February 2008: Curse of the Crimson Throne Discussion

[Malvoisin]

Mal, did you want me to post Girri in full in here?

Sure, go right ahead!

I'll be creating a Rogue's Gallery which will, of course, be the sheet's permanent home. But for now, go ahead and share your work here with the rest of the class.

 

[Malvoisin]

I put my 4 bonus skill points in Profession (fortune teller).

Really, that should read Profession (scurvy gypsy no-account lay-about prophetess), but, well...that wasn't an option in the PHB.

I'm not so sure those points shouldn't have been put in 'Perform: Charlatanism' myself.

 

[A Passing Maniac]

With the exception of Desna, none of the deities have been fleshed out further than those bare bones details.

Well, Lamashtu did just get a Desna-level writeup of her own in Pathfinder #5, though as she is a CE deity it is unlikely any PCs will be selecting her as a patron. Perhaps of more interest is that several of the other deities (I can think of Iomedae, Calistria, and especially Shelyn offhand) have had pieces of information about them revealed by the Pathfinder folks on the Paizo message boards and in their weekly chat, too. I could always dig them up, if you'd like.

 

[Malvoisin]

Well, Lamashtu did just get a Desna-level writeup of her own in Pathfinder #5, though as she is a CE deity it is unlikely any PCs will be selecting her as a patron. Perhaps of more interest is that several of the other deities (I can think of Iomedae, Calistria, and especially Shelyn offhand) have had pieces of information about them revealed by the Pathfinder folks on the Paizo message boards and in their weekly chat, too. I could always dig them up, if you'd like.

APM, you're exactly right, a write-up for Lamashtu did just appear. However, I was hoping none of the prospective players for this game would ask to play a devotee of the 'Mother of Monsters,' so I just didn't mention it.

If you're volunteering to find links to some of the other deity-specific tidbits on Paizo's boards, that's certainly fine with me. Although the role of the primary divine caster has been filled, the information could still be useful or interesting to everyone. Thanks!

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Girri
Neutral Human Female Cleric 1

[sblock=Crunch]
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Height: 5' 10"
Weight: 125lb
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Dark Chocolate
Skin: Pale

STR: 10
DEX: 14
CON: 10
INT: 14
WIS: 14
CHA: 14
28-point buy

HP: 8
Armor Class: 15 (10 base + 3 armor + 2 dex)
- Flat-footed: 13
- Touch: 12
Initiative: +2
BAB: +0

Atttack:
- Bladed Scarf +0 (1d6, 19-20/2) ---reach weapon
- Dagger +2 (1d4, 19-20/2) ---thrown

Speed: 30'


FORT: +2 (2 base + 0 con)
REFL: +2 (0 base + 2 dex)
WILL: +4 (2 base +2 wis)

Abilities:
- Human Bonus Feat
- Human Bonus Skill Points
- Turn Undead
- Domains: Knowledge, Healing
- Divine Spellcasting

Feats:
1st Level
- Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Bladed Scarf
- Spell Focus (necromancy)
- [DM Bonus] Varisian Tatto (necromancy)

Skills:
- Diplomacy +6 (4 ranks, +2 Cha)
- Heal +5 (3 ranks, +2 Wis)
- Knowledge (local) + 6 (4 ranks, +2 Int)
- Knowledge (nob./roy.) + 5 (3 ranks, +2 Int)
- Knowledge (planes) +3 (1 rank, +2 Int)
- Knowledge (religion) + 3 (1 rank, +2 Int)
- Spellcraft + 6 (4 ranks, +2 Int)
- Profession (fortune teller) + 6 (4 RANKS, +2 Wis) [DM Gift]

Languages:
- Common
- Varisian
- Thassilonian
- Chelaxian

Spells Prepared:
- Level 0: TBD
- Level 1: TBD

Equipment:
- Studded Leather
- Bladed Scarf
- Dagger x 2
- Backpack
- Scarf, pocketed
- Harpy Musk
- Holy Symbol, wooden
- Waterskin
- Entertainer's outfit

