Idaedon

God of Storms and Inspiration

Domains: Tempest, Forge
Weapons: Staff, Crossbow; Lightning, Thunder
Symbol: A stylized eye, with its iris a gear and its pupil a thunderbolt, dripping a single tear below its center; the constellation Pegasus
Dominion: Air, Rain, Storms, Inspiration, Epiphany, Invention, Potential, Passion, Grief, Rage, Big Ideas, Grand Acts, Luck, Chance, Philanthropy, Tinkers, Gamblers, Doers
Idaedon is the god of storms, inspiration, surging emotions, and the tides of chance. Impulsive, impatient, and with a mood that can turn as swiftly as the gathering storm, he generously grants inspiration and big ideas to mortals even as he just as frequently brings lightning, wind and rain to lash the world and its inhabitants. Every big emotion that mortals experience, Idaedon experiences tenfold, and the passions of mortals are said to be but a reflection or refraction of those of this over the top deity. He also rules the tides of chance, which are as mercurial as he, and he can bless someone's life with immense good fortune as easily as he can curse them with endless awful luck.
He has been muse to many of the greatest inventions in history, both physical constructs and social ideas, born from flashes of inspiration he has granted to famous mortal artificers and philosophers, to common laborers and mighty kings united by a creative spirit and desire to push past what they know. It is said that these great visions are not even fully known to him before he bestows them, instead representing a union of his unformed creative spark with mortal ingenuity to birth something greater than the sum of its parts. However, his storms have also abruptly ended many lives and toppled mighty monuments, sometimes saving grateful cities from invading fleets but sometimes ensuring that simple fishers who unwisely strayed too far from shore never see their families again.
Idaedon is something of a disruptive force, and his goals and motives change with the situation and what he sees as the needs of the moment. He is restless and ever moving, and for all that he is known for he is not known for patience or seeing through long projects and careful schemes. He enjoys bestowing brilliant ideas or prescient knowledge on mortals who seem bright to see what they do with those gifts, and those recipients who act decisively and intelligently to capitalize on these divine visions can earn his respect and further visions in the future. He also embodies the power and restless nature of the storm, and sees storms not as purely destructive or baneful but as a force of renewal and opportunity to carry things from one land to another or to challenge mortals to overcome adversity and better their standards. His lightning sets house and forest ablaze to clear the soil for new and more robust life as well as new creations. His is a broad spectrum vision of the "big picture" that he feels others are too tunnel-focused to see.

Idaedon's Tenets

Idaedon teaches that one must, first and foremost, act and take chances to make a mark on the world. People make their own luck by recognizing and seizing opportunity, but Idaedon's favor can weight the dice of chance for those who live life boldly. Don't waste time on the trivial, rote and mundane. Act decisively and boldly, but with sense and reason. Do not fall into the trap of comfortable habits, and instead always be questioning if there is a new and better way to do things.

Idaedon's Relationships

Idaedon mostly prefers to abide and work alone, so does not interact with other gods as often as do some of his peers. However, he is not entirely unsociable.
Idaedon is likely closest to Thala of all the gods. Her tempestuous anger when roused is closest to his, and her vast seas are the canvas upon and above which play out his greatest storms. Both he and she are also alike in being somewhat more concerned with the realization of their own passions vs being overly bound to the needs and desires of mortals. She is however calmer than he, helping balance his wilder passions, and her introspection and love of hidden things is complementary to Idaedon's deep thoughts. These two deities can thus be found spending days at a time engaged in philosophical discussion and spirited debate.
Xenoves cultivates the art of craft in his followers, and this speaks to Idaedon and his own hands-on nature. The two gods are on friendly terms, and not only frequently work together to create the greatest masterworks of the gods, but each also sometimes sees fit to bless the creative endeavors of each others' devout followers. While generally of firm and stable nature much like the earth which he embodies, Xenoves also conceals deep wells of fury which can burst out with literally volcanic rage when he is tried, and Idaedon sometimes stokes this fury by trying to get Xenoves to react when wronged instead of bottling it up.
Lyrium's sly and patient nature sometimes grates on Idaedon, who prefers to act rather than build webs of plans and contingencies, but the two also share much common ground and end up working together as much as do Idaedon and Xenoves. Lyrium is endlessly creative and cultivates that same trait in his followers, and while this typically manifests as works of music, drama, comedy or the like, the principle is something that Idaedon appreciates and upon which he often agrees to bestow his blessings. Lyrium also oversees love, which often begins or ends in the dramatic emotions that Idaedon rules.
Heliana's blazing sun dries up the rain and pierces the clouds, and her followers impose order on lands that to Idaedon should be left to adapt and thrive or die according to the luck, cunning and evolution of the lifeforms that abide there. She also sees herself as leader of the Gods, and Idaedon is loath to acknowledge any leader or to surrender any of his creative freedom. As such, he loathes Heliana above perhaps all other gods, to the extent that he thinks about them enough to care about them and their actions at all.
Katabis and Persereka's dominion is the Underworld's depths and the souls that pass through that darkened realm. Idaedon's winds can scarcely reach most of this demesne save for the caverns of Pandaemonium, and his inspiration cannot touch the shades of the dead in their trancelike fugue state, and so he gives little to no thought to Katabis or Persereka at all.

