Shelyn
| Shelyn | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Aliases | The Eternal Rose, The Lady of Chrysanthemums, Syriss, The Incorruptible, The Eternal Maiden, Song of the Prism | |
| Alignment | Neutral Good | |
| Divine Rank | God | |
| Portfolio | Art, Beauty, Love, Music | |
| Domains | 1e: Air, Charm, Good, Luck, Protection, Agathion, Cloud, Defense, Fate, Imagination, Love, Purity 2e: Creation, Family, Passion, Protection, Repose |
|
| Home Plane | Blossomheart, Nirvana | |
| Worshippers | Artists, poets, lovers | |
| Favoured Weapon | Glaive | |
STOP, IN THE NAME OF LOVE!!!
Shelyn is the Golarion goddess of art, beauty, love and music. She is the half-sister of Zon-Kuthon. Shelyn's favored weapon, the glaive, stems from a fight between her and Zon-Kuthon when it was his weapon. She stole it away from him believing it was what corrupted him and made him evil and hopes that if she can ever purify it then her half-brother will return to his original self. The fact that she seems to be missing in Starfinder does not bode well for that plan.
Profile[edit | edit source]
Shelyn endorses all positive forms of love. These include, but are not limited to, self-care, consensual BDSM, chosen family, strong friendships, and consensual polygamy. In fact, she herself is part of a romantic lesbian polycule with her girlfriends Sarenrae (goddess of the sun) and Desna (goddess of the stars). The fact that Shelyn loves Desna, despite the star-god's true form being an eldritch creature of starlight, shows she really doesn't discriminate. Shelyn is also often seen by players as the LGBTQA+ goddess, representing Pathfinder's attempts at positive inclusion. She even has a rainbow-colored holy symbol.
In-Game[edit | edit source]
Over the years, Pathfinder's writers have had a hard time trying to balance Shelyn's tendency towards diplomacy and nonviolence with a typical adventurer's desire to fight evil. The code that her Paladins are supposed to live by (released in 1E Inner Sea Gods) is that they are NEVER to initiate combat, except for if an innocent is directly in danger, but can defend themselves and their friends. In addition, you must ALWAYS try to redeem a person first instead of attacking first ("I lead by the rose, not by my blade.") if possible. This obviously does not include things like undead and demons. This lead to accusations of Shelyn's church being Stupid Good. This was a view that the quest designers of Kingmaker embraced wholeheartedly when designing Valerie's loyalty missions, making Shelynites seem like a bunch of idiotic, misogynistic, possessive incompetents that would have had their powers revoked by their goddess at any decent DM's table. This portrayal of Shelyn has gradually been written out over time and seems to be nowhere in sight by the time Pathfinder 2e's Lost Omens: Gods and Magic came out, so now players are free to kick ass in the name of love, so long as they aren't evil or excessively merciless.
Gameplay[edit | edit source]
Shelyn is usually seen as one of the stronger choices gameplay-wise in 1E among Good-aligned divine classes. Her Clerics and Inquisitors gain a strong martial reach-weapon and several really strong domains, including the much sought-after Luck Domain, so for a goddess that preaches diplomacy, you can make one powerful buffer and frontliner (see Sosiel from Wrath of the Righteous). And if you don't mind following her code, the Sentinel Prestige Class is very strong for Shelynite Paladins, with Shelyn's unique blessing, Glorious Might, letting you add DOUBLE your Charisma modifier to your Smite Evil's attack and damage rolls. Now that's the Power of Love!
Gallery[edit | edit source]
-
-
Shelyn battling her brother Zon-kuthon -
A worshipper of Shelyn -
A temple of Shelyn
