder Traits

Pathfinder Obedience

Cover a table (or suitable flat surface) with a black cloth and spread a feast atop it. All or parts of this feast should be spoiled or rotten. Eat to the point of painful fullness, sipping drink between dishes and reciting a prayer to Incabolous. Trust in Incabolous to protect you from any sickness or disease that might follow. Treat your caster level as 1 higher when casting necromancy spells.

Boons

  1. Pestilent Penitent (Sp) curse water 3/day, feast of ashesAPG 2/day, or contagion 1/day
  2. Death Knowledge (Su) Your knowledge of the arcane workings of death increases. Your familiar can teach you all new spell from either the Death domain spell list of a level you can cast. If you cast spells from a spellbook, you learn new spells in the same manner, though it appears magically in your spellbook. If you cast spells spontaneously, you can add to the spells to your list of spells known, but you gain no additional spell slots. If you prepare divine spells, add the spells to your spell list. If you are not a spellcaster, you can use each spell on the Death domain list once per day, as long as the spell level is equal or less than 1/3 of your Hit Dice.
  3. Blight of Ruin (Su) Your blight hex gains power from Incabolous’s favor. If you use your blight hex on a plot of land, you can affect an area whose radius is equal to 20 × your Hit Dice. If you blight a creature of the animal or plant type, increase the saving throw DC by 4 and the curse’s effect to 2 points of Constitution damage per day. If the target successfully saves against your blight hex, it instead takes 3d6 points of negative energy damage. If you don’t have access to the blight hex, you instead gain the ability to use mass festerAPG once per day as a spell-like ability.

Iuz

In the Common pantheon Iuz is a demon lord and godling, emperor of the land that bears his name. Although he calls himself Ius the Old, he is a latecomer god, the son of the sorceress Iggwilv and the the demon-lord Graz'zt. He was the main warlord of the Greyhawk Wars and those wars only ended when he was banished by the Crook of Rao. His porfolio covers Deceit, Evil, Oppression, Pain, and Wickedness.

To the Flan Iuz is the fulfillment of a long-held prophecy, the scorned suitor, the warlord that takes what he was not given.

Iuz (EYE-ooze) is thought to be the half-fiend son of the demon lord Graz'zt and the powerful wizard Iggwilv. Appearing on Oerth as a shriveled old man or as a huge, demonic-looking being, Iuz has many fiendish allies and impersonates other gods to fool mortals and increase his territory. He remains a great threat to the balance despite setbacks since the Greyhawk Wars. His symbol is a grinning skull, and he holds a particular hatred for Zagyg, Vecna, St. Cuthbert, and Greyhawk.

The weak must be exploited, tortured, and stripped of hope. The strong must be constantly wary of betrayal by their underlings. Pain is power, and inflicting pain demonstrates power best. Crush those beneath you. Iuz must be obeyed, and those who defy him will know absolute pain.

Iuz's clerics inflict cruelty and torture upon all who oppose them. Iuz tolerates no less than fanaticism and complete obedience. His clerics constantly try to outdo each other in their acts of cruelty and evil. They show their superiority over all other beings by hunting for trophies; rare finds such as unicorns or paladins are truly prized. The clerics create spells and magic items of terrible power and evil nature, and travel the world to commit acts of evil and search out Iuz's enemies. Iuz is served directly by the Boneheart—two tiers (Greater and Lesser) of six advisers each (clerics and wizards), and by the Boneshadow, six spies and evildoers who roam the world.

Alignment: Chaotic Evil.

Weapon: Greatsword.

Symbol: Grinning skull.

Pathfinder Domains

Chaos (Whimsy), Evil (Demon), Luck (Curse) Trickery (Deception), War.

Pathfinder Traits

Action Domains

Animal, Darkness, Death, Life, Spiritual.