Other Goods & Gear
-

Weight Carried: 31 lbs
Remaining Money: TBD[/sblock]
Description
Girri is attractive, if somewhat hard-looking. Dark brown hair flows freely and frames strong blue eyes that are both quick and calculating. Girri dresses to reveal her best physical assets, a flat stomach, shapely legs, and strong shoulders. Girri makes her living selling fortunes on the street to passers-by; she knows as well as anyone that a comely lass attracts more coin than a homely girl. Better to be pretty and suffer the winter chill than to be warm and broke. Girri dresses in layers of colorful scarves, underneath which she sports piecemeal studded leather. It was hard work stealing all that armor a piece at a time off drunk and wanton men.

Personality
Girri has a quick smile and likes a joke as well as anyone but guards herself against those who would try to worm their conniving way past her many outward defenses.

Combat
Girri prefers to stay in the middle of the pack. She blends in better there and isn't as open to attack from the front or the rear. Her low AC means and current weakness from the winter and having been sick with Consumption means that Girri is not a front line fighter. She uses her daggers from a distance, preferring to throw them rather than stab with them. She uses her bladed scarf as a reach weapon whenever possible. Girri will heal a comrade who falls in battle, but she may wait until it is safe to do so. Often this will mean casting sanctuary upon herself before delving into the fray to heal a friend. Once loyal to those around her, under no circumstances will Girri leave a comrade to die alone. She. Will. Not. Do. It. She may hide out of sight and wait for the enemy to leave before going back to get her friend, but she WILL go back and retrieve an injured or dead friend. Her loyalty may be hard-won but once given it is never retracted.
[sblock=Background]
Born in the haberdasherie district of Korvosa to a Varisian mother of Riddleport descent, Girri learned the ways of the Korvosan streets at an early age: the best pick pocketing is done in the temple district on worship-day morning, it's quicker to steal warm bread from the baker than to knead it by hand, men are fools for women, and trouble comes to those overly finicky about their next bed and meal. For folk who delight in ill-gotten gain, the chancery of life, and the occasional dabble in the occult, Korvosa is a lay-about's paradise.

Some 26 years ago--by the best estimate of Mother Crone of Bent Trace Futurities--Girri was given over to the Futurities shop by her mother in exchange for the caravan fee back to Riddleport. Since being fostered as a babe to the stoop-backed Mother Crone, Girri has served as shop dandy. Sweeping the floor, preparing the old Crone's gruel, polishing the seer's "reliquary" on display in the reading room, hawking for customers--such was Girri's life until last autumn. By saving the occasional tip dropped by a customer (gone unnoticed by the blind old lady) and honest street thieving, Girri bought her freedom from Mother Crone and, leaving the Futurities shop on Bent Trace, set off for the Korvosan docks hoping to ply the tidbits of fate-telling she'd gleaned over the years.

Without a roof over her head, the winter got the better of Girri. Not adverse to a bit of firewater and friendly company, and most nights too poor to afford lodging, Girri took to overnighting during the winter season in several taprooms in the docks district. Drink, coupled with the chill of the Korvosan winter, laid heavily upon the girl. When at last she succumbed to Consumption, Girri struggled through the winter by garbing herself in flimsy silk scarves normally reserved for use by pick pockets and selling herself to dockworkers, sailors, porters, and taproom clientele ifor a place to sleep and a warm meal.

Weakened by sickness and haggard to the bone by the price of her "freedom," Girri survived her first Korvosan winter without the tutelage of Mother Crone and is determined that next winter she'll not be forced to suffer similar sickness and indignity. On the lookout for better pockets to pick and better friends, Girri is ripe for opportunity. And, besides, Pharasma has sent the most unusual dreams of late…[/sblock]

 

[A Passing Maniac]

APM, you're exactly right, a write-up for Lamashtu did just appear. However, I was hoping none of the prospective players for this game would ask to play a devotee of the 'Mother of Monsters,' so I just didn't mention it.

