Alignment: Neutral GoodPortfolios: stealth, camouflage, deserts and badlands Races: elven, human Animal Totem: chameleon Physical Description: The elves portray him as the epitome of desert strength: nearly seven feet tall, massive musculature, wide shoulders, and long limbs. His dune colored leathers and hides are camouflaged, and his skin is heavily tattooed in mind-numbing patterns to help observing eyes slide off of him. Older portrayals of Galanus show a different side; images from before the Storm Wars show a skeletally gaunt human of advanced age with white, wispy hair. History: During the Prism Wars, his prophets arose to account for the unclaimed dead -- those that had no gods, and no heavens to ascend to. Quiet and compassionate, Galanus gently consoled the dead, leading them to oblivion and eternal rest. The numbers of his followers was never great, and he was content with this. During the Shaping Wars, the god of the dead began to have doubts about his compassion; the slaughter hardened his spirit, and strengthened the resolve of his priests. A number of minor wars leading up to the Storm Wars served to break the spirit and resolve of the Church of Galanus. The wars produced some internal conflict within the houses of the gods, as the souls of the dead were shuffled from house to house. Galanus' other duty was to shepherd those souls to the respective houses; however, several of his Chosen record certain attrocities comitted by the gods with those souls. When Nathel's forces made the rivers of Galanath run red with blood, the sheer number of souls ascending to the heavens -- or to the realms where Galanus held sway -- proved overwhelming. Coupled with the internal conflicts among the gods, Galanus gave up his mantle of the dead to Curiss. His priests gave up their temples to Curiss' minions, and left for the western deserts, away from the affairs of other men. Subtle from politics among the heavens, Galanus' minions became subtle in the world of mortals, hiding themselves from the hounding scavengers of Curiss' priests. Over the next several decades, Galanus underwent a transformation, becoming a god of the deserts and arid lands, and also becoming a god of stealth. The already reclusive desert elves welcomed the retired god and his minions with open arms, and thus Galanus' transformation became complete. Relic: Galanus' Relic was stored in Karmen in the small political headquarters building the Church had there. When Galanus' priests fled the city as the dead piled high in Karmen, they brought the Relic with them to the Rakis Desert. The desert elves helped hide both the priests and the Relic from the eastern nations and the minions of Curiss. The centuries passed, and the Relic remained within the line of the original priests, passed from parent to child for generations. The last of the line died during the War of the Undead, and the Relic was thought taken by the minions of Demik Coruth. The Detonation of Lake Kiriath destroyed the desert, and scattering the army of undead warriors in service to the necromancer. The Relic was lost both to mortal and undead hands, buried beneath tons of rubble and earth -- hidden, as Galanus would prefer it. Church: Although it was once very organized, the followers of Galanus currently are a chaos of patient virtue. The majority of the Disciples, and many cardinals, are all desert elves that have adopted the former god of the dead into their faiths. The destruction of the Rakis Desert destroyed whatever temples and churches had been built to Galanus, and lost many of his few remaining relics and artifacts. The Church of Galanus currently bides its time, fending off the advances of Curiss and the ogran peoples, as well as providing concealment and priestly abilities to desert elves. Clerics: Capable of fighting in the desert heat, they are often tied to the mounts that can bring them across the burning days and the frigid nights. Whether on foot, or mounted on horses and camels, they follow the general principals of their retired god: the affairs of the outside should never intrude on the affairs of the heart, and the family. Clerics occasionally are multi-classed individuals, combining their talents with warriors or thieves. Specialty priests: Devoted individuals, the heart of the Church consists of those priests that have devoted themselves solely to Galanus -- past and present. Their strong ties with necromancy, as well as the desert changes in the faith, have made them an adaptive, fiercely faithful extension of Galanus' will. They have major access to the spheres of Healing and Necromancy, as well as Elemental Fire, Divination, Guardian, All, and Charm. More scholarly than front-line combatants, they have only minor access to the spheres of Combat, Creation, Protection, and Summoning. The demands of their faith require superior guile and intelligence, and so specialty priests of Galanus require a 15 Wisdom, 13 Intelligence, and 14 Charisma. Fire has always been a cleansing agent of death, as well as a deliverer from mortal coils; the change to stealth and the heat of the deserts only amplified the power of fire from Galanus. The specialty priests of Galanus have 1) an immunity to normal fires, and a +1 bonus to saves versus magical fire -- cumulative with similar spell effects, 2) an innate and intentional invisibility with a base of 25% at 1st-level, rising 5% per level thereafter, and 3) freedom from level draining effects such as a wraith's touch or a shadow dragon's breath. Druids: Desert druids often follow the philosophies and worship of Galanus. Their formidable elemental abilities are more often used than their botanical skills, and they are masters of subterfuge and camouflage. Although they nominally follow the dictates of the Church of Galanus, such as it is, they often feel that Galanus' will in the desert is the same as that of the Druidic Circle and the Grand Druid. Rangers: The stealthiest and craftiest of rangers of any faith, those that follow Galanus receive a +10% bonus to their Hide in Shadows skills, and a +5% bonus to their Move Silently skills, cumulative with whatever kits or other bonuses they might have. They protect the natives of the deserts from outsiders, and provide safe passage to those that would dare to cross the burning wastes, or face the anger of the ogran races. Next God from Gaeleth's Gods |