Luna

Luna, known as Raenei, the Greater Moon, or the Mistress, is Oerth's silver satellite, the companion to the Lesser Moon, Celene. It is known as Mazlateotl among the Olman and as Konola among the Touv. From the perspective of Oerth, it cycles from its new to full phases once a month. Luna is a moody goddess, shifting from light to darkness as her cycle affects her mood and appearance. She is never clear in what she says, and demand that her worshipers decide for themselves what her sayings mean.

To the Elves, she is the goddess of travel, the goddess of hope and subtle influence. Luna is the home of the Elves, their ancestral mother and hope, personification of the Feywild. Her daughters are Lolth and Sehanine, twins who fight over her legacy. It is said that the elves came to Oerth riding Luna, and will depart the same way. Luna slowly moves away from Oerth, and the elves will leave Oerth along with Luna when she finally departs, but this is in the very distant future.

In the Common pantheon Luna the large moon is a moody goddess of secrets, illusion, shadows and magic. Her cult is small but she is a common figure in art.

To the Flan the mysterious moon represents renewal and roads not yet traveled. She leads ever on without revealing where, and is a goddess of aging, menstruation, dreams, and mysterious powers.

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral.

Weapon: Scimitar.

Symbol: Round ball, half light, half dark.

Pathfinder Domains

Darkness (Moon), Knowledge (Memory), Luck (Fate), Magic, Trickery.

Pathfinder Traits

Pathfinder Obedience

Dance in an isolated place under the light of the moon. If no moonlight is available, pray for the spirits of those who have lost their way and then leave a lighted lantern in a dark area. Gain a +4 sacred bonus on saving throws against illusion spells and effects.

Boons

  1. Lunar Dancer (Sp) minor image 3/day, cat’s grace 2/day, or moonstuck 1/day
  2. Moonlight (Sp) You can cast an enlarged sunbeam once per day. The visible effect is a beam of brilliant silver moonlight, but the spell’s effects are unchanged.
  3. Compelling Dance (Sp) You can cast irresistible dance once per day. If you cast this spell-like ability on a willing creature, the target is affected normally by the spell but also gains a +4 sacred bonus on Dexterity checks, Dexterity-based skill checks, and Reflex saves for 24 hours after the effect’s initial duration ends.

Action Domains

Flux, Force, Illusion, Life, Spiritual.

Myhriss

The goddess of romance and beauty among the Flan, Myhrissis the aspect of Beory as a young woman, between Ehlonna the child and Berei the mother. She puts garlands in her hair and dances to entice the warriors and hunters of the tribe.

Myhriss (MEE-ris) is shown as a Flan woman just reaching adulthood, a garland of flowers in her hair, or else as a fair-skinned, dark-haired provocative beauty or a sun-blonde tanned woman of approachable prettiness. Her dark-haired form is associated with the whip, her other aspect favors the shortbow. She is friendly and affectionate toward all benign gods but avoids those who are hideous, crude, or hateful. Although Wee Jas dislikes her, Myhriss appreciates the vain Suel goddess for her obvious attractiveness.

Love can cure the world's ills. Quarreling rivals and warring nations can be brought together with a well-placed romance, and beauty can turn the heart of a dumb beast or a despondent tyrant. Beauty is often fragile, so protect it from accidental harm, as the destruction of something beautiful is a great tragedy. Beauty comes in many forms, for even the most evil red dragon is a sight of terrifying splendor when it is on the wing. Celebrate love, affection, romance, and beauty wherever you find it.

Clerics of Myhriss are starry-eyed and always looking for signs of love and beauty in the people and places around them. They bless young lovers, perform marriage ceremonies, create works of art, and travel to see beautiful people and fantastic sights. A few take roles as diplomats, as their looks and charisma make even the most hostile folk stop to listen to them. Some are crusaders against hate and ugliness, seeking out those who destroy love or vanquishing those of repulsive presence.

Alignment: Neutral Good.

Weapon: Whip or Shortbow.

Symbol: Lovebird.

Action Domains

Air, Life, Light, Mind, Plant, Spiritual.

Pathfinder Domains

Charm (Normal or Love), Good, Healing, Luck (Curse), Protection.