Worshipping Idaedon

As god of storms, Idaedon receives prayers in appeasement and to deflect his attention more often than to try to gain his attention and favor, most often with the aim of turning his eye from a travel party, fishing vessel, naval detachment, or the like. As god of inspiration, Idaedon receives prayers from those who want a vision of what they should do to make a great change, and those seeking an epiphany about some matter whether that be personal or creative or trying to solve a practical problem. As god of luck and the passions, Idaedon receives prayers not just from gamblers, but from those whose efforts to effect change or deal with an issue have hit their limit and who are at the whim of luck to succeed or survive. His favor is also sometimes sought by artists and by those seeking to consummate a deed born of some all-consuming emotion or trying to capture the essence of such in their works. However, he despises and rejects the worship of fools, and loathes vapidity and indecision.

Aikilnun

In the Khefiri pantheon of Nubir, Idaedon is known by the name Aikilnun. He is believed to have been the great inventor and problem solver of the Yahre-Nesyt, the legendary Court of Sun and Moon, whose astounding but inerrantly correct leaps of logic found solutions to some of the greatest problems of ancient Nubir. It is Aikilnun who wrestled the secrets of the storm away from the titan of Tempest known as the Flensing Gale, stilling the apocalyptic storms said to once flay Nubir and bringing forth the more dependable if still powerful monsoon cycle to bless the land. It is Aikilnun who then developed the science by which the priests of Nubir gauge the annual floods of the Idam and other floodplain rivers upon which Nubir depends, thereby knowing how to direct agriculture and other projects of the state for the next year. It is Aikilnun who would risk everything to bring forth brilliant, dramatic solutions to otherwise intractable problems plaguing the Court and their subjects. Along with the rest of the Yahre-Nesyt, his great deeds allowed him to ascend and take his place among the Eternals who guide mortals in this life.

Idaedon's Champions

Suggested Classes: Artificer, Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Wizard
Suggested Backgrounds: Entertainer, Guild Artisan, Hermit, Sage, Sailor
Many champions of Idaedon are creative, driven, and passionate. The raging berserker, the musician who pours their soul into every song, and the magus who delights in subtly shifting their cant so that each spell manifests a bit differently from the last can all be beloved of Idaedon. He is also followed by those who respect the power of the storm and wish to bring it to bear in their own affairs, whether to smite their enemies or travel with a wind ever at their back; and by those whose lives and fortunes depend on the roll of the dice and who live moment to moment, taking what comes.
Clerics of Idaedon have special rules compared to other clerics.

• Spellcasting: You learn and cast spells as a Wild Magic sorcerer, not a cleric, including having a finite number of spells known. The higher of your Intelligence or Wisdom is the ability score that controls your spellcasting. The spells from your chosen domain (Forge or Tempest) are bonus spells known and not random, but every other spell you know is randomly determined and can come from any spell list; you can retrain them at level up, but they will get rerolled again. Every spell and cantrip you learn in this way is a cleric spell for you.
• Wild Magic: Your magic has a chance of triggering Wild Surges like a Wild Magic sorcerer. When you cast a leveled spell, roll d20 + half the spell's level rounded up; on a result of 20 or higher, the spell triggers a Wild Surge. At 14th level, you gain the Wild Magic sorcerer's Controlled Chaos ability, rolling twice on the Wild Surge table when a surge happens and choosing either result. Remember that surges happen in addition to your spell, not in place of the spell.

