At a Glance
| Identity | Veles, keeper of herds, wealth, songs and the roads of the dead |
|---|---|
| Divine home | The Black Pastures, deep valleys of Iriy in Bytopia |
| Temperament | Patient, amused, generous with a fair exchange; Chaotic Neutral |
| Relationships | Perun challenges his claims; Mokosh honours the living work between them |
| Worshippers | Herders, singers, travellers, bereaved households and keepers of old paths |
| Emblems | Cattle horns, serpent, willow and reed flute |
| Relic | The Bell of the Returned Herd |
Veles keeps the places where rivers disappear into mud and the pastures no ploughman remembers. His wealth is alive: cattle, songs, the knowledge of old paths, and the names of the dead. Those who take his gifts without respecting their keepers often discover that he can reclaim more than gold.
Veles in the world
When a river rises after an uneventful day, herders leave a little milk beside the willow roots. In the wet meadows beyond Smolensk, the cattle of a vanished household graze every autumn at dusk. Their bells bear the names of the dead; their milk sustains living children, provided nobody sells it.
Origins and divine relationships
Volos/Veles appears in Rus’ oath material as a god of cattle. His ties to the underworld, magic and the shape of a serpent are compelling later comparative reconstructions, but they are not a complete narrative preserved by a medieval writer. In the campaign these strands are true of Veles himself without being presented as a verbatim ancient legend.
The Black Pastures. Beneath Iriy’s high roads, river valleys descend into willow groves, grazing hollows and caves threaded with running water. Veles’s open-sided hall stands where three streams disappear beneath the roots of a single tree. A petitioner brings something that has been kept alive: an animal, a remembered song or the name of a person everyone else has forgotten. Rootways reach the roads of the dead, but the Black Pastures remain an estate of Bytopia, rather than a destination for every Slavic soul.
Encountering Veles
Voices travel through the estate’s marsh water. Speaking the name of someone dead can call a firm path up beneath the reeds. It makes a crossing possible; it does not summon that person, prove their fate or grant ownership of their soul.
Veles bargains more easily than Perun. He is patient, amused by human certainty, and quick to recognise a good singer or clever shepherd. He keeps his promises literally, but a bargain with him is a conversation between people who understand the value of what they own—not a trap in every sentence.
He will trade a lost road for a recovered song, or shelter a household in return for the care of a neglected herd. He does not demand that grief become a contest of clever words. He refuses a bargain paid with someone else’s freedom. In a fight he separates pursuers from the people they hunt, silences a reckless charge with the sound of ancestral bells and leaves a route open for surrender. A stolen animal returned alive can end a quarrel that a wagon of silver cannot.
Encounters and omens
The Herd That Came Home
Marta’s lost cattle have returned to her village with bells made of river-stone. Each bell calls a different ancestor to the door. A frightened priest wants the animals killed; the party must discover which bell is calling a violent dead man and decide whether to break the herd or lead it downriver.
The Last Song of the Ferry
A ferryman on the Upper Dnieper has forgotten the name of the crossing. Every boat now reaches the far bank a year late. Veles will return the song that guides the ferry if the travellers recover its final verse from a drowned singer.
The Theft of Three Winters
A merchant has hidden three years of stolen grain in a cavern beneath the Black Pastures. Freed grain could feed thousands, but the cavern is also a refuge for the displaced dead.
Worship and powers
His shrines stand by meadows, cattle paths and river landings. A keeper may be a herder or a singer rather than a temple priest. Milk left beneath willow roots is a small gift; taking responsibility for a lost animal is a greater one. Households honour their dead without treating every dead person as Veles’s servant.
Bell of the Returned Herd — divine relic
A bronze bell bears the names of a household’s dead around its rim. Its living bearer can call a lost companion towards a known place of safety. It is a mortal gift, distinct from the bells Veles commands in battle. It neither raises the dead nor compels a creature to return.
Divine powers and encounter rules
The crook holds a crossing; the bells scatter a pursuit; the roots shelter those who have nowhere else to go.
