Obad Hai
he Hidden Wood of Obad-Hai is a patchwork of thick woods, open glades, and rolling fields. Explorers' notes place the Hidden Wood in several specific locations in the Outlands, often near the gate-towns of Fortitude or Faunel. It's rarely found at all except by travelers who become lost in the woods, and by those souls who were dedicated to the Shalm during their mortal lives.
Obad-Hai's domain is nature in all its forms: wild and tamed, savage and domesticated. All four seasons exist simultaneously in balance within the Shalm's realm. In the space of a quarter-mile, snowfields give way to forests draped in fall color next to orchards heavy with fruit and newly plowed fields. Creatures encountered within the Hidden Wood tend to be axiomatic or anarchic, but include a large number of Prime Material Plane animals, beasts, and plants. These creatures are usually hostile to travelers, an attitude that Obad-Hai encourages.
The Shalm has changed the magic traits within his realm. Spells cast by druids here are enhanced, and all spells targeting animals or plants are heightened. He has the power to make other changes to the traits of his realm if he wishes.
Petitioners serving Obad-Hai appear human and have the abilities of typical Outlandish petitioners. In addition, they gain the ability to speak with animals and plants at will. Petitioners are often gardening, herding, hunting, pruning, planting, or harvesting. Great feasts are common within the Shalm's realm.
bad-Hai teaches that one should live in harmony with nature, and that those who would damage the natural balance deserve swift vengeance. Obad-Hai's faith is colder and less compassionate than Ehlonna's, preaching death in balance with life. When followers of the Shalm hunt, they target the weak and sickly first.
According to the ancient traditions of the Old Faith, Obad-Hai is reborn every spring, hatching in the form of a young boy from the fruit of a sapling that grows from his own grave. By summer Obad-Hai takes the form of a strong young man, the Stag King, leading the Wild Hunt against those who would defile Nature. By autumn he has grown into the weathered old man of his standard depictions. When winter begins he is slain by Nerull, who hangs his corpse on the Summer Tree. After seven days, Pelor cuts him down and buries him in the earth, where Beory's tears cause a new sapling to grow, which drops the fruit that hatches into the young Obad-Hai once again in the spring.
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