Azuth
Azuth is the Celestial plane god of the Knowledge domain. He has many names and titles, including High One, Patron of Wizards, Patron of Mages, Lord of Spellcraft, Lord of Spells, Hand of Sorcery, The First Magister, The Prime, The Progenitor of Worlds, The Great Creator, The Gleam in the Eye, The Wandering Tinker, The Errant Explorer, The Creator-By-Thought, Holy Maker of All Things, Lord of All Smiths, The Gearsmith, and Inspiration Divine. He has been described as a most ambitious deity whose concerns include the perpetuation of the magical arts as a craft, arcane, rune and conjuration magic, smithing, learning, innovation and inventiveness. His domain is the gathering of knowledge regardless of its utility and the creation of novel inventions using the various findings. Azuth embodies the exploratory spirit that leads to acts of creativity. He pushes for innovation and imaginativeness, sometimes to a dangerous degree, as a result of his short-sighted desire to create. Across Kai, Azuth is associated with wizardry, creation, learning, philosophy, fertility, discovery, invention, and craft.
There are incomplete records documenting all of the different forms in which Azuth would announce himself. When he still manifested his avatar form, he would sometimes first appear as an incorporeal mouth with a beard and moustache. Sometimes this would be combined with cryptic omens in the form of puzzles, riddles, impossible objects, although the floating mouth wasn’t a prerequisite for leading with omens. As he ceased revealing himself as a full avatar, he was known to generate a number of images and symbols. These have included an upright glowing hand with a silver aura on the extended forefinger, an electric blue radiance or aura, a hammer wrapped in smoke, or a black eye in smoke with sound of hammering.
Azuth was said to take on several forms of avatars, however, religious texts indicate that he often appeared as an elderly dwarf with twinkling, blue-grey eyes, white hair, and a long, white beard. The height of his avatar was variable, ranging in height from 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall, to 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall, to 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall. He has been depicted as being dressed in a garbe of antique clothes and wielding a gem-topped staff. Additional documents state that his other forms include that of a brawny, red-hued smith; a short, slight man with straw-blond hair; or a gnome.
In lieu of this form, records indicate that he would telegraph his favour in a number of ways. He has been associated with the summon of gray coloured animals such as cats, dogs, or owls, as well as many different monsters including devas, aasimars, angels, archons (speciality lantern archons), ainheriars, electrum dragons, feystags, gynosphinxes, golems, pseudodragons, and even animated furniture. Followers associate his presences with the discovery of minerals such as king's tears and pearls. He is also associated with the colors of shimmering gray, silver, white, saffron, and crimson.
Azuth’s home on the Celestial plane was said to be an expansive cavern that could only be accessed by entering through the side of a hill in the realm of Buxenus. This cave was protected by a glamour that only those with a wizardly bent could see through, although they could guide others through it as well. This entrance led to a winding staircase which led further down until the whole cavern became visible. However, Azuth’s ambitious nature often kept him away from his home, and he was said to spend most of his time exploring and studying the Material plane.
Azuth faithful generally eschew formal religious clothing outside of a plain, homespun white outfit with vibrant sashes as wide as a hand, although High Old Ones donned simple silver circlets that dictated their status. They dress practically when in dangerous or unexplored territory, mostly favoring light armor and weapons and maneuverability over defense. Many also carry unique weapons, with most also carrying various items of widely varying defensive usefulness and reliability that they have invented and want to field-test.
His holy symbol is consist of two hands with wrists together, fingers pointing skyward, wreathed in a flaming toothed cog with four spokes. That said, followers of Azuth use a silver locket grafted to look like an open book as their holy symbols, and many keep small bits of lore (such as riddles, puzzles, and command words) inside the locket both in homage to their god and to keep them readily accessible in unexpected situations.