D&D 2024
Veles
Large Celestial (Deity), Chaotic Neutral
AC 27 (divine ward); Initiative +8; HP 840 (48d10 + 576); Speed 40 ft., Fly 60 ft. (hover), Swim 30 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 (+11) | 26 (+8) | 34 (+12) | 34 (+12) | 38 (+14) | 36 (+13) |
Saving Throws Str +21, Con +22, Wis +24, Cha +23; Skills Athletics +21, Insight +24, Perception +24, Religion +22; Resistances Cold, Fire, and Bludgeoning, Piercing and Slashing from nonmagical attacks; Immunities Necrotic; Charmed, Frightened; Senses Truesight 120 ft., Passive Perception 34; Languages Old East Slavic and Celestial; telepathy 120 ft.; CR 34 (PB +10; unplaytested encounter estimate).
Traits
Legendary Resistance (4/day). If Veles fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.
Actions
Multiattack. Veles makes three Horned Crook attacks.
Horned Crook. Melee Attack Roll: +21, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 44 (6d10 + 11) Bludgeoning damage plus 27 (6d8) Necrotic damage.
Bells of the Forgotten Herd (Recharge 5–6). Veles chooses a point he can see within 120 feet. Each enemy in a 60-foot-radius Sphere centred there makes a DC 32 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, it takes 72 (16d8) Psychic damage plus 72 (16d8) Necrotic damage and cannot willingly move farther from the centre until the end of its next turn. On a success, it takes half damage and may move normally. A creature that speaks the name of one of its dead as the bells sound has Advantage on the save.
Spellcasting (Magic Action). Veles casts the spells below, using Wisdom (spell save DC 32, +24 to hit with spell attacks) and requiring no spell components. Each spell retains its normal casting time and Concentration requirement; heroes’ feast takes 10 minutes. He spends no spell slots.
| Spell level | Personal powers | Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Cantrips | guidance, minor illusion | At will |
| 1st | speak with animals | 3/day |
| 2nd | pass without trace | 3/day |
| 3rd | speak with dead | 3/day |
| 4th | locate creature | 2/day |
| 5th | commune with nature | 2/day |
| 6th | heroes’ feast | 2/day |
| 7th | plane shift | 1/day |
| 8th | animal shapes | 1/day |
| 9th | shapechange | 1/day |
Bonus Actions
Step Between Shrines (2/day). Veles teleports to an unoccupied space he can see within 30 feet. This cannot cross planes or pass a magical barrier that blocks teleportation.
Roots Reversal (1/day). While Bloodied, Veles creates a 20-foot Emanation lasting until the start of his next turn. Enemies within it cannot make Opportunity Attacks. The first time a willing ally enters the Emanation on a turn, it gains 22 Temporary Hit Points, which last until the start of Veles’s next turn.
Reactions
Shepherd of Lost Souls (2/day). When a willing creature Veles can see within 60 feet is reduced to 0 Hit Points without being killed outright, he teleports it to an unoccupied space within 15 feet of himself. It is Stable at 0 Hit Points. This does not heal it or return a dead creature to life.
Legendary Actions
Veles has 3 legendary action uses, regained at the start of his turn. He can spend them at the end of another creature’s turn, choosing only one option at a time. Divine Advance (1 use): move up to half his Speed without provoking Opportunity Attacks. Horned Crook (2 uses): make one Horned Crook attack. Divine Rebuke (1 use): one creature he can see within 30 feet makes a DC 32 Wisdom saving throw, taking 36 (8d8) Necrotic damage on a failure.
Marsh of Remembered Names. Within the Black Pastures, a creature standing beside natural marsh water can use a Magic action to speak the name of a dead person it knew. A firm, 5-foot-wide path appears across up to 60 feet of marsh within sight, lasting until the end of that creature’s next turn. The path supports creatures and their carried gear; it does not bridge open water, cross a wall or remove a magical hazard. Once on his turn, Veles can close one such path without taking an action.
Cleric domain and patron spells
Choose the Trickery Domain at Cleric level 3. Veles’s patron spell list below replaces that subclass’s domain spell table; its other features use their normal rules. Blessing of the Trickster can shelter the cleric’s own steps, and Invoke Duplicity creates a decoy without Concentration. See the publisher’s account of the domain.