Pathfinder Traits

Pathfinder Obedience

Dance, going through the motions of exchanging one dance partner for another, contemplating the virtues and flaws of each. These can be actual physical dance partners or taken from memory or your imagination. If someone invites you to dance during this ritual, you cannot refuse.

Boons

  1. Boons of Youth (Sp) sanctuary 3/day, eagle’s splendor 2/day, or archon’s aura 1/day
  2. Rite of Passage (Sp) You gain the power to usher others into a new state of being. Once per day, you can cast greater polymorph on a willing creature. The duration of this effect is permanent until you or the target dismiss the effect or you use this ability again.
  3. Second Chance (Su) Once per day you can cast reincarnate on a willing or helpless living creature. The target falls asleep for a full day and is reincarnated as a younger version of itself. Generate a new 1st-level character of the same race and gender. During the day of sleep, you must take all the target's possession and hand them out as gifts. Other creatures, even creatures close to the target, will be completely unable to see her as the same person, possibly thinking she is a relative or descendant.

Olidarma

Olidammara is the Common prince of parties and the king of luck, worshiped mainly as god of gaiety, wine, and gambling. Everyone knows thieves pray to him too, but that side is tolerated because everyone wants the fun he brings.

A happy trickster and rogue among the Flan, Olidammara invented wine and beer and encourage his followers to indulge. Sometimes seen as the god of youth, the young incarnation of Obad-Hai and suitor of Myhriss, at other times said to be descended from a dalliance between Beory and a goat and is often depicted as a satyr.

In Synchretism Olidammara is seen as the god of freedom, luck, satyrs, wine, joy, and thievery. Known as Baervan in olden times and among gnomes, Olidammara has numerous sponsored godlings – and regularly appears in different guise to keep others on their toes. Erevan Ilesere is the elven god of mischief, change, and thievery. Brandobaris is the halfling patron of thieves. Rudd is the Oerdian goddess of luck and swashbuckling, Norebo the Suel god of luck and gambling.

Olidammara (oh-lih-dam-MAH-rah) loves upsetting those who are too attached to their boring and controlled worlds. He is shown as a brown-haired man of rakish appearance, olive skin, and merry eyes, although his magic laughing mask (and holy symbol) allows him to change his appearance. Zagyg once forced him into the shape of a small carapaced animal and imprisoned him; the Laughing Rogue still retains the ability to form a protective carapace, and he has used it to thwart many aggressors and pursuers. He is friendly enough with other gods, although the lawful ones resent his capriciousness and tricks.

Treat music as the art it is. Strive to be as skilled at it as your patron. Life is meant to be happy and entertaining, and the best jokes need a target to hang them on; when it is your turn, accept the laugh and appreciate the trick. Wine is one of the joys of life, and the only thing better than making wine is drinking it. Avoid misery, temperance, and solemnity, for they are the greatest poisons to the soul.

Olidammara has a faithful following but few easily found churches. Clerics of Olidammara study music, make wine, tell jokes, and occasionally perform acts of mayhem. Those who live in cities tend to work as entertainers or vintners, while those who prefer rural settings act are storytellers, messengers, and minstrels. Many of them live a life on the run from powerful people whom they greatly offended early in their careers. Others just enjoy traveling in search of new music, exotic wines, and celebrations.

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Weapon: Rapier

Symbol: His holy symbol is a grinning mask. Other symbols of his faith include the kanteel (a stringed instrument also known as the kantele) and the number nine.

Pathfinder Domains

Animal (Fur), Charm (any subdomain), Luck, Madness (any subdomain), Trickery (Deception).

Pathfinder Traits

Pathfinder Obedience

Sing a song in praise of freedom, joy, and your god’s cleverness. The song must be audible to those nearby—friend or foe. Between stanzas, you must pause to dance or drink from a full mug of ale, wine, or other spirits. If a creature is attracted by your song, do your best to engage it in feasting, and if this fail either try to bluff or stel from the creature. Gain a +4 sacred bonus on saving throws against poison and drug effects.

