Gozreh
Respect the sea and the sky, lest we bring you ruin. —Hymns to the Wind and the Waves
The Wind and the Waves
Gozreh is timeless. Gozreh is the sea that encapsulates the land and the wind that moves its surface, the birds that traverse the sky and the clouds that shield them. Born when the first breeze caressed the ocean, she is ever changing, tempestuous, and unpredictable, yet also prone to periods of constancy, stillness, and routine. He is the storm cloud chased by clear skies, the spring warmth that follows winter, and the fair winds that carry seagoing ships. She is the great wave that capsizes those ships, the gentle current that deposits sailors on safe shores, and the rising and falling tides. Those who ply the waters or rely upon the rains know this better than most, and are sure to placate Gozreh and honor him when the wind and waves are favorable.
Gozreh has two aspects, equally depicted in art and sculpture. When at sea or over water, Gozreh is a woman with wild, flowing green hair, whose body transforms into endless waves. In the sky and over land, Gozreh appears as an aged man with a long white beard, emerging from a mighty storm cloud. When depicted together, such as along shorelines, the two are portrayed reaching towards each other, their fingers separated by the smallest of margins. Yet these aspects are not separate: they represent the Wind and the Waves, but the deity is both of them and also neither, for they transcend the mortal concepts of gender and body. Gozreh is moody and brooding, able to spend weeks in a glowering quiet only to explode in a fury of water, wind, and lightning. He is an elemental force, not fettered by the work of mortals; he may turn aside his wrath when appeased with gifts and flattering words, or he may ignore mortal cries entirely. Many cargo ships throw a crate or two overboard in the deep ocean to satisfy her, so that she does not take more by force. He is the amoral side of nature, that which brings life and takes it unexpectedly. Gozreh represents both female and male facets of life, unconstrained by civilization’s notions of masculinity and femininity. Grandmother, grandfather, brother, sister, eternal and ever changing, the Wind and the Waves echo and shape the countless living things on Golarion.
Gozreh refers to himself or herself as “I” or “We” interchangeably. He loves to race the wind, tearing clouds in two with his passing, or sculpting them into islands and palaces for his pleasure. She hides under the waves and plummets to the crushing depths of the ocean, chasing whales and building grottoes visible only by the light of the glowing creatures that live there. He hates those who defile the sky with smoke, taint the waters with mortal filth, or abuse the bounties of land and sea. Her official church is small, but her lay worshippers are countless. He particularly likes seabirds, flying fish, and frogs, both as living specimens and as sacrificial offerings. He is known to watch the world through the eyes of beasts, whether on the wing or under the sea, flitting from the body of a solitary bear to the countless beating hearts of a flock of starlings. He senses the day and night through green plants and pale fungi, drinking deeply through the roots of the mighty oak or clinging to a stone as the tiniest moss or lichen.
Gozreh’s interests lie entirely in the realm of weather and living things. He has little interest in earth except in the form of soil or as a foundation for living works. She cares naught for fire save for how flame and ash provide opportunities for new life to grow in their wake. These materials are not taboo to her faithful, just inconsequential. Likewise, he accepts that some creatures must die so that others may survive and still others be born, but the mystical aspects of death and its cycles do not concern him—he leaves these things to entities such as Pharasma. Like nature itself, Gozreh can be cruel and indifferent, allowing a storm to ravage the land or sink a dozen ships, or a plague to wipe out an entire herd of animals or even whole settlements. Yet she also pushes trading ships across the world, multiplies animals in springtime, and brings gentle rain to thirsty fields. His way is a way beyond morals and ethics—as long as life survives in some form, and water and weather support it and keep the world itself dynamic, Gozreh is satisfied. Though her priests and priestesses may have personal ideas about which creatures should live and which should not, or visions of what Gozreh wants protected or destroyed, they accept that their beliefs are just one facet of their deity’s infinite perceptions.
