bobopa's page

Okay wow, you guys went deep into some awesome rabbit holes here :) My 5 cents about my player thinking of becoming something like the Pharasmin Martin Luther: He does not want to do this. But he fears he has to do this. The reason behind this is the well known concept of a godess that sees everything, knows the future and the past and so on, losing her USP because of Aroden's death and the following catastrophe of the lost omens. There was a very, very cool blog (?) post from one of the Paizo-people about Pharasma and the problem the lost omens created. My player read this and was stunned. he fell in love with the idea of one of the most powerful churches/gods in turmoil and at the the edge of a schism because of that. He plays a guy from a small monastery in the fivekingmountains, well protected by his parents (who are pharasmites also), only knowing stuff about his region. Kind of Luke Skywalker before he found the droids ;) Some travellers came by and told him of the great problem the church might has to solve in the future to stay relevant, trustworthy and powerful. And so it began ;)

And i like this. He plans to travel to the greater churches and speak with the important NPC of his belief, That's why i asked here. He wants to know (his char wants to know too^^) what the f is going on. He seeks truth and hopes to speak to Pharasma directly one day (before he HAS to as all living beings have to at some point). And he is not afraid to play this one guy who shakes the whole church up to make it prepared and geared for the future. Cool thing is: he built a second char for an adventure path we are starting this march. And this guy is some kind of investigator/inquisitor, sent out by the church in Ustalav to look after "this one guy asking too many questions". We' ll see how this turns out... the two chars he is planning to play the path with will be some kind of rivals.

edit: and about the schism he fears: He thinks that there will be the ones who want to keep the power of the chruch at all cost. The ones who will claim that Pharasma saw everything coming that everything is fine and nobody has to worry as long as they believe. And he thinks that there will be the ones (like his char) who will try to find out what exactly happened. If Pharasma is still in control, if she might even be in danger or if she was somehow involved in the death of Aroden...

Sibelius Eos Owm wrote:

the average person has reason to generate a range of gods

Oof, I meant venerate, this is what I get for typing on an ipad before I've finished waking up. Also you are most welcome!

A few more names which may interest you now that I have a moment to sit down with a wiki reference page:

Neferpatra is an 18th level Cleric who, despite her power is only in the middle of her temple's hierarchy, but also happens to be a Grand Councilwoman of Absalom.

Inebni Andabar is a 14th level Cleric who is the high priestess of the temple in Sothis, capital of Osirion, making it likely one of the oldest still-standing temples of Pharasma in the Inner Sea.

Malika Azardi is a 17th level Cleric/Wizard Theurge, called the High Theurge, who is listed as a powerful Pharasma worshiper also in Sothis, but contextually I suspect there's an error and she's the high priest of Nethys?

Sebti the Crocodile, 13th level Cleric, is the common-born High Priestess of the temple of Pharasma in Wati (a small city in Osirion which used to be populous before plagues; Pharasmin worshipers moved into and have been regrowing since.

Mother Verith Thesia, 12th level Cleric, is the high priestess in Caliphas, capital of Ustalav

Bishop Keppira d'Bear, 13th level Cleric, is the high priestess in Korvosa, Varisia (one of three major cities).

Annamentus Jivorus, 7th level Cleric, is the high priest in Magnimar, Varisia (another major city)

Delana Karaheis, 9th level Cleric, is the High Priestess of Death in the Godsmouth Cathedral in Kaer Maga, and also the leader of the church (largest minor city in Varisia)

Bavhulameta Ulametria, 11th level Cleric, is the current leader of the Pharasmin Penitence movement in Ustalav.

(I thought I was going to see a few inquisitors and an oracle on this list but I skimmed for people who looked like they had positions of significant authority, whether inside the church or from a political standpoint)

You are awesome, thank you so much. That is way more than enough. Best regards from my player also. He wanted to know which people he could visit as a a Pharasmin to talk about the lost omens, Pharasmas role and maybe even an upcoming schism of the church because of all the turmoil. Much, much appreciated! Evene if i fear that he wants to become the next Martin Luther or something oO

We do know the names of several of the high priests (the founder of Pharasmin Penitence was named Mother Kavapesta, etc) but I don't think Pharasma's faith has the same sort of structural hierarchy as the Catholic Church (despite how the Ustalav branch visually namechecks the aesthetic). This makes sense, since technically the setting is polytheistic, so the average person has reason to generate a range of gods rather than unify around specific religious identities. Also, Pharasma is as old as the universe, so her oldest and largest temples on Golarion were probably destroyed in Earthfall, while on the other hand in many places (Brevoy, for example) she is primarily worshipped by humble folk--midwives, gravediggers, and the commoners they tend to.

In short, even if all the specifics of Pharasma's worship were nailed down at this point, I don't think we'd find that there was one place in the Inner Sea which centralized her worship into a place where all others considered an authority over themselves. Unlike, for example, Aroden, whose faith believed that he would reappear before his faithful in Cheliax, I believe specifically the city of Westcrown, in the year 4606.

What a good reply, thx so much! Makes sense and is explained so well. Thx for taking your time to answer! And i will definitely look up Mother Kavapesta :)

bobopa wrote:

Thx so much already, that helped a lot. But one could say that info on this is pretty rare or even not wanted by paizo it seems? Like "do whatever you want with the churches and their leaders" without getting too precise like some other Roleplayinggames out there where you know the name of the high priest, the main church and so on and so on.

It's not that the info is rare or paizo doesn't care. Golarion is just such a world that for overwhelming majority of gods there aren't such things as main priests, main temples and so on. They just don't exist. I guess the designers don't think Catholic church's structure suits most Golarion religions.

Jap, it really looks like this and i have absolutely no problem with it. It seems like i am just used to the standards of a former P&P i played. It's the largest german roleplaying game and it is very, very, very (too) precise in naming NPC, important locations, structures and hierarchies. A reason why i left this circus many years ago ;)

It's just that i wanted to give my player an answer that is more official than me just saying "couldn't find any, there are none" ;)

Do you guys maybe know the best PF1 sources to learn more about religious fluff? Would be great to know.

Thx so much already, that helped a lot. But one could say that info on this is pretty rare or even not wanted by paizo it seems? Like "do whatever you want with the churches and their leaders" without getting too precise like some other Roleplayinggames out there where you know the name of the high priest, the main church and so on and so on.

Anyways: thx again :)

Hi dear Pathfinders,

one of my players asked me if there are some kind of highest priests or priestesses for the more relevant churches in Golarion and if there is a way to learn more about them. So, because he plays a pharasmite, is there a church leader of Pharasma or what is the most important location for the church (like the Vatican is for the catholic church)?

I know that there might be some answers in legends but i could not find any infos for Pharasma in particular.

Does somebody know something or where i can find some answers? The more churches and cults and their leaders and "capitals" the better.

Thx in advance for your time and answers!