Evangelist or Feat

  1. Liberation (Sp) liberating commandUC 3/day, knock 2/day, or dispel magic 1/day
  2. Drinking Buddy (Su) Once per day as a standard action, you can create an illusory double of yourself that appears in a square adjacent to you. Your double acts on your initiative count, and can move up to your speed each round. It always attempts to flank with you against a single target you designate. If it must use Acrobatics to avoid an attack of opportunity during this movement, your double uses your bonus. Though your double can’t attack, it is treated as threatening adjacent squares for the purposes of flanking with you. Anyone attacking your double or otherwise physically interacting with it can attempt a Will save (DC 25) to recognize the double as an illusion. The double has your AC, and if any hit would deal damage to it, the double dissipates. An opponent who recognizes your double as an illusion can’t be flanked by it. The double lasts 1 round for every Hit Die you possess or until it is hit with an attack, whichever comes first.
  3. Intoxicating Strike (Su) Once per day, you can declare one of your attacks an intoxicating strike. You must declare your use of this ability before you attempt the attack roll. If your attack hits and you deal damage, your target immediately becomes intoxicated for 1 round for every Hit Die you possess. An intoxicated creature takes a –4 penalty to AC, on attack rolls, and on skill checks, and its movement is reduced by 10 feet.

Exalted

  1. Libations (Sp) bless water 3/day, delay poison 2/day, or create food and water 1/day
  2. Freedom's Ally (Sp) Once per day as a standard action, you can summon a nerid to aid you. This creature can be male or female and lacks the shawl and transparency abilities. You gain telepathy with the nerid to a range of 100 feet. The nerid follows your commands perfectly for 1 minute for every Hit Die you possess before vanishing.
  3. Wine to Water (Su) As a full-round action, you transform a single serving of an alcoholic beverage into either a potion of charm monster or a potion of cure serious wounds. A creature that drinks the charm potion falls for a creature you decide when you make it. A cure potion created in this way heals 3d8 points of damage plus 1 point of damage for every Hit Die you possess (to a maximum of 3d8+15). Neither allows a saving throw (the drinker is assumed to be either helpless or willing by accepting the drink). Potions created in this way last for 1 hour. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to your Charisma bonus (minimum 1).

Sentinel

  1. Devastating Duelist (Sp) bless weapon 3/day, brow gasherUC 2/day, or greater magic weapon 1/day
  2. Light Weapon Master (Ex) Whenever you fight with a dagger, kama, kukri, rapier, sickle, short sword, or starknife, you also gain a +2 deflection bonus to AC, provided you have the weapon training (light blades) class feature. If you don’t have that class feature, you instead gain a +1 sacred bonus on attack rolls when using weapons from the light blades weapon group (Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Equipment 47).
  3. Critical Luck (Ex) Keep a record of every time you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll, to a maximum number equal to your Charisma bonus. Anytime you roll a critical threat on an attack roll, you can trade in one of your tallied natural 1s to automatically confirm the critical hit. This tally resets to 0 every day, and any tallied natural 1s from the day before are lost.

Action Techniques

Charm, Create, Maneuver.

External Links

Rao

The serene god, Rao is a Flan god, the brother of Allitur and the son of Beory and Pelor. He is the god of reason, peace, and law. He is the first medicine-man and the oft-ignored adviser of Obad-Hai.

In Synchretism Rao is identified with Lendor, the father of the Suel pantheon. Dwarfs name him Dumathoin the lord of secrets. His sponsored godlings pursue different aspects of his portfolio – the most famous is Vecna, the lord of evil secrets. As Delleb he is the Oerdian god of intellect and study. As Pholus he is the Oerdian god of law and by extension of rulership, a strict disciplinarian.

