The Nameless
"A prayer offered for sleeping guardsmen. A plea to the dark for growing shadows. An offering of blood and gold to that which has no name."- The plunderer's prayer
A Hidden God
While there are many worshippers across Illiria who hide their true divine alliegence for fear of reprisal, The Nameless is truly a "secret god" as those who know of it say. As far as any priest of The Nameless can tell, it is hidden even from the Fifteen themselves. This secrecy serves it especially well, as The Nameless is the patron god of thieves and all those who work in shadows, even if they do not know it. The influence of The Nameless and its distaste for being discussed openly is apparent to any who try to tell the secret of its existence, finding themselves unable to speak at best and more often than not finding themselves striken with missing memories.The God of Thieves
The Thieves' Guildknown as the Iron Shadow began as a cult dedicated to The Nameless, and their leadership consists entirely of dedicated priests of the secret deity. It is said to bless favored thieves with irregularly dark nights, distracted watchmen, and fat purses on the careless. To have the disfavor of the Nameless is to invite bad luck in the form of especially loud noises and overzealous constables. The cult must remain secret, so most of the Shadow is uninitiated, but those in charge ensure that an appropriate amount of thief's taxes go to the mystery god, that so long as the members of the guild are loyal to their varosi that tribute is paid in their name. Not much is known about the god even by its highest of priests, but it is well established that an offering of wealth is preferred and must be removed entirely from the reach of the thieves. Burned in a fire, thrown to the ocean, fed to corrosive oozes, anything that can eliminate something valuable. It is widely believed among the faithful that the more rare an object is determines how much the Nameless likes the offering. Specific prayers are sometimes recited by thieves in the know before attempting to steal anything, always accompanied by an offering of treasure and blood. The Nameless rarely interacts with its worshippers, but when it does it always takes the guise of a mortal. Many reported sightings and encounters are believed to be especially fervent worshippers casting any odd individuals as the god, but there is some reason to believe some specific accounts. Notably, the Nameless works almost entirely through coincidence, and these sightings of the same individuals tend to come at times when a thief might find them most interesting. These individual disguises, when they can be positively identified, are added to the lore of the cult and a new aspect of the god is created, usually with entirely new ceremonies and prayers. If the Nameless is displeased by any of this, it has yet to show it.The Old Beggar
"Before I went in to the duke's estate, I found myself accosted by an old man, human if I had to guess. He was filthy, his rags were so torn and soiled that they hardly could have protected him from the night's chill. So pathetic was this man that when he asked for alms, I tossed him my last silver. If I pulled off the heist, I would have been up several hundred anyway so what did I care, and the gods seem to like charity. He didn't thank me, he just smiled, and in his crooked teeth I could swear I saw the god's, that is our god's, own darkness. 'Torches, boy.' He croaked at me. 'Wary of torches, eh?' and promptly fell back into his drunken slumber. I hadn't had time enough to regret my act of kindness when out the corner of my eye I noticed it was a bit darker than it had been before. The streets and their lamps were quiet, and the torches of the lamplighters were flickering only dimly. All this in a nearly perfectly straight path to the upper window I had planned on slipping through. When I came back that way after a good haul, maybe not as fat a purse as I'd like but still nice and jingly, the old beggar was gone. Just a dirty silver coin in the street. I didn't pick it up. Shouting was starting at the estate, and I'd had to run and run good. You can bet that the second I got back to my boat, half my haul went overboard. Never had a problem with lights since."- The Prowler's Tale Adherents of the secret faith believe that the Nameless appears as the Old Beggar when aid is being offered directly by the god. He isn't always human, or old, or a man for that matter, but this aspect always takes the shape of the most miserable person you can imagine. The Nameless wallows in the performance, in the wretchedness of it. Sightings have included a particularly ugly prostitute, an entire gang of little pickpockets, and an infested prisoner hung out to die slowly, but most commonly it takes the shape of a beggar dressed in filthy scraps of rag.The Painted Lady
"She walks the docks in widow's black, painted lips asking for coin. She prowls the streets in search of marks. She comes suspiciously cheap, and she is suspiciously beautiful for the cost. She's a walking lesson for those who don't know any better. And she leaves her mark unseen to all but her faithful. Keep an eye out for black kisses on the neck of a rich fool. He's carrying good money, and he's a proven idiot."- A Pickpocket's Guide to Coppershore The Painted Lady is a prostitute that appears in cities with high populations of pickpockets. Those outside the cult of the Nameless believe her to be some kind of ghost or vampire, but those in the know call her an aspect of the god. She embodies the spirit of opportunity and manipulation. Anyone who pays for her services will find themselves losing money at an astonishing rate in the days to come. An invisible mark that any worshipper can detect seems to cloud the mind of the victim and render them more vulnerable to pickpockets, confidence tricks, and any scam of misdirection. She is celebrated in the cult as that which all thieves pray for- deep pockets poorly guarded. What few thieves that have taken the lady's generous offer find themselves shunted out of the Shadows the same night. Any thief that wears the mark of black is known to be a liability.The Shadowreaper
Those who worship the Nameless (and thieves in general) do not tend to live particularly long lives. When the time comes for the soul to be judged, the Nameless appears as the Shadowreaper to place their thumb on the scale and balance the judgement in the thief's favor. Nex Szar himself cannot see the Nameless when this happens. Every worshipper of the Nameless is sent to an afterlife of their choice, and which point the Nameless reveals one final secret before fully wiping itself from the shade's own memory, leaving them eternal rewards with no idea how they got there.The Mischievous Noble
There is a nobleman who manifests to tip the scales and lean heroes into specific directions. He seems legitimate and friendly, but often leads to the downfall of those he advises. This is a manifestation of The Nameless who makes things interesting for secrets, quests, and thieves. He most often goes by Tom Sparks and is forgotten by those he assists when they do what he wants.Divine Domains
The Nameless is the god of darkness, espionage, liberation, luck, and trickery.
Artifacts
The Nightstaff is a magical cudgel that allows whoever bears it to disappear into the shadows briefly, to sniff out particularly valuable treasures, and the see the hidden world of the Nameless from which all shadowsigns are derived. The Nightstaff can render anyone struck with it unconsious and has been known to leave any corpse it makes unidentifiable for a short time. The Nightstaff is handed to the high priest of the Nameless by the god itself in one of its hidden aspects. Of course, the high priest is always a secret, as any who are found with the staff immediately loses its power for failing to guard the secret.
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