The Wind and the Waves may be intractable one moment and sympathetic the next. He does not do this to be deliberately contrary or mischievous, or in the interest of chaos; it is simply because he perceives everything— every living organism, every drop of water, every gust of wind—at all times. Events distant and unrelated may draw her attention, and the outcome of those events may change her mood, whether because a potential tornado disperses too soon or a rare breed of fox births a dozen healthy kits. He is a great monarch, constantly beseeched by courtiers and commoners, listening to each argument simultaneously and shifting his attention and response to each in turn. To one unaware of the cacophony, she may appear flighty or distracted, but the truth is far more complicated, in a way that mortal cannot hope to perceive.
Gozreh is usually depicted as a colossal humanoid whose lower half trails away into a mass of roiling elemental matter. In male form, he appears as a storm cloud and always remains flying—according to one old legend, he can stretch from one horizon to the other, darkening the entire sky with his fury. In female form, Gozreh’s body is usually shown blending with the water of a lake or sea. She has been known to rise from a waterspout, but sometimes gathers all the nearby water into a great wave, emerging from the top as a nymph-like shape, a crone, or a vaguely humanoid construct of pure water.
Statues of Gozreh are usually made of driftwood or lightning-scorched trees either tied together into a humanoid shapes or carved to resemble one or both incarnations; a few are chiseled from ice and either magically preserved or allowed to melt to be recreated as needed. Stone is rarely used for religious imagery, and never brick or pottery, as such things are signs of civilization’s encroachment. Holy symbols and small idols may be made of coral, polished shell, lacquered wood, whalebone, and other materials that represent life in the sea and the sky that have naturally fallen.
Signs of Gozreh’s favor include a sudden gentle breeze that carries the scent of flowers, the appearance of large numbers of animals, the unexplained sound of waves crashing on a distant beach, and dreams of a specific, recognizable animal (such as a white wolf, a frilled lizard with glowing blue eyes, or a ghostly raven). Omens of his displeasure include being watched and shrieked at by wild birds or beasts, sudden rainstorms localized over a specific building or individual, or an unending taste of blood in the mouth. She may foul fresh water, or afflict offenders with terrible smells or excruciating joint pain as the weather changes.
Gozreh’s clergy and followers represent a wide variety of gender identities. The deity’s dual nature resonates with these worshippers, and the faith accepts all identities as part of the natural order. The church doesn’t place an emphasis on marriage in particular, and seasonal trysts are equally as common among worshippers as unions that last for life. Members of some of the more secluded sects of the faith remain celibate and isolated, residing in the most remote mountains or shoreline caves and reflecting on Gozreh’s independence from relationships—after all, as a deity of dual natures, Gozreh is never truly alone.
Most of Gozreh’s followers wear their hair long—sometimes all the way to the ground—and weave seaweed, coral, or shells into it in intricate patterns. Clergy who can do so grow their beards long, often braiding them into tangled tresses. It is not uncommon for Gozran priests to grow their beards or hair to provide nesting material for small, local creatures, matting their hair over several months before cutting this hair to create small nests. Only the occasional priest houses small birds, frogs, or rodents in their hair while it is still attached.
The most devout members of Gozreh’s faith stay as far from civilization as possible, living deep in the woods or on barren coastal shores. Those who are more sociable often take positions on ships, where they serve as navigators and are seen as good luck charms who can help the ships avoid the fiercest of storms. These “gale-speakers” come ashore only to change to another vessel and are highly sought after by ship captains. Gale-speakers are not bought, however, choosing their own journeys and favoring vessels with far-flung destinations, waters rarely touched by anything but the Wind and the Waves.
It’s not unusual for zealous priests of Gozreh to remain celibate, devoting all their energy to their deity; these priests have been known to worship their deity naked in high places or shallow waters—a process referred to as becoming “sky-clad” or “sea-clad.” Priests have a habit of finding discarded things washed up or left on the shore, including infants orphaned by shipwrecks or abandoned to die from exposure; in most lands, such children are traditionally raised by the church and trained for the priesthood, which offsets the low number of children born to priests because of their high celibacy rate.