Each listed spell is always prepared once the indicated cleric level is reached and counts as a cleric spell. These spells are a follower’s gifts, separate from Veles’s own spellcasting.
| Cleric progression | Granted spells |
|---|---|
| Cleric 3 — 1st-level | speak with animals, disguise self |
| Cleric 3 — 2nd-level | pass without trace, locate animals or plants |
| Cleric 5 — 3rd-level | speak with dead, plant growth |
| Cleric 7 — 4th-level | locate creature, freedom of movement |
| Cleric 9 — 5th-level | commune with nature, mislead |
Bell of the Returned Herd — D&D 2024
Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement). While holding the bell, you can use a Magic action to ring it and name a willing creature you have met, on the same plane and within 1 mile. The target hears a quiet bell and may accept the call. For 1 hour, it knows the direction and turns of the shortest physically passable walking route to the place where you rang the bell. The destination stays fixed if you move. The guidance cannot open barriers, cross planes or reveal traps, passwords, secret doors or creatures along the way. It ends if no walking route exists. You learn neither the target’s location nor whether it accepts. Once used, the bell regains this power when you finish a Long Rest.
D&D 2014
Veles
Large Celestial (Deity), Chaotic Neutral
AC 27 (divine ward); Initiative +8; HP 840 (48d10 + 576); Speed 40 ft., Fly 60 ft. (hover), Swim 30 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 (+11) | 26 (+8) | 34 (+12) | 34 (+12) | 38 (+14) | 36 (+13) |
Saving Throws Str +21, Con +22, Wis +24, Cha +23; Skills Athletics +21, Insight +24, Perception +24, Religion +22; Resistances Cold, Fire, and Bludgeoning, Piercing and Slashing from nonmagical attacks; Immunities Necrotic; Charmed, Frightened; Senses Truesight 120 ft., Passive Perception 34; Languages Old East Slavic and Celestial; telepathy 120 ft.; CR 34 (PB +10; unplaytested encounter estimate).
Traits
Legendary Resistance (4/day). If Veles fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.
Actions
Multiattack. Veles makes three Horned Crook attacks.
Horned Crook. Melee Weapon Attack: +21 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 44 (6d10 + 11) Bludgeoning damage plus 27 (6d8) Necrotic damage.
Bells of the Forgotten Herd (Recharge 5–6). Veles chooses a point he can see within 120 feet. Each enemy in a 60-foot-radius Sphere centred there makes a DC 32 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, it takes 72 (16d8) Psychic damage plus 72 (16d8) Necrotic damage and cannot willingly move farther from the centre until the end of its next turn. On a success, it takes half damage and may move normally. A creature that speaks the name of one of its dead as the bells sound has Advantage on the save.
Roots Trial (1/day). One creature Veles can see within 60 feet makes a DC 32 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, it has disadvantage on its next attack against a creature other than Veles before the end of its next turn. A target within 10 feet of a living willow has advantage on the save.
Innate Spellcasting. Veles casts the spells below, using Wisdom (spell save DC 32, +24 to hit with spell attacks) and requiring no spell components. Each spell retains its normal casting time and Concentration requirement; heroes’ feast takes 10 minutes. He spends no spell slots.
| Spell level | Personal powers | Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Cantrips | guidance, minor illusion | At will |
| 1st | speak with animals | 3/day |
| 2nd | pass without trace | 3/day |
| 3rd | speak with dead | 3/day |
| 4th | locate creature | 2/day |
| 5th | commune with nature | 2/day |
| 6th | heroes’ feast | 2/day |
| 7th | plane shift | 1/day |
| 8th | animal shapes | 1/day |
| 9th | shapechange | 1/day |
Bonus Actions
Step Between Shrines (2/day). Veles teleports to an unoccupied space he can see within 30 feet. This cannot cross planes or pass a magical barrier that blocks teleportation.
Reactions
Shepherd of Lost Souls (2/day). When a willing creature Veles can see within 60 feet is reduced to 0 Hit Points without being killed outright, he teleports it to an unoccupied space within 15 feet of himself. It is Stable at 0 Hit Points. This does not heal it or return a dead creature to life.
