Gwaeron Windstrom

Gwaeron Windstrom () was the Faerûnian demigod of tracking and patron deity of rangers. The Master of Tracking embodied the talents of rangers that allowed for tracking and understanding the signs of the wild, skills he taught his followers in order to combat those, whether wild monster or careless hunter, who threatened the balance between civilization and nature.
==Description==
Gwaeron always appeared as a or tall human male, robust and incredibly muscular despite his age. His hair was long and white, with a mane and beard that flowed and whipped in the wind, billowing even in the absence of a breeze (though this was possible because he was constantly wind walking and so created a breeze). He always wore clothing suitable for wilderness travel, but never anything above his waist. He was normally silent, and when he did speak it was in terse sentences with little physical sign of emotion.
===Manifestations===
Gwaeron was known to manifest as or through a wide variety of woodland creatures, as well as pseudodragons and faerie dragons, either individually or as a group. Other manifestations included a nimbus of faerie fire or a bare human footprint with a faint impression of his symbol visible in the heel print.
==Personality==
Like his divine associates, Gwaeron was an advocate of the Balance of nature. He was quiet, reclusive and taciturn, preferring to teach through action rather than words, but while he was slow to anger, his rage was terrifying once invoked. Regular targets of this wrath were trolls, creatures that he so utterly despised that in his hatred for them he personified the very concept of a species enemy. He considered them kin of Malar and a blight that would inevitably upset the Balance in the long term.
==Powers==
After taking his legendary abilities as a ranger into consideration, Gwaeron's tracking abilities were still well beyond what one of even his level of skill and wisdom would normally be capable of. He had no rival in discovering the most obscure of woodland signs and finding paths several weeks old. Not even teleportation or shifting planes altogether was enough to shake his pursuit, let alone worldly if irregular means of movement like flight, and he could plane shift himself (and himself alone) to follow the trails of anything that did, picking up even on a month old examples of such irregular trails. Only divine power could force him to lose a trail, and there was nothing, magical or mundane, that could get him lost.
Gwaeron could cast wind walk and imbue natural attunement with his touch, both at will, as well as grant favored followers natural attunement by manifesting as a footprint the moment before they stepped in it. He could cast shroud of flame as a powerful wizard every minute in addition to his normal capabilities, as well as various other spells normally.
Trolls were particularly vulnerable to Gwaeron's attacks.
==Possessions==
Gwaeron was proficient in all weaponry but specialized in the use of two-handed swords and composite longbows.
Gwaeron's personal melee weapon was Flameheart, a +1 flame tongue. Flameheart had a +2 enchantment against regenerating creatures, +3 against creatures that were avian, inflammable or harnessed the cold, and +4 against undead.
He also possessed a +3 composite long bow and a quiver that provided an inexhaustible supply of arrows. These included normal sheaf arrows and arrows of slaying that worked against any sentient mortal who ever desecrated a forest without repentance. The arrows retained their magic only in his hands, save for the occassional cases when he bestowed one to a ranger on a specific quest to defend the forest against a specific enemy.
==Realm==
It was debatable whether Gwaeron's home plane was the Prime Material Plane or the House of Nature; he could freely wander both, though he had realm of his own there, and his "realm" on Toril was Faerûn as a whole.
Gwaeron was believed to rest and sleep just west of Triboar, a bustling town active at all hours and thusly referred to as "The Town Where Only Gwaeron Sleeps". There stood a mystical forest known as Gwaeron's Slumber where many of the trees in were in a perpetual autumnal state, leaves dazzling in shades of yellow, orange, and red. On rare occassions he could be seen walking in, out or amongst the trees. Triboar law forbid any wood-cutting or hunting within the forest to avoid Gwaeron's ire.
Most of his followers visited Gwaeron's Slumber at least once for a holy pilgrimage. Rangers who venerated him or Mielikki often visited those woods for prayer despite the lack of a shrine, or in hopes of receiving inspiration. It was said that worshipers of either who slept in the wood received special dreams, visions and prophecies that hinted towards the goddess's will. Non-rangers among them gained a once-in-a-lifetime, day-long ability to track like a ranger from this effect. Some believed Gwaeron also used dreams, although unbeknownst to them he encounters with him were always unexpected affairs.
Local militia patrolled Gwaeron's Slumber; less intelligent monsters were never seen there, but creatures like orcs and trolls were actively prevented from camping there. There was however an oni that lived in a hillside cave nearby who occasionally visited to feast on unsuspecting rangers as they slept, taking Gwaeron's appearance. The fact that it cleaned up after itself led others to believe that Gwaeron sometimes spirited worthy supplicants away to his true divine domain.
==Activities==
Gwaeron was typically seen stalking the North with Flameheart in hand. He was regularly sighted just outside of Triboar, as well as in the High Forest and Cormanthor. He was also known to haunt the Evermoors searching for trolls to hunt.
When Gwaeron manifested as an animal it was often in order to teach novice rangers about the creature's signs. He would appear as the appropriate creature near inexperienced trackers unfamiliar with the evidence before them, enabling them to correctly connect the two. He would also use birds or herds of herbivores to either reveal clues to his favored or obscure their own trails from foes looking for them.