Gozreh is genuinely friendly with Erastil, for he believes only Old Deadeye fully appreciates all aspects of nature. Informally, Gozreh considers the beasts of the earth and crops planted by humanoids to be Erastil’s, while the sky, sea, fish, birds, and wild plants belong to her. Although no specific deity heads the Green Faith, Gozreh is on good terms with the countless nature-entities who support mortals of that religion, as well as with the Eldest of the First World.
Hargle: This easily distracted air elemental, one of only a few serving Gozreh, looks like a dark storm cloud with flickering lightning for eyes. It is equally comfortable high in the air or deep in the sea (where it becomes a roiling mass of bubbles). It strongly dislikes dwarves, offerings of metal, and speakers who take too long to get to the point, but likes potions (especially potions of haste), exotic incense, and the fresh blood of those who despoil nature.
Kraz’Tesh: This creature resembles a giant dragonfly with icy hairs and dexterous claws that work as well as human hands. It is chatty and prone to asking inappropriate questions about mammal biology. Kraz’Tesh is immune to electricity, as is any passenger it carries, so it’s frequently called upon to carry travelers in inclement weather, It enjoys eating gibbering mouthers and fat larvae from buglike creatures.
Personification of Fury: This strange blend of elementals serves as Gozreh’s herald. Unusual in that it is one of the few elemental creatures serving the Wind and the Waves, Personification of Fury is often courted by the elemental lords to join their ranks as a high-ranking general or advisor on the mortal world, but Fury dislikes the lords’ squabbling and petty wars among their kind, seeing itself as a perfect example of how in the material realm elements should mix together without jealousy. It remains neutral in the dealings of various planar entities, and with Gozreh’s permission it sometimes acts as an intermediary between rival forces—but only in a direct, blunt, and expedient way, for it is a creature of force and action, not gentle diplomacy. Its actions have attracted a small number of sycophants and refugees from the elemental wars, air and water elementals tired of battle and looking for other ways to fill their immortal lives; these creatures follow Fury and allow it to summon them, and in faithful service to it they allow mortals to summon them. When the herald is on the Material Plane and left idle (such as before a battle or while guarding a sacred place), it entertains itself by summoning dozens of Small elemental minions and sending them scurrying about, letting them explore for a few minutes and get into mischief.
Saltbeard: Like an old sailor, this snaggletoothed, white-bearded male triton has a foul mouth, fouler breath, and the foulest of tempers. He enjoys using his magical trident to trap ships in ice, then stabbing the landlubbers who try to chip their vessels free. Hot rum is his favorite drink, although he also enjoys magic items that give him breath weapons (such as elixir of fire breath) or cloud attacks (such as a wand of stinking cloud).
Gozreh has two aspects, equally depicted in art and sculpture. When at sea or over water, Gozreh is a woman with wild, flowing green hair, whose body transforms into endless waves. In the sky and over land, Gozreh appears as an aged man with a long white beard, emerging from a mighty storm cloud. When depicted together, such as along shorelines, the two are portrayed reaching towards each other, their fingers separated by the smallest of margins. Yet these aspects are not separate: they represent the Wind and the Waves, but the deity is both of them and also neither, for they transcend the mortal concepts of gender and body. Gozreh is moody and brooding, able to spend weeks in a glowering quiet only to explode in a fury of water, wind, and lightning. He is an elemental force, not fettered by the work of mortals; he may turn aside his wrath when appeased with gifts and flattering words, or he may ignore mortal cries entirely. Many cargo ships throw a crate or two overboard in the deep ocean to satisfy her, so that she does not take more by force. He is the amoral side of nature, that which brings life and takes it unexpectedly. Gozreh represents both female and male facets of life, unconstrained by civilization’s notions of masculinity and femininity. Grandmother, grandfather, brother, sister, eternal and ever changing, the Wind and the Waves echo and shape the countless living things on Golarion.
