Yes, another forum post theorizing about Aroden's fate. However, with this post I intend to summarize existing theories before digging into my own theories based off of what Paizo themselves have said (as much as possible).
The most popular theories I've run across (in no particular order) are:
Aroden approached Pharasma to have himself killed in order to prevent Rovagug's eventual return.
Aroden isn't actually dead, and his whereabouts are unknown.
Tar-Barphoon is somehow responsible for Aroden's death in order to gain greater ascendancy.
Asmodeous, Norbringer, or some other god killed Aroden at an opportune moment for whatever reason.
I think some of these are getting close, but I have reason to believe that none of them address the whole picture. Paizo has stated that they will never reveal their version of what happened to Aroden because they want to leave it as a mystery for players to explore in their own campaigns. They've left little clues for readers to base their own theories off of, but I believe these clues also align with their untold "true" story regarding Aroden's fate. Some of these clues have portions of them that are meant to throw you off, but they're there all the same. Some clues I've found are:
https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Aroden
Spoiler:
"No one knows for sure what happened to Aroden, or if he is truly alive or dead. He is presumed to be dead because his clerics no longer receive his spells, and because of the appearance of the Eye of Abendego and Worldwound. Countless theories exist about how he might have died, including a battle with Rovagug or Asmodeus, a journey beyond the Outer Sphere, or reincarnation into a mortal man to save humanity. The gods might know his true fate, particularly Pharasma, but if they do, they are not revealing it to mortals."
"When Aroden walked the world disguised, he took on one of twelve guises: artist, beggar, craftsman or artisan, farmer, fisherman, hunter, merchant, scholar, shepherd, soldier, tailor, and thief."
"Passages of this sacred text, along with numerous carvings depicting the twelve guises of Aroden, are carved into the Pilgrim's Cave, a large cavern in the foothills of the Kortos Mounts. The carvings are thought to be centuries old, yet still contain a faint echo of the dead god's power."
https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Pilgrim%27s_Cave
Spoiler:
"The chamber's walls are covered with numerous, detailed carvings depicting of the twelve guises of Aroden, along with inscriptions from his sacred text, The History and Future of Humanity. Even though the god is believed to be dead, these inscriptions still carry an echo of the deity's power, albeit a quickly fading one."
https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Starfall_Doctrine
Spoiler:
"The Starfall Doctrine is a series of prophecies written in Azlanti that predicted that the god Aroden would return to Golarion in 4606 AR and lead the human race in a millennium of prosperity known as the Age of Glory. He was supposed to lead the world from Cheliax, which he would personally rule and which would also become the pre-eminent nation in the world. When the appointed year came, instead of Aroden's appearance, his clerics lost all connection to the god, and he has been assumed dead ever since."
https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Hermitage
Spoiler:
"The Hermitage is a small, barren island just off the southern tip of Mediogalti Island. It is named after its only inhabitant, a mysterious old man known only as the Hermit. The Hermit lives in a small, ramshackle hut made of driftwood and is rumored to have some kind of connection with the Mayor of Ilizmagorti or the Eye of Abendego itself."
https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Hermit
Spoiler:
"The Hermit is a mysterious old man who lives alone on the Hermitage, a barren island off the southern tip of Mediogalti Island. His home is a crude hut constructed out of driftwood."
"Next to nothing is known about the Hermit, not even his name. He appears to be a deaf mute, and has been seen staring eastward into the storms generated by the Eye of Abendego."
https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Eye_of_Abendego
Spoiler:
"The Eye of Abendego is a vicious, permanent hurricane."
"The Eye appeared in 4606 AR ... Although the exact cause of its appearance is unknown, it came into being after three weeks of tempest following the death of Aroden, and remains as the greatest physical evidence of the event."
"Magical divinations focused on the center of the Eye (since navigating there is impossible due to the rough seas and high winds) have discovered a large eye of calm whose waters are choked with debris."
