Church of Gwaeron Windstrom

The church of Gwaeron Windstrom, officially known as the Fellowship of the Stalkers of the Silent Path, was the collective of individuals that venerated Gwaeron Windstrom, the North Faerûnian demigod of tracking. This was not an organized faith distinct from the Church of Mielikki, but rather an order of rangers drawn from the Mielikkian ranks.
==Dogma==
The teachings of Gwaeron's church mirrored those of Mielikki. His doctrine taught that sapient and wild creatures could live in coexistent harmony, and his followers were instructed to live in and as part of the forest rather than in conflict with it while teaching others to do the same. The wild ways were the good ways, not to be feared or shunned but understood and embraced. To needlessly bring down or burn parts of the forest was unacceptable, and those who hunted for sport or tortured wild creatures were to be curtailed at best and punished at worst.
===Beliefs===
As a whole, the Church of Gwaeron did not venerate so much as highly respect and emulate their god. They viewed him as a master of and representation of their work in the field of tracking, animal handling and other ranger duties, as well as a dedicated opponent of orcs, trolls and similar enemies. As the Mouth of Mielikki he was also considered an intermediary to the goddess most rangers favored yet considered too primal and otherworldly to beseech directly, and they believed he would track her down and deliver their words to her as well as speak on her behalf when direct communication was needed. At the same time, they viewed him as one of their own and thus able to understand them.
==Activities==
Gwaeronans took their roles as protectors very seriously, striving to keep the balance that others threatened to undo. This meant keeping in check the numbers and activities of the malicious, careless, indiscriminate and ignorant, whether civilized or wild. They spent their day-to-day lives walking both the beaten paths and wild places of the North, ceaselessly honing their tracking and wilderness skills and becoming attuned to their environment while monitoring the activities of "monstrous" races.
Sometimes Stalkers joined militias, mercenaries, and adventurers, typically as scouts. At other times they were called upon by the church of Mielikki or hired by local rulers to track down elusive predators (both figurative and literal) or those seeking to escape justice. Their role in keeping the balance also meant they might play a more beneficient role, such as finding lost travelers, protecting forest life or, in areas experiencing famines, using their skills to provide food.
==Organization==
The Fellowship of Stalkers of the Silent Path was an informal order of elite trackers whose members were considered regular followers of the Church of Mielikki.
===Classes===
The Fellowship was composed exclusively of specialized rangers of either human or half-elf descent, although there were Gwaeronans who were not part of this primary group. There were clerics and druids of Gwaeron for example, almost all of which had at least some training as rangers.
Specialty priests of Gwaeron, like most of Mielikki's, were known as rangers. They shared the usual distinctions from normal rangers that Mielikki rangers possessd with the addition of a few other skills and abilities.
==Rituals==
The Stalkers of the Silent Path shared all their holy ceremonies and celebrations with the Church of Mielikki, although they did possess a few distinct practices. After a successful "stalk" 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. Many members of the fellowship got tattoos of blue or brown, five-pointed stars in honor of their devotion.
Clerics and druids of Gwaeron prayed for their spells at dusk, when many wild beasts stirred to forage and hunt.
==Base of Operations==
===Regions===
The Gwaeronan faith was focused in North Faerûn, with the Master of Tracking's consecrated areas being mainly found in the High Forest and Cormanthor.
===Temples===
Given the spirit of Gwaeron's entire faith, being out in the wilds as opposed to building or loitering within structures, Gwaeron had no temples of his own. Instead, the temples and shrines of Mielikki were used as gathering places, and often included a smaller shrine or side altar dedicated to him specifically. Gwaeron did have some "shrines" of his own in the form of trail markers used by travelers of the wilds. Each was denoted by a carving of Gwaeron's symbol on a prominent tree or rock, the consecrated ones typically being simple altars made of a single boulder.
Notable temples included: 
* An unnamed shrine to Mielikki in the hamlet of Mornbryn's Shield with a minor tribute to Gwaeron attached.
* Gwaeron's Slumber, a mystical forest in a perpetual state of autunm where Gwaeron was known to rest. Most Gwaeronans went there for a holy pilgrimage at least once and rangers of him and Mielikki often prayed there despite the absence of a shrine out of the belief that one of them would grant inspiration or prophetic dreams.
==Possessions==
===Dress===
The vestments of Gwaeron's Stalkers were practical for their environment, with a clear preference for supple and sturdy leathers. The primary difference between formal and informal dress was the vibrance of the colors. All Stalkers had Gwaeron's symbol as a patch or embroidered on their formal clothes while respecting Mielikki's clergy's seasonal colors through the use of dye, keeping it limited to the trim or accessories when in the field so as not to stand out in the terrain. Comfortable boots were formal wear while soft moccasins or just working barefoot was preferred when practical. Hair grew freely but was neatly and practically managed.
Weather permitting, male Stalkers were known to enjoy working bare-chested. Male Stalkers rarely went bald and could always grow beards while female Stalkers wore their hair in long, loose braids down their backs.
==Magic==
===Spells===
Notable Gwaeronan spells included:
* Banish blight
* Create treant
* Natural attunement
* Stalk
* Tree healing
* Wood sword
Most of these spells were shared with the wider church of Mielikki.
==Symbol==
Gwaeron's original symbol was a dark red "S" overlaid with a small, white, five-pointed star on its top half and a large, brown, four-clawed animal print on its bottom half. The S represented several things, including a winding trail as well as streams and the winds, streams to signify Gwaeron's ability to track those hiding their scent and the winds his ability to catch scents on the breeze. The symbol fell from use since the latter abilities were things most mortals couldn't do, and so it was traded out for the much simpler symbol of a pawprint with a star on the palm, the colors matching the original.
==Relationships==
Gwaeronans worked with the Mielikkians as firm allies and trusted friends. Mirroring Gwaeron's relationship with Mielikki, they were the tracking, scouting and hunting branch of the wider Mielikkian clergy. Specialty priests of Gwaeron led solitary lives however, and even the more notable ones often had as their only companion a hearty bloodhound.
Humanoids like orcs and trolls were common targets of Gwaeronan campaigns, but it was the followers of Malar that they opposed and the Great Beast's works they relentlessly fought agiainst. Alongside the churches of Silvanus and Mielikki, the Gwaeronans often mounted searches into forests to find and destroy lairs of the Malarite People of the Black Blood.
==History==
Gwaeron's faith rightly stated that he was once a mortal man before being elevated to godhood by Mielikki long ago. From these humble beginnings he soon gained a loyal clergy amongst the wandering rangers of the North.
==Notable Gwaeronans==
* Drizzt Do'Urden, the legendary drow hero of the North who forsook the ways of his people and returned to life on the surface.
==Trivia==
In the Gwaeronan faith, the northern tropic was called Trethen and the southern tropic Lonthen.
==Appendix==
===Gallery===
Gwaeron Symbol PP.png|The symbol of Gwaeron from Powers & Pantheons
Gwaeron Symbol Box Set.png|The symbol of Gwaeron from Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 2nd edition (revised)
===Appearances===
===References===
===Connections===