Gozreh refers to himself or herself as “I” or “We” interchangeably. He loves to race the wind, tearing clouds in two with his passing, or sculpting them into islands and palaces for his pleasure. She hides under the waves and plummets to the crushing depths of the ocean, chasing whales and building grottoes visible only by the light of the glowing creatures that live there. He hates those who defile the sky with smoke, taint the waters with mortal filth, or abuse the bounties of land and sea. Her official church is small, but her lay worshippers are countless. He particularly likes seabirds, flying fish, and frogs, both as living specimens and as sacrificial offerings. He is known to watch the world through the eyes of beasts, whether on the wing or under the sea, flitting from the body of a solitary bear to the countless beating hearts of a flock of starlings. He senses the day and night through green plants and pale fungi, drinking deeply through the roots of the mighty oak or clinging to a stone as the tiniest moss or lichen.
Gozreh’s interests lie entirely in the realm of weather and living things. He has little interest in earth except in the form of soil or as a foundation for living works. She cares naught for fire save for how flame and ash provide opportunities for new life to grow in their wake. These materials are not taboo to her faithful, just inconsequential. Likewise, he accepts that some creatures must die so that others may survive and still others be born, but the mystical aspects of death and its cycles do not concern him—he leaves these things to entities such as Pharasma. Like nature itself, Gozreh can be cruel and indifferent, allowing a storm to ravage the land or sink a dozen ships, or a plague to wipe out an entire herd of animals or even whole settlements. Yet she also pushes trading ships across the world, multiplies animals in springtime, and brings gentle rain to thirsty fields. His way is a way beyond morals and ethics—as long as life survives in some form, and water and weather support it and keep the world itself dynamic, Gozreh is satisfied. Though her priests and priestesses may have personal ideas about which creatures should live and which should not, or visions of what Gozreh wants protected or destroyed, they accept that their beliefs are just one facet of their deity’s infinite perceptions.
The Wind and the Waves may be intractable one moment and sympathetic the next. He does not do this to be deliberately contrary or mischievous, or in the interest of chaos; it is simply because he perceives everything— every living organism, every drop of water, every gust of wind—at all times. Events distant and unrelated may draw her attention, and the outcome of those events may change her mood, whether because a potential tornado disperses too soon or a rare breed of fox births a dozen healthy kits. He is a great monarch, constantly beseeched by courtiers and commoners, listening to each argument simultaneously and shifting his attention and response to each in turn. To one unaware of the cacophony, she may appear flighty or distracted, but the truth is far more complicated, in a way that mortal cannot hope to perceive.
Gozreh is usually depicted as a colossal humanoid whose lower half trails away into a mass of roiling elemental matter. In male form, he appears as a storm cloud and always remains flying—according to one old legend, he can stretch from one horizon to the other, darkening the entire sky with his fury. In female form, Gozreh’s body is usually shown blending with the water of a lake or sea. She has been known to rise from a waterspout, but sometimes gathers all the nearby water into a great wave, emerging from the top as a nymph-like shape, a crone, or a vaguely humanoid construct of pure water.
Statues of Gozreh are usually made of driftwood or lightning-scorched trees either tied together into a humanoid shapes or carved to resemble one or both incarnations; a few are chiseled from ice and either magically preserved or allowed to melt to be recreated as needed. Stone is rarely used for religious imagery, and never brick or pottery, as such things are signs of civilization’s encroachment. Holy symbols and small idols may be made of coral, polished shell, lacquered wood, whalebone, and other materials that represent life in the sea and the sky that have naturally fallen.
Signs of Gozreh’s favor include a sudden gentle breeze that carries the scent of flowers, the appearance of large numbers of animals, the unexplained sound of waves crashing on a distant beach, and dreams of a specific, recognizable animal (such as a white wolf, a frilled lizard with glowing blue eyes, or a ghostly raven). Omens of his displeasure include being watched and shrieked at by wild birds or beasts, sudden rainstorms localized over a specific building or individual, or an unending taste of blood in the mouth. She may foul fresh water, or afflict offenders with terrible smells or excruciating joint pain as the weather changes.