If you're volunteering to find links to some of the other deity-specific tidbits on Paizo's boards, that's certainly fine with me. Although the role of the primary divine caster has been filled, the information could still be useful or interesting to everyone. Thanks!

Sure, why not? Makes me feel like I'm being helpful, even if nothing I post winds up being useful to anyone.

First off, Mike McArtor provided a very in-depth look at Shelyn, though he warns some of it might not wind up being entirely canon, since it has yet to see print. The same goes for all of this information, really. I'll quote the entirety of what Mike, James, and the others have to say about the deities, as well as source the statements.

[sblock=Shelyn]Shelyn
The Eternal Rose
Portfolio: beauty, art, love, music
Domains: Air, Charm, Good, Luck, Protection
Favored Weapon: Glaive
Alignment: Neutral Good
Shelyn (sheh LINN) is the half-sister of Zon-Kuthon (yes, the LE god of envy, pain, darkness, and loss). She started life as a relatively minor deity of beauty, art, and music, but with the destruction of her mother (former goddess of love) she gained the very important portfolio of love and became a somewhat more powerful deity. Shelyn continues to focus on beauty (and the related art and music) and has expanded upon her mother’s relatively narrow view of love to include all forms of the emotion.

Beauty
Before she became the goddess of love, Shelyn was flighty and shallow. Since discovering the capacity intelligent beings have for loving people and things that lack beauty, she tends to look for beauty in everyone and everything. “Beauty comes from within” is a relatively recent saying she introduced to Golarion, and it’s a philosophy she not only practices herself, but she requires from her clerics. In this way, it’s quite possible for a physically unattractive person to become a cleric of the goddess of beauty.

Shelyn’s is a unique beauty unparalleled in the multiverse. She is beautiful both without and within (now), and all who see her see in her what they envision as the most perfect beauty (meaning she looks a little bit different to everybody, although everyone agrees that she has eyes that slowly change color). She focuses just as much attention on internal beauty as external, and she is considered also to have the most beautiful personality (which changed greatly when she became goddess of love, such to the point that some wonder if a little of her mother’s personality didn’t meld with hers). Thus, while lesser beauties might inspire jealousy in those who see them, she does not. Nor does she herself feel jealousy when a lesser beauty (i.e., any other) receives attention. She encourages the growth and appreciation of beauty, regardless of its source or admirers, and thus she is never jealous. She surrounds herself with flowers, colorful birds, artworks, and other things of beauty.

She doesn't use her beauty as a weapon (and she punishes that sort of behavior from her followers) and gently and kindly rejects all potential suitors. Some call her an eternal maiden (or sometimes, The Eternal Maiden), while others claim she is the lover of several gods, goddesses, and lesser beings. The truth, of course, is unknown. (Darker rumors put her in the bed of her half brother, but such whispered rumors never persist for very long, as Zon-Kuthon does not tolerate such things.)

Art and Music
As aspects of her role as goddess of beauty, Shelyn also promotes the creation of art and the composing and performance of music. The art or music need not be particularly well done, just so long as the creator puts in effort. A naturally talented person who doesn’t try but still makes beautiful art is appreciated (but not as much as an ungifted artist who struggles for days but still creates something only mediocre). A naturally talented person who doesn’t try and creates something mediocre is shunned by Shelyn (and by extension, her clergy). Clerics of Shelyn frequently are artists themselves, although those without any talent more often become art critics or collectors.

Shelyn herself has an extensive collection of artwork (mostly gifts from potential suitors or worshipers, and most of which portray her). She also has a massive collection of violins (she is likely the greatest violinist in the multiverse) and a secret one of glaives (given to her by Zon-Kuthon or his followers as a sort of dark joke).

Love
As the goddess of love, Shelyn encourages the proliferation of the feeling in all its forms. She is not the goddess of sexuality, lust, or fertility, and makes a very clear distinction between love and sexuality (although she does not in any way discourage erotic love). The few paladins who worship her practice (courtly love, with female paladins attempting to win the attentions of attractive young noblemen (or sometimes, attractive young noblewomen). Shelyn and her clerics treat homosexual love as equal to heterosexual love.

