Gemariah Morgethai's page

AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15, (+5 armor, +3 Dex)
HP 43 (8d8)
Fort +8; Ref +8; Will +12; +2 vs. enchantment effects
Immune sleep

Speed 30 ft.
Melee —
Ranged —
Special Attacks channel positive energy 5/day (DC 16, 4d6)
Spell-Like Abilities 6/day—artificer’s touch (1d6+4)
Spells Prepared (CL 8; concentration +14)
4th—blessing of fervor, good hope, spell immunity [D], summon monster IV
3rd—final sacrifice, prayer, protection from energy [D], searing light, summon monster III
2nd—barkskin [D], burst of radiance (2), grace, summon monster II
1st—bless, liberating command, shield [D], summon minor monster, summon monster I, unbreakable heart
0 (at will)—detect magic, guidance, light, read magic
D Domain spell; Domains Artifice, Defense

Str 8, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 18, Cha 14
Base Atk +6; CMB +5; CMD 18
Feats Augment Summoning, Sacred Summons, Spell Focus (conjuration), Superior Summoning
Traits Artisan, Focused Mind, Deft Dodger
Drawbacks Sheltered
Skills Appraise +10, Craft (carpentry) +6, Craft (carpentry) +6, Craft (painting) +12, Diplomacy +8, Heal +8, Knowledge (arcana) +6, Knowledge (history) +12, Knowledge (local) +2, Knowledge (nature) +2, Knowledge (nobility) +6, Knowledge (planes) +6, Knowledge (religion) +8, Linguistics +8, Perception +10, Profession (engineer) +8, Sense Motive +8, Spellcraft +6, Use Magic Device +8
Languages Common (Taldane), Azlanti, Celestial, Draconic, Elven, Gnome, Sylvan
SQ aura (strong good), aura of protection (+1 deflection, energy resistance 5, 8 rounds/day), deflection aura, forbidden rites
Magical Gear +1 mithral chain shirt, handy haversack, lesser book of extended summoning, lesser rod of giant summoning, marvelous pigments, scholar's ring, scroll of delay poison, scroll of lesser restoration (2), scroll of remove blindness/deafness, scroll of remove fear, scroll of remove paralysis, scroll of suppress charms and compulsions, wand of cure light wounds (50 charges)
Mundane Gear animal glue (2), antiplague, antitoxin, artisan's outfit (stowed), belt pouch, book of letters, courtier's outfit (worn), earplugs, grooming kit, healer's kit, heritage book, holy text (an illustrated copy of the Melodies of Inner Beauty), hip flask, jewelry (worth 50 gp), journal, masterwork painter's tools, silver holy symbol of Shelyn, scrivener's kit, smelling salts, stick of charcoal (2), 29 gp, 9 sp, 6 cp

Gemariah is of average height and weight for an elf, being slightly taller and slimmer than most humans. Like most of his people, he is lithe and long-limbed, graceful with a demeanour of aloof poise. His eyes are a solid lavender, and his silken hair bears the sheen of platinum. When not at work in his studio, he is often dressed in leggings and a long tunic, both in dark, muted shades, offset by a vibrantly pearlescent sash of many-hued silk worn at the waist. He also bears a variegated mantelet, the colours of which appear to run and mingle when not directly observed, as well as a pair of dandyish poulaines. He avoids priestly wear, though he does openly wear his holy symbol, the silver songbird's eyes inset with small gemstones.

Based in Absalom, Gemariah is a moderately renowned art historian and conservator, specialising in Taldo-Chelaxian paintings of the post-Aroden era. One of Gemariah's advantages over his shorter-lived competitors is his breadth of experience: having existed through many different periods of human art, his knowledge of is not merely academic, but lived experience. Oftentimes he is not only acquainted with the art, but actually knew the master personally decades or centuries earlier.

Having lived so long amongst shorter-lived peoples, Gemariah has not entirely avoided the malaise that afflicts the Forlorn. He retains both familial and platonic ties to Kyonin, and makes a habit of keeping in touch the expatriate community in Absalom—particularly to members of House Avenstar, the social events of which he regularly attends. Yet he pointedly refuses to work on elven art, content to enjoy the fruits of his native culture in a purely recreational manner. On the contrary, his relationships with humans remain strictly professional, as much as Gemariah can maintain such unattachment. Every so often, he becomes fond of a human artist—typically a shining paragon of his generation—and mourns such rare friendships for decades. He is especially protective of the creations of these prodigies, even working free of charge to restore them when needed.

Gemariah considers his abandonment of Findeladlara's clergy an amiable one—he served his allotted time, and departed after having done his part to preserve elven heritage. As he made the decision to convert without the guidance of any religious authority and with a lengthy career in another priesthood behind him, there was little to no formal education or induction, and he brought with him a century worth of baggage. This has resulted in a borderline heretical view on the Shelynite faith, entirely focused on the material aspects of art with the exclusion of the Eternal Rose's portfolio of love. Since he does not proselytise his views, there is little open conflict with other Shelynites, though some amongst the clergy are wary of his syncretistic practises.