"A splinter cult of Gozreh known as the Storm Kindlers believed that the Eye was a manifestation of their deity, while the boggards of the Sodden Lands believe it is connected to their patron god, Rovagug."
https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Pharasma
Spoiler:
"Pharasma makes no decision on whether a death is just or not; she views all with a cold and uncaring attitude, and decides on which of the Outer Planes a soul will spend eternity. Pharasma is also the goddess of birth and prophecy: from the moment a creature is born, she sees what its ultimate fate will be, but reserves final judgement until that soul finally stands before her."
"The death of Aroden, the first of the ascended gods, at the end of the Age of Enthronement was extremely unexpected. His death was not prophesied, and once he died, most of the other prophecies in the world started to go awry as well. Many of Pharasma's priests have lost their faith or have gone mad as a result, but those who remain, are finding that Pharasma's hold over prophecy is becoming less important, while her domain over death, birth, and fate, are growing stronger. It is a time of change for Pharasma and her faith. Some legends say that Pharasma knew the death of Aroden was approaching, but chose not to tell her followers for reasons unknown."
"Echo of Lost Divinity: This minion is a spectral warrior bedecked in expensive Azlanti dress. It bears an uncanny similarity to known renderings of Aroden, and only appeared in Pharasma's service at the beginning of the Age of Lost Omens."
https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Asmodeus
Spoiler:
(I just wanted to point out that Aroden doesn't pop up anywhere on this page, despite Asmodeus' interest in Cheliax and the fact that Aroden held significant influence over Cheliax up until the time of his death. I also find it curious that Aroden and Asmodeus bare unusual similarities to one another in that they're both on the frontier of exploring their own potential.
Other entities that share this sort of characteristic are Irori and Nethys, both of whom attained the status of deity... though neither utilized the Starstone like Aroden did. Being immortal, could Aroden have eventually attained divinity without the use of the Starstone?)
Now, here's where my theory comes in, but it needs a little bit of background behind my understanding of how Domains work. I consider Domains to be a fundamental aspect of reality, a universal law, an original law, something that just is. The more an entity (such as a deity) adheres to that law, the more power they will have in regards to that law. This is why multiple gods in Pathfinder are able to able to have the same domain. The domain doesn't originate with any particular deity, but a deity adhering to the domain is able to withdraw power from it. When a deity stops adhering to the guiding laws and principals of a domain, they are no longer able to withdraw power from it.
MY THEORY
For whatever reason, Pharasma saw fit to violate the domain of prophecy and take Aroden's divine life. As a result, Pharasma's access to the Prophecy Domain was forfeit (hence the chaos ensuing after Aroden's death). Aroden's divinity is now kept under guard as Pharasma's herald, "Echo of Lost Divinity". Aroden's mortal body now resides on Hermitage and is known today as the Hermit. His catastrophic separation from his own divinity left him deaf and mute, and is also perhaps forbidden to reveal his identity. He has been on the island for over 100 years (since 4606 AR when the Eye of Abendago, current year being 4718+ AR). The Eye of Abendago is only named as such because of the former name of the location it inhabits (Abendago Gulf), but the most correct name for the storm is actually "Eye of Aroden", a twisted manifestation of his holy symbol. The storms leading up to the creation of the eye may well have been side effect of the battle between Pharasma and Aroden until "he died" (or rather, his divinity was taken from him, so "Aroden the God" died, but not Aroden the "mortal").
BUT WHY WOULD PHARASMA KILL ARODEN?
That's the big question, isn't it? Aroden seems to be the embodiment of humanity's journey to exploring its fullest, unlimited potential (and in the context of a universe full of so many humanoids, all humanoids are included in this sense of "humanity" even if "humans" are perhaps the purest embodiment of "humanoid" characteristics). If Aroden was able to achieve divinity when such was not within his original potential (as such is typically understood among the Gods), what is preventing him from eventually obtaining something being divinity? Pharasma's got a good gig, and effectively has Groetus as a "reset button" if things ever get out of hand. Paizo developers have claimed that Pharasma is the most powerful among the gods, and not by a little... perhaps Aroden threatened her position of supremacy? Perhaps Pharasma keeps quiet about it because she knows that in her weakened state, she is could no longer win if the other gods ganged up on her (her connection with Prophecy clearly isn't what it used to be, even if she still maintains some degree of connection with it). Prophecy itself dictated a rise in Aroden's power and influence over Golarion (and who knows where that route would have continued into the eternities?), and Pharasma did not like it.