Shelyn and Zon-Kuthon
When they first came into being, so very long ago, their mutual parent forced Zon-Kuthon to swear the Unbreakable Oath (better name pending) to the forces of Law. Zon-Kuthon swore that he would never harm Shelyn, nor would he stand by if others tried to harm her in his presence. In exchange for making the Unbreakable Oath, he received the glaive Whisperer of Souls (which Shelyn later stole from him… see below).

To this day, clerics of Zon-Kuthon not only don’t harm known clerics of Shelyn (doing so results in harsh punishments that don’t end with death) but sometimes actually try to protect such clerics if in danger (earning them rewards from their deity). For their part, clerics of Shelyn return the favor by looking the other way when they meet known clerics or cultists of Zon-Kuthon. (Except, of course, if the clerics or cultists are obviously harming innocents, defacing art, or otherwise being unforgivably bad in front of the clerics of Shelyn.)

This arrangement might seem like a serious drawback for Zon-Kuthon, as other evil deities might take advantage of it to put him into uncomfortable positions. As it turns out, though, nobody ever really moves against Shelyn or her clergy.

Relationship with Other Deities
All other good and neutral deities (and creatures) like or love her. It’s pretty much that simple. They like talking to her (and occasionally trying to woo her), and they certainly like looking at her. The relatively recently ascended god Cayden Cailean frequently attempts to win her over (and always fails), and has contributed greatly to her art and violin collections.

The evil deities (and most evil creatures) are mostly neutral toward her, although she and Urgathoa frequently argue (and their clergies do tend to get into skirmishes). She and Pharasma tend to have long philosophical debates, which always end when Pharasma points out that beautiful things like flowers grow from dead things (Shelyn has no argument against this). For the most part, evil deities leave Shelyn alone (and by extension, their clergy tend to ignore her clergy). She is not a martial goddess by any stretch and tends to stay as far from battle as possible, thus she has built up no animosity from the evil deities or their followers. She’s mostly just there, and they mostly just ignore her.

To this day, only Rovagug, CE god of wrath, disaster, destruction can resist Shelyn’s charms at all times. He alone opposes her on any long-term basis (but only in that he opposes everything, and she is a thing).

Whisperer of Souls
So how does the goddess of beauty and love get a glaive as her favored weapon?

Shelyn bears the glaive gifted to her half brother in exchange for him swearing the Unbreakable Oath. The weapon was crafted by the former god of smiths, who fell during the same murderous spree that claimed Shelyn’s mother. When he received it, the weapon corrupted Zon-Kuthon and convinced him to go to war against the other deities. It was during this war that Shelyn lost her mother and became goddess of love.

When created, Whisperer of Souls was given the ability to absorb souls (hence its name) and once it absorbs 100 powerful souls (not just anybody’s soul will do) it will become a god in its own right and bring about an era of murder and death. When Zon-Kuthon received the weapon it held no souls. By the time Shelyn stole Whisperer of Souls it had almost all it needed. In the time since, Shelyn has been able to free most of those souls thanks to the help of Nethys and brave adventurers (a grand quest of goodness must be performed to release a soul).

Much to the frustration of Whisperer of Souls, it can’t seem to corrupt Shelyn or influence her in any way (earning her the title "the Incorruptible"). Quite the opposite, in fact: when Shelyn first stole the weapon it was a nightmarish and hideous piece of craftsmanship, but in the millennia since, Shelyn has remade it into a beautiful piece of art. It still bears a few ugly bits here and there, but they become less pronounced with each soul she releases.

Anyway, enough background. On to the useful bits!

Cleric Training: Clerics of Shelyn occasionally (frequently?) begin life as artists or musicians and only later come to serve in her clergy. Those who don’t are taught to perform musically (whether on an instrument or just by singing) and are also taught an artistic skill (usually drawing, but sometimes painting, sculpting, or even acting or other performance arts). Weapon training, which only occurs for about an hour every other day or so, if at all, builds off motions learned from the acolyte’s art or music (paladins frequently practice calligraphy, as the movement of the pen mirrors that of the glaive).

