[ Animal Lords ] of the [ Land | Past | Skies | Tundra | Waters ]
[ Ape | Bear | Boar | Cat | Chameleon | Dinosaur | Dog | Elephant | Fox | Lizard | Mouse | Sheep | Wolf | Zebra ]
Sheep Lord
Seyhrain Ovin. Planar animal lord [he/him] N
Realm: Beastlands / Krigala / Sheep Lord’s Meadow
Now you might have heard some legendary Greek called Jason banging on about a Golden Fleece. Belonged to a golden ram, obviously, but maybe you don’t know his story. Sheep by the name of Chrysomallos, it was—and the myths say he was the son of Poseidon and a nymph called Theophane. Of course, you’d be a leatherhead if you didn’t guess that the Sheep Lord played a hand in that story too. Chant goes that Theophany was incredibly beautiful, and incredibly harassed by suitors. In an act that was absolutely not without ulterior motives, Poseidon spirited Theophane away to an island and transformed her and himself into sheep, and for good measure all the human islanders as well. Great way to hide Theophane from her would-be suitors—and a great way to keep her all to himself. Well, you’ve probably guessed but the result of this was Theophane’s son Chrysomallos, a ram with a magnificent fleece of gold. How was the Sheep Lord involved? Well, he helped clean up the aftermath, inviting the islanders to join his flock in the Beastlands after Posiedon conveniently forgot to turn them back.
And that sums up the Sheep Lord really—he’s a team player. A paragon of humility and wisdom, gentle and compassionate. He also does what he’s told—and powers like Poseidon like that about him. So while it might sound like the basher’s some kind of pushover, it also means Sheep has a lot of friends in high places, and is owed many favours. Quite what he’s saving them all up for, now that’s dark.
The Sheep Lord’s realm in Krigala is a lush plain of sweet grass and clover. The Primes call it the Sheep Lord’s Meadow, and it’s here that his flock resides, safety in numbers. Sheep’s primary goal is to ensure the safety and prosperity of his flock. As a paragon of prey animals, he’s obviously concerned about threats from predators—Krigalan minions of the Cat or Dog Lords mainly—and while it’s part of the circle of life and all, it doesn’t make it any easier when it’s someone from your herd getting picked off.
His secondary goal is to act as a shepherd—ironic, right? Sheep sees himself as a guide for lost souls who end up in the Beastlands. Petitioners who take on the form of sheep in their afterlife tend to have been the loyal and unquestioning types in life, and even though they don’t remember any of that as petitioners, it turns out they remain largely the same.
The Sheep Lord isn’t a grand cutter with pretensions. In his human form he dresses like a simple shepherd, with a tunic and smock. His hair and beard are wild and woolly, his eyes deep as wells. He speaks slowly and gentle, but has the charisma to captivate his flock and have them hanging on every word. He would lay down his life for them and they’d do the same for him.
Source: Jon Winter-Holt. Canonwatch: The Sheep Lord is homebrew.