Pflarr
by Marco Dalmonte(Jackal-Head)
Patron of Hutaaka, Patron of Nithia, Patron of Magic, Guardian of the Living and the Dead
Level, Alignment, Sphere: 25th (Eternal), N, Energy
Symbol: a jackal head with human eyes
Portfolio: magic, knowledge, protection, hutaaka, magical experiments
Worshipped in: Savage Coast (Renardie), Hulean City-states, Hollow World (Hutaaka, Nithians)
Appearance: a 7' tall humanoid covered in fine brown fur and with a jackal head, wearing a simple Nithian linen tunic covering his thighs and hips.
History: Pflarr wasn't born but rather created by a powerful Nithian wizard centuries before the Nithian empire climbed to its greatness. Pflarr was created with the purpose of being the ultimate bodyguard, but the experiment wasn't very successful since Pflarr's master was killed shortly after his creation. After avenging his master by slaying his killer (a rival wizard), Pflarr was left alone with two huge magical libraries at his disposal, so he did the only possible thing: he started to learn magic. With time he became an accomplished magic-user and eventually he discovered the Path of the Paragon, beginning his climb to greatness under the sponsorship of Rathanos.
First he conquered the respect and trust of many different villages thanks to his magic prowess, introducing himself as the divine herald of Ra, come on this world to rule in Rathanos's name. With the help of all the constructs he had previously built, Pflarr created a powerful army and conquered a great part of the Alasiyan Basin. He then fortified his borders to keep away the warring neighbours and using his magical knowledge he built the first Monoliths (artifacts which absorb the power from the dead and the living to create specific magical effects), which allowed him to turn the swampy and arid lands of his duchy into fertile plains and grasslands. After a few decades Pflarr's duchy became prosperous and strong and its inhabitants worshipped both Ra and Pflarr as divine beings. Pflarr created then the Puissant Pyramid as part of his testimony, and after defeating all the spellcasting rivals in the Nithian valley (the last of whom was the sly Apophis, stepbrother of Chardastes), he finally became immortal in the sphere of Energy in BC 1540, the first "Nithian" to reach this status, followed by Maat shortly thereafter. Also, because he had helped Chardastes in reconquering his kingdom, Chardastes imposed Ra's and Pflarr's cult (as well as Maat's) as Nithia's official religion, which became the basis of the future Nithian pantheon. When Nithia turned from Kingdom to Empire, Pflarr was already established as one of the main deities of the region, patron of all magic and right-hand man of Rathanos.
In BC 1500 Pflarr shaped a race after his own image and thus the hutaaka were born. He gifted them with a broad magical knowledge, but he completely failed to pay attention to the Nithian politics and ethics. His only interests were that his followers kept worshipping him and that magical research was brought forward. For this reason he too was caught unaware by the sudden turn that the Nithians took and when he noticed the threat that Nithia had become for Mystara, Thanatos's corruption was already too deeply rooted to be cleansed without major casualties. So he worked in team with Rathanos to save some of the Nithian communities still loyal to the old ways and helped by Ka and Ixion they placed them inside the Hollow World, before the Immortals unleased the punishment on the outer Nithian empire erasing it and its memory from the surface of Mystara. Pflarr obviously didn't forget his beloved hutaaka, and saved the wisest of them, abandoning those who had grown too decadent and stupid in their secluded valley on the surface world.
With time however, he took a particular interest in lupins, a race of humanoids who later interbred with gnolls and hutaaka, and he helped them spreading all over the world trying to get their worship.
Nowadays Pflarr's cult is almost absent on the outer world (he's worshipped only in Thothia, the only surviving Nithian colony, and among some lupin communities) and for this reason he pays much more attention to the affairs of the hutaaka and Nithians of the Hollow World.
Personality: Pflarr doesn't think like other immortals, probably because of his origin. What he's mostly interested in are magical research and respect in the form of worship that he feels his followers must give him. When he notices some of his followers doesn't pay him the due tributes however, he doesn't intervene to punish them: he gives them a chance to make penance and take the right path, and if they refuse, he simply abandons them without hesitation, forgetting them in no time. He prefers to concentrate on the loyal worshippers or to create a new cult somewhere else than trying to win back lost followers. In his mind, he owes nothing to his worshippers, but rather it's the contrary: they must spend time to worship him and show him respect for all the blessings they receive.
The only being that really drives Pflarr out of his mind is Ranivorus, a permanent sign of the Nithian attempt at creating another Pflarr (emulating the hutaaka race) and failing miserably. Pflarr hates Ranivorus with all his heart for the role he played in destroying Nithia and causing harm to his worshippers all over the world, and he doesn't refrain from hindering his plots whenever he can.
Patron: Rathanos
Allies: Rathanos
Enemies: Ranivorus, Thanatos
Classic D&D Stats:
Followers' alignment: any; clerics must be Neutral
Favoured weapons: khopesh (allowed all bludgeoning weapons)
Clerics' skills & powers: +1 bonus to Intelligence, hear noise as thief of same level, +5% bonus to magical research of warding and protective spells
D&D 3E Stats:
Domains: Energy, Magic, Knowledge, Protection
Preferred weapon: khopesh
Sources: HW, HWR2, WotI, SCS, Dragon #237