Quests: Quests for Shelyn usually involve rescuing—whether ancient artworks from destruction or star-crossed lovers from their families (Romeo and Juliet with a happy ending). They also involve the spreading of art and beauty. Finally, sometimes Shelyn sends followers on generic quests that promote goodness so she may free another soul from Whisperer of Souls.

Temples: As you might imagine, temples to Shelyn are filled with art and constantly (pretty much 24-7) have some kind of music playing within. They tend to be architectural marvels, and architects and builders frequently vie for the honor to build or repair a temple of Shelyn in order to show off their skills. Most settlements have at least a shrine or alter dedicated to Shelyn, but only the largest cities can really afford to house a temple dedicated to just her.

Rites: Rituals dedicated to Shelyn involve singing, regardless of the skill or tone-deafness of the participants. Only those who play a wind or brass instrument (or a chin-set instrument like a violin) are excused from singing. If a ritual can’t be held at a shrine or temple to Shelyn, it should be held in some place surrounded by beauty (natural or man-made).

Heralds and Allies: Shelyn’s herald is a ghaele eladrin who has served her since she was merely the goddess of beauty, art, and music. When Shelyn became NG so too did her herald. Her allies include bronze dragons and some other critters (that I’m sure we’ll have to make up eventually).
- Mike McArtor (http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/pathfinder/runelords/archives/godsOfPathfinder&page=5#227563)[/sblock]

The other gods get much less attention, however. Of particular interest to CB might be a description of Pharasma's role as death goddess:

[sblock=Pharasma]Pharasma does have a cathedral in Korvosa, so there'll be a little bit more coming out about her during Curse of the Crimson Throne.

She's also the goddess who judges all of the dead souls. If you die, your soul goes to Pharasma's Boneyard in the outer planes, which sits atop an impossibly tall spire that pierces the Astral Plane from the Outer Planes. Atop the spire is an immense graveyard, at the center of which is Pharasma's palace, where she sits on her throne and judges each of the dead souls that pass before her; there's an endless line of them winding out of her throne room through the surrounding graveyard. In many ways, the Boneyard is like purgatory; a place for you to come to terms with your death (or in some cases attempt to escape).

When a soul is judged, it gets sent on to heaven or hell or wherever it's supposed to go. Those who worship Pharasma and do so well get to join her staff in her palace in death. Those who worship her poorly or for whatever reason mess something up (such as some, but not all heretics and blasphemers) get buried in the Boneyard itself. Which is not a pleasant fate. Agnostics and athiests do NOT get buried here, but I'm not really sure what happens to them in Golarion. They might not end up going to the Boneyard at all, but in my homebrew world the agnostic is judged by Pharasma against his own nature; if he wasn't true to his own nature he goes in the graveyard, but if he was, his spirit gets reincarnated into the Material Plane. Athiests don't go to the Boneyard at all; they just become free-roaming spirits who either transcend death into new forms of existence after wandering for a LONG time, or they get corrupted and captured and turned into larvae by demon lords and archdevils if they were jerks in life.

AND: Overlooking all of Pharasma's Boneyard is another, lesser god. This is Groetus, the god of the End Times, a sentient and cruel moonlet that looks down upon the Boneyard and waits for the last living soul to die. When Pharasma judges the last soul after the last living body dies on the Material Plane, Groetus descends to the Boneyard to DO SOMETHING to it and Pharasma before he moves on to the Material Plane to "clean up" and pack the dust away for another reality. No one really knows WHAT Groetus is going to do once the last soul is judged, but it's generally accepted that it's not going to be a happy time.

Of course, Pharasma's also the goddess of birth and prophecy and fate. What I posted above is mostly just concerned with her role as the goddess of death.