Legendary Actions
Veles has 3 legendary action uses, regained at the start of his turn. He can spend them at the end of another creature’s turn, choosing only one option at a time. Divine Advance (1 use): move up to half his Speed without provoking Opportunity Attacks. Horned Crook (2 uses): make one Horned Crook attack. Divine Rebuke (1 use): one creature he can see within 30 feet makes a DC 32 Wisdom saving throw, taking 36 (8d8) Necrotic damage on a failure.
Marsh of Remembered Names. Within the Black Pastures, a creature standing beside natural marsh water can use an action to speak the name of a dead person it knew. A firm, 5-foot-wide path appears across up to 60 feet of marsh within sight, lasting until the end of that creature’s next turn. The path supports creatures and their carried gear; it does not bridge open water, cross a wall or remove a magical hazard. Once on his turn, Veles can close one such path without taking an action.
Cleric domain and patron spells
Choose the Trickery Domain at cleric level 1. Veles’s patron list below replaces that subclass’s domain spell table; its other features use their normal rules. Blessing of the Trickster helps another willing creature hide, and Invoke Duplicity creates an illusory double using Channel Divinity and concentration.
Each listed spell is always prepared once the indicated cleric level is reached and counts as a cleric spell. These spells are a follower’s gifts, separate from Veles’s own spellcasting.
| Cleric progression | Granted spells |
|---|---|
| Cleric 1 — 1st-level | speak with animals, disguise self |
| Cleric 3 — 2nd-level | pass without trace, locate animals or plants |
| Cleric 5 — 3rd-level | speak with dead, plant growth |
| Cleric 7 — 4th-level | locate creature, freedom of movement |
| Cleric 9 — 5th-level | commune with nature, mislead |
Bell of the Returned Herd — D&D 2014
Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement). While holding the bell, you can use an action to ring it and name a willing beast you have met, on the same plane and within half a mile. The target hears a quiet bell and may accept the call. For 1 hour, it knows the direction and turns of the shortest physically passable walking route to the place where you rang the bell. The destination stays fixed if you move. The guidance cannot open barriers, cross planes or reveal traps, passwords, secret doors or creatures along the way. It ends if no walking route exists. You learn neither the target’s location nor whether it accepts. Once used, the bell regains this power at the next dawn.
Pathfinder 1e
Veles CR 34
CN Large outsider (chaotic, extraplanar away from Bytopia); Init +12; Senses darkvision 60 ft., true seeing 120 ft.; Perception +67.
Defense
AC 63, touch 41, flat-footed 54 (−1 size, +8 Dex, +22 natural, +10 sacred ward, +13 deflection, +1 dodge); hp 740 (40d10 + 480 plus 40 Toughness); Fort +35, Ref +40, Will +46; DR 15/epic; SR 35; Immune negative energy, fear; Resist fire 20, cold 20. The divine ward grants +10 sacred to AC and +8 sacred on saves.
Offense
Speed 40 ft., fly 60 ft. (perfect), swim 30 ft.; Melee Horned Crook +55/+50/+45/+40 (6d8 + 16 bludgeoning plus 6d6 negative energy, ×2); Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (15 ft. with crook).
Horned Crook. A +5 divine, one-handed weapon with its own 6d8 damage and 15-ft. reach; these are properties of Veles’s weapon, rather than an ordinary quarterstaff. Its enhancement bonus is included above, it overcomes epic damage reduction, and it is chaotic-aligned. When disarmed, it disappears at the end of that turn and returns to Veles at the start of his next turn.
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 40th; concentration +53; save DC 23 + spell level, or 25 + spell level for divination). Spell Penetration and Greater Spell Penetration give +4 on checks to overcome SR. No components are required; each spell keeps its normal casting time, including 10 minutes for control weather.
| Spell level | Personal powers | Uses |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | detect magic, read magic | At will |
| 1st | speak with animals | 3/day |
| 2nd | animal messenger | 3/day |
| 3rd | speak with dead | 3/day |
| 4th | freedom of movement | 2/day |
| 5th | commune with nature | 2/day |
| 6th | find the path | 2/day |
| 7th | control weather | 1/day |
| 8th | animal shapes | 1/day |
| 9th | shapechange | 1/day |
Statistics
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 (+11) | 26 (+8) | 34 (+12) | 34 (+12) | 38 (+14) | 36 (+13) |
Base Atk +40; CMB +52 (+54 disarm); CMD 94 (96 against disarm).
