Gargul
God of Death and Life
Contents
Realms of Responsibility
This god collects all the souls and spirits of the dead and makes sure that they arrive at the proper plane of resting and do not roam the Wold at will. He also ensures that souls are born and in some cases even reborn in the proper time and place. He serves both Pantheons in these tasks. He strives against unnatural suffering and death in the Wold. He tracks down spirits that roam the Realm of Shadow and Wold itself without proper reasons -- to the consternation of some of the Gods. Gargul is totally dedicated to the elimination of undead from the Wold.
Godly Powers
Gargul can kill or grant life with a thought. Much of his power, however, usually resides within Gimp the Imp. He can control, banish, and destroy undead through his followers as well as anything he deems "unnatural." He has power over the land of The Dead and the Living. He controls which lands are removed from the Wold into the land of Fey and which return to the Commonlands. No other God can control him or influence him against his will. He can banish any God from his presence except for Alemi and Marteaus.
Appearance
Mortal Form -- Gargul in natural form is a large muscled human with black hair. Some say he looks to be a "Civilized Barbarian of Noble Appearance." Others say he looks similar to Alemi, himself. He appears in dusty well-traveled black robes, with a strange smile that often is mistaken for a grimace. His bearing is once threatening and sad. He is always accompanied by the imp named Gimp.
Avatar Form -- In pictures, in ritual, or appearing before a group of believers, Gargul appears as a tall figure in a hooded black robe, carrying a book and a crooked staff. The staff glows with a white pure light. Under the robe, one can sometimes make out a crooked smile on his face, or perhaps it's a grimace.
Divine Form -- In dreams and legend, when his hand forces change upon the Wold, Gargul seems to be a massive shadowy figure or grey, or a grey lidless eye, or a grey hand that emerges from shadow.
Holy Symbol
A Gray Lidless Eye, which is an almost exact replica of its High Woldian source.
Priests' Appearance
The priests of Gargul often seem cold to the touch. They may wear heavy perfume to mask a slight smell of blood that sometimes surrounds them. They wear grey cloaks, like Gargul, or some black or grey garment. When on missions of importance, a wispy fog may seem to creep from under their cloaks.
Clerics in Society
Known as Eyes of Gargul, these priests serve the mysterious purposes of their god in ways that common folk may not understand. They may command respect at funerals, where their tales of the afterlife comfort the grieving. They may be sought after by those hoping to conceive children, since the priests of Gargul are said to be able to bring a reincarnated soul to rest in a mother's womb (although after birth, new mothers tend to shun Eyes of Gargul like the plague!). These clerics view Death and Life as inherent and necessary parts of existence -- Death is not evil, nor Life good. This acceptance of death as part of the natural order frightens many common people.
Priests of Gargul, also known as Eyes of Gargul, often devote themselves to a philosophy of life and death balanced in a natural order. Therefore, they strive to preserve this balance by fighting unnatural forces that upset the balance. Natural forces move by happenstance, or karma, or the gods, or the mechanistic workings of the Wold itself. Unnatural forces are driven or imposed by a mortal will with deliberate intent. An earthquake is usually a natural force, however catastrophic -- unless unleashed unnaturally by a mortal mage intent on his own desires. A nation may go years without plague striking, but a mortal mage that seeks to wipe a disease off the face of the Wold commits an unnatural offense. Scale and magnitude also play a part in this philosophy: the deaths of individuals are trivial. The lives and deaths of thousands resound across the Wold. When mortals upset the balance of life and death, Gargul, through his Eyes, intervenes.
The priest must decide what is natural and what is not. Gargul believes in free will and therefore gives much choice over these matters to his faithful. However if the priest continually upsets the balance and ignores the ramifications of life and death, Gargul will get personally involved, and the Eye's soul may be forfeit."
Gargul also uses his followers to correct gross individual offenses against the balance of life and death. There are three major categories of these unnatural phenomena, each with a Prestige Class devoted to it. The Undead Hunter destroys undead, who cling to unnatural unlife through evil will. The Grim finds and releases souls trapped after death as ghosts or spirits, freeing them to go on to the afterlife. The Soulseeker destroys soulless constructs and magical creatures without souls -- and they also shepherd lost souls into rebirth. Some choose to remain pure Eyes, running temples and cemeteries, ministering to worshippers, striving to maintain balance, serving Gargul in ways mundane and otherwise.
Adventuring Clerics
Clerics of Gargul adventure to fight undead and constructs, which they hate; to search for lost or trapped souls; and to keep an eye on the Wold and report unusual spiritual activities to their brother and sister clerics.
Worship
The worship of Eyes is somber and fatalistic. It involves chanting, meditation, and contemplative prayerful movements and motions. Many services are conducted in the dark and at midnight. Services are held in the shadows between day and night. Prayers for joining occur at the crack of dawn, and prayers for the deceased are given at twilight.
Each temple has its own Chief Priest. All others are considered equal, but there is a pecking order according to power and reputation.
Holy Days
Day of the Dead, Winter Solstice, Deliverance Day, Death of either moon, Execution Days, Mask Day.
Content of Sacrifices
Giving of an eye, fallen leaves, seeds, ashes of enemies, skulls, bone. keys, and life force.
Ethos
Death is a part of the natural order. Embrace Death as the door to rebirth.
Spell Domains
Travel (PHBp.165), Mortality, Shadow, and Insight
Mortality Domain
This domain is available only to clerics of Gargul.
Domain Granted Power -- The cleric can choose to use spontaneous casting to cure or inflict wounds. The cleric can also choose to turn or command undead, although no cleric of Gargul long tolerates the existence of any undead he can destroy.
Mortality Domain Spells
- Deathwatch
- Gentle Repose
- False Life
- Death Ward
- Raise Dead / Slay Living
- Greater Restoration
- Symbol of Death
- Trap the Soul
- Soul Bind
Shadow Domain
This domain is available only to clerics of Gargul.
Domain Granted Powers -- The cleric gains both low-light vision and darksight.
Shadow Domain Spells
- See Invisible
- Shadow Conjuration
- Blink
- Ethereal Jaunt
- Leomund's Secret Chest
- Etherealness
- Shades
- Shadow Walk
- Maze
Insight Domain
Domain Granted Power -- Priests with this domain gain Blind-Fighting as a free feat and access to Search, Sense Motive, and Spot as class skills.
Insight Domain Spells
- True Strike
- See Invisible
- Divination
- Scrying
- True Seeing
- Legend Lore
- Greater Scrying
- Moment of Prescience
- Foresight
