Gwaeron Windstrom

Gwaeron Windstrom is the Astoran demigod of tracking and patron deity of rangers. The Master of Tracking embodies the talents of rangers that allow for tracking and understanding the signs of the wild, skills he teaches his followers in order to combat those who threaten the balance between civilization and nature, whether wild monster or careless hunter.

Description

Gwaeron always appeared as a 6.5 feet (2 meters) or 10 feet (3 meters) tall human male, robust and incredibly muscular despite his age. His hair was long and white, with a mane and beard that flowed and whipped in the wind, billowing even in the absence of a breeze (though this was possible because he was constantly wind walking and so created a breeze). He always wore clothing suitable for wilderness travel, but never anything above his waist. He was normally silent, and when he did speak it was in terse sentences with little physical sign of emotion. Manifestations

Gwaeron was known to manifest as or through a wide variety of woodland creatures, as well as pseudodragons and faerie dragons, either individually or as a group. Other manifestations included a nimbus of faerie fire or a bare human footprint with a faint impression of his symbol visible in the heel print.

Gwaeron was proficient in all weaponry but specialized in the use of two-handed swords and composite longbows.

Gwaeron's personal melee weapon was Flameheart, a +1 flame tongue. Flameheart had a +2 enchantment against regenerating creatures, +3 against creatures that were avian, inflammable or harnessed the cold, and +4 against undead.

He also possessed a +3 composite long bow and a quiver that provided an inexhaustible supply of arrows. These included normal sheaf arrows and arrows of slaying that worked against any sentient mortal who ever desecrated a forest without repentance. The arrows retained their magic only in his hands, save for the occassional cases when he bestowed one to a ranger on a specific quest to defend the forest against a specific enemy.

Personality

Like his divine associates, Gwaeron is an advocate of the Balance of nature. He is quiet, reclusive and taciturn, preferring to teach through action rather than words, but while he is slow to anger, his rage is terrifying once invoked. Regular targets of this wrath are trolls, creatures that he so utterly despises that in his hatred for them he personifies the very concept of a species enemy. He considers them kin of Malar and a blight that will inevitably upset the Balance in the long term.

Divine Realm

It is debatable whether Gwaeron's home plane is the Prime Material Plane or the House of Nature; he can freely wander both, though he has a realm of his own there, and his \"realm\" on Toril is Faerûn as a whole.

Gwaeron is believed to rest and sleep just west of Triboar, a bustling town active at all hours and thusly referred to as \"The Town Where Only Gwaeron Sleeps\". There stands a mystical forest known as Gwaeron's Slumber where many of the trees are in a perpetual autumnal state, leaves dazzling in shades of yellow, orange, and red. On rare occasions he can be seen walking in, out or amongst the trees. Triboar law forbids any wood-cutting or hunting within the forest to avoid Gwaeron's ire.

Most of his followers visit Gwaeron's Slumber at least once for a holy pilgrimage. Rangers who venerate him or Mielikki often visit those woods for prayer despite the lack of a shrine, or in hopes of receiving inspiration. It is said that worshipers of either who sleep in the wood receive special dreams, visions and prophecies that hint towards the goddess's will. Non-rangers among them gain a once-in-a-lifetime, day-long ability to track like a ranger from this effect. Some believe Gwaeron also uses dreams, although unbeknownst to them, encounters with him are always unexpected affairs.

Local militia patrol Gwaeron's Slumber; less intelligent monsters are never seen there, but creatures like orcs and trolls are actively prevented from camping there. There is, however, an oni that lives in a hillside cave nearby who occasionally visits to feast on unsuspecting rangers as they sleep, taking Gwaeron's appearance. The fact that it cleans up after itself leads others to believe that Gwaeron sometimes spirits worthy supplicants away to his true divine domain.

Activities

Gwaeron is typically seen stalking the North with Flameheart in hand. He is regularly sighted just outside of Triboar, as well as in the High Forest and Cormanthor. He is also known to haunt the Evermoors searching for trolls to hunt.

When Gwaeron manifests as an animal it is often in order to teach novice rangers about the creature's signs. He appears as the appropriate creature near inexperienced trackers unfamiliar with the evidence before them, enabling them to correctly connect the two. He also uses birds or herds of herbivores to either reveal clues to his favored or obscure their own trails from foes looking for them.

Animals aside, Gwaeron manifests as faerie fire to highlight an obscure but useful woodland sign. He manifests in his bare print form to indicate to a devout worshiper who lost a trail how to pick it up again.

Worshippers

Few aside from Northern rangers prayed to Gwaeron or even knew of his faith, and even amongst his followers he was not exactly venerated. Rather, the active rangers of the north held Gwaeron in high esteem, praying to him because he represented their work. His faith could be considered one of emulation, his folowers viewing him as one of their own and thus understanding of their needs. He was seen as the master ranger and perfect tracker, as well as an unrivaled animal handler and dedicated foe of rapacious monsters like orcs and trolls.

