Erastil: Old Deadeye
QUOTE
“The strength of a tree is found in its roots, and the strength of a mortal is found in their home. Tend to your fields, protect your kin, and let your bow fly true only when the winter demands it.”
— Parables of the Sower, Holy Scripture of Erastil
Erastil is one of the oldest, most foundational deities of the mortal realm, acting as the god of farming, hunting, family, trade, and rustic communities. Known affectionately by his followers as “Old Deadeye,” he represents the quiet dignity of a self-sufficient, honest life. He has little interest in the grand political schemes, sprawling industrialized cities, or complex magics of the wider world. Instead, his focus is trained entirely on the survival, stability, and slow growth of small towns, frontier villages, and tightly-knit families.
Divine Profile
Core Mechanics
- Titles: Old Deadeye, The Stag God, The Sower
- Areas of Concern: Family, farming, hunting, trade, and rustic communities.
- Divine Font: Heal
- Divine Attribute: Dexterity or Wisdom
- Divine Skill: Survival
- Favored Weapon: Longbow
- Divine Sanctification: Can choose Holy (or remain uncommitted)
- Domains: Earth, Family, Nature, Wealth
Devotee Benefits
- 1st-Level Spells: Heal
- 4th-Level Spells: Creation
- 7th-Level Spells: Nature’s reprisal
Edicts & Anathema
- Edicts: Feed your community through honest work; protect and nurture your family line; hunt only what you need to survive and waste nothing; respect the seasonal cycles of the land; pass down traditional skills to the next generation.
- Anathema: Abandon your family or community in a time of crisis; destroy or poison arable crop fields or clean water sources; poach animals for sport or cruel amusement; mistreat domesticated animals or beasts of burden.
Appearance & Iconography
Erastil is traditionally depicted as a towering, heavily muscled hunter with the head and grand antlers of a stag, or as an elderly, weathered human frontiersman clad in simple, practical buckskins and a thick fur mantle. His hands are calloused from field work, his eyes are sharp and clear, and he always carries a massive, masterfully crafted longbow made of polished yew wood.
His holy symbol is a stylized bow with an arrow notched, crafted such that the bow and arrow together form the abstract shape of a stag’s head. Sacred animals include stags, elk, tracking hounds, and cattle that provide sustenance to a farmstead.
Canonical Eraedal History & Mythos
The Oldest Guardian
Erastil is a primordial deity, having existed long before the rise of humanity’s first empires. When the earliest mortal ancestries began to crawl out of the wild caves and form the first primitive settlements, it was Old Deadeye who stepped forward to guide them. He taught them how to track migrating game, how to identify edible plants, how to sow the first wild grains, and how to tame wolves into loyal companions. While other gods gave mortals magic, philosophy, or metalworking, Erastil gave them the practical tools required to survive the changing seasons.
The Architect of the Borderlands
Erastil’s entire philosophy centers on the idea that the optimal scale for mortal life is the village or the small farming cooperative. He believes that when communities grow too large—turning into sprawling, paved metropolises—people lose their connection to the land, their neighbors, and their families. This breeds greed, crime, and spiritual corruption. His clergy are often the de facto leaders of frontier settlements, acting as judges, town elders, survivalists, and community defenders who maintain the delicate balance between civilization and the untamed wilderness.
The Hunter’s Restraint
Though he is a masterful archer whose arrows never miss their mark, Erastil treats violence with grim, functional sobriety. He is not a god of war, glory, or bloodsport. To Erastil, a weapon is a tool meant to put meat on the table or drive a predatory monster away from the village cattle. His followers are taught to strike quickly, cleanly, and with absolute finality, minimizing suffering and ensuring that peace is restored to the community as swiftly as possible.
Divine Relationships
Erastil values simple, direct honesty, making his interactions with the wider pantheon highly predictable but occasionally tense.
| Deity / Faction | Dynamic & Lore |
|---|---|
| Abadar | Philosophical Friction. While both deities value law, order, and peaceful trade, they clash fundamentally on scale. Abadar pushes for urban sprawl, factories, and massive banking systems, while Erastil views those environments as unnatural traps that destroy traditional family units. |
| Torag | Deep Kinship. Old Deadeye shares an incredible bond of mutual respect with the Father of Creation. Both are deeply family-oriented patriarchs who value hard work, tradition, practical defense, and looking after their own people before interfering in global affairs. |
| Iomedae | Respectful Support. Erastil admires Iomedae’s commitment to honor and the protection of the innocent. However, he often worries that her sprawling, grand crusades take young men and women away from their family farms, leaving rural communities vulnerable. |
| Gozreh | Cautious Balance. Gozreh represents the raw, uncamed, and often destructive fury of nature. Erastil respects this power but seeks to tame its edges just enough to allow mortal farming and safe hunting, occasionally putting them at odds. |
| Calistria / Lamashtu | Utter Contempt. Erastil despises Calistria’s focus on fleeting lust and chaotic trickery, which he views as poison to stable marriages. He harbors a violent, burning hatred for Lamashtu, whose monstrous corruptions directly warp and destroy families and livestock. |