Valkur

Valkur was the Faerûnian demigod of sailors and their ships, as well as favorable winds and naval combat. The Captain of the Waves was the very picture of the daring sea captain, one capable of sailing his vessel through any disaster the Gods of Fury could unleash. "Valkur, speed his path, fill his sails, and calm his seas."

- A prayer for the deceased in Valkur's name.

Description
Valkur's avatar appeared as a man of broad girth with a full black beard and brown eyes that sparkled with derring-do. He had a great belly laugh, but when driven to anger his voice would crack like rolling thunder. He was often depicted wading through the ocean, the water only coming up to his knees, and was known to actually make such appearances.

As buffeted by uncountable storms as he seemed, Valkur always looked dapper. His fantastic captain's outfit consisted of a blue frock coat with gold braid trim and brass buttons over a colorful brocade vest and white shirt with a ruffled collar and cuffs, along with knee-length trousers, hose, and shoes, with silver buckles. His tricorn hat shared the same color scheme, blue but trimmed in gold braid, and featured a large, white plume.

Manifestations
Valkur often manifested as an aurora borealis or aurora australis and sailors swore he appeared to becalmed ships at sea as a ghostly wind in which his image could be faintly glimpsed. Sometimes he manifested as a ghostly ship on the horizon, which always sailed to the nearest port but never seemed to get closer or farther away, and others claimed to have seen him stride through the waves dragging a small boat to sailors who went overboard, feeding them with the sea biscuits and casks of water contained within.

Valkur was served by many intelligent and benevolent animals, including dolphins, whales (especially narwhals), and sea birds. He used the latter to indicate his mood, manifesting as a silver albatross or gull drifting on the wind currents to indicate his favor and as a night black raven to convey his displeasure.

Personality
Valkur was usually jolly and never held a grudge. He was a figure of endless luck and great boldness, emphasizing his points by shaking his fist in the air and never backing away from a challenge. However, he was not always available for his followers, and there was no guarantee he would answer a call for aid. He was fickle and unpredictable, his moods as mercurial as the weather, but he was always extremely loyal to his crew and did in fact feel his primary responsibility was protecting sailors. Though still unreliable, he had become more responsive to his faithful's petitions after the Time of Troubles.

Powers
Valkur could pilot any sailing craft in any conditions, and no ship on which he stood would ever sink regardless of its condition or the surrounding weather. He was specialized in the use of cutlasses, harpoons, and tridents, and proficient in the use of all melee weapons and naval armaments, as well as the arquebus. He favored conjuration, divination, and evocation spells, as well as those from the spheres of divination, air, water, and weather.

The Captain of the Waves could function just as well in water as he could above it and stride knee-deep through water of any depth using a form of modified water walking, hence his ability to seemingly wade through the ocean. Each hour he could call 2-5 whales to come to his aid, usually a pod of narwhals or orcas, but on rare occasions (about 1 in 20 times) a single leviathan would answer his summons.

Valkur could change the weather within a radius of himself, calming stormy seas simply by placing his hand on the water's surface or stirring up storms by swirling his hand within it. He could breathe a gust of wind every minute and breathe water as air. In addition to being undrownable, he was immune to elemental water spells, water elementals and related creatures, and electricity and lightning. He could bestow all these immunities, and the ability to swim, to anyone he touched, a blessing known as the "shield of Valkur" which lasted for a day.

Realm
Valkur's realm was located in either Ysgard in the Great Wheel Cosmology, or Warrior's Rest (as part of Tempus's realm) in the World Tree and World Axis Cosmologies. His domain stood apart from the others, primarily due to the terrain but also for its relative calm. Safe Harbor, as it was called, was a placid range of saltwater between two warzones, a desert battlefield and a larger watery expanse of raging naval battles.

Relationships
Valkur's philosophy often put him in conflict with the capricious ocean-goddess Umberlee and he was a sworn enemy of the Deities of Fury. He was friendly with Selûne, who guided sailors across the sea.

Clergy
The church of Valkur was loosely organized. Many clerics served as captains or sailors aboard ships and they usually met each other only if they happened to serve on the same ship or be in the same port. The clergy was known for helping sailors who were down on their luck.

Monastic Order
The Order of the Calming Wave was founded by a group of pirates from the Sea of Swords who abandoned their worship of Umberlee after a particularly dangerous storm. They believed that they survived by Valkur's hand and dedicated their life to serving their new deity and growing the monastic order.

Holy Days
Valkur's church celebrated only one holy day known as the Shattering. The exact date of the festival varied but it was always celebrated in the spring. The purpose of the festival was to celebrate the breaking up of ice floes in the north, which marked the beginning of the sailing season.

History
It was believed that Valkur may have once been a mortal sailor who challenged Umberlee and emerged victorious.