Rao (RAH-oh) is shown as an old man with dark skin, white hair, slender hands, and a serene smile. Any time an offering of peace is made, Rao grows a day younger. Although he never intervenes directly on Oerth, Rao is the creator of several artifacts of good, particularly the Crook of Rao. He is a dedicated foe of Iuz, an ally of Zilchus, and is otherwise friendly with all other beings. He can cause any aggressive being to relax into an agreeable calmness with a glance, having thwarted even Nerull with this power in the past. His holy symbol is a white heart of wood or metal, or a heart-shaped mask with a calm expression.

Reason is the greatest gift. It leads to discourse, which leads to peace, which leads to serenity. If all could be convinced to reason with each other, the world would enjoy the harmony of benign order. Some refuse to use reason and instead resort to violence, at which time action—governed by reason and wisdom—is required to counteract their deeds and restore peace.

His clerics pursue knowledge, paths of logical thought, theology, and introspective meditation. They prefer peaceful means over violence, but are not above using force when their arguments are ignored or the bastions of reason are threatened. They search for new schools of thinking, fabled locales of calmness and quietude, powerful magic to use in the cause of Law and Good.

Alignment: Lawful Good

Weapon: Light mace

Symbol: White heart or a heart-shaped mask with a calm expression.

Action Technique

Charm, Know, Spot.

Pathfinder Domains

Community, Law (Archon), Good (Archon), Knowledge (Thought), Nobility (Leadership).

Pathfinder Traits

Pathfinder Obedience

Write a wrong or cause for aggression on a slip of parchment and bury the parchment in fertile soil. Plant a seed above the buried knowledge and pray over the site that good and growth can come from the decaying parchment. Gain a +4 sacred bonus on saving throws against enchantment effects.

Boons

  1. Peacefulness (Sp) unprepared combatant 3/day, calm emotions 2/day, or charitable impulse 1/day
  2. Relaxation (Su) Three times per day, you can attempt a melee touch attack to obliterate the cares of the wicked. On a successful hit, the target takes a penalty to Charisma equal to 1d6 + 1 per 2 HD you possess (maximum 1d6+5, to a minimum Charisma score of 1). This penalty lasts for 1 round per HD. If the target succeeds at a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 your HD + your Wis modifier), the penalty is halved.
  3. Still Mind (Su) You are continually shielded as if by a mind blank spell. If anyone attempts to divine information about you through scry or similar spells and is foiled by the mind blank, the scrier must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your HD + your Wis modifier) or take 1d6 points of Intelligence damage.

Zodal

The martyr and messenger of peace among the Flan, Zodal is an ascended human, a disciple of Rao, and a victim and enemy of Vecna. He was a tribal chieftain at the time of the Ur-Flan. Only Zodal had no dirty secrets Vecna could use to control him, but was still dethroned by Vecna's intrigue and forced to live as a wanderer.

Zodal (ZOH-dal) is a servant power of Rao. He espouses kindness and compassion in situations of anger and vengeance, and diffuses negative emotions of those around him. Depicted as a man in simple gray robes with large careworn hands, he considers even the most hateful and destructive gods his friends, for he believes that with enough effort on his part they might change their ways. He continues his ministrations despite the evil and pain in the world, believing that his efforts will eventually make change happen. His symbol is a man's hand partially wrapped in gray cloth.

Only by experiencing kindness and mercy can evil be turned from its path, whether in a single goblin or an entire nation. Despite the world's troubles, press on with faith that your actions bring about a better place. Let the Zodal guide you when you would be pulled into the sea of blood, pain, anger, and despair. You are the master of your feelings and by acting upon your positive ones you set an example for those who have known only misery.

Zodal's clerics spend their lives in simple circumstances, using their knowledge and abilities helping people in need and alleviating pain. They are drawn to warfare, to minister to the wounded and convince evildoers to change their ways. They adventure to bring attention to their cause, discover artifacts of good like the Crook of Rao, and destroy items that promote woe.

Alignment: Neutral Good.

Weapon: Unarmed (clerics gain Improved Unarmed Combat feat)

Symbol: Hand partially wrapped in gray cloth.

