Riders On the Storm

Followers of Skrymir

Skrymir the Storm Giant; god of riddles, wit, and wanderlust. One of two major storm giant gods of indeterminate relationship. I found it odd to see a giant god of whimsy, one of Skrymir’s subdomains, but also quite interesting. With not much to go on, it leaves the field wide open for our usual question. Sitting at our hypothetical gaming table and the GM tells you that your character must be a worshiper of Skrymir. What character would you create?

Information on storm giants is spread throughout a handful of Paizo books including the Giant Slayer AP, which I haven’t read in case I ever get to play it. There is also very little information on Skrymir on the whole so, coming up with sects on this was a bit harder than some of the others I’ve done. Instead of spreading myself thin and pushing ideas I’m not happy with, I have two sects dedicated to the worship of Skrymir that I think are good and could have a place in any campaign set on Golarion as NPCs for players to meet.

Riddle of the Skies

Many of Skrymir’s worshipers find joy in contests of wit, especially riddle contests. They consider themselves masters of the veiled conundrum. Being tropical beings though, even when gripped by their occasional wanderlust, they don’t range too far afield. Members of the Riddle of the Skies break this mold and Storm Giants found in regions not typical for their kind are almost always members of this sect. Pushing through the snow drifts to find the wisdom of the Ulfen skalds, enduring the desert heat of Osirian to meet with the ancient sphinxes or even trying to accompany copper dragons in hidden lairs deep below Avistan.

When these riddlers have gathered as many brain teasers as they can, they return home to a hidden island far west of the Kaava Lands. A great fortress on the island houses the all of the riddles these storm giants have collected through the ages. Once every quarter century the members of the Riddle of the Skies congregate in a grand conclave on the island where they spend a full month drinking and telling jokes and riddles they have learned over the years. At the end of the month the giants spend the last day in solemn prayer to Skyrmir, asking to be give further insight into the mysteries of the world.

The Tentacled Travellers

Much of the face of Golarion has yet to be explored. It is assumed that if you head far enough west of the coast of Garud or Avistan you will come upon Tian or the easternmost reaches of Casmaron. No one yet has circumnavigated the world, although many have found the lands of Arcadia to the west. This feat is very rarely attributed to the storm giants of the inner sea who were the first non-natives to find the landmass.

The Tentacled Travelers seek to be the first to perform the feat of circumnavigation and have dedicated their lives to traveling westward from their home in the tropical islands west of Garund. These storm giants set sail in massive ships pulled by some of the largest species of octopi to be bred in the Arcadian Ocean. One group of the travelers has claimed to have been to the western end of the continent of Arcadia but no group has been able to duplicate this feat.

The giant cephalopods are considered to be a gift from Skrymir, the breeding of which is passed down among specially chosen members of the sect. Each longship is also hand crafted by a special process that entwines runes sacred to the Seeker of Sunsets into the woodwork. It is considered bad luck to head out on a mission of exploration without either these massive creatures or crafts that have been dedicated to Skrymir, and many expeditions that have tried have been lost.

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