The Athar

The Athar are a faction in the Planescape setting. The foundation of their philosophy is that the beings called gods -- Zeus and Thor and Pelor and Mystra and Bahamut and all those entities worshipped all over the planes -- are not worthy of worship.
Divine power, the Athar believe, comes from faith and conviction, and one need not worship a god to cultivate it - one can simply believe in one's self, and power all the divine miracles of any cleric. The gods falsely claim monopoly over this power, and act like petty tyrants, with holy wars and fragile egoes and totalitarian attitudes toward their worshipers.

Hey, you berk! If the gods really cared, do you think you’d be here?

- Factol Terrance of the Athar

History of the Athar

The faction began centuries before the Great Upheaval, soon after two cutters - Dunn and Ciro - encountered one another in Sigil amid the ruins of the Shattered Temple. The shrine existed in its broken state even back then, but Dunn and Ciro looked at its decay from very different viewpoints. See, Dunn had been bilked of everything he possessed by the jealous god Poseidon. His wealth lay in the treasury of the sea gods temple in the gate-town of Sylvania. His wife, lured from him by the chief priest, now graced the enclosed pools of that cleric’s Arborean pavilion. His daughter had been swept away to the plane of Arborea by the power’s proxy. Dunn eyed the Shattered Temple seeking a way to make Poseidon as dead as Aoskar, the power once worshiped there. Ciro had more of a philosophical bent. He, too, had lost his possessions to a god - Loki - and the god's religious hierarchy. But he’d found he liked his unencumbered life. Roaming the multiverse as an itinerant sage suited him more than slaving in a counting house to maintain a modest town house with its oak furnishings. But Ciro wondered why a power should need to bribe his priests with gold, should require the belief of worshipers to feed his immortality, if he were really a god. Surely divine beings, if they existed, followed different rules than the mortals of the planes. They’d be stronger, yes, like the powers are. Yet deities ought to possess fewer weaknesses, too - they shouldn’t need faith as men needed food, and they should ably support their priests through divine means, rather than stripping poor mortals’ hard-earned jink.
Athar historical texts say that Ciro, adrift in mental meandering, would have overlooked Dunn completely had not that basher mistaken the philosopher for a last surviving believer in Aoskar and attacked him! The outcome is well-known: the duel of swords, followed by the duel of words, followed by a mutual pledge to meet among the ruins again in half a year bringing tales of their deeds against the powers, along with a few like-minded recruits.
Their numbers grew slowly, and obscurity marked the early years of the Athar - a fortunate fact for a group with such controversial ideas as destroying worship of the powers. Eventually, the Harmonium, which uses religion to generate conformity and harmony, realized the full weight of Athar philosophy. The Hardheads diverted their patrols to make a full-scale attack on the Shattered Temple, the faction’s de facto headquarters. The Lady of Pain soon put a stop to such blatant proceedings - all it took was sending the factor behind this movement to the Mazes. However, the Harmonium continued the war with discrete guerilla raids for a long time. When physical efforts failed, they moved the dispute into the Hall of Speakers, pulling the Mercykillers and Fated into the fray on their side.
The members of the Athar fought back, both on the streets and in the Hall, but reserved the bulk of their efforts to attack the minds of Sigil’s populace. They started giving tours of their headquarters, and taking cutters out into the Astral to show them the bodies of dead powers. They also began publishing anonymous propaganda pieces designed to “prove