I'm looking for some inspiration for an upcoming character of mine, a Snowcaster elf, and I couldn't help but wonder what sort of deities they might worship (I really enjoy making religious characters). The only information I could find on the subject was that there is an untrue rumour that Snow Elves are demon-worshipping cannibals...
Would they still worship the standard Elven pantheon? What about other gods? I was considering Pharasma, given the threat of the White Legion in the Crown of the World, but the insular nature of the Snowcaster tribes makes me question what "outsider" gods they would be likely to accept.
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The book you want is People of the North. According to that book, they do worship the Elven pantheon, which includes the following deities. Findeladlara is given pride of place.
Other books that might be helpful to you are A Memory of Darkness and The Hungry Storm, which include encounters or at least the possibility of encounters with Snowcaster NPCs. They don't have much information, though, so if you are at all concerned about spoilers I'd advise staying away.
What about some empyreal lords, like Pulura (CG; constellations, homesickness, northern lights) or Tolc (CG; cold, frozen wilds, survival)? Even Black Butterfly (CG; distance, silence, [outer] space) is an option, considering both the clarity of the stars in polar regions and possible unpleasant visitors from the Black Tapestry in the same locations.
If the portfolio is right, I'm sure that some of the other empyreal lords would also be applicable.
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I wrote the Snowcaster Elves section of People of the North. In my original submission I explained the reasoning for Findeladlara's prominence in their culture, but this got snipped during development and should therefore not be considered canon, but you might like to use it in your games. The bit that got snipped is as follows:
"Snowcaster elves cling to traditions long since forgotten by other elves, and revere one deity above all others – Findeladlara, the goddess of art, architecture, and twilight. It was a contingent of her priesthood that refused to abandon Golarion during Earthfall, and persuaded the faithful to remain behind. In the very far north, where the winter lasts forever, sometimes the sun never completely sets, and twilight can last for months. These are the holy lands to which their ancestors came."
Thanks for the replies, everyone (Especially Shaun, getting input from an actual writer is awesome)! I think I'll go with Findeladlara; she seems fitting for a Snowcaster who still has yet to fully overcome her wariness of outsiders.
I actually have read A Memory of Darkness and The Hungry Storm, but I somehow missed People of the North. I'll be sure to try and pick it up at some point. Thanks again!
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You're welcome. The elves having a goddess of twilight and the snowcasters living in a part of the world where twilight can last for months was too awesome not to make a connection.
My take on Snowcasters is that they are traditional, religious, isolationist, wary of outsiders, and very defensive about the 'holy' lands that they and their extended families inhabit. Of course, over the millennia even elves can change and I would think that those who weren't quite so fond of Findeladlara might have moved a little south from the arctic conditions of the Crown of the World into the very northernmost parts of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings and the Realm of the Mammoth Lords.
Desna probably figures prominently in their worship as well, considering the important of navigating by the stars during the long arctic night, and the way that it would appear that the entire sky of stars would rotate around you when you're at the crown of the world.
Unless there is something very odd with Golarion's orbit, rotation, and axial tilt, the polar regions should get equal amounts of daylight and darkness. They just get "clumped together" more than in temperate and tropical zones. For every "long night" there is an equally "long day".
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Unless there is something very odd with Golarion's orbit, rotation, and axial tilt, the polar regions should get equal amounts of daylight and darkness. They just get "clumped together" more than in temperate and tropical zones. For every "long night" there is an equally "long day".
Well, quite. It's a bit of poetic license to say that twilight in and around the Crown of the World lasts for months. According to the article in AP51: The Hungry Storm there are two solid months of "polar twilight" that bookend a month of "polar night".
This is perhaps why that bit was snipped, I imagine, because my fantasy romanticism got a bit carried away with itself.
They may be there in equal amounts, but trust me, the dark period feels a lot longer.