We Bring Good Things to Life

Thinkers of Bharnarol

This week we’re going to take a look at Bharnhol, the patron of inventors and creators around Golarion. This being appreciates not only the act of creation, but the process that leads to inspiration. He also knows that not everything that can exist should and seeks to curtail inventions that could be harmful to the world. Bharnahol is the Empyreal Lord of creativity, invention, and persistence. Let us take his lead and press ever onward to explore three possible sects of The Tempered Inventor.

As always, let us imagine we are sitting at our theoretical gaming table. Our imaginary GM sets out the rules for the game that we will play. In this game, we are to make a follower of Bharnarol. The character does not need to be a divine caster, just a devotee of The Tempered Inventor. What character do you make?

For more information on Bharnarol

Bharnarol’s Pathfinder Wiki Page

Bharnarol’s Archives of Nethys Page

The Dogged Bulls

Taking their name from male elephants, this sect of Bharnarol worshipers is the material arm of their patron’s will to curb dangerous inventions. The group is especially active in northern avistan. Here they seek to put a stop to some to the Technic League’s more wild creations. They also work around the Worldwound and Mendev to curtail the designs of the Demon Lord Haagenti.

The ranks of this sect are not only persistent but they have creative ways of going about finding their quarry. Hunters, inquisitors, investigators, and rangers make up a majority of this group, although anyone with a will to find and stop dangerous creation will be given a chance. One must first apprentice with a senior member before full acceptance into the sect is given.

The Idea Men

For some it is in the physical act of creating something new, for others the joy is in formulating the idea in the first place. The Idea Men is a very small sect of ascetics who while away their days contemplating what could be. When inspiration is granted by The Tempered Inventor they go out into the world to find just the right person to bring this creation to life.

Most of members of this sect are oracles; their link to Bharnarol is designed to bring the will of creation to life. They use their powers to find the idea and place it with the correct mind. Some do so through veiled whispers, hoping to provide that jolt of inspiration. Others use magic to insinuate the idea directly into a chosen one’s mind. Other still outright tell the would-be inventor the idea and hope for the best.

The Clockwork Church

Magnimar is known to house mystery cults of many of the Empyreal Lords. After the founding of the Golemworks, worship of Bharnarol in his aspect of inventor became even more popular. The Clockwork Church is a small sect of a dozen or so members of the Golemworks who have chosen the Empyreal Lord as their patron.

Although almost exclusively arcane spellcasters , the leader of the sect was chosen by Bharnarol and granted some clerical power. KerseHanderskil has learned to combine both his divine and arcane spellcasting to serve as this sect’s leader. Much like the Golemworks itself, the rest of the congregation is rounded out by wizards and alchemists.

The Empyreal Lord of creativity lends inspiration to his followers. Who is your disciple of Bharnarol? Why have they chosen to dedicate themselves to The Tempered Inventor? Where does their devotion come from? Let me know in the comments.

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Character Exploration 73 - Quraish Brokenbough

This week’s random rolls showed us a bright, intuitive, and lithe young half-elf. Born in the crusader state of Mendev, his human blood came to that land from the far off Keleshite Empire. We had to link together at least one parent that was an entertainer, a betrayal, and the worship of Bharnarol among other things. So how did I do it and what class did I choose?

I really liked the technological aspect of Bharnarol, and with a craftsmen as a mentor it seemed to fit together. I wasn’t going to use any 3pp classes so I needed an archetype of a class that had a technical flavor. It stated that Bharnarol’s followers and sometimes the Empyreal Lord himself hunt down those who invent dangerous things. So I needed a technologist who could ferret out an evil inventor. After a very brief search I found the scavenger archetype for the investigator class.

Quraish Brokenbough

Mendev sees people of all races and ethnicities make their way to the frontlines of the battle against chaos. Some of these crusaders and their hangers-on return to their homes, worlds away. Some remain, making a new home for themselves in a land constantly at war. The small town of Krega is one such location, with a diverse population of humans and non-humans.