Feats (20) Improved Initiative, Combat Casting, Spell Focus (divination), Greater Spell Focus (divination), Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Mobility, Toughness, Iron Will, Great Fortitude, Lightning Reflexes, Alertness, Skill Focus (Perception), Improved Iron Will, Improved Great Fortitude, Improved Lightning Reflexes, Combat Expertise, Improved Disarm.
Save rerolls. Once per day for each save type, Veles can reroll a Fortitude, Reflex or Will save using the corresponding improved save feat. He must choose before the result is revealed and keep the second roll, even if worse.
Skills Acrobatics +48, Bluff +56, Craft (musical instruments) +55, Diplomacy +53, Fly +57, Handle Animal +53, Heal +54, Knowledge (nature) +52, Knowledge (planes) +55, Knowledge (religion) +55, Perception +67, Perform (wind instruments) +56, Ride +48, Sense Motive +61, Spellcraft +55, Stealth +47, Survival +54, Swim +51. Each has 40 ranks: all 720 ranks are assigned. Fly, Knowledge (religion), Perform and Spellcraft are his four additional outsider class skills. Fly includes +8 perfect manoeuvrability and −2 size; Stealth includes −4 size.
Languages Old East Slavic and Celestial; telepathy 120 ft.
Special Abilities
Bells of the Forgotten Herd (Su). As a standard action, Veles chooses a point he can see within 120 ft. Enemies in a 60-ft.-radius burst there take 16d8 untyped mind-affecting damage and 16d8 negative energy damage, Will DC 43 half. A failed save also prevents voluntary movement farther from the burst’s centre until the end of the target’s next turn. A creature naming one of its dead aloud when the bells sound gains +4 circumstance on the save. This Charisma-based power recharges after 1d4 rounds.
Marsh of Remembered Names. Within the Black Pastures, a creature standing beside natural marsh water can use a standard action to speak the name of a dead person it knew. A firm, 5-foot-wide path appears across up to 60 feet of marsh within sight, lasting until the end of that creature’s next turn. The path supports creatures and their carried gear; it does not bridge open water, cross a wall or remove a magical hazard. Once on his turn, Veles can close one such path without taking an action.
CR is an unplaytested campaign estimate.
Cleric domains and domain spells
Veles grants the Animal and Travel domains. A cleric receives both domains’ powers and a domain spell slot at each available spell level. Veles’s favoured weapon is the quarterstaff.
Granted domain powers
Animal: Knowledge (nature) is a class skill. Speak with Animals provides a daily pool of 3 + cleric level rounds using that spell. At cleric 4, gain an animal companion with effective druid level equal to cleric level − 3.
Travel: base land speed increases by 10 ft. Agile Feet is a free action that ignores difficult terrain for 1 round, usable 3 + Wisdom modifier times/day. At cleric 8, Dimensional Hop provides 10 ft. per cleric level of teleportation each day. A move action spends distance in 5-ft. increments to a visible destination without provoking; each additional willing traveller costs the same distance again.
| Spell level | Animal | Travel |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | calm animals | longstrider |
| 2 | hold animal | locate object |
| 3 | dominate animal | fly |
| 4 | summon nature’s ally IV (animals only) | dimension door |
| 5 | beast shape III (animals only) | teleport |
| 6 | antilife shell | find the path |
| 7 | animal shapes | greater teleport |
| 8 | summon nature’s ally VIII (animals only) | phase door |
| 9 | shapechange | astral projection |
Bell of the Returned Herd — Pathfinder 1e
Unique minor artifact; held bell; CL 13th; no market price or ordinary crafting formula. Once per day, as a standard action, ring the bell and name a willing creature you have met, on the same plane and within 1 mile. If it accepts, that creature receives find the path towards the fixed place where the bell was rung, for 1 hour. This artifact changes the spell’s target, range and duration; all other guidance and destination limits of the native spell apply. The creature may ignore the route. The bell neither transports it nor reveals its location to the bearer. Its magic is permanently destroyed if Veles breaks its clapper over the grave of someone who freely refused its summons.