COULD ARODEN RETURN?
Uncertain, though there is room for a possibility. Honestly, I think it would be a wonderful marketing/PR opportunity for Paizo to reveal details surrounding Aroden as part of their Pathfinder 2e launch and accompany it with a new adventure path which involves the party of adventurers helping Aroden to reascend to divinity so that he and the other gods can put Pharasma in her place and seize fate for themselves.
I like the theories. You are probably thinking too hard and PF will just do whatever they damn well please and say it was always planned, but maybe not.
In most mentions of the Ghol-Gan empire (just south of the Eye of Abendego), they are super creepy, lovecraftian, and destroyed each other in some kind of a civil war involving old ones. In the S&S adventure path, you get lordship of a Ghol-Gan island and they are just worshiping a cyclops Greek pantheon (and always were).
It's like they leave bread crumbs for us, one to eat some of them and replace them with rabbit pellets.
I personally thought the old ones involved were Hauster, for sure, and then maybe Cthulhu or a Qlippoth lord. Now in the Strange Aeons AP the tribesman that had been warped by exposure to the old one's lieutenant show up again, worshiping Hastur.
So do they have an elaborate plan? Are they just making stuff up as they go? I don't really know. But it's an interesting thought.
My personal hope is that Paizo never reveals what happened to Aroden. Theorizing keeps people interested in the lore, and every GM has their own answer to the question.
[conspiracy]
Aroden defeated Pharasma and took over her portfolio and power. He's maintaining the illusion that she exists to prevent her allies and worshippers from banding together and attacking his. She never foresaw his death because it never happened and she clearly couldn't foresee her own. He did this as a test, to unsure that humanity would be ready to rise to the challenge of taking their rightful place as the world's rulers, forcing them to face a cataclysmic event, both physically with storms and demon rifts, and mentally, through an apparent crisis of faith challenging their doctrines (or divine mandates, in the case of Cheliax) just like he had to face when a giant meteorite crashed into his ancient civilization. It was like an elaborate Test of the Starstone for every human (By Aroden, he's clever).
He draws power from the supposed temples and followers of Pharasma (which he can draw from a much larger base than he himself could as a god of humanity). The worshippers of Pharasma that were driven mad were those that would have warned the world or were enemies of humanity and the spotty record of recent prophecies is because he doesn't want to let the cat out of the bag yet, so he doesn't.
The Echo of Lost Divinity is not a minion, it's his actual avatar (since he can't use Pharasma's). Since he was always wandering about the world before, he's still allowed, since nothing changed. Only now, he can just spout some nonsense about Pharasma's will if someone asks him an impertinent or annoying question and they just think she's being a jerk or ineffectual.
[/conspiracy]
My theory is that Aroden DID return, and sort of fell to the earth and died to unshackle the world FROM prophecy.
Here are the basis of my assumptions.
1: He was the god of humanity.
2: In almost every work of fiction with fantasy or sci fi races, humans are always portrayed as having more "potential" than others.
3: He was the god of prophecy.
4: He was supposed to return and lead humanity into a golden age.
So, what do have then?
A god of prophecy who saw that fate was going to shackle humanity into stagnation if he returned and gave them all what they wanted. So instead, he gave them an actual golden age by offing himself and breaking prophecy instead. He gave humanity a chance to prove their own potential.
Think about it, many nations are in tenuous peace. The pathfinder society is going strong and absalom is a cultural phenomenon of prosperity and trade. No one is shackled by a future they don't choose. Everyone has a chance to defeat an ancient evil, slay a tyrant that's been in power for years, or defy a prophecy.
Aroden fixed the world by breaking everything permanently.
This is a fun theory! I agree with blahpers on this one. I hope they never reveal it as does keep the lore fascinating with some real mystery. But this is one of the better theories I've heard about Aroden. Thank you for sharing.
