Obad-Hai
The Shalm
Obad-Hai is the god of Nature in all its forms--the elements, fresh waters, plants, wilderness, hunting, and beasts are all His dominion.
One of the most ancient known of the elder gods, He resides in The Hidden Wood, a patchwork of wilderness that spans multiple planes of existence, beginning in the Concordant Domain of the Outlands.
Compared to younger deities of similar dominions, Obad-Hai is an all together colder god. Almost indifferent and nearly without compassion towards his supplicants and subjects, His way is the way that is, not the way that one might wish for.
Shalm celebrates success and reward as much as failure and loss, for all natural outcomes are important to He. Not even Obad-Hai is immune to this natural way.
Reborn every spring, He hatches from the fruit of a sapling that grows upon His own grave. By summer Obad-Hai is a vibrant youth again, the Stag King, leading the Wild Hunt against those who would defile Nature.
Come autumn He has grown weathered and matured, at the zenith of His power. Through winter He reaches His nadir, and is either slain by Nerull, the god of the realm of death, or evades Nerull's hunt to slip into the realm of Crpyt by dying of old age.
Where Obad-Hai perishes, His remains fertilize the new sapling which next drops the fruit He hatches from. It is said that a longer winter or an earlier spring is a consequence of whether or not Nerull was able to slay Obad-Hai.
Despite frequent depictions as a face made of oak leaves and acorns, Obad-Hai can appear as a member of any race, animal, fey, plant, element, or an amalgamation thereof. The only possession ever known to be kept by Him is a living wooden staff called the Shalmstaff. He is known to play it like the woodwind instrument of a similar name.