D&D 3.5e
Veles
CN Large outsider (chaotic, extraplanar away from Bytopia); Divine Rank 11, intermediate deity; CR 34 (unplaytested campaign estimate); Init +23, normally a result of 43 through his divine check rule; Speed 60 ft., fly 100 ft. (perfect), swim 60 ft., specific divine speeds.
AC 65, touch 41, flat-footed 57 (10 base, −1 size, +8 Dex, +11 divine, +24 natural, +13 deflection). Dodge adds +1 against its chosen foe. hp 803 (40d8 maximized + 480 Con + 3 Toughness); Fort +45, Ref +41, Will +49; DR 25/epic; SR 43; Resist fire 16.
Immunities acid, cold, electricity and negative energy; hostile form-changing and petrification; mind-affecting effects; ability damage, ability drain and energy drain; disease, poison, stunning, sleep, paralysis, death effects, disintegration, magical imprisonment and banishment. Native equal-or-higher-rank exceptions apply where specified by the divine rules; acid, cold and electricity immunity remain against higher-ranked attackers. He is immortal, needs no food, air or sleep, and cannot die from massive damage.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 (+11) | 26 (+8) | 34 (+12) | 34 (+12) | 38 (+14) | 36 (+13) |
Base Atk +20, with +10 epic attack bonus; Grapple +56; Space/Reach 10 ft./10 ft. (15 ft. with crook). Melee Horned Crook +56/+51/+46/+41 (6d8 + 16 bludgeoning plus 6d6 negative energy, ×2). Touch attacks melee +51, ranged +48.
Horned Crook. This +5 one-handed divine weapon has its own 6d8 damage, 15-ft. reach and epic DR penetration, and is chaotic-aligned. The enhancement bonus is included in the statistics. A disarmed crook disappears at the end of that turn and returns at the start of Veles’s next turn.
Feats (14) Improved Initiative, Combat Casting, Spell Focus (divination), Greater Spell Focus (divination), Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Mobility, Toughness, Iron Will, Power Attack, Combat Expertise, Improved Disarm.
Skills Bluff +67, Concentration +66, Craft (musical instruments) +66, Diplomacy +75, Escape Artist +62, Handle Animal +67, Hide +58, Knowledge (arcana) +66, Knowledge (nature) +66, Knowledge (planes) +66, Knowledge (religion) +66, Listen +68, Move Silently +62, Perform (wind instruments) +67, Search +66, Sense Motive +68, Spellcraft +70, Spot +68, Survival +68, Swim +65. All twenty have 43 class-skill ranks, spending 860 skill points. Diplomacy includes +4 synergy each from Bluff and Sense Motive; Spellcraft includes +4 from Knowledge (arcana). Apply the Knowledge skills’ terrain-based +4 Survival synergies and Search’s +4 tracking synergy only when relevant. All divine rank bonuses are included.
Divine checks and senses. Veles uses a result of 20 for ability, skill, caster-level and turning checks, while attacks, saves and damage are rolled normally. Natural 1s do not automatically fail attacks or saves. He speaks and understands all languages; his customary mortal tongue is Old East Slavic. Senses and divine communication reach 11 miles without seeing through solid barriers. He can watch ten eligible remote sites. Portfolio sense notices relevant events regardless of the number involved and reaches 11 weeks into the past; it reveals where an event occurs, rather than its whole history.
Divine Aura. As a free action each round, choose a radius from 0 to 1,100 ft. and daze, fright or resolve: daze denies actions; fright makes enemies shaken and permits a direct gesture to make one frightened; resolve gives allies +4 morale on attacks, saves and checks and enemies −4. Mortals and lower-ranked deities resist with Will DC 34; success gives 24-hour immunity. Veles can exempt worshippers and creatures of his alignment. The effect ends outside the aura, and a higher-ranked deity’s aura takes precedence.
