Celestian the Far Wanderer was an enigmatic deity from the world of Oerth[1][3][7][8][9] revered by planewalkers[1] and wildspace wanderers.[3] He was one of the major powers worshiped on the Rock of Bral.[3][8] He was also called the Star Wanderer.[2][3]
Description[]
Celestian was portrayed as an older, black-skinned man who traveled the skies.[2][7][9] His dark eyes—the same color as his smooth skin[9]—were full of knowledge. Celestian was tall and dressed in black robes[2][9] covered in stars.[1] Somewhere on his person, Celestian always wore his holy symbol.[9] His movements were swift and silent.[9] He rarely appeared in a physical form, however.[2]
Abilities[]
Celestian had access to many of the spells used by powerful mortal wizards, including any spells related to travel or movement. In addition, he was known for seven unique spell-like powers: creation of a sheet of shifting lights similar in appearance to an aurora polaris that could damage foes; summoning of a comet; manifestation of heat lightning; calling of a meteor storm; infliction of a chill as cold as space; emanation of a beam of white light as bright as a star from his eyes; and creation of the sound of deafening thunder. He could only manifest these powers if not underground or indoors.[9]
Celestian had the power to traverse the Astral Plane at will, including the ability to astrally enter any of the planes that bordered it.[9]
Possessions[]
Celestian possessed a variety of magic weapons that he might use at any given encounter. Among these were a longbow, a spear that could change length, a short sword, a battleaxe that he could throw, and an unbreakable dagger,[9] but his worshipers held the shortspear to be his favored weapon.[7]
Worshipers[]
Celestian appealed to good or neutral worshipers who never liked to settle down—not even in a single plane of existence or crystal sphere.[1] Many of these were scholars, navigators, astronomers, astrologers, and the like.[9] The Far Wanderer's presence in the Astral Plane meant that his clerics had a major advantage over those of most other deities, in that their divine magic did not lose power wherever they might go in the Outer Planes, since the Astral bordered all of the Outer Planes of the Great Wheel.[1][2]
A holy symbol of Celestian.
Celestian's holy symbol was a black circle with seven stars,[1][2][3][9] which glowed in different colors like tiny suns.[2][9] The seven "stars" were seven gems: amethyst, diamond, emerald, jacinth, ruby, sapphire, and topaz.[9]
The Church of Celestian was divided into seven orders. Priests of each order wore different colored robes, and each wore the holy symbol with a gem of different color in the center of the others.[9] They wore black cloaks over their robes covered in gems to mimic the starry sky.[2]
Their services were always held under the open sky at night, preferably when the stars were visible.[9] They rarely built temples or other fixed places of worship, but they had been known to build rest areas in the Astral Plane for travelers.[2] His priests cared for little beyond learning and traveling and spent great amounts of time away from their homes; in fact, they were required to. Most of them were skilled in astronomy and navigation and made excellent spelljammer crew members because of this.[8]
An exception to the typical lack of temples among his clergy was found in the city of Bral, where the Pantheistic College of Celestian was located. This establishment considered all good deities related to the stars as aspects of Celestian, no matter over which worlds they held sway.[3]
Celestian's church was allied with the Seekers[8] and opposed to the Church of Ptah.[3][8]
Divine Realm[]
Ever the wanderer, Celestian did not even maintain a divine realm. Instead, he traveled from place to place within the Astral Plane.[1][2] Occasionally, he would also venture into the Ethereal Plane or any of the Inner Planes.[2] His petitioners, without a divine realm to inhabit, instead became the stars of his black robes, until finally merging with his essence.[1]
Relationships[]
Celestian got along well with many gods of travel from other pantheons.[1] Similarly, he was strongly allied with his brother in the Oerthian Pantheon, Fharlanghn.[1][9] He was working to establish his brother in the planes beyond the world of Oerth.[1] However, typically, his odd habits and interests kept him separate from most other powers.[9]
Celestian had at his disposal several astral devas, whom he could beckon to his aid.[9]
History[]
Sometime in the 11th century DR,[3] the faith of Celestian was brought to the Rock of Bral in the Tears of Selûne in Realmspace by a wandering cleric[8] from Greyspace,[3] where it began to flourish.[8] The Pantheistic College of Celestian there was one of the oldest buildings in the city of Bral, having been constructed when the asteroid was little more than a den for space pirates.[3]
On the world of Toril, Celestian played a significant role in the Time of Troubles by agreeing to transport (a now mortal) Waukeen from Toril to the Astral Plane so that Ao would not discover her leaving. (Her plan was to make her way from there back to the Outlands, but because of the machinations of Graz'zt, she was instead trapped in the Abyss for many years.) Celestian had owed her a favor, which was why he agreed to her plan, but he refused to also transport her ally Lliira, whom he did not know.[10][11]
Initially, the worshipers of Ptah, another god worshiped commonly by wildspace travelers, greatly outnumbered those of Celestian.[8] However, towards the end of the 13th century DR, though Greyspace itself was said to be "dying", Celestian was beginning to gain so many new worshipers among the various planes of existence that some scholars postulated that he might soon be elevated to the power of a greater deity.[1]
Appendix[]
External Links[]
Celestian article at the Greyhawk Wiki, a wiki for the Greyhawk campaign setting.
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Colin McComb (October 1996). On Hallowed Ground. Edited by Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 166, 175. ISBN 0-7869-0430-5.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 Monte Cook (January 1996). A Guide to the Astral Plane. Edited by Miranda Horner. (TSR, Inc.), p. 39. ISBN 0-7869-0438-0.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 Richard Baker (1992). Rock of Bral. (TSR, Inc), p. 60. ISBN 1-56076-345-0.
- ↑ Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford (2014). Player's Handbook 5th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 59–60, 294. ISBN 978-0-7869-6560-1.
- ↑ Jeremy Crawford (November 17, 2020). Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 34. ISBN 978-0786967025.
- ↑ William L. Christensen (April 2006). “The Wild Hunt”. In Erik Mona ed. Dragon #342 (Paizo Publishing, LLC), p. 89.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 David Noonan (May 2004). Complete Divine. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 121. ISBN 0-7869-3272-4.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 Richard Baker (1992). Rock of Bral. (TSR, Inc), p. 89. ISBN 1-56076-345-0.
- ↑ 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 9.12 9.13 9.14 9.15 9.16 9.17 9.18 Gary Gygax (December 1982). “The Deities and Demigods of the World of Greyhawk”. In Kim Mohan ed. Dragon #68 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 63–64.
- ↑ Julia Martin, Eric L. Boyd (March 1996). Faiths & Avatars. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 176–177. ISBN 978-0786903849.
- ↑ Dale Donovan (May 1998). For Duty & Deity. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 3–4. ISBN 0-7869-1234-0.