The Shalm
Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Mask of oak leaves and acorns
Home Plane: Outlands
Alignment: Neutral
Portfolio: Nature, woodlands, freedom, hunting, beasts
Worshippers: Barbarians, rangers, druids, hunters
Cleric Alignments: LN, NG, N, NE, CN
Domains: Air, Animal, Earth, Fire, Plant, Water, Weather
Favoured Weapon: “Stormstouch” (Quarterstaff)
Relics: Armour of the fallen leaves, staff of the unyielding oak
Obad-Hai (oh-bod-high), deity of nature, is most often shown as a lean and weathered man of indeterminately old age, dressed in brown or russet and looking like a hermit, although non-human communities depict him as one of their own race. Because Obad-Hai strictly adheres to neutrality, he is a rival of Ehlonna. Obad-Hai plays a shalm (a double-reed woodwind musical instrument, also spelled “shawm”) and takes his title from this instrument. He also carries a staff.
Obad-Hai rules nature and the wilderness, and he is a friend to all who live in harmony with the natural world. He expects his followers to live in harmony with nature in all its variety. Those who destroy or otherwise harm nature deserve swift vengeance in an appropriate manner, says Obad-Hai. Those who are one with nature, however, have little to fear, although the well-meaning but foolish are sometimes brought down by a danger they could not avoid or divert. Obad-Hai teaches that the wilds can sometimes be ugly, dangerous or terrible, but that these things are a part of nature and should be respected as much as those that are beautiful, harmless or wonderful, for these characterizations mark a newcomer’s perspective.
Clerics of Obad-Hai have no hierarchy. They treat all those of their order as equals. They wear russet-coloured clothing and maintain hidden woodland shrines that are usually located far from civilization. They keep to the wilderness and to themselves, rarely getting involved in society.
A wide variety of peoples serve as Obad-Hai’s clerics, including humans, gnomes, halflings and sylvan fey. They serve as protectors of nature, acting as the agents of retribution when their protection is insufficient or too late.
Temples to Obad-Hai can be located nearly anywhere but are usually located amid groves of oak trees.
Obad-Hai’s adherents learn to become one with the Shalm in isolation, surrounded by wilderness. Only at the beginning and end of a new cleric’s training does he receive guidance from a senior member of Obad-Hai’s clergy. The rest of the time is spent living off the land and developing an instinctive connection to Obad-Hai’s will. Not surprisingly, Obad-Hai counts more druids among his followers than clerics.
If it takes place in the wilderness, Obad-Hai’s followers are interested. Quests that protect a forest from woodcutters, cleanse the corrupted heart of a swamp, or prevent a dwarf mine from unleashing a volcanic eruption are smiled upon by the Shalm.
Obad-Hai’s prayers and psalms often start with a reference to birth or growth and end with a reference to death or ending. One common prayer for guidance begins, “Shalm, my thirst for knowledge grows/Lend me your wisdom and bury my doubts”.
Groves of oak trees deep in the wilderness mark Obad-Hai’s shrines. These temples are defended by dozens of guardian animals and other denizens of the wilderness, many of whom are content to observe visitors from a distance.
Obad-Hai’s rites are exclusively seasonal and are triggered by a real-world event: the first songbird of spring and the first snowflake of winter, for example.
A centaur 20th-level cleric is Obad-Hai’s herald. Allies are Medium, Large and Huge elementals (any type).
Source: Deities and Demigods (Page 86), Complete Divine (Page 116)