Animals aside, Gwaeron manifested as faerie fire to highlight an obscure but useful woodland sign. He manifested in his bare print form to indicate to a devout worshiper who lost a trail how to pick it up again.
==Relationships==
Gwaeron, along with his colleagues Lurue and Shiallia, was allied to and a servant of Mielikki, and thus by extension a servant of Silvanus, in their fairly familial and supportive group. In the case of the Master of Tracking, he aided her on some of her missions and taught her rangers how to read forest signs. Despite their positive relations, Gwaeron's small following and the similar tenets of their faith put him at risk of being subsumed as an aspect of the Forest Queen, even if only by accident.
Gwaeron, in a rare move among the deities of Faerûnian pantheon, had forged alliances with the deities of the elven, gnome, and halfling pantheons whose portfolios most closely match those of Mielikki, Silvanus, and his own. For example, his demeanor allowed him and Fenmarel Mestarine to get along well, better in fact than the elf god did with most of his fellow Seldarine. Other bonds included his ties to the elf god Solonor Thelandira, the halfling god Arvoreen and his friendly relationship with the gnome god Baervan Wildwanderer. He was the natural messenger to send when Mielikki needed a favor from those pantheons.
Other allies of Gwaeron included the traveler god Shaundakul and the noble beast god Nobanion. In the case of the latter, both shared a hatred of, and sometimes coordinated efforts against, Malar the Beastlord. Gwaeron did not just oppose Malar, but had been relentlessly fighting against his works in an unceasing battle that began before Gwaeron had even ascended to godhood. The hostility was mutual and Gwaeron was at risk of falling prey to his depredations if not careful. Aside from Malar, Gwaeron's only other true enemy was Vaprak, the god of the trolls that he so despised.
==Worshipers==
Few aside from Northern rangers prayed to Gwaeron or even knew of his faith, and even amongst his followers he was not exactly venerated. Rather, the active rangers of the north held Gwaeron in high esteem, praying to him because he represented their work. His faith could be considered one of emulation, his folowers viewing him as one of their own and thus understanding of their needs. He was seen as the master ranger and perfect tracker, as well as an unrivaled animal handler and dedicated foe of rapacious monsters like orcs and trolls.
Just as Gwaeron sometimes acted as Mielikki's emissary among the divine, Gwaeron was also her proxy among mortals in his role as the Mouth of Mielikki. Even though most human rangers favored Mielikki, they considered her too wild, primal, enigmatic and holy to be directly petitioned in most situations. Instead they prayed to Gwaeron, who they believed would carry their words to the goddess by tracking her to whatever forest she was hiding in and who would communicate with them on her behalf where direct speech was needed.
Aside from them, Gwaeron was also venerated by Northern trackers in general, whether their quarry was wild game or outlaws. For example, he might be prayed to by human sailors attempting to find another vessel or those hunting for pirates.
===Dogma===
Gwaeron's teachings mirrored those of his superior Mielikki, which themselves mirrored those of her superior Silvanus, albeit with a greater emphasis on the positive and outreaching aspects of nature. The worlds of intelligent beings and wildlife did not require one to be destroyed so the other could exist, and it was possible and encouraged to live as one with nature, understanding and embracing its hidden ways. Bringing unnecessary harm, damage, and pain to the forest and its creatures was to be fought against or outright punished.
===Rituals===
Gwaeronans prayed for spells at dusk, when many wild beasts emerged from their dens to hunt. After successfully "stalking" a target 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.
==History==
Centuries before the Era of Upheaval, Gwaeron was a mere mortal ranger who roamed North Faerun. His ascension to godhood came through his famous deed: the quick, successful, and successive stalking and slaying of several manifestations and at least one avatar of Malar. For this accomplishment he earned sponsorship to demi-divinity by Mielikki and the undying enmity of Malar.
Gwaeron continued his feud with Malar during the Time of Troubles. The Beastlord attempted to flee North after his defeat at the claws of Nobanion in Gulthmere Forest, only to be relentlessly hunted down by the Master of Tracking across the region. Nothing Malar could do could shake Gwaeron from his trail, and the accompanying Shiallia followed in their wake, undoing any damage his rampages caused.
==Appendix==
===Gallery===
Powers & Pantheons priests 1.jpg|A priest of Gwaeron, among others.
===Appearances===
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===References===
===Connections===
Category:Demipowers
Category:Neutral good deities
Category:Animal domain deities
Category:Good domain deities
Category:Knowledge domain deities
Category:Plant domain deities
Category:Travel domain deities
Category:Nature deities
Category:Faerûnian pantheon
Category:Human deities
Category:Formerly mortal deities
Category:Nature domain deities
Category:Inhabitants of the House of Nature
Category:Inhabitants of the Neutral Planes
Category:Inhabitants of the World Tree planes
Category:Inhabitants of Faerûn
Category:Inhabitants of Toril
Category:Inhabitants of the Prime Material Plane
Category:Males
Category:Inhabitants of masculine gender
Category:Humans