I'm pretty sure that Pharasma can exist in multiple places at the same time...
- James Jacobs (http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/pathfinder/general/moreInfoOnDeities&page=1#380427)[/sblock]

And the bits about the other deities, starting with some work-in-progress information on Iomedae...

[sblock=Iomedae]Iomedae
TITLE
Goddess of valor, rulership, justice, and honor
Alignment: LG
Domains: Glory, Good, Law, Sun, War
Favored Weapon: Longsword
Centers of Worship: Andoran, Cheliax, Crusade Land, Galt
Nationality: Chelaxian

Iomedae is a deified patron saint of Aroden and has absorbed many of his followers. The strongest of her zealots flock to Crusade Land to join the crusades against the fiends inhabiting the Demon Wastes. Her holy text is the eleven “Acts of Iomedae” (or simply, “The Acts”), miracles performed in ancient times by Iomedae throughout Avistan and Garund as demonstrations of the power of Aroden, her patron.
Number three through the Test of the Starstone. Successor to a demigoddess called Escalin, who formerly served Aroden in a similar capacity before being tortured, broken, and presumably killed by the Whispering Tyrant.
Published Sources: PFPG, Pathfinder #1 (Journal) [/sblock]

And, related to Iomedae, information about the deceased Aroden and Azlant:

[sblock=Aroden]Aroden
THE LAST AZLANT, LAST OF THE FIRST HUMANS
God of human culture, innovation, and history
Alignment: LN
Domains:
Favored Weapon: Longsword
Centers of Worship: Absalom, Cheliax, Taldor, etc.
Nationality: Azlanti

Some five thousand years after the destruction of Azlant, its last true son—the immortal hero Aroden—raised the Starstone from the depths of the Inner Sea, installing it in Absalom and becoming a living god. In time Aroden became the patron deity of Taldor, a nation rife with Azlanti blood and hungry for conquest. As Taldor’s influence spread, so too did the reach of Aroden’s proud religion. By the time the empire’s periphery reached the western frontier of Cheliax 700 years ago, Taldor itself had grown decadent and effete. Aroden’s chief clergy decamped from the Taldorian capital of Oppara to the capital of Cheliax, which soon thereafter declared itself independent from Taldor’s corrupt reach.
Two centuries later, the most zealous followers of Aroden fled the Chelish heartlands for missionary work on the nascent empire’s increasing borders or, increasingly, to the demon-haunted crusadelands of the distant north. A century ago, for reasons still poorly understood, Aroden died, leaving his followers adrift and bereft of miraculous ability. This collapse eventually led to the downfall of Cheliax and the seizure of that nation by forces in league with diabolism. Much of Aroden’s cult has turned to his divine patron saint, the missionary heroine Iomedae, but the full repercussions of the death of the Last Azlant have yet to be felt.
Published Sources: Pathfinder #1 (Journal) [/sblock]

[sblock=Azlant]Azlant: The Shattered Empire. Highly advanced human nation, the first to rise to power over primitive man, and the most successful to date in terms of culture, the sciences, and arcane arts. These were the gifts of the aboleths, squamous beings from the depths of outer space who came to Golarion deep in its prehistory.

Prideful and vain, the aboleths manipulated their prized civilization for millennia, until their manipulations bred their own arrogance into their playthings, with inevitable consequences. The Azlanti humans revolted, forcing the aboleths to cancel their grand experiment in an unimaginable magical catastrophe. In a matter of hours, the entire island continent was shattered and sunk to the bottom of the sea, leaving a maze of mountain peaks and shattered cliffsides to dominate the sea where once a mighty continent had stood.

Of the Azlanti, few survived. A lost colony thrived for a time in South Arcadia, but was eventually swallowed by petty rivalry and the jungle itself. Where the Azlanti settled they bred with the primitive human population of Golarion’s surviving continents, notably in the region now known as Taldor in eastern Avistan.

The sea-elves of the Mordant Spire are the most commonly encountered explorers here, but they do not necessarily have the best interests of foreign explorers in mind.[/sblock]

...all of which can be found in Erik Mona's post in this thread. And now, getting back to the other deities...