Idaedon's Favor

What brought Idaedon's path together with yours? You may roll or choose on the table below for ideas, or develop an idea of your own with the GM.
d6 / Circumstance

1. You were born amid a great storm that ravaged your village.
2. You or one of your parents were struck by lightning but miraculously survived.
3. Your invention solved a problem for your village or a local leader and caught Idaedon’s attention.
4. You solved a riddle, puzzle or cipher that was previously thought unsolvable.
5. You give your life to chance and live large, sharing your blessings with others when luck goes your way.
6. You fell from a great height, but a fortuitous wind carried you to safety.

Earning and Losing Piety

You increase your piety score with Idaedon when you expand or shore up his influence in a concrete way, including but not limited to:

• Helping others come to a meaningful epiphany
• Innovating a useful invention or practice to solve a problem or respond to a threat
• Creating something that changes peoples' lives
• Sharing your blessings with others when luck favors you

Your piety score to Idaedon decreases if you diminish Idaedon's influence in the world, contradict his ideals, or make him look ridiculous or ineffectual through acts such as these:

• Suppressing or trying to steal credit for a good idea
• Displaying complacency and settling for "okay"
• Hiding useful innovations away to keep them to yourself
• Selfishly hoarding the blessings of good fortune

As a champion of unusual standing in the world, you receive benefits as your piety score rises. If you are a cleric or paladin of Idaedon, you start with a piety to Idaedon of 3.

Initiate (Piety 3+)

You gain Inspiration when you have and execute on a smart idea that yields a great result or you take a big risk that is successful, or you perform an act that gains you piety. You also have advantage on rolls to know about Idaedon, his servants, and his works, and you know (the DM warns you) before you commit to an act that would displease Idaedon.

Devotee (Piety 10+)

As a devotee of Idaedon's mysteries, your creativity and passion has satisfied the storm god. You learn either the gust cantrip or the booming blade cantrip (choose one), and learn either the faerie fire spell or the thunderous smite spell (choose one). Choose Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma to be your casting modifier for these spells. You can use the cantrip at will, and the spell a number of times per day equal to your casting modifier. If you are a spellcaster, treat the cantrip and spell as bonus spells known of your class that are always prepared.

Votary (Piety 20+)

Idaedon bestows upon you the secret of Idaedon's Inspiration. Whenever you want, but no more than once per round, you can ask the GM for a clue or hint the party has not yet discerned about an opponent, puzzle, obstacle, or other situation which your party is having trouble figuring out. You can't control the nature of the hint you receive and it may not be useful to you personally, but it will at least be relevant or useful to your party as a whole, even if you don't necessarily understand it right away. You can use this ability a number of times equal to the higher of your Intelligence or Wisdom modifier (minimum 1), and regain all uses after an extended rest (1 week in civilization). Additionally, you gain resistance to lightning and thunder damage.

Disciple (Piety 40+)

Idaedon's blessing gives you power to channel the storm. Once per turn when you deal damage to one or more creatures or objects, you can deal either an additional 2d6 lightning or thunder damage to one target you damaged, or 1d6 to all targets you damaged. Alternately, you can invoke this power during a creative effort to work with a frenzy of inspiration, gaining advantage on the check and taking half as long. Either way, you can use this ability a number of times per day equal to the higher of your Intelligence or Wisdom modifier (minimum 1), and regain all uses after a long rest. Additionally, you gain immunity to falling damage.

Champion (Piety 60+)

Idaedon's surpassing favor fills your being with a brewing storm that bides and builds up power. You gain immunity to lightning and thunder damage. Additionally, your disciple ability recharges after a short rest instead of a long rest, and you gain an additional use for it - you may spend one use of the ability to be able to walk at your speed on air and liquids as if they were solid ground until the end of your turn. If you are in the air at the end of your turn, you descend up to 30 feet safely before falling the rest of the way.
Additionally, increase your Intelligence or Wisdom score by 2, and also increase your maximum for that score by 2.