Erik
Father of the Forests. N greater power of forests, hunting, nature
Pantheon: Cerilian
Symbol: An oak tree
Realm: Outlands / Ringlands / Nature’s Rest
Known Proxies: Bracken (leshy priest proxy of Erik [they/them] / N); Hushgrove (dryad proxy of Erik [she/her], CG)
There’s a joke in the Ringlands that you can’t fire an arrow in a forest without hitting a nature power. Silvanus, Cernunnos, Obad-Hai, they’re all wise old bearded bashers with twigs in their hair, and all of them bang around the Outlands. You could forgive a berk for wondering whether they’re all just aspects of the same force of nature. And maybe they are. But, in the case of Erik, you’d be dead wrong. See, Erik is from Cerilia, a world where all the powers were killed in some cataclysm or other. The shards of power that were left behind embedded themselves in nearby worthy mortals, and Erik was the recipient of a dose of divinity that catapulted him to greatness. This also means that the blood is only a thousand years in the job; a relative baby god amongst the timeless pantheons of the Outer Planes.You wouldn’t know it to look at him; Erik is a gnarled old oak of a cutter—quite literally—with skin of bark and a beard of moss. Now at least as much tree as human, Erik is a patron not just of forests and nature, but also of some of the races of sentient plants; at least those who believe in powers. Among his petitioners are leshy of all kinds. Ghoran and gathlain also dwell in his realm, although since the former are immortal and the latter are fey they’ll never be petitioners here.
You can see why they’re drawn here though. Erik’s take on nature is one of serene peace and calm. Tired of the constant bickering and petty warfare that mortals continually wage, Erik has decreed that none may lift their hand against another in his realm. And about that realm. Nature’s Rest is a perfect grove of ancient gnarled trees, with a spring of crystal clear water. However, Nature’s Rest is also the realm of Geshtai, a desert power of Oerth, and for her and her 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.
Canonical Source: On Hallowed Ground [2e] p163, realm and power description
Source: Jon Winter-Holt. 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…