Bells of the Forgotten Herd (Su). Standard action; recharges after 1d4 rounds. Enemies in a 60-ft.-radius burst centred on a visible point within 120 ft. take 16d8 untyped mind-affecting damage and 16d8 negative energy damage, Will DC 43 half. Failure also prevents voluntary movement farther from the centre until the end of the target’s next turn. Naming one of its dead aloud as the bells sound gives +4 circumstance on the save. The DC uses half his 40 HD and Charisma, separately from his salient abilities.
Salient divine abilities
The fourteen portfolio powers below fill eleven rank selections and three intermediate-deity selections. They function in antimagic, ignore spell resistance and use DC 35 where a save is specified.
14 salient divine abilities
- Cattle Count. At will, move action: teleport up to 100 ft. between two visible root-marked places in the Black Pastures. Both endpoints must be visible; an equal-or-higher-ranked deity’s planar barrier blocks this movement.
- Root Ledger. 2/day, standard action: roots fill a 20-ft.-radius patch of visible soil within 80 ft. For 2 rounds, enemies entering it or starting a turn there make Reflex DC 35 or become entangled until the roots end. An entangled creature can escape with a DC 25 Strength check as a move action.
- Black-Pasture Bargain. 2/day, immediate action: a willing ally within 40 ft. rerolls a failed Reflex save and uses the second result.
- Serpent Underfoot. 1/day, standard action: a visible creature within 60 ft. makes Will DC 35 or drops one stolen animal or object it is holding into an adjacent unoccupied space of its choice. The power cannot remove worn equipment or compel further movement. This is a mind-affecting compulsion.
- Milk of Night. 1/day, move action: teleport up to 200 ft. between two visible willow shadows on the same plane. Neither endpoint can be in bright daylight. This cannot cross an equal-or-higher-ranked deity’s planar barrier.
- Wealth Returned. 3/day, swift action: Veles’s next successful Horned Crook hit before his turn ends deals an extra 4d6 negative energy damage. It is not multiplied on a critical hit.
- Root-Road Bargain. 1/day, standard action: open a two-way, 10-ft.-square passage between two visible points of the Black Pastures no more than 300 ft. apart. It lasts until the start of Veles’s next turn and admits only willing creatures. A divine planar barrier of equal or higher rank blocks it.
- The Lost Herd. 1/day, standard action: transport up to six willing creatures within 30 ft., together with Veles, to unoccupied ground beside his hall in the Black Pastures. This is one-way and cannot enter a location sealed by an equal-or-higher-ranked deity’s planar barrier.
- Under-Earth Song. 1/day, immediate action: impose −4 on one visible enemy’s attack within 60 ft., after the roll but before the result is announced. A creature within 10 ft. of a living willow is exempt.
- Debt of Breath. 1/day, immediate action: a willing living creature within 40 ft. that would die from hit point loss instead remains stable at −9 hp. It does not prevent death from a death effect or ability loss.
- Roots Sight. At will, standard action: see a silent image of a known willow shrine on the same plane for 1 round. Lead and equal-or-higher-ranked divine sensing barriers block this particular vision.
- Roots Recollection. 1/day, swift action: recover one expended use of a personal spell-like ability of 4th level or lower. This cannot restore a salient ability or an item’s power.
- Roots Restoration. 1/day, standard action: restore a broken, nonmagical object of Large size or smaller to full hit points. Every original fragment must be within 10 ft.; this cannot replace missing material or restore creatures.
- River of Remembered Steps. 1/day, standard action: lay a 5-ft.-wide path across up to 60 ft. of natural marsh or water in the Black Pastures. It lasts 1 minute and supports willing creatures and their gear. It does not dispel hazards or pass through creatures, solid barriers or planar wards.
