Hshurha

From PathfinderWiki
Hshurha
The religious symbol of Hshurha.
(Deity)

Titles
The Duchess of All Winds
The Unseen Whirlwind
The Storm Tyrant
Realm
Alignment
Areas of Concern
Air
Last breaths
Windstorms
Edicts
Revel in formlessness and freedom, humiliate earthbound creatures, kill others via falling or wind damage
Anathema
Ground a flying creature, walk on the earth if you don't have to
Follower Alignments (1E)
Domains (1E)
Air, Destruction, Evil, Weather
Subdomains (1E)
Clouds, Fear, Storms, Wind
Follower Alignments (2E)
Domains (2E)
Air, Cold, Destruction, Dust
Favored Weapon
Symbol
Lightning vortex around eye
Sacred Animal
Sacred Colors
White, yellow
Source: Planes of Power, pg(s). 6 (1E)
Gods & Magic, pg(s). 80f., 126f. (2E)

Hshurha, the Duchess of All Winds, is one of the powerful beings collectively known as the elemental lords. She dwells on the Elemental Plane of Air, and disdains all solid, visible creatures.1

Personality

Hshurha is known for her erratic nature, she is both cruel and capricious, as mercurial as the wind itself. On the Plane of Air she is equally likely to spend her time creating a breathtaking monument of ice and sculpted wind as she is ravaging a settlement of innocents for the sheer joy of destroying something.2 Hshurha prides herself on being inscrutable, executing schemes of incomprehensible complexity and leaving nothing but the wind's whispers and confusion in her wake. None have successfully guessed Hshurha's plans as even her motives are clouded in misinformation. However, her cruelty is more readily knowable; she detests creatures who possess solid forms, torments them mercilessly, and creates and destroys with what seems to be little rhyme or reason but often deadly consequences to those around her.3

Home

Hshurha makes her home amongst a palace of invisible winds, known as the Verglas Precessional, on the Elemental Plane of Air. The Verglas Processional is almost as treacherous as its mistress, with entire areas lacking floors; this is not a problem for any elemental creature, but this regularly sends corporeal visitors plummeting to their doom into the dark void below the palace. Hshurha's court at the Verglas Precessional consists of both various air elemental creatures as well as a wide variety of extraplanar visitors and emissaries.4

Relations

Since the Concordance of Elements began planning the release of Ranginori, Hshurha has made that organization an enemy.5 Centuries ago, Hshurha broke with one of her chief lieutenants, the clandestine elder air elemental Shanaria. Though few know what caused this split, what is known is that Shanaria now dwells in exile at the heart of the Storm of Fangs, gathering a following of her own.4

Hshurha maintains a public alliance, though a cool relationship, with the jaathooms6 with whom she shares the Elemental Plane of Air, though rumour has it she consorts with their mortal ifrit7 enemies from the Plane of Fire and even employs a secret group of phades8 to try and undermine the Jaathoom Empire at every turn.2

While her schemes sometimes entrap other deities, Hshurha is much more selective of her divine allies. She rarely forms lasting alliances, though there are scholars who claim she has established secret accords with either Norgorber or Set.3

Church of Hshurha

Hshurha is primarily worshipped on the Elemental Plane of Air as the mother goddess by almost all of the plane's air elementals. She particular favours the elementals known as the phade, who serve as her spies and executioners, gathering intelligence and quietly enacting violence in aid of her schemes across the Inner Sphere. Hshurha also boasts cults across and beyond the Universe, with worshipers who venerate her power over the winds, her potent elemental mastery, the secrets she whispers on the wind, and her favor in clandestine schemes and betrayals. Her worshippers build enormous, elegant monuments to Hshurha only to tear them down on a whim, ensuring that even her temples are transitory in nature.3

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.

  1. James Jacobs, et al. “Other Gods” in The Inner Sea World Guide, 233. Paizo Inc., 2011
  2. 2.0 2.1 Robert Brookes, et al. “Chapter 3: The Great Beyond” in Planar Adventures, 126. Paizo Inc., 2018
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Logan Bonner, et al. “Air” in Rage of Elements, 68. Paizo Inc., 2023
  4. 4.0 4.1 John Compton, et al. Plane of Air” in Planes of Power, 17. Paizo Inc., 2016
  5. Saif Ansari, et al. “Concordance of Elements” in Disciple's Doctrine, 4. Paizo Inc., 2018
  6. Paizo referred to jaathooms as djinn until the publication of Rage of Elements. See Rage of Elements pg. 3 and Pathfinder Core Preview pg. 2.
  7. Paizo referred to ifrits as efreet and naaris as ifrits until the publication of Highhelm. See also Rage of Elements pg. 3 and Pathfinder Core Preview pgs. 2, 13, 18.
  8. Paizo referred to phades as invisible stalkers until the publication of Monster Core.