Groke Who Is Cold (3.5e Deity)
| Greater Deity | |
|---|---|
| Symbol: | A gray snowflake |
| Home Plane: | Pansaer |
| Alignment: | Neutral (inapplicable in Years of Gold campaign setting) |
| Portfolio: | Death, Rest, Winter, Passing, Traveling |
| Clergy Alignments: | N |
| Domains: | Death, Destruction, Travel |
| Favored Weapon: | Dagger |
|
|---|
| Groke is often visualized as a massive, half-formed shadow. |
Groke Who Is Cold, often simply called Groke, is the only god in the Pansaerian titan pantheon who is not a titan. No one knows who or what Groke actually is: an elder deity of immeasurable power, a strange entity of otherworldly origin or other, stranger things still have been suggested, but all that is known is that Groke is on par with the raw power of the titans, since they've been unable to cast him out of godhood. Since he in this fashion challenges the unkind titans, he is well-liked and prayed to often; sometimes for easy traveling, sometimes for a painless death.
Groke governs the death of mortal folk, and is the ferryman of souls into the afterlife. Those who venerate the titan pantheon believe that those men who always speak the truth (even when hurtful and unnecessary), quell their anger (even when acceptable) and don't give into their greed (even when appropriate) get to lay their heads to rest in Groke's halls, while others are forced to be born again and again in an endless cycle of rebirth. His association with rest and peace make Groke one of the most beloved gods in Pansaer.
Groke is venerated as the god of rest, of ease and travel, the bringer of pleasant dreams and of cooling winds. He is feared as the god of death, of entropy and finality, the god of going astray and getting lost, as well as the bringer of nightmares.
Dogma[edit]
Groke, as the most empathic of the gods, is seen as wanting his followers to see the world with open eyes, travel, help each other in need, and to acknowledge (if not accept) the cruel facts of life: that death is everyday, that mortals will always be hurt, and that life is not fair. While Groke is the god of death, he dislikes killing, and so do his followers, unless as a last option. The priests of Groke also teach that all things are passing: to live in memories, to hold onto artifacts and trinkets, to stay in the same place forever - these are an affront to the god of change.
Clergy and Temples[edit]
Since Groke is so well-liked in Pansaer, his clerics and priests are fairly common, and it's a prestigious role in society - unlike, say, being a priest of Mieli, a role that's fearfully venerated. The clerics of Groke dress themselves in simple hues of white, gray and black, and often leave their road-worn feet unclad, to show their devotion to the god of journeys. They rarely stay in the same place for long.
Thanks to the travel-oriented nature of his priests, temples of Groke are few and far between. There are a few, usually established near crossroads and roads to allow for wanderers to pop in and ask for a blessing to ease travel. To make moving them around easier, the temples are always made up of tents, usually white with the god's gray snowflake symbol (representing winter and death) painted on the canvas.
Pantheon[edit]
Groke Who Is Cold is part of the titan pantheon of Pansaer, along with Auri, the Overgod, Luni, the Maiden, Ahti, the Mariner, Mieli, the Hunter and Morran, the Scholar. Since unlike the others he's not a titan, he doesn't associate with the others much. Morran, ever the scholar, is interested in Groke's nature and his vast powers, but the interest is one-sided.
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