Harrim: The Frailty of Life

Pathfinders! Today we introduce another one of your future companions: a brooding dwarf cleric called Harrim.

In the world of Golarion, religion is not a topic for abstract philosophical discussions, but a matter of life and death. Various deities directly interfere with the lives of mortals — some change them for the better, some for worse, and some just make them... Stranger.

During his life in the Five Kings Mountains, Harrim aspired to follow Torag, the Dwarven god of craft. Unfortunately, no matter how much he studied the holy books, he failed to meet the crucial requirement for a cleric of Torag: he never learned to make anything with his hands. It was worse than just regular clumsiness: Harrim couldn't forge a single nail or carve a wooden spoon to save his life. Some dwarves ridiculed him, others suggested that Torag must have cursed him — and this was what Harrim himself eventually believed.

Betrayed and forsaken by the god he was ready to dedicate his whole life to, Harrim went into exile, searching for some other purpose in life. He found it when he met a traveling cult of one of Golarion's most obscure deities — Groetus, the god of the End Times. A colossal skull-shaped moon looming over Purgatory, Groetus is waiting for the day when Pharasma, the goddess of death, won't be able to contain him anymore, so he can go to the Material plane and put an end to it. This fateful day is nowhere near — it would take aeons for Groetus to become free — but it's inevitable, and comes closer with each passing second. Groetus is patient, and so are his worshippers — hiding in shadows, listening to their god's faint whispers, meditating over their own mortality, and frailty of life.

It is said that the worshippers of Groetus slowly sink into madness. Harrim dismisses such slanderous rumors. The way he talks and acts might seem eccentric, but it has nothing to do with so-called insanity — he just delves deeper into the fundamental truths, understanding the world's nature and the inevitability of its demise... He's happy to explain his religion's teachings — though he rarely finds anyone willing to listen.

Harrim's philosophy hasn't made him a passive observer. He's always ready to use his god's power to heal his allies or bring punishment upon their enemies — though after the battle expect him to say something about the perishable nature of all mortals. He embraces the fact that death will eventually take everyone, but he doesn't hurry to meet it — so he has trained to wear heavy armor and wield a shield. Despite Harrim’s bleak philosophy, he’ll save your life more than once during the many battles that await you in the Stolen Lands.

Should you rely on Harrim's help in ruling your realm, you will benefit from his wisdom and charisma. A calm, level-headed man, Harrim is surprisingly good at making well-considered decisions, as well as talking to people — that is, until he starts rambling about the End of Days.