Personal spell-like abilities and domain powers
Personal powers use CL 40th, or CL 41st for divination, with save DC 34 + spell level, or 36 + spell level for divination. Add +11 divine on caster-level checks, and another +4 when overcoming SR. These powers need no components, retaining their native casting times and concentration; control weather takes 10 minutes.
| Spell level | Personal powers | Uses |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | detect magic, read magic | At will |
| 1st | speak with animals | 3/day |
| 2nd | animal messenger | 3/day |
| 3rd | speak with dead | 3/day |
| 4th | freedom of movement | 2/day |
| 5th | commune with nature | 2/day |
| 6th | find the path | 2/day |
| 7th | control weather | 1/day |
| 8th | animal shapes | 1/day |
| 9th | shapechange | 1/day |
The separate domain spells below are also available at will, CL 21st (22nd for divination), with the same save DCs. Veles can use speak with animals through his Animal domain 11/day and can act under the Travel domain’s freedom of movement for 11 rounds/day. Knowledge increases divination caster level by 1, included above. His self-only divine travel also grants greater teleport at will (CL 20, with up to 1,100 lb. of objects) and plane shift at will (CL 20, with up to 100 lb. of objects).
Marsh of Remembered Names. Within the Black Pastures, a creature standing beside natural marsh water can use a standard action to speak the name of a dead person it knew. A firm, 5-foot-wide path appears across up to 60 feet of marsh within sight, lasting until the end of that creature’s next turn. The path supports creatures and their carried gear; it does not bridge open water, cross a wall or remove a magical hazard. Once on his turn, Veles can close one such path without taking an action.
Cleric domains and domain spells
A cleric chooses two of Animal, Knowledge and Travel, receiving both granted powers and a domain slot at each available spell level. The favoured weapon is the quarterstaff.
Granted domain powers
Animal: speak with animals once/day as a spell-like ability; Knowledge (nature) becomes a class skill. Knowledge: all Knowledge skills become class skills and divination spells gain +1 caster level. Travel: for a daily total of rounds equal to cleric level, act normally despite magical effects that impede movement, as freedom of movement. It activates automatically when needed and lasts until no longer needed or the daily rounds are exhausted. Survival becomes a class skill.
| Spell level | Animal | Knowledge | Travel |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | calm animals | detect secret doors | longstrider |
| 2 | hold animal | detect thoughts | locate object |
| 3 | dominate animal | clairaudience/clairvoyance | fly |
| 4 | summon nature’s ally IV (animals only) | divination | dimension door |
| 5 | commune with nature | true seeing | teleport |
| 6 | antilife shell | find the path | find the path |
| 7 | animal shapes | legend lore | greater teleport |
| 8 | summon nature’s ally VIII (animals only) | discern location | phase door |
| 9 | shapechange | foresight | astral projection |
Bell of the Returned Herd — D&D 3.5e
Unique minor artifact; held bell; CL 13th; no market price or ordinary crafting formula. Once per day, as a standard action, ring the bell and name a willing creature you have met, on the same plane and within 1 mile. If it accepts, that creature receives find the path towards the fixed place where the bell was rung, for 1 hour. This artifact changes the spell’s target, range and duration; all other guidance and destination limits of the native spell apply. The creature may ignore the route. The bell neither transports it nor reveals its location to the bearer. Its magic is permanently destroyed if Veles breaks its clapper over the grave of someone who freely refused its summons.
Related creatures of the region
Folklore encounters with a different scale of power: Domovoi — household guardian.
Spell references
For planar travel and the changing sky, see Plane Shift and Control Weather.
Sources and further reading
Veles’s links with cattle and oath-taking belong to the medieval evidence. His full otherworldly household and the encounters here are original setting material. Milorad Ivanković’s 2019 study of Volos / Veles examines, and challenges, influential comparative reconstructions. Such reconstructions are not a surviving complete pagan epic.
Explore the Slavic pantheon, Perun, Simargl, Iriy in Bytopia and the Cleric class.
Rules sources and licensing
Original deity statistics, relics, spells granted by the patron variants and named salient abilities are campaign material. Native rule references: Wizards of the Coast’s SRDs, Pathfinder outsider rules, and D&D 3.5e divine ranks. The four editions retain separate mechanics.
This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. Changes include original deity and relic rules. Legacy mechanical material is used under the Open Game License v1.0a; original setting prose and artwork are excluded from that designation. Copyright notices: Open Game License v1.0a © 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; System Reference Document © 2000–2003 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook © 2009 Paizo Publishing, LLC.
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