Just as Gwaeron sometimes acted as Mielikki's emissary among the divine, Gwaeron was also her proxy among mortals in his role as the Mouth of Mielikki. Even though most human rangers favored Mielikki, they considered her too wild, primal, enigmatic and holy to be directly petitioned in most situations. Instead they prayed to Gwaeron, who they believed would carry their words to the goddess by tracking her to whatever forest she was hiding in and who would communicate with them on her behalf where direct speech was needed.

Aside from them, Gwaeron was also venerated by Northern trackers in general, whether their quarry was wild game or outlaws. For example, he might be prayed to by human sailors attempting to find another vessel or those hunting for pirates.

Dogma

Gwaeron's teachings mirrored those of his superior Mielikki, which themselves mirrored those of her superior Silvanus, albeit with a greater emphasis on the positive and outreaching aspects of nature. The worlds of intelligent beings and wildlife did not require one to be destroyed so the other could exist, and it was possible and encouraged to live as one with nature, understanding and embracing its hidden ways. Bringing unnecessary harm, damage, and pain to the forest and its creatures was to be fought against or outright punished.

Rituals

Gwaeronans prayed for spells at dusk, when many wild beasts emerged from their dens to hunt. After successfully "stalking" a target all would-be-trackers who invoked Gwaeron's name were expected to leave a circle of six footprints in the ground with their right foot, the heel of each print nearly touching and the toes facing outward.

Relationships

Gwaeron, along with his colleagues Lurue and Shiallia, was allied to and a servant of Mielikki, and thus by extension a servant of Silvanus, in their fairly familial and supportive group. In the case of the Master of Tracking, he aided her on some of her missions and taught her rangers how to read forest signs. Despite their positive relations, Gwaeron's small following and the similar tenets of their faith put him at risk of being subsumed as an aspect of the Forest Queen, even if only by accident.

Gwaeron, in a rare move among the deities of Faerûnian pantheon, had forged alliances with the deities of the elven, gnome, and halfling pantheons whose portfolios most closely match those of Mielikki, Silvanus, and his own. For example, his demeanor allowed him and Fenmarel Mestarine to get along well, better in fact than the elf god did with most of his fellow Seldarine. Other bonds included his ties to the elf god Solonor Thelandira, the halfling god Arvoreen and his friendly relationship with the gnome god Baervan Wildwanderer. He was the natural messenger to send when Mielikki needed a favor from those pantheons.

Other allies of Gwaeron included the traveler god Shaundakul and the noble beast god Nobanion. In the case of the latter, both shared a hatred of, and sometimes coordinated efforts against, Malar the Beastlord. Gwaeron did not just oppose Malar, but had been relentlessly fighting against his works in an unceasing battle that began before Gwaeron had even ascended to godhood. The hostility was mutual and Gwaeron was at risk of falling prey to his depredations if not careful. Aside from Malar, Gwaeron's only other true enemy was Vaprak, the god of the trolls that he so despised.

History

Centuries before the Era of Upheaval, Gwaeron was a mere mortal ranger who roamed North Faerun. His ascension to godhood came through his famous deed: the quick, successful, and successive stalking and slaying of several manifestations and at least one avatar of Malar. For this accomplishment he earned sponsorship to demi-divinity by Mielikki and the undying enmity of Malar.

Gwaeron continued his feud with Malar during the Time of Troubles. The Beastlord attempted to flee North after his defeat at the claws of Nobanion in Gulthmere Forest, only to be relentlessly hunted down by the Master of Tracking across the region. Nothing Malar could do could shake Gwaeron from his trail, and the accompanying Shiallia followed in their wake, undoing any damage his rampages caused.

Gwaeron Windstrom

Demigod

Basic Information

Titles

Master Tracker
Master of Tracking
The Tracker Who Never Goes Astray
The Tracker Never Led Astray
Master Interpreter of the Woodland Signs
The Mouth of Mielikki

Adjectives

Gwaeronan

Pantheons

Astoran

Serves

Mielikki

Attributes

Alignment

Neutral Good

Symbol

A paw print with a five-pointed star in its center

Realm

Prime Material Plane

Portfolio

Rangers, Tracking

Favored Weapon

Flameheart (greatsword)

Following

Worshippers

Druids
Rangers
Troll hunters

Alignments

LG, NG, CG

Domains

Animal (Feather, Fur)
Travel (Exploration)

Favored Aspects

Animals/Plants

Boars
Blue jays
Crows
Deer
Magpies

Monsters

Faerie dragons
Pseudodragons

Colors

Green
Red

Manifest- ations

Faerie fire

Human footprint with his holy symbol in the heel