This is a fun theory! I agree with blahpers on this one. I hope they never reveal it as does keep the lore fascinating with some real mystery. But this is one of the better theories I've heard about Aroden. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks! A part of me loves the "unsolvable" mystery surrounding Aroden, but a part of me wants them to give some sort of big reveal too (launching the 2nd edition or some future anniversary would be great). The big reveal could bring with it more questions than answers, and introduce a totally new aspect to Pathfinder deity and divinity than currently exists in the game.
I'm actually working on a character concept based around the Channeler of the Unknown cleric archetype. It's the perfect archetype for a cleric who worships a "dead god", driven to what others would view as madness as he/she searches for the truth. The fact that he/she receives divine power from an unidentifiable source adds more to the mystery... perhaps Aroden became more powerful than anyone knew?
Aroden has/had *Community, Glory, Knowledge, Law, Protection* as his associated domains. The greatest of the deities (including Pharasma) only ever have up to five domains in their portforlio (the more domains you have, the more powerful you are as a deity. Lesser deities have as little as 3 or so domains). Could Aroden be undergoing the process of adding another (or more) domains to his portfolio?
(granted, the cleric archetype could be mentioning gods outside of any currently identified pantheon, but it's still fun to wonder)
Fun stuff. Aroden is definitely my favorite subject of lore in the Pathfinder universe.
Paizo has stated that they will never reveal their version of what happened to Aroden because they want to leave it as a mystery for players to explore in their own campaigns.
Maybe they don't have a definite version either. Different people at Paizo might have different opinions what happened, so they would have to decide when telling us. Means they would have to throw away the other explanations as invalid.
Maybe they don't have a definite version either. Different people at Paizo might have different opinions what happened, so they would have to decide when telling us. Means they would have to throw away the other explanations as invalid.
They have confirmed that they do know what happened to Aroden, and they make sure that new books don't contradict that hidden lore. They have no intention of telling us though, they have only sprinkled few clues here and there.
My theory is that Aroden DID return, and sort of fell to the earth and died to unshackle the world FROM prophecy.
Here are the basis of my assumptions.
1: He was the god of humanity.
2: In almost every work of fiction with fantasy or sci fi races, humans are always portrayed as having more "potential" than others.
3: He was the god of prophecy.
4: He was supposed to return and lead humanity into a golden age.
So, what do have then?
A god of prophecy who saw that fate was going to shackle humanity into stagnation if he returned and gave them all what they wanted. So instead, he gave them an actual golden age by offing himself and breaking prophecy instead. He gave humanity a chance to prove their own potential.
Think about it, many nations are in tenuous peace. The pathfinder society is going strong and absalom is a cultural phenomenon of prosperity and trade. No one is shackled by a future they don't choose. Everyone has a chance to defeat an ancient evil, slay a tyrant that's been in power for years, or defy a prophecy.
Aroden fixed the world by breaking everything permanently.
A similar idea:
1. Aroden is the god of humanity
2. As the god of prophecy (here the idea of dictating the future), he could have prophesied that humans were the best things ever
3."Some god's pet race" isn't exactly the highest state of achievement.
So, he outs himself to give the ability to alter destiny to mortals, thus allowing humanity to reach extremely high while making it clear they weren't coddled on the way up.
Pharasma:
Is faking it, or only has prophetic abilities due to having an extremely large amount of mortal souls at her disposal. The only reason it would be necessary to do her job is mediating resurrections, but it takes extreme circumstances for that to reach back farther than 200 years. If it takes longer than about 250 to become irreversible, no conflict results.
going forward:
The Akashic Record is not currently recording. If it was, Akashic Form would be much easier than 9th level, since the ability to copy or extract a specific being from another plane is available much earlier. It is 9th level because it requires the data to be written in addition to retrieved.
Thought records, artifacts from OA, are both theorized to be connected to the Record and occasionally capable of viewing the future. If we take these to be true, the Record must have data with later timestamps than the current. In other words, it is at least partially prophetic. Prophecy breaking would also explain why the data is not currently being written. It contains data that is accurate up to Aroden's death, potentially inaccurate information one prophecy-length later, and no further information. Seem like a familiar pattern?