Action Domains

Life, Light, Mind, Order, Spiritual.

Pathfinder Domains

Charm, Good (Agathion), Healing, Nobility (Martyr), Protection.

Pathfinder Traits

Pathfinder Obedience

Sit cross-legged in a quiet place. Fill your mind with thoughts of those who have harmed you or your loved ones. Strive to find forgiveness in your heart. Maintain your pose for an hour, rising above any physical discomfort you experience. Gain a +4 sacred bonus on saves against effects with the chaotic or evil descriptor.

Boons

  1. Harmonic (Sp) bless 3/day, augury 2/day, or mad monkeys 1/day
  2. Steady Hand (Su) Three times per day as a swift action, you can choose to deal nonlethal damage with a weapon that normally deals lethal damage for 1 minute. When you use this ability, you do not take the normal –4 penalty on attack rolls for dealing nonlethal damage with a lethal weapon, and the damage die of your weapon increases by one step as long as you deal nonlethal damage with it.
  3. Quietude (Su) You maintain an aura of utter peace. A continual sanctuary effect surrounds you, requiring enemies to succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your HD + your Wis modifier) to directly attack you. Extraplanar creatures that manage to attack you directly must succeed at an additional Will save (same DC) or return to their plane of origin as though affected by a dismissal spell. If you attack another creature, the sanctuary effect temporarily subsides for 1d4+1 rounds.

Vecna

The Common god of secrets is an ascended lich and archmage. He has hidden covens of conspirators, often infiltrating magical guilds. The cult is small, but many members are powerful mages or rogues.

In Flan myths, Vecna deposed Zodal to become the greatest king of the Ur-Flan. Vecna mastered all the tribes by learning and using their secrets against them. In time he became the first lich and was served by the first vampire, creating an empire of evil that fell only when the two fought it out.

Vecna (VEK-nah) was a terrifying and evil Flan lich-king who gained a foothold on godhood thousands of years ago. Betrayed by his lieutenant Kas, the Whispered One disappeared from Oerth, leaving behind his legend and his two great artifacts, the Eye and Hand of Vecna. He recently became a lesser god after freeing himself from an extraplanar prison and now plots the destruction of all other gods so that he may take Oerth for himself. He has a great hatred for Iuz and is hated and feared by other deities. His symbol is a left hand clutching a human eye.

No matter how powerful a being is, there exists a secret that can destroy him. In every heart is a seed of darkness hidden from all others; find that evil seed, and your enemies are undone. Strength and power come if you know and control what others dare not show. Never reveal all that you know, or your enemies will lake your seed, too.

Vecna's clerics subvert governments, seduce good folk to evil, and plot the eventual takeover of all Oerth. So hated is this cult that these clerics' lives are forfeit if they are discovered. They are very secretive as a result but can be found anywhere, spreading evil or looking for items that date back to their master's ancient empire. Of particular interest are Vecna's two artifacts, which once again are lost.

Alignment: Neutral Evil.

Weapon: Dagger.

Symbol: Eyeball in the palm of a left hand.

Pathfinder Domains

Artifice (Construct) Darkness (Loss), Death (Undead), Knowledge (any subdomain), Magic (Arcane).

Pathfinder Traits

Pathfinder Obedience

While moving through a crowd of people (at least six individuals), whisper a prayer to Vecna so quietly that no one hears you. If you suspect a member of the crowd heard you, you must follow that individual either cast a non-harmless spell on her or and prick her with a needle or other sharp implement. If you can’t locate a suitable crowd, dig a hole at least 6 inches deep in the ground, whisper your prayers into the hole, and bury the sound. Gain a +3 profane bonus on Bluff checks and on Diplomacy checks to gather information.

