Geshtai
Daughter of the Oasis. N lesser power of lakes, rivers, wells, streams (She/Her)
Pantheon: Oerth (Baklun)
Symbol: A waterspout
Realm: Outlands / Ringlands / Nature’s Rest
Known Proxies: Gumus (proxy fish lord [he/him] / N)
Geshtai the Daughter of the Oasis is the Baklunish power of Lakes, Rivers, Wells and Streams. She’s the power the nomadic folk of the steppes and deserts invoke to ensure they can find the next oasis when they need it, and that its waters will be fresh and cool. Geshtai is depicted as a young woman carrying a clay jug, which overflows with sweet waters. She’s usually seen standing in a serene oasis, accompanied by Gumus, her talking fish companion. It’s pretty clear that Gumus is a proxy of Geshtai, but whether he’s an exiled lord of fish from the Beastlands, or just a regular talking fish is dark. In any case the fishy cutter is able to summon water creatures and mighty elementals when danger rears its ugly fins.
Geshtai is also said to be the patron—creator even—of a strange ancestry of humans from desert lands known as the asherati. Chant goes she saved a nation of desert-dwellers from a cataclysm by turning them all into curious sand-swimming creatures. They still appear mostly human, but have the ability to dive into the sands as if they were fresh water. The asherati are a rare sight on the planes, but they do surface from time to time. They’re always devout worshippers of Geshtai—the rather sinister chant goes that if they ever falter in their veneration of the power, they’ll crumble away to dust. Well, that’s one way to ensure the prayers keep rolling in, eh cutter?
Like Mouqol, Geshtai remains staunchly neutral in the affairs between Light and Darkness, focussing her attention instead on the restorative power of the waters. She doesn’t discriminate in who gets to use her oases, so long as they respect the purity of the waters and share the bounty. Her refusal to take sides, and her interest in the fate of travellers means the Outlands are a natural home for her.
Her realm in the Ringlands is a strange one. Nature’s Rest is a perfect oasis of crystal clear water, surrounded by date and coconut trees which always provide delicious ripe foods. However, Nature’s Rest is also the realm of Erik, a nature power of Cerilia, and for him and his followers it appears very differently.
Persistent chant has linked Geshtai and Erik romantically, although Erik is married to the sun goddess Avani the Lady of Reason, whose realm the Gleaming Spire can be found in Mechanus. However, Geshtai and Erik have never been seen together at the same time, and other greybeards reckon they might be aspects of the same power. Or perhaps that’s just the story Erik tells his wife, eh? If either of those are true, it’s a cert there’s something fishy going on in Nature’s Rest.
Sources:
- Jon Winter-Holt, mimir.net. Canonwatch: The inter web claims Geshtai’s realm in the Outlands is called Nature’s Rest, which is canonically the name of Erik’s realm in On Hallowed Ground. It seemed an odd coincidence so I thought it deserved to be turned into some kind of divine scandal…
- Sandstorm [3.5e] presents the asherati race with plenty of options, although Geshtai herself does not get a mention. Later publications seem to imply the asherati are an Eberron race but they didn’t start that way.
- https://ghwiki.greyparticle.com/index.php/Geshtai
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greyhawk_deities
- https://greyhawk-26.obsidianportal.com/wikis/geshtai
- https://eberron.fandom.com/wiki/Asherati
- https://greyhawkery.blogspot.com/2011/01/animals-in-greyhawk-religion.html