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When Aroden usurped Pharasma's power, he couldn't just kill her. That would be all of absurd, nearly impossible, viewed as a challenge to all the gods, and entirely likely to spread her essence and domains out to the universe to be grabbed and usurped (which would clearly tip people off), and least of all... not his style. So he bound her into a form.
Obviously he couldn't just turn her into a chipmunk or some statue, such a chipmunk or statue would be monumental and gargantuan. No, he needs a form that he doesn't even try and conceal and, while mysterious and prone to investigation, is also obviously dangerous and drives off almost all but the most foolish (who die). So he's scattered her essence and channeled it into the Eye of Abendago. This keeps her form dispersed and keeps any attempts to truly locate her unable to find her (while he's co-opted her domains and followers and gathers power from the temples and prayers to the death goddess).
It was perfectly Aroden-esque of him to leave clues behind for those who know what to look for. First, Pharasma's symbol is often depicted as a swirl of energy or spiraling comet. Second, while Pharasma is known as the Lady of Graves, Lady of Mysteries, Gray Lady, etc. The Azlanti knew her as the Spiral of Fate. Of course, there are no Azlanti around that could have known that... or was there one? Then, just to make it even more obvious, he made sure the form he chose was not only a symbol of spiraling mystery, but one that had a large eye, like branding or stamping it with his own symbol.
As for being called the Eye of Abendago, I am sure that couldn't possibly have any resemblance to Eye of Aroden. I mean, it's not like he named it himself, of course. Probably purely coincidence. It's a giant storm in the middle of the Bay of Abendago, after all. What else could they possibly call it? Well, I guess... Storm of Abendago, Worldstorm, Hurricane of Abendago, The Endless Storm of Abendago. I am sure they didn't have any choice... but then... it's not like they call the Worldwound the 'Rift of Sarkoris'. So maybe the fact it has the same initials as Eye of Aroden is just wishful musings.
Also, where else would one bind a god but within reach of a chain (an island chain) known as The Shackles?
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Prophecies:
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Aroden, being really really smart and wise to such things, realized that prophecies are a double-edge sword. I mean, when you have someone prophesized to do something great or good, then everyone tends to treat them super-cool and respectfully and they tend to have it easy in life; something becoming real pricks or taking things for granted. That when the prophecy would reveal some little twist they didn't know and keep them in the teeth.
Aroden found these hilarious of course, as most of us would. But unfortunately, when you've got a whole world and religion relying on words and prophecies, then people start to just not aspire to do anything, like grow or improve or strive to better themselves because, why bother, it's preordained. Now, for every good prophecy, there's the bad ones... but mostly importantly, there were just bad assumptions and predictions based on prophecies. So he had to shatter the goddess of prophecy. It's no coincidence that seers, mystics, and prophets went mad. Just like it's no coincidence that the Eye of Abendago swamped out the nation of Lirgen, an entire kingdom of seers, astrologers, and mystics and lead to the Saoc Brotherhood all killing themselves.
Aroden definitely wanted to make sure there was no one around using cheesy prophecy and magics to figure out what he had/has planned, so "Sorry, guys... Madness for you!". About the only thing about his plan he does let divinations reveal, is what's at the center of the Eye of Abendago... which is pretty much nothing (lots of understandable debris and trash), but basically absolutely nothing that anyone would want to risk the Eye to reach.
Divinations reveal pretty much nothing else of note. No answers on origin, purpose, goal, or duration... but what lies at its heart has been easy to find out (and is actually better at keeping away high-level snoopers than the challenge of the storm itself. Strange that, huh?
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The Hermit at the Hermitage:
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The Hermit was one of Pharasma's followers. He was struck dumb and stricken like the others who would have tried to warn the world or 'spill the beans' about Aroden's little Pharasma sleight-of-hand.
He's figured out what's going on at the Eye and he's just trying to wait for some heroes to come and do something about it, knowing that if he just came out and said it (figuratively speaking), things wouldn't end well.
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[...] Honestly, I think it would be a wonderful marketing/PR opportunity for Paizo [...]
Dear Paizo,
Please do not reveal what happened to Aroden. I believe that would kill the central mystery of Golarion. Deviously uncertain hints are great, actual knowledge is not.