[sblock=Irori]In the current draft of the Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer, which will feature a few paragraphs on Irori, Irori's adherents follow a strict mental and physical regimen, and are considered a dangerous cult by many outsiders. Psionics is a natural evolution from this, as are powers derived from ki (such as many monk abilities).

Incidentally, Irori is known by the faithful as the Master of Masters.
- Erik Mona (http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/pathfinder/general/whatDoWeKnowAboutIrori)[/sblock]

[sblock=Nethys]Alas, Nethys is one of the few deities that we haven't really done much at all with, and he's not one from my campaign world (which has three different gods of magic).

BUT!

I can say that Nethys does view magical research and item creation as important and worthy of pursuit for his faithful. He's also more schizo about his Destruction and Protection aspects, although most of his priests choose one and ignore the other. His faith is somewhat split among different callings, I suspect, but there's not much actual conflict among these faiths.
- James Jacobs (http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/pathfinder/general/moreInfoOnDeities)[/sblock]

[sblock=Calistria]Calistria is the goddess of revenge and lust. Calistria details... hmmmm... Well, for starters, her "ethnicity" is Elf. She's not necessarilly just an elf goddess, but she's elf looking Calistria's holy animal is the wasp. Yellow and Black are her holy colors. Wasps, of course, being the animals that LOOK like bees, and LOOK like theyre on the flower pollenating it and maknig honey, but they in fact sting and eat meat and lay eggs in your paralized body for their young to grow in. But they DO look very pretty and graceful...

Merisiel worships Calistria. Calistria has several faiths who worship her, and those faiths do NOT get along with each other. Her main three break down along the good, neutral, and evil categories. All are Chaotic. Calistria will certainly be getting a Core Beliefs style writeup at some point during Second Darkness, in any event. Not sure who the other deity will be yet.
- James Jacobs, in the Pathfinder IRC chat (quoted here: http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/pathfinder/general/pathfinder&page=4#334375)[/sblock]

[sblock=Gorum]Gorum's basic story is, "What if Crom [Conan's god of choice] found a suit of full plate?"

Gorum is a heavily armored berserker type warmonger. He's called the Lord in Iron, not just because he himself wears iron armor, but because he is present in every sword and axe and mace and other iron weapon used by his faithful. When they speak of the Lord in Iron... it's often unclear if they're referring to Gorum or their weapons.

Somewhere in Golarion is a small island in a chain of volcanic islands; on this island is the Theocracy of the Fist, a pretty hard-core group of Gorum worshipers.

He's worshiped by mercenaries and barbarians all across the world, though. Whereas Torag is the god of the tactical side of war, and Sarenrae's the goddess of the necessity of war as a last resort, Gorum is the god of the excitement and adrenaline and flat-out brutality of war.
- James Jacobs (http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/pathfinder/general/moreInfoOnDeities)[/sblock]

The Paizo blog also has a post that contains a list of the gods' holy symbols, from September 7th, which I'll just link.

Took a while to dig all that up. There's probably some snippets about the other gods out there, too, but unfortunately I have to leave town for a while, in... about five minutes ago, actually... and won't have access to the Internet for several days, at least, so I thought I'd post what I did manage to collect.

Here's hoping it comes in handy to somebody!

 

[Malvoisin]

Maniac, that's some great work there, and much appreciated!

Thank you very much.

 

[Malvoisin]

Rhun, I just had a look over Gadeann's skills, and it looks to me that you assigned one too many skill points (21, not counting the bonus for Perform).

 

[Rhun]

Rhun, I just had a look over Gadeann's skills, and it looks to me that you assigned one too many skill points (21, not counting the bonus for Perform).

If that is the worst mistake I made, I'm doing pretty good! LOL. Fixed.

 

[Malvoisin]

If that is the worst mistake I made, I'm doing pretty good! LOL. Fixed.

Indeed. I know that's not necessarily Gadeann's final draft, but so far he looks well constructed.