Dweller on the Horizon
Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Disk bearing a curved line with an upturned crescent above
Home Plane: Material Plane
Alignment: Neutral
Portfolio: Horizons, distance, travel, roads
Worshippers: Bards, travellers, merchants
Cleric Alignments: LN, NG, N, NE, CN
Domains: Celerity, Luck, Protection, Travel, Weather
Favoured Weapon: “Traveller’s Friend” (Quarterstaff)
Relics: Boots of the unending journey, rapier of unerring direction
Fharlanghn (far-lahng-un), the deity of roads, appears as an elderly, weather-beaten man with deeply wrinkled skin and sparkling eyes. He wears non-descript clothing, usually of leather and unbleached linen. His garments are always travel-stained. He roams the roads and paths of the Material Plane, greeting fellow travellers politely. Fharlanghn is always glad to converse, but not at any great length.
Fharlanghn is the patron of all who travel long distances, no matter what path they follow or how they’re getting there.
Fharlanghn insists that people need to move around and experience new things. The state of world is not fixed, and you never know when you might need a new perspective or even a new home. Look to the horizon for inspiration.
Fharlanghn’s clerics travel the world, always seeking out new things. They favour simple clothing of brown or faded green. They bless caravans (and sometimes guide them), explore new territories, scout for armies and settlers and record long travelogues describing journeys beyond the horizon. They also serve as translators and diplomats. Many serve as surveyors or engineers and help build roads, bridges and ports. Still others are involved in the manufacture of travelling gear, everything from shoes to sailing ships. No matter what their activities, Fharlanghn’s clerics move around frequently, and a character who visits a shrine or temple more than once is likely to meet a different group of clerics there each time.
Fharlanghn’s wayside shrines are common on well-used roads. His temples usually double as rest stops for travellers in need of shelter or protection.
“The road is the best teacher”, say the worshippers of Fharlanghn. A higher-level cleric takes a half-dozen or so recruits on a long journey, where they’ll help fellow travellers, see the wider world, and take part in any number of misadventures. The only way to flunk out of Fharlanghn’s training is to ask when the journey will be over — those faithful to Fharlanghn know that the journey never ends.
Any quest involving long journeys can involve Fharlanghn as well. His followers often guard caravans, explore mysterious islands and maintain a series of portals between worlds.
Fharlanghn teaches through short anecdotes, many of which feature a wise old man travelling with a foolish young man. There are more than a hundred stories that involve the two of them crossing a river, for example.
Fharlanghn doesn’t have many large temples, but wayside shrines to him are common. At major crossroads and port cities, shrines to Fharlanghn provide fast horses and sturdy sailing ships.
Because his followers are often on the move, Fharlanghn’s rites are often short and to the point. Many Fharlanghn worshippers rely the ceremonies of allied deities for such things as marriages and funerals.
Fharlanghn uses 17 HD ghaele eladrins as his heralds. Allies are Medium elementals (any), Large elementals (any) and elder arrowhawks.
Source: Deities and Demigods (Page 67), Complete Divine (Page 111)