Silvanus

Silvanus was the Celtic and Faerunian power of nature, and one of the oldest and most prominent gods in the pantheon. Formerly considered only the god of wilderness and druids, the Forest Father was often seen as the wilder counterpart to Chauntea the Earthmother.

Avatar
Silvanus had both an old and young avatar form that he was known to manifest in.

His old form was known as the Old Father. It took the form of an old, bearded human male face, either floating midair among trees or sprouting from the trunk of an especially large and old tree. The flesh of this form was always brown, gray, and fissured like old wood.

His young form was known as the Young Strider. This was a young, long-limbed humanoid male, in particular long legs, dressed in a suit of armor made of leaves and wielding a wooden mallet. He most often assumed this form when a sacred grove was threatened or a circle of druids was attacked during their worship.

Another form he was known to manifest as was the Horned Hunter, an entity similar in appearance to his fellow Celtic god Cerunnos. This form was an always silent man with burning white eyes, sporting a set of stag antlers and shaggy brown fur that was almost bark-like. This form always appeared among the trees, often just to indicate something by a gesturing, nodding, or pointing before disappearing.

Personality
Typical of nature deities, some described Silvanus as being wild and unpredictable, much like nature itself.

He was chiefly concerned with nature itself, in both its natural beauty and fierce savagery, caring very little for maintaining a proper balance with the civilization and paying no attention to the machinations of mortals and other deities. But when it came to nature itself, he cared greatly for maintaining a balance between growth and decay, the natural cycle of life.

He had a special hatred for those who used fire carelessly or with deliberate intention to cause destruction.

Abilities
His avatar was capable of controlling any number of animals and forest creatures with the sound of his voice. He could also make plants grow or shrink at any rate he willed. Both of his avatar forms could cast spells from any sphere or school of magic. The Old Father form would cast spells from the animal, plant, and weather spheres at triple their normal effect, while for his Young Strider form this only occurred for spells of the weather sphere.

In addition, the Old Father avatar form of Silvanus could create and animate both plants and fungi, imitating similar spells from any sphere or school of magic. He could shrink or enlarge animals, summon animals to his aid, and command loyalty from any mundane animal, giant animal, or sylvan creature. Even turning animals against their owners. He frequently summoned treants to his aid.

The Horned Hunter could also cast some spells, most notably telekinesis far beyond the normal weight limits, and only spoke to other creatures by a telepathic means.

Possessions
His Young Strider form typically dressed in a +5 suit of leaves armor, which offered protection equivalent to plate mail. Alternatively, some described him as wearing a set of scale armor whose scales were all in the shape of oak leaves. This form of his was also seen to wield an enchanted mallet, referred to as the great mallet of Silvanus.

History
Silvanus originated as a member of the Celtic pantheon.

Around the time of the rise of Netheril, a wave of planar immigrants came from another world and settled on Toril. One of these groups of people came from a rugged land with a culture tied to nature, the sea, and the warrior history of its dozen-king greater god. They brought along with them their own style of society and faiths, the worship of Celtic deities, such as Silvanus. As was a common practice in the Celtic pantheon whenever it established itself on a world, Silvanus would go on to join one of the local pantheons, seeing as he was being pushed out of power in his own.

Realm
The divine realm of Silvanus varied depending upon the cosmology that one used. In the Great Wheel cosmology, it resided in the Celtic pantheon's realm of Tir na Og. It stood in the deepest reaches of that realm, going by the name of Summeroak or Deep Forest. According to the World Tree cosmology, the realm was located in the neutral plane known as the House of Nature. And finally, the World Axis cosmology placed his realm within the Deep Wilds.

Relationships
Silvanus did not have many allies, nor did he have many enemies.

In the Faerûnian pantheon he was allied with and served by fellow nature deities Eldath and Mielikki. The former viewed him as a father figure, but often found his robustness intimidating. The latter had crafted the banish blight spell partially as a gift to him.

Other allies of Silvanus included Chauntea and Lathander &mdash; who he at times he would work with in their efforts against the Gods of Fury. As well as Ki, nature goddess of the Untheric pantheon.

He was considered an enemy by Malar, Moander, Talona, and Talos.

Worshipers
Silvanus had both clerics and druids in his faith, though their presence varied by location, with druids being the more prominent due to his narrow focus on nature without concern for balance. One could even find halfling druids revering him over their own pantheon's nature deity, though this was a rare occurrence. Some barbarians, hermits, wilderness dwellers, and rangers also worshiped him.

His clergy often worked together with the clergy of his allies, Mielikki and Eldath, towards common goals. With the latter two being instructed to support, protect, and (if the need arose) obey the clergy of Silvanus. These included protecting the wilderness from further encroachment by civilization, such as the felling of trees and limiting farms or ranches to already cleared land. Also the fighting of diseases, planting new plants, and fighting those who did the bidding of Malar.

In west Faerûn, his worship was widespread across the east and south of Tethyr, especially in the Forest of Tethir.

Rumors & Legends
Some myths claimed that Silvanus had fathered the goddess Mielikki with the goddess Hanali Celanil. This legend sprung off from a desire by some to explain why Mielikki's worshippers were giving her the honorific "Daughter of Silvanus," which had originally come about due to her close alliance with Silvanus.