Athar

Who Claim the Gods are Frauds

Ascendant Sigil Faction, Lower Ward

The Athar believe that the gods are impostors. For all their might, the so-called deities are merely mortals who have accumulated enough power to convince the rest of the multiverse otherwise. With enough time, talent, and dedication, anyone could ascend to godhood.
Defiers accept that there might be true deities that oversee everything, but such beings are beyond comprehension. They assert that worshipers of the gods draw their power from unknowable sources-false gods simply take the credit.
The Athar aren't fools. They let the powers that be call themselves gods, while the faction works subtly to discover the secret behind the curtain of the multiverse and look on the unknowable.
The Athar are led by the human Factol Terrance. While many Defiers become bitter, Terrance remains compassionate, pointing wayward souls toward truth like a friendly guide-a guardian and shepherd of priests who fall from their previous devotions. Terrance reveres an entity known as the Greater Unknown, which he believes is the source of all divine power. In fact, every day he is known to cast Legend Lore in an attempt to learn more about the Greater Unknown.

Goals

1. To prove publicly the falsity of the so-called gods.
2. To lessen or destroy their influence.
3. To part the veil of the unknowable to glimpse the truth of divinity.

Role in Sigil

The Athar gather in the Shattered Temple, a place once dedicated to Aoskar , a now-dead god of portals. Rather than serve in Sigil's government, the Athar's self-appointed spy network closely surveils the city's faiths. When a temple pushes a god's influence too strongly, the Athar either deal with the problem themselves or leak the information to a faction that will, such as the Harmonium.
The Prime Exchange Committee is overseen by Factor Caylean (male tiefling range, more jovial than other defiers and always ready with a quip). In Sigil, primes (those who originate from the Prime Material Plane) are not the most valued members of society, though neither are the Athars. So Caylean reaches out on the down-low to help quietly offer services to the Clueless while proselytizing about the Greater Unknown.
Factor Hobbard is a pessimistic, old, and drab defiler Githzerai. He run the Temple Oversight Committee, a boogeyman for many of the theistic temples around Sigil. Hobbard uses a small army of what some call "thugs" to intimidate the temples into giving up their infomation on taxes, donations, and religious texts to ensure that the Lady's law is enforced, and religious riots don't occur again as they did many years ago. Unlike many others of the Athar, Hobbard and his ilk are staunchly antitheistic. They are not stupid, understanding the Gods have powers far exceeding their own, but he believes he can whittle down the worship and belief in the Gods, and strip them down of any false divinity.
Factor Kesto Brighteyes (300 year old gnome) has bad blood with Factol Terrance but was still made Factor and runs the Fifteen Chanters. Kesto is a staunch believer and proponent of "all knowledge for all peoples," leading him to publish secret information of the multiverse and other factions in the editorial, though he has never been wrong, always maintaining integrity with his verified sources. He owns a bookshop, now managed by a gnome named Cleve, due to Kesto's other work. Despite being fairly well off, Kesto refuses to comb his beard or buy nicer clothes than his sack-tunic. He rarely leaves the Temple's grand library. Kesto is also known as a "truther" among the Athar, believing...

"The truth of the Great Unknown can be uncovered by observing the known Multiverse. It's clear that some high divinity must exist once you start digging into the mechanics and natures of the Planes."
-Factor Kesto Brighteyes

Faction History

First formed about 900 years ago, the Athar are among the oldest factions in Sigil.
During the Great Upheaval, the Athar were forced out of Sigil, creating a base at the foot of the spire, and has long since been abandoned. Rumors swirl that Dendradis may be remnants of this temporary headquarters.
They finally returned to the Shattered Temple about 300 years ago, following a war started by the now-defunct Revolutionary League. Their return immediately angered the Harmonium and Doomguard nearly starting another war as the three had skirmishes for years. They were eventually forced to sign a blood pact, promising that no war would come, and giving the Doomguard the Armory. This forced the Harmonium to ally itself with the Mercykillers and Fated to battle the Athar in the political arena, where the Athar lacked real influence.
With the battle of blades and words going poorly, the Athar sought to instead change the hearts and minds of the the people, offering tours across the temple, ending with entering a portal to the Astral Sea where the remains of six dead gods lay, though this too proved ineffectual and was soon shut down by the Lady. The rise of the Believers of the Source (see Mind's Eye) was seen as a rivalry, and the Athar began aggressively proselytizing and attempting to stop others from seeking the services of the Godsmen.

Factol: Terrance
Headquarters: Shattered Temple, Lower Ward
Aligned Plane: Astral Plane
Members: Disillusioned worshipers, skeptics
Epithet: Defiers
Faction Attire: Defiers wear geometric, starry fabrics taht hint at their astral ties. They adorn their outfits with silver chains and broken holy symbols.
Allies: Mind's Eye

Type

Political, Faction / Party

Encounters: During Act 1 Session 02: The Laboratory the players found evidence of Athar attire next to originator crystals. But is it a clue, or a red herring?