God CallerGod Caller CR 4Source Inner Sea NPC Codex pg. 24 XP 1,200 Human summoner 5 N Medium humanoid (human) Init –1; Senses Perception +1DefenseAC 12, touch 9, flat-footed 12 (+3 armor, –1 Dex) hp 41 (5d8+15) Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +6 Defensive Abilities shield allyOffenseSpeed 30 ft. Melee sickle +3 (1d6) Ranged dart +2 (1d4) Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th; concentration +9) 7/day—summon monster III Summoner Spells Known (CL 5th; concentration +9) 2nd (3/day)—bull’s strength, haste, see invisibility 1st (5/day)—enlarge person (DC 15), mage armor, magic fang, protection from evil 0 (at will)—acid splash, arcane mark, detect magic, guidance, light, messageStatisticsStr 10, Dex 8, Con 13, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 18 Base Atk +3; CMB +3; CMD 12 Feats Diehard, Endurance, Persuasive, Toughness Skills Diplomacy +8, Knowledge (arcana) +8, Knowledge (history) +8, Knowledge (nature) +8, Knowledge (planes) +8, Knowledge (religion) +8, Spellcraft +10, Use Magic Device +10 Languages Abyssal, Aquan, Common, Hallit SQ bond senses (5 rounds/day), life link Combat Gear elixir of swimming, potion of cure moderate wounds, potion of invisibility, scroll of eagle’s splendor, scroll of glitterdust; Other Gear mwk studded leather, darts (4), sickle, cloak of resistance +1, 69 gp
Called Eidolon N Medium outsider (extraplanar) Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +7 Defense AC 21, touch 13, flat-footed 18 (+3 Dex, +8 natural) hp 34 (4d10+12) Fort +6, Ref +7, Will +3 Defensive Abilities evasion Offense Speed 40 ft., swim 40 ft. Melee bite +7 (1d6+3), 2 pincers +5 (1d6+1 plus grab) Statistics Str 16, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 11 Base Atk +4; CMB +7 (+11 grapple); CMD 20 (24 vs. trip) Feats Iron Will, Multiattack, Toughness Skills Intimidate +4, Perception +7, Sense Motive +7, Stealth +8, Swim +13 Languages Common SQ link, evolutions (bite, gills, improved natural armor, limbs [arms], limbs [legs, 2], pincers, swim), share spells
Since time immemorial, the people of Sarkoris have embraced an immense number of deities, outsiders, guardian spirits, and legendary beings as part of their ever-changing regional pantheons. Each Sarkorian community boasted its own pantheon of patrons, with characters from folklore and history standing alongside true supernatural beings as objects of distinct local importance and worship. Passing on the tales of these figures and giving form to the faiths of their people were the god callers. For each god caller, and for those who looked to these magic-users as leaders, an eidolon was not just a mysterious being brought forth by magic—it was an embodiment of the divine, the manifestation of a being they believed to be a true god.
God callers are aptly named, as they were traditionally held by the people of Sarkoris—laymen in matters of arcane and divine magic, but no more ignorant than most commoners—as the only mortals able to communicate with and conjure their “gods.” In rural Sarkoris, the distinctions between deities, demigods, powerful outsiders, summoned entities, and pure fictions blurred to such an extent that summoners were considered spiritual leaders, and stood alongside the druids, clerics, witches, and clerics that guided the clans of that land. Each eidolon is different, conjured as much from the strange realms where those creatures originate as from the imaginations, history, and tales of the Sarkorian people. Some eidolons are even inherited, after a fashion, with elder summoners passing on the techniques for calling their conjured allies to their offspring or apprentices so their gods might go on to serve the next generation. While most god callers understand that their eidolons are not the almighty deities of grand churches and world-spanning faiths, most are not insincere with their belief in their summoned creatures’ divinity. Most view their eidolons as manifestations of greater beings, spirits of fallen heroes, children of legendary creatures, or the gods of small things—like a particular well, road, town, or family.
During Sarkoris’s height, most god callers were benevolent, calling on their eidolons to aid and protect their communities from the many dangers of the rugged north. But some called upon angry gods, and served as the mouthpieces of beings that demanded worship, fear, and terrible offerings. Fortunately, Sarkoris was a land of many deities and ever-changing regional pantheons, ensuring that the petty tyrannies of such wicked god callers and their small gods were regularly confronted by the summoners of nearby lands, or sometimes even by another in the same town.
The first god caller was Domora Hume, who famously called the heavily armored god-creature called Dyzad, a spiny, crustacean-like creature that could fire its poisonous spines at enemies. With its aid, Domora repulsed a force of Mammoth Lord raiders and established the tradition of god calling across Sarkoris. So inspiring was Dyzad that many who studied under Domora or simply emulated her called lesser versions of her famed ally. In the ages since, many of the entities and legendary characters worshiped in Sarkoris as deities have taken the form of eidolons. Among them are such beings as the Dragoneagles of Neverhome, Aienu the Wall, Sister Last Tear, the Shackled Shadows of Rauglain, Alep’s Steed, the Torches of Dawn, and Clanliege Histunsun. Thousands of other deities and eidolons were once known in Sarkoris, but most either have been lost, or are remembered only in legends and on the rare broken monoliths known as godstones. More details on Sarkoris, its god callers, and their many “deities” can be found in Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Lost Kingdoms.
With the destruction of Sarkoris and the exodus of its surviving people, god callers found themselves in a world with vastly different religious traditions. In the less clannish lands, divorced from the ancient Kellid beliefs of Sarkoris, the tradition of god calling was largely viewed as ignorant at best and as outright heresy at worse. As a result, many god callers were shunned, or even hunted, for their strange beliefs and for the monstrous company they kept. Many sought out quiet and hidden places where they might continue to practice and share the traditions of Lost Sarkoris, surviving in small groups at the edges of the Worldwound, in the Tusk Mountains, in the Graidmere Swamp, in the Estrovian Forest, and beyond. Still others took the destruction of their home as a sign—as evidence that it was time to spread their beliefs to a world of complacent, distant deities. These god callers have struck out on their own, spreading the tales of their people and their storied eidolons, or even founding new cults devoted to their gods. Some have even allied with the churches of existing deities, allying their eidolons with the faiths and true gods that share similar beliefs and purposes. The tradition of god calling might be fractured, but it’s far from dead.
Today, some of the world’s most active god callers continue to work in and around the Worldwound. The town of Valahuv in the Worldwound survives against the demonic hordes largely thanks to the efforts of Feinroh Balemoon (LN male human summoner 4), his eidolon Tammerri the Dawncaller, and a mysterious other patron. Similarly, the Sarkorian town of Gundrun is home to the determined god caller Alase Brinz-Widowknife (NG female human summoner 5) and her wolf like eidolon Tonbarse. Hidden away in the Graidmere Swamp, in the dark holy place called Baallalota, Clanliege Lesaul Blackearth (NE female changeling summoner 10) guides the remnants of her proud clan in their reverence for the Mother of Fangs, the snake-like spirit of the swamp—and perhaps something more.
|