Gozreh’s clergy and followers represent a wide variety of gender identities. The deity’s dual nature resonates with these worshippers, and the faith accepts all identities as part of the natural order. The church doesn’t place an emphasis on marriage in particular, and seasonal trysts are equally as common among worshippers as unions that last for life. Members of some of the more secluded sects of the faith remain celibate and isolated, residing in the most remote mountains or shoreline caves and reflecting on Gozreh’s independence from relationships—after all, as a deity of dual natures, Gozreh is never truly alone.
Most of Gozreh’s followers wear their hair long—sometimes all the way to the ground—and weave seaweed, coral, or shells into it in intricate patterns. Clergy who can do so grow their beards long, often braiding them into tangled tresses. It is not uncommon for Gozran priests to grow their beards or hair to provide nesting material for small, local creatures, matting their hair over several months before cutting this hair to create small nests. Only the occasional priest houses small birds, frogs, or rodents in their hair while it is still attached.
The most devout members of Gozreh’s faith stay as far from civilization as possible, living deep in the woods or on barren coastal shores. Those who are more sociable often take positions on ships, where they serve as navigators and are seen as good luck charms who can help the ships avoid the fiercest of storms. These “gale-speakers” come ashore only to change to another vessel and are highly sought after by ship captains. Gale-speakers are not bought, however, choosing their own journeys and favoring vessels with far-flung destinations, waters rarely touched by anything but the Wind and the Waves.
It’s not unusual for zealous priests of Gozreh to remain celibate, devoting all their energy to their deity; these priests have been known to worship their deity naked in high places or shallow waters—a process referred to as becoming “sky-clad” or “sea-clad.” Priests have a habit of finding discarded things washed up or left on the shore, including infants orphaned by shipwrecks or abandoned to die from exposure; in most lands, such children are traditionally raised by the church and trained for the priesthood, which offsets the low number of children born to priests because of their high celibacy rate.
Relations with Other Religions
Gozreh is largely indifferent to other deities unless they threaten his domain or existence. She rebukes Abadar when his farms encroach too much the wilds, and the Master of the First Vault takes it as a personal affront when one of his cities suffers because of severe weather. Gozreh hates Nethys and Rovagug for their desire to destroy the world, Gorum for the scars battles leave on the land, and Urgathoa for bringing forth unnatural, undead abominations. He is alternately affectionate and cool with Desna, for while the sky and stars are a good match, Gozreh can be jealous of travelers’ prayers to the Song of the Spheres.Gozreh is genuinely friendly with Erastil, for he believes only Old Deadeye fully appreciates all aspects of nature. Informally, Gozreh considers the beasts of the earth and crops planted by humanoids to be Erastil’s, while the sky, sea, fish, birds, and wild plants belong to her. Although no specific deity heads the Green Faith, Gozreh is on good terms with the countless nature-entities who support mortals of that religion, as well as with the Eldest of the First World.
Realm
As a deity concerned entirely with nature and its fundamental forces, Gozreh makes her home on the Material Plane, wandering ceaselessly in the form of windstorms that race across the land or waves that roll across vast oceans. He cares little for the Outer Planes or the concerns of other gods, choosing instead to listen to the song of every unfurling leaf or insect wing. While she enjoys the wilds and deplores cities, there is no particular location that holds a stronger fascination for her than others, and thus she cannot really be said to truly have a realm beyond the wild places of the Material Plane. Some scholars theorize that of all the gods, Gozreh retains the most connection to the First World because of its primal life energy and wild nature, yet at least on the surface the god retains the same distance as others when it comes to that plane, perhaps because he feels that even nature needs to be governed by consistent physical laws.Planar Allies
All of Gozreh’s servitors have an air or water aspect; if a creature can neither swim nor fly, she has no use for it as a supernatural minion. Few true elementals serve Gozreh, as most of their kind feel allegiance to the elemental lords, but many cloud and storm giants are native to her planar realm. In addition to his servitor race, the xocothian, the following are well-known servitors of Gozreh, and are suitable for conjuring with planar ally or similar spells.Hargle: This easily distracted air elemental, one of only a few serving Gozreh, looks like a dark storm cloud with flickering lightning for eyes. It is equally comfortable high in the air or deep in the sea (where it becomes a roiling mass of bubbles). It strongly dislikes dwarves, offerings of metal, and speakers who take too long to get to the point, but likes potions (especially potions of haste), exotic incense, and the fresh blood of those who despoil nature.
