[RPG] Natural phenomena caused by Aroden’s death

golarionpathfinder-1ereligions-and-deities

I know about the Worldwound and the Eye of Abendego. But is there anything else mentioned in the official books in terms of consequences of Aroden's death on the world?

Best Answer

Actually...

Let me get some things out of the window first:

The developers have not confirmed whether or not the Worldwound or the Eye are connected directly to Aroden's death, as in "his death caused these disasters", even though that is implied by the Inner Sea World Guide's entry to the Eye:

The Eye appeared in 4606 AR in what was then known as the Abendego Gulf. Although the exact cause of its appearance is unknown, it came into being after three weeks of tempest following the death of Aroden, and remains as the greatest physical evidence of the event.

And the entry for the Worldwound:

Before the Age of Lost Omens on the site of the modern Worldwound was a powerful, yet barbaric, Kellid nation called Sarkoris. When Aroden died, it caused a very slight planar shift that knocked the whole of Golarion from its normal metaphysical alignment and slightly toward the fearful abyssal plane. This shift manifested itself in the northern reaches of Sarkoris, where their mystics and witches foresaw a time of chaos and a thinning of the borders between realities.

In fact, they have said exactly that this is one of Golarion's mysteries:

It's possible that even the developers don't actually know what happened to Aroden.

Actually... I do know what happened to him. Whether or not Aroden is connected to the Eye of Abendego, though... that's one of those mysteries we're deliberately leaving a mystery.

James Jacobs

(And he doesn't seem to be messing with us)

We do know, that several landscape-changing events happened right after his death, but we don't know if those were caused by his death, or were caused by something else taking advantage of the situation, like a certain imprisoned god trying to break free.

The region around the Eye is known for being filled with rovagug cultists, for instance. The boggard entry specifically mention how they shifted their worship to Rovagug after the Eye appeared. Also, Storm Giants travel to the eye of the Eye and return unharmed, for unknown reasons.

We also do know that the Worldwound was mentioned before the death of Aroden (in 4606 AR), in documents found during the Wrath of the Righteous campaign, by cultists of Deskari, which have been around since before Aroden became a god. The rumors here say that when Deskari's avatar walked the world, it was defeated and banished (and probably imprisoned) in the land of Sarkoris (now the Worldwound).

The spell keeping him there was probably broken with Aroden's death, and Deskari infected the world with his corruption, but this is merely speculation on my part.

Finally, there is evidence that some people figured out how Aroden died in the setting, the nobility of Lirgen. When they found out how or why he died, they all commited ritual suicide. It is also rumoured that Pharasma knows this mystery and is using it to keep Groetus in check.

We really don't know (yet)

With all that said, it is unknown which natural (and supernatural) events were caused directly by Aroden's death. There are dozens of events related to it, and since we don't know how he died, we cannot tell you what exactly is related to his death or not. But, you are welcome to join the conspiracy theorists (and I count myself among them) on paizo messageboards.

Related Topic