Evangelist or Feat

  1. Secrets and Lies (Sp) comprehend languages 3/day, detect thoughts 2/day, or clairaudience/clairvoyance 1/day
  2. Cunning Lies (Ex) You can use your Intelligence modifier instead of your Charisma modifier on Bluff checks. You can use Bluff as if it was Diplomacy to gather information or make a request.
  3. Secret Self (Sp) Once per day, you can use greater invisibility on yourself as a spell-like ability. When you use this spell-like ability, you gain certain gifts from Vecna in addition to the spell effects. You gain a +4 profane bonus on Perception checks while invisible. You gain a +2 profane bonus on attack rolls made with thrown weapons, ranged weapons, and short swords while invisible as well. In addition, the invisibility effect lasts for 1 minute/level instead of the normal 1 round/level.

Exalted

  1. Poison Tongue (Sp) hidden speech 3/day, anonymous interaction 2/day, or witness 1/day
  2. Enervating Strike (Sp) You can use enervation (sp) with a range of touch. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to your Wisdom modifier.
  3. Virulent Ally (Sp) Once per day as a standard action, you can summon a piscodaemon (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 72) to serve you. The piscodaemon follows your commands perfectly for 1 minute for every Hit Die you possess before vanishing back to its home in Abaddon. The piscodaemon doesn’t follow commands that would cause it to act in altruistically good ways, and could attack you if a command is particularly egregious.

Sentinel

  1. Trust Breaker (Sp) doom 3/day, fox's cunning 2/day, or keen edge 1/day
  2. Sly Maneuver (Su) A number of times per day equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum 1), you can add your Intelligence modifier (minimum 1) to your combat maneuver bonus.
  3. Fatal Choice (Su) Once per day, upon defeating an opponent, you can heal it and attempt to force it to obey you. As soon as you reduce a living creature to –1 or fewer hit points, you can force it to attempt a Will saving throw with a DC equal to 10 + 1/2 your Hit Dice + your Intelligence modifier. If it succeeds, it begins dying as normal. If the target fails, it is restored to 1 hit point and is affected as per the spell charm monster. The target can willingly fail this saving throw.

Action Techniques

Charm, Impress, Spot.

Traits

Assimilated but Aware

Despite living among other folk, you have clung to your cultural identity.

Benefit: You can imitate the accents and mannerisms of others, concealing your cultural heritage as that of the people you grew up amongst. You gain a +1 trait bonus to Bluff and Diplomacy and one of these skills is a class skill for you.

Druidic Empathy

Your family has ancient ties to nature.

Benefit: You use the Wild Empathy class ability with a bonus equal to your Wisdom modifier rather than your Charisma modifier. If you lack this class feature, you can use it as a druid but without a level modifiers, your total bonus is equal to your Wisdom modifier.

Hidden Survivor

Your way of life has often come under attack, and your people have learned to hide and avoid trouble by moving away from it.

Benefit: You gain a +1 trait bonus on Stealth and Survival checks. One of these skills is a class skill for you.

Legacy of Vecna

You have inherited your people's ancient magic traditions, but they come at a cost. It is all too easy to follow in the footsteps of Vecna.

Benefit: If you have a spellbook or list of spells known you learn one additional necromantic spell each time you learn spells of a new level. You can learn one necromantic spell of each spell level this way. If there are no necromantic spells on your class' spell list of a certain level, the benefit is lost for that level of spell. If you cast a necromantic spell for a non-destructive, good, and selfless purpose, you take one point of Charisma damage.

Totem Bond

You have formed a close bond with an animal, reawakening the ancient totemic legacy of your people.

Benefit: If you have a familiar or animal companion as a class feature, that feature works as if you were three levels higher. If you don't have such a class feature, you gain a familiar like that of a first level wizard. Your ties to your totem is unusually strong; you can never change what kind of familiar or animal companion you have, tough you can exchange it for a different-sized animal of the same basic family; exchange a Small viper for a Large viper or a wolf for a dire wolf, for example.

If you have the option to pick a familiar or animal companion as a class feature, you must do so. If you are a ranger, you get your animal companion at first level. If you do not have an animal companion or familiar as a class feature, select an animal that qualifies as a familiar and gain that as an animal companion as if you were a level 1 druid.

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