Though his adventuring days are mostly behind him, and he generally eschews the usual duties of Shelynite clergy (he never officiates weddings, for example), Gemariah does keep his medicine cabinet stocked and is ready to offer healing pro gratis whenever necessary (though he is quick to refer difficult cases to more dedicated healers). Each humanoid form is a unique piece of art, crafted by the gods and itself capable of various creative actions, as well as serving as a muse to many an artist. To cause bodily harm is an affront to the divinity inherent in all creation—accordingly, Gemariah also refrains from violence whenever necessary, having discarded his quarterstaff when he converted, never picking up the glaive. In addition to his pacifism, he also follows a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet, based on moral grounds.

Gemariah's life can be divided into two distinct periods, both instrisically bound to art.

Born in the Kyoni settlement of Riverspire, Gemariah belongs to the locally prominent Morgethai family. Both of his parents were artists—his mother a sculptor and his father a musician—and he grew up in an environment that encouraged self-expression. After some years studying under a master painter and a brief stint of apprenticeship to a famed maker of canvases and stretchers, he spent the majority of his long youth serving in the clergy Findeladlara, the elven goddess of art and architecture. He worked with other priests to preserve elven culture, mainly focusing on the retrieval of objets d'art that had been lost or looted during the flight to Sovyrian, and the conservation and restoration thereof. He spent decades clearing and reconsecrating the ruins of the blighted Tanglebriar, as well as studying artefacts smuggled out of Sevenarches to Hymbria. He even went to Mierani Forest to aid the recovery of relics from Celwynvian, where he came face-to-face the hidden drow threat.

As he travelled, the young priest grew curious about the varied traditions of art fostered by the elven cultures which formed in the absence of the Aiudeen (or the "Returners," the descendants of those who fled to Sovyrian). For a full decade, he took a sabbatical and explored this world of diversity: he spent a season amongst the Mualijae and Vourinoi of Garund, and even went to look for Ilverani of the northern wastes—though with lesser success. To some consternation amongst his more traditionalist peers, he even delved into the local culture of Erages, the population of which comprises mainly of half-elves.

For all his adventures, the final steps of his enlightenment happened quite close to home: specifically, following a debate with a masked emissary from the Mordant Spire within a quaint tea-house in the Kyoni capital of Iadara. The grey elf spoke eloquently for the cultural achievements of the Azlanti, even as she abjured their hubris. For the first time—and not without some discomfort—Gemariah turned his attention on the humans and their artistic merits. He acquainted himself with the Azlanti culture his erstwhile interlocutor had so ardently praised, following its trail all the way to modern-day humans' stumbling attempts to reclaim that now-lost heritage. After books and the memories of elders failed him, he finally braved the social experiment that is Greengold, the only settlement in Kyonin with a sanctioned population of non-elves.

After he recovered from the initial culture shock, Gemariah found humans endlessly fascinating: he was entranced by the vibrancy of their expression, ever fickle and fleeting in its continual novelty. Though elven culture is not stagnant, per se, their culture moves at such a glacial pace as to appear so, and their aesthetics are informed by a sense of timelessness, based on reiteration of the past rather than wholesale invention. With such short memories, humans were not as bound to their yesteryears, forgetting entire traditions only to find entirely new methods of expression, shifting from one style to another in ever-creative ways.

This started the second era of Gemariah's life. After a quite abrupt departure from the Findeladlaran clergy, he was naturally drawn towards Shelyn, who had served as a muse for all sorts of art throughout history. The Eternal Rose was already friendly with the elven pantheon (if not with all its members), but more open to non-human artistry than the Guiding Hand. Indeed, this difference in opinion was a common point of contention between the two faiths. After a period of introspection and prayer, he decided to relocate to Absalom, the heart of human activity in the Inner Sea region. He saw the metropolis is something of a palette, containing a mixture of the various hues of humanity from different times and places—all without the constraining patronisation of Greengold. The various innovations made by different human cultures all eventually turn up in the Patchwork City, and its fashions trickle back to influence trends elsewhere. In other words, the perfect place to observe.

With the patronage of House Avenstar, Gemariah quickly established himself in the Ivy District. Throughout the following decades and centuries, he watched generations of human artists thrive and fall to obscurity, immersing himself in each successive movement with an unquenchable thrist for the avant-garde, while also retaining knowledge of the past without scholarly error. In time he found himself a reliable clientele, often taking commissions from multiple successive lords and ladies of prominent human families in the district. Eventually, he opened his own workshop (dubbed Atelier Vertu), took apprentices—mostly young elves, half-elves and gnomes—and further solidified a reputation as a competent and reliable source of information, as well as a skilled artisan in his own right.