Eldest
No beings rule the chaotic and changeable plane known as the First World, the home of the fey, but its most powerful residents are the mighty beings known as the Eldest, sometimes known as the fey-lords or the shapers.1 They each pursue their own mysterious goals and have little interest in the doings of lesser creatures.2 All Eldest command great respect or fear from the other inhabitants of the First World,3 and as demigods can grant spells to their worshipers.4
Powers
The Eldest are extremely adept at moulding the substance of the First World to their will, so their domains are oases of stability on that constantly changing plane—albeit oases that move around with their masters.2
History
The Eldest were responsible for creating the fearsome living weapons known as the Tane and could unleash them once more should they feel the need to do so.5
Eldest known to Golarion
Golarion has felt the influence of only the nine Eldest whose realms are, or were, coterminous with this particular part of the Universe.2 Of them, the Eldest cast out Count Ranalc, who resided in the Netherworld in exile before going missing.6
The remaining eight are:
Other Eldest
In addition to the aforementioned nine, there are also many Eldest spread across the infinite First World, Eldest of past ages, or those whose realms lie so far beyond Golarion that contact is rare, including:7
The father of all linnorms, mighty Fafnheir, claims that he left the First World only after slaying three of the Eldest at some point in the misty depths of pre-history.8
Thousands of years ago, another Eldest whose name has since been forgotten attracted the wrath of Pharasma by siphoning part of the River of Souls. In return, he was plucked from the First World into the Boneyard to serve the Lady of Graves for an eternity.910
The body of the Bonefather, another of the Tane, is said to house the remains of three Eldest.11
In the Yara Waste, one can find the way to the Tomb of Karumaq, a former Eldest of cold and ice.12
References
Paizo published a major article about the Eldest in The First World, Realm of the Fey, and also describe them in Gods and Magic pgs. 78–79 and 126.
For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.
- ↑ Please note that within the context of Golarion and the Pathfinder campaign setting, there is no Seelie Court nor its opposite, an Unseelie Court, as in real-world tradition or in other fantasy multiverses. Instead the courts of the Eldest replace this concept. Please see Fey Revisited for more information.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 . “The First World” in Sound of a Thousand Screams, 67. Paizo Inc., 2010
- ↑ . “Other Gods” in The Inner Sea World Guide, 233. Paizo Inc., 2011
- ↑ . Inner Sea Gods, 190. Paizo Inc., 2014
- ↑ . “The First World” in Sound of a Thousand Screams, 70. Paizo Inc., 2010
- ↑ . Gods and Magic, 78. Paizo Inc., 2008
- ↑ . “First World History” in The First World, Realm of the Fey, 37. Paizo Inc., 2016
- ↑ . “Linnorm Kingdoms Bestiary” in Lands of the Linnorm Kings, 56. Paizo Inc., 2011
- ↑ . “On the Origin of Gnomes” in The First World, Realm of the Fey, 15. Paizo Inc., 2016
- ↑ . “Chapter 1: Companions” in Kingmaker Companion Guide, 43. Paizo Inc., 2022
- ↑ . “The Tane” in The First World, Realm of the Fey, 55. Paizo Inc., 2016
- ↑ . “Gazetteer” in The First World, Realm of the Fey, 53. Paizo Inc., 2016