Krega is situated on the outskirts of the Estrovian Forest. Although the forest itself is considered haunted, for the most part by monstrous beings known as herne, the places close to towns like Krega and Dubrov tend to house those more comfortable living among the trees like elves and gnomes. In one of these small woodland enclaves is where Quarish was born.

Quraish’s father was a crusader from Kyonin who retired to work the land. The boy’s mother came with an enclave of Kelishite warriors seeking glory in battle. Although all of the crusaders died in combat, their retinues lived and either went home or spread across Mendev looking for work. The two met and fell in love in Krega, where his mother sang at a local tavern. She eventually moved out to his father’s forest home, although she would return to the town from time to time to perform.

The woodland enclave was most self-sufficient. Elves, gnomes, and more rural minded humans all pitched in to make it work. The werebear-kin that patrolled the forest would stop in from time to time when rumor of one of the herne surfaced. Each member of the small community had their say and their contribution. Quraish himself was always fond of Yurtok the Numerian craftsman.

Yurtok never talked about his past, although his ease around weird mechanical devices suggested he had some truck with the Technic League. Quraish was always trying to figure out the little doodads and gadgets the old man would create. The boy became a constant in Yurtok’s workshop, so the Kellid eventually took him on as an apprentice.

Living in the wilds usually meant one did what one needed to survive, but never at the expense of those who relied on you. Quraish’s father lived a hard life as a crusader but he instilled in his son the difference between law and justice. He always told his son that you do what is right, regardless of what is expected. These lessons would hold with Quraish his entire life.

Although his father was a worshiper of Erastil, the tenets of Old Deadeye didn’t sing to Quraish’s soul. The young half-elf once again turned to his mentor. The craftsman held a special place in his heart for Bharnarol, the Empyreal Lord of creativity. Although he would speak of what he was before, he says that the agathion saved him from himself. Feeling a call to creation, Quraish chose Bharnarol as his own patron.

One of the reasons his father left Kyonin to become a crusader was that his wife had died. Although she was already an adult, his flight to Mendev also left behind his daughter from his first marriage. When the elven maiden came calling, it was a shock to her father and his new family. Although he had failed to speak of her in the past Quraish and his mother welcomed her as part of the family.

His half-sister was on the run and had nowhere else to turn. She too came to Mendev to fight the demon horde, but she had a falling out with her commander. She felt he was leading her unit to their certain death and she mutinied against him. It saved the lives of many of her fellows – including her commander – but it left her in a precarious position having usurped command. So she ran.

Her father promised to hide her, but his love for his daughter was not held by all. Another former crusader, who still numbered friends among the armies of Kyonin, had heard of her desertion. And even though he and Quraish’s father had been friends for years, he still turned the girl in. The soldiers came and took her away to Krega to await trial.

Quraish, who wasn’t home at the time, managed to follow them back to town. Using a number of his mentor’s inventions he managed free his half-sister. He knew he had broken the law but what is just and right, isn’t always what is the law. Although it could never be proven, everyone assumed he freed her. To this day he has never said where she headed.

The half-elf, now a man, sought to find his own place in the world. His mentor had explained that he originally came to Mendev as a sort of crusader of his own. His patron sought to stop those who would create to destroy and had sent him to fight against the followers of the Demon Lord Haagenti. If the boy wanted his own quest he offered the mission he could no longer undertake.

With his growing mastery of the mechanical arts, as well as an ability to ferret out those who would use invention for evil, Quraish would head out into the world. He would refuse to officially join the armies of the crusaders but he would often work with them when their objectives and his coincided. The worshipers of Haagenti had better beware.

Now that you’ve seen what I came up with, what was your interpretation of these rolls? What class did your half-elf choose? Who were his parents? Who was his influence? Who has he betrayed? When did he start worshiping Bharnarol?

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