Power: 3/5 | Interest: 3/5 | Passion: 5/5 | Form: 3/5 | Thought: 4/5
Followers
| Loyalty | Influence | Size |
|---|---|---|
| 6/10 | 6/10 | 5/10 |
Azuth's church has access to resources to provide support to followers just about anywhere, either from the pooled resources of a large community or from a few wealthy followers.
The clergy of Azuth are collectively known as the Magistrati and include wizards, monks, and clerics within their ranks. Some of these include scholars and mages of runic and geometry magic. They tend more towards academic debate than caring for the sick and poor, but try their best at the latter.
Ironically, the church of Azuth are widely viewed as archaic in their tradition, pedantic in their debates, and oblivious to the real-world problems of Kai. They often possess a moral neutrality that has garnered an unfavourable opinion by the average layperson.
The clergy are dominated (85%) by specialty priests, the other 15% being regular clerics, and of those around a fifth train as fighters. Clerics frequently train loremasters, runecasters, or wizards. Novice Azuthans are known as the Curious, while full members are known as Seekers of Truth and Mystery. In ascending order of rank, priests are known by the titles of Questing Wanderer, Avid Fiddler, Philosophical Tinker, Seeking Scholar, Searching Sage, and Errant Philosopher, with High Old Ones of the church having individual titles and being collectively known as High Savants. Of the High Savants, the Stormazîn is deemed the Great Priest of Azuth and represents the peak of the religious hierarchy. The Stormazîn is always a priest of great power and holds the title for life. They are required to tend Azuth’s grand temple, but also regularly travel to attend various ceremonies and to sort out disputes between clergy members. The position is highly respected in societies that align with the Celestial plane, but they hold no official sway over non-religious matters despite their opinion being valued on the rare occasion they gave it.
All Azuth’s followers tend to work towards overcoming selfishness and leading a life free of malevolence. However, his clerics are also non-lawful, and his specialty priests are strictly altruistic and benevolent. Becoming a specialty priest also requires at least average intelligence and above average wisdom, as well as engineering skills. Azuth’s faithful are said to have the ability to use magical wizard and priest scrolls above their normal capabilities, but due to the incomplete nature of their understanding there is a chance the spell will be read incorrectly and malfunction. The odds of this failure increase based on the inexperience of the caster and difficulty of the magic, and the effects are equally likely to be beneficial, neutral, or detrimental.
Azuthans preferr to maintain their temples within large cities, align themselves with powerful magical guilds, and act as a sort of magical administration to facilitate communication between spellcasters and enforce “the Magebond” - a kind of fraternity or kinship between magic practitioners.
Orders
A few scattered congregations exist for Azuth around the world, and he has at a few orders dedicated to him. Ecumenical politics still muddles the message from time to time.
Loomwarden
A stern sect of the church of Azuth that was distrusting of sorcerers and the more chaotic nature of the power of Magic.
Spellsavants
This tolerant order of mages urges cooperation between all practitioners of the arcane and idealizes the cumulative efforts of humanity as a whole to push the boundaries of magical knowledge.
The Order of the Lost Tome
One knightly order of Azuth is known as the Order of the Lost Tome. It is a loosely structured fellowship of errant dwarven scholars on a mission to recover lost dwarven lore for the benefit of dwarves across the realms. The Knights of the Lost Time normally work independently, either by themselves or with unaffiliated adventurers (dwarven or otherwise). They combine investigative ability, a passion for learning, and the martial skill needed to best occupy fallen dwarf strongholds in order to obtain the information they seek.
Divine Domains
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Tenets of Faith
According to the teachings of Azuth, the secrets of the world are waiting to be uncovered. The primary task of followers is the recovery of lost and/or arcane knowledge, which was fittingly perceived as intrinsically valuable. A long-lost recipe and a crucial flaw in an enemy's defenses are equally valued, and given their strong preference for creation over destruction, there is a chance many will favor the recipe. They must travel the world and broaden their minds, particularly when it comes to intellectual matters, and often seek new experiences and ideas.
