Illustration by Sara Forlenza. Wallpaper design by Crystal Frasier. Widescreen version here.
Paizo Is Divine
Friday, February 18, 2011
It's been a divine week here at Paizo. On Wednesday we talked a little about Faiths of Purity, a book that discusses in depth the good-aligned gods and the role of religion and faith on Golarion. In that post we spoiled the code that paladins of Shelyn live by, which you can read about by clicking here.
Yesterday, James Jacobs gave us the subdomains for all of the deities mentioned by name in The Inner Sea World Guide that didn't in turn get a write-up in the Advanced Player's Guide That post built on the one from the week before, where he gave us Pharasma-friendly versions of the Death domain and the attached Souls subdomain. He also gave us the Dark Tapestry, Stars, Dragon, and Saurian subdomains, which fall under the Void and Scalykind domains, both of which can be found in The Inner Sea World Guide.
All of that is a roundabout way of presenting this week's wallpaper, a great piece depicting a paladin of Shelyn. Enjoy!
In the next month or so the next book in our Pathfinder Player Companion line will be released. Faiths of Purity isn't a book about the gods. It's not even just about their clerics. It's really a book about the vast masses of the faithful, the worshipers of the gods of absolute good and their place on Golarion. It's about the living religion, and how that religion ties into the everyday lives of its followers. More importantly, it outlines the role of adventurers in the faith, and why an adventurer might choose a particular god—not merely because the god's alignment matches, or because the best spells come from his domains, but because your philosophies match. Most importantly, it's about how your story can encompass faith, and how a myriad of different heroic characters can battle evil and live in the light of the gods.
This is an awesome book that focuses on the seven major good-aligned gods, provides an outline of the god in question, and summarizes the deity's domains and interests, and why that god might be a good fit for your character. In addition to new feats, spells, and write-ups on different organizations officially sanctioned by the various churches, Faiths of Purity also discusses the various codes paladins of the different good gods live by. As a teaser, here's the code that paladins of Shelyn (yes, she has paladins) follow:
Illustration by Sara Forlenza
Paladins of Shelyn are peaceable promoters of art and beauty. They see the ugliness in evil, even when cloaked in the form of beauty, and their job is to prevent the weak and foolish from being seduced by false promises. Their tenets include:
I am peaceful. I come first with a rose. I act to prevent conflict before it blossoms.
I never strike first, unless it is the only way to protect the innocent.
I accept surrender if my opponent can be redeemed—and I never assume that they cannot be. All things that live love beauty, and I will show beauty's answer to them.
I will never destroy a work of art, nor allow one to come to harm unless greater art arises from its loss. I will only sacrifice art if doing so allows me to save a life, for untold beauty can arise from an awakened soul.
I see beauty in others. As a rough stone hides a diamond, a drab face may hide the heart of a saint.
I lead by example, not with my blade. Where my blade passes, a life is cut short, and the world's potential for beauty is lessened.
I live my life as art. I will choose an art and perfect it. When I have mastered it, I will choose another. The works I leave behind make life richer for those who follow.
The Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer is out now and receiving rave reviews. In case you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, here's an excerpt of what you're missing. I have a soft spot for Shelyn, since she was my first major contribution to the campaign setting, so here's the first official look at her, straight from the pages of the Gaz.
Shelyn
The Eternal Rose Goddess of beauty, art, love, and music
Alignment: NG
Domains: Air, Charm, Good, Luck, Protection
Favored Weapon: Glaive
Centers of Worship: Absalom, Galt, Sargava, Taldor
Nationality: Taldan
An ancient story tells of how Shelyn stole the glaive Whisperer of Souls from her half-brother Zon-Kuthon in an attempt to redeem him. Obviously, this didn't work, but to the intelligent weapon's great frustration, neither do its continued attempts to corrupt or influence her.
All depictions of Shelyn, regardless of race or ethnicity, show her as a young woman barely out of her youth, with eyes of blue or silver.
Shelyn's ankle-length chestnut hair bears several strands colored bright red, green, and gold. She always wears tasteful clothing and jewelry that accentuates her beauty without revealing too much of it. Shelyn preaches (and practices) that true beauty comes from within, and she favors romances not based solely on lust. Clerics of Shelyn endeavor each day to create something of beauty, whether artistically or through unconventional forms, such as a gardener tending a flower garden.
And, of course, because their histories tie them together, here too is the foul Zon-Kuthon (who also appears in the upcoming Pathfinder #11).
Zon-Kuthon
The Midnight Lord God of envy, pain, darkness, and loss
Alignment: LE
Domains: Darkness, Death, Destruction, Evil, Law
Favored Weapon: Spiked chain
Centers of Worship: Belkzen, Cheliax, Geb, Irrisen, Nidal, Varisia
Nationality: Alien
The Umbral Leaves, which chronicle the history of Zon-Kuthon, claim that he was once the half-brother of the beauty goddess Shelyn, but that his envy over her talents led him to commit terrible acts against her and her works. For his crimes, the gods of Golarion banished Zon-Kuthon to the Plane of Shadow, there to reside for as long as the sun hung in the sky. Unfortunately, in the depths of the Age of Darkness, Zon-Kuthon emerged from his prison to a benighted Golarion and wept tears of joy. Here was a world ripe for the conquering, hidden from the light of the stars and cloaked in fear and entropy.
Zon-Kuthon is almost never depicted by his followers, but his presence manifests as a deep darkness lurking in the center of paintings, and as a standing doorway that leads only to emptiness.
The Midnight Lord wreaked terrible havoc upon the world in the Age of Darkness, but his malign influence has mostly been purged over the years. The lone exception to this is the Shadow Court of Pangolais, the secret rulers of Nidal. In this dark nation, the faith of the Midnight Lord still rules supreme, the leaders issuing edicts from their pitch-black council chambers.
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