Kraz’Tesh: This creature resembles a giant dragonfly with icy hairs and dexterous claws that work as well as human hands. It is chatty and prone to asking inappropriate questions about mammal biology. Kraz’Tesh is immune to electricity, as is any passenger it carries, so it’s frequently called upon to carry travelers in inclement weather, It enjoys eating gibbering mouthers and fat larvae from buglike creatures.
Personification of Fury: This strange blend of elementals serves as Gozreh’s herald. Unusual in that it is one of the few elemental creatures serving the Wind and the Waves, Personification of Fury is often courted by the elemental lords to join their ranks as a high-ranking general or advisor on the mortal world, but Fury dislikes the lords’ squabbling and petty wars among their kind, seeing itself as a perfect example of how in the material realm elements should mix together without jealousy. It remains neutral in the dealings of various planar entities, and with Gozreh’s permission it sometimes acts as an intermediary between rival forces—but only in a direct, blunt, and expedient way, for it is a creature of force and action, not gentle diplomacy. Its actions have attracted a small number of sycophants and refugees from the elemental wars, air and water elementals tired of battle and looking for other ways to fill their immortal lives; these creatures follow Fury and allow it to summon them, and in faithful service to it they allow mortals to summon them. When the herald is on the Material Plane and left idle (such as before a battle or while guarding a sacred place), it entertains itself by summoning dozens of Small elemental minions and sending them scurrying about, letting them explore for a few minutes and get into mischief.
Saltbeard: Like an old sailor, this snaggletoothed, white-bearded male triton has a foul mouth, fouler breath, and the foulest of tempers. He enjoys using his magical trident to trap ships in ice, then stabbing the landlubbers who try to chip their vessels free. Hot rum is his favorite drink, although he also enjoys magic items that give him breath weapons (such as elixir of fire breath) or cloud attacks (such as a wand of stinking cloud).
Holy Books & Codes
Gozreh’s Hymns to the Wind and the Waves is a collection of prayers and rules that provide guidance on showing respect for the natural world through personal behavior. The exact message varies by temple, as each tends to preserve only the sections relevant to local needs; certain bardic colleges have large collections of church teachings, but no known temple bothers with all of them. Most excerpts from the text are carved on wood plaques or walls, as paper and parchment tend to mold and rot after decades in the vicinity of salt and water magic. Some temples carve selections of prayers onto driftwood and cast them into the sea where the currents carry them far away to wash up on foreign shores; a few sister temples have been trading prayers with each other in this way for generations.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Gozreh’s holy symbol is a green leaf with a drop of water pouring from the lower end.
Symbol
Edicts
cherish, protect, and respect nature in all its forms
Anathema
bring civilization to intrude on the wild, create undead, despoil areas of natural beauty
Areas of Concern
nature, the sea, and weather
Centers of Worship
Mwangi Expanse, The Shackles, Sodden Lands, Thuvia, Varisia, Vidrian
Realm
nomadic (Material Plane)
Temples
areas of great natural beauty, lighthouses, mills, shorelines
Worshippers
druids, explorers, fishers, hermits, survivalists
Sacred Animal
all
Sacred Colors
blue and green
Favored Weapon
trident
Domains
air, nature, travel, water
Alternate Domains
cold, lightning
Divine Ability
Constitution or Wisdom
Divine Font
heal
Divine Skill
Survival
Divine Classification
Deity
Religions
Church/Cult
Children
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