Obad-Hai
| Obad-Hai | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Portfolio: | Nature, Woodlands, Hunting, Beasts |
| Home: | Concordant Domain of the Outlands |
| Alignment: | Neutral |
| Gender: | Male |
| Superior: | none |
| Rules items | |
| Domains: | Air, Animal, Earth, Fire, Plant, Water, Weather |
Obad-Hai is the god of Nature, Woodlands, Hunting, and Beasts. He is often called the Shalm.
Originally a Flan deity, Obad-Hai is most favored by druids and other nature priests.
Description
Obad-Hai is most often depicted as a lean and weathered old man of indeterminate age, dressed in brown or russet. Obad-Hai is strictly neutral in alignment. His holy symbol is a mask of oak leaves and acorns. He carries a wooden staff called the Shalmstaff, and is known for playing a woodwind instrument called a shalm or shawm. Obad-Hai can appear as a human, dwarf, gnome, or halfling, and has worshipers among all four races. He is also depicted in various animal forms.
Relationships
Obad-Hai has an unfriendly rivalry with Ehlonna, and is the sworn enemy of Phyton. The Shalm is often grouped with Beory and Berei among the agricultural gods of the Flan.
Realm
The Hidden Wood of Obad-Hai is a patchwork of thick woods and open glades and rolling fields. Explorers' notes place the Hidden Wood in several specific locations in the Outlands, often near the gate-towns of Fortitude or Faunel. But it's rarely found at all except by travelers who become lost in the woods, and by those souls who were dedicated to the Shalm during their mortal lives.
Obad-Hai's domain is nature in all its forms: wild and tamed, savage and domesticated. All four seasons exist simultaneously in balance within the Shalm's realm. In the space of a quarter-mile, snowfields give way to forests draped in fall color next to orchards heavy with fruit and newly plowed fields. Creatures encountered within the Hidden Wood tend to be axiomatic or anarchic, but include a large number of Prime Material Plane animals, beasts, and plants. These creatures are usually hostile to travelers, an attitude that Obad-Hai encourages.
The Shalm has changed the magic traits within his realm. Spells cast by druids here are enhanced, and all spells targeting animals or plants are heightened. He has the power to make other changes to the traits of his realm if he wishes.
Petitioners serving Obad-Hai appear human and have the abilities of typical Outlandish petitioners. In addition, they gain the ability to speak with animals and plants at will. Petitioners are often gardening, herding, hunting, pruning, planting, or harvesting. Great feasts are common within the Shalm's realm.
Dogma
Obad-Hai teaches that one should live in harmony with nature, and that those who would damage the natural balance deserve swift vengeance. Obad-Hai's faith is colder and less compassionate than Ehlonna's, preaching death in balance with life. When they hunt, they target the weak and sickly first.
Worshipers
Obad-Hai is revered by humans, dwarves, fey, gnomes, and halflings. His faith is strong among the Flan tribesmen in the Bright Lands, in Geoff, in the Gran March, among the Rovers of the Barrens, in Stonehold, in Tenh, in the County of Ulek, and in Verbobonc.
Clergy
Obad-Hai's clerics favor russet-colored clothing and simple quarterstaves. They have no hierarchy; all members are treated as equals. They keep to the wilderness and to themselves, rarely getting involved with society and often living as hermits. Most get along very well with rangers and druids.
Druids
Many druids of the Old Faith revere Obad-Hai. Druids of Obad-hai are found within the Adri Forest, where they are led by Archdruid Immonara. Archdruid Reynard Yargrove in the Sheldomar Valley is another worshiper of the Shalm.
Temples
Temples of Obad-Hai are wooden structures in rustic settings, almost invariably laden with oak trees. The god's shrines are often stone circles or circles of oaks deep in the wilderness.
Rituals
Prayers in honor of the Shalm often begin with references to birth and growth and end with references to death and dying. Services involve the consecration of earth, fire, living flowers, and water. Rites in Obad-Hai's name are seasonal, often triggered by events such as the year's first birdsong or snowfall.
Worshipers of Obad-Hai work to protect the wilderness from dangers such as unnatural corruption or cataclysms, or from deforestation by woodcutters.
Artifacts and other associated magical items
The Singing Stones of the Vesve are a very ancient artifact of Obad-Hai taking the form of a stone circle that, according to divination, seems to be waiting angrily for some response. The Armor of Fallen Leaves is a relic sewn together from actual leaves by Ehlonna and presented as a gift to Obad-Hai during a time when they had better relations.
There are three Staffs of the Unyielding Oak. These staffs are actually treants who have willingly bound themselves to quarterstaff form in order to aid followers of the Shalm. They have the ability to reassume their treant forms at the command of their wielders.
Obad-Hai in other media
In the movie Dungeons & Dragons 2: Wrath of the Dragon God, a priest of Obad-Hai is one of the main characters.
Bibliography
- Conforti, Steven, ed. Living Greyhawk Official Listing of Deities for Use in the Campaign, version 2.0. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2005. Available online:[1]
- Grubb, Jeff, David Noonan, and Bruce Cordell. Manual of the Planes. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001.
- Gygax, Gary. World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1983.
- "The Deities and Demigods of the World of Greyhawk." Dragon #69 (TSR, 1982).
- Holian, Gary, Erik Mona, Sean K Reynolds, and Frederick Weining. Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2000.
- Noonan, David. Complete Divine. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2004.
- Perkins, Christopher. Warriors of Heaven. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1999.
- Redman, Rich, Skip Williams, and James Wyatt. Deities and Demigods. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2002.
- Sargent, Carl. From the Ashes. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1993.
- Ward, James M. Greyhawk Adventures. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1988.