Gozreh

Gozreh (pronounced GOHZ-ray) is a dualistic god of nature, a god of the storm and sky and also a god of the wave and surf. Born of the ocean's fury and the wind's wrath, Gozreh is a fickle deity.

History

Gozreh is an ancient deity, thought to have existed for as long as the wind has blown and the waters swelled. His faithful are to be found in all places of nature, doing his will as they have for eons. He is counted among one of the original gods that fought against Rovagug in the defense of all creation.

Relationships

Gozreh mostly remains neutral towards the other gods, unless they bring threats to his dominion. Despite this, he often comes into conflict with Rovagug, Nethys and Urgathoa, for their destructive or corrupting influences on the world. He is often at odds with Abadar over the encroachments of civilization on nature, yet cordial with Erastil and Desna. Erastil, in particular, is considered somewhat of a friend, due to their shared respect for nature.
A timeless entity birthed from the first wind to stir the vast oceans, Gozreh wanders the world in the air and the seas. Sailors drop boxes of cargo as offerings to avoid a fatal storm, hoping to please the Wind and the Waves, even though they know that such pleas are far more likely to go unnoticed as they are to draw their deity’s attention. The deity’s temperament is fickle and their fury swift, hurling bolts of lightning and dragging to the crushing depths those who dare befoul the natural world. 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.

Appearance and Emissaries

Gozreh appears as a colossal humanoid whose lower body trails away into a mass of roiling elemental matter. Her female avatar of the sea merges with water and appears as a young and beautiful woman with wild green hair. The male avatar of the winds and clouds merges with a storm cloud and appears as a weathered old man with a long white beard. Images of Gozreh typically present his two forms reaching up from the sea and down from the heavens to touch one another in midair.

Servants

Nature and all its creatures are considered to be Gozreh's domain, but her clergy place significance on birds and creatures of the sea, especially those who merge the two concepts such as albatrosses and seagulls.
Kraz'Tesh
This favored servant of Gozreh is an icy dragonfly-like creature.
Saltbeard
This favored servant of Gozreh is a dour triton cleric.
Personification of Fury
Appearing as an ancient elemental, a fusion of wind and wave, Gozreh's herald serves her interests across the planes.

Church of Gozreh

The church, and certainly the faith of Gozreh, can be found in all natural places.

Worshipers and Clergy

Priests of Gozreh are rugged folk and many are hermits. Men are expected to have long beards and women long hair. Seaweed and natural items are often braided into the hair of the faithful.
The Bonuwat people of the Mwangi Expanse worship a variant form of Gozreh, a janiform amalgam with Desna, whom they call Shimye-Magalla.
Shortly after the appearance of the Eye of Abendego, a splinter-cult of Gozreh called the Storm Kindlers became convinced the Eye was a manifestation of Gozreh. They flocked to the Sodden Lands, but were unable to cope with the harsh realities of life in the region and were soon killed. Their leaders wore magical masks that helped them navigate the flooded land. Some of these masks survive and are now worn by inhabitants of the Sodden Lands, who call them Goz masks.

Temples and Shrines

Temples of Gozreh are always open to the sky and often contain some sort of pool or open water at the heart. They often appear in out-of-the-way places and are typically built using only slightly worked local materials, such as driftwood and unquarried stone. Services and occasions vary from temple to temple, though most ceremonies involve offerings, prayers and chanting.

Holy Texts

Gozreh's texts are typically guides to natural life, almanacs of tides and such things, interspersed with chants and prayers and suggested offerings to the fickle deity.
Hymns to the Winds and Waves
This book includes sussurant prayers, rules for personal behavior and the respect of nature.

Holidays

Gozreh's followers celebrate Firstbloom on the Vernal Equinox and Currentseve on the 7th of Gozran.

Titles
The Wind and the Waves 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

Constellations