Followers of Azuth try different methods of doing things just for the fun of trying them and learn a little bit of everything in case it comes in handy. Not only are they instructed to pursue a scholarly life, but they have to cultivate the spirit of enquiry among young ones, and act as a teacher to all. They seek to advance nearly every field (even the most mildly interesting), and while some serve directly as instructors, others record and archive current ways for the benefit of future generations.
The faithful of Azuth are not forbidden from activities like drinking (and indeed an old joke refers to mead as the source of scholarly insight). Though he demands much from his devoted, Azuth rewards them with the satisfaction of a job well-done, and the assurance that it truly had been done well.
Furthermore, any priest or shaman of Azuth who stirkes another follower, whether purposely or not, is required to both leave the priesthood and give up all their worldly possessions.
Holidays
The Grand Feast
The Grand Feast is celebrated on the first day of the new year. On this day followers put aside their other responsibilities and have a massive feast celebrating the collected knowledge of the previous year. Ambassadors are sent from one church to another during these feasts to show their unity, and the Stormazîn honors a favored member of the clergy by dining with their congregation.
Greengrass and Highharvestide
The day begins with the faithful spending several hours in private meditation and introspection, normally while staring deeply into the flame of a single lit candle. Afterwards, whatever priests are nearby will spend the day presenting, discussing, and defending the discoveries they had made since the last gathering.
Other Holidays
Once a month the Stormazîn would hold a prayer vigil for Azuth in which they asked for his aid. Followers who are dealing with something difficult often join this ceremony.
Every two years, new priests are anointed by the Stormazîn in a ceremony dedicated to Azuth.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Body Features
Facial Features
Special abilities
Manifestations
Favored animals
- Gray cats
- Gray dogs
- Gray owls
- Gray mice
Favored monsters
- Devas
- Aasimars
- Angels
- Animated furniture
- Archons (Lantern archons)
- Einheriars
- Electrum dragons
- Feystags
- Gynosphinxes
- Golems
- Pseudodragons
Favored minerals
- King's tears
- Pearls
Favored colors
- Shimmering gray
- Silver, white
- Saffron, crimson
Miscellaneous
- Incorporeal mouth with a beard and mustache
- An upright glowing hand with a silver aura on the extended forefinger
- An electric blue radiance or aura
- Cryptic omens in the form of puzzles, riddles, impossible objects
- Hammer wrapped in smoke
- Black eye in smoke with sound of hammering
Apparel & Accessories
Personality Characteristics
Virtues & Personality perks
Vices & Personality flaws
Theologians have debated the nature of Azuth, noting that he is somewhat misunderstood. Stories of his dry wit and unending devotion to the pursuit of knowledge can rub others the wrong way. He was said to have a tendency to drift away from what he was doing to investigate something else that caught his notoriously capricious attention, often abandoning projects before he was done and usually before he found a use for his gathered knowledge. While celeebrated as an experimenter, some argue him as a meddler whose fiddling has ruined things he was not supposed to touch an inestimable number of times. Others have documented that he could be jolly, rather than chirpy, to the point of being frightening.
Personality Quirks
It is written that he has a dual nature. He is an omniscient god of learning and meditation who can spend a thousand years contemplating a single subject, while at the same time being an entity who acts on impulse and instinct. Azuth is considered by his followers to be patient, not caring about the passing of time due to his immortal nature, but simultaneously impatient for his long-reaching goals to reach their conclusion. They also say he can also be incredibly stubborn, refusing to change his mind once it was made up even if new evidence proved his decision wrong.
His followers say that whether or not the knowledge he is searching for has any practical application is irrelevant; he compulsively accumulates trivia and "useless" information, favoring knowledge for knowledge's sake.
All of his worshipers see him as the embodiment of the particular traits that the worshiper values. For example, he is seen as a massive glutton to some, an artist by others, and a reveler and warrior to others still.
Social
Contacts & Relations
The Raven Queen is my child, and they dishonor my name.
I love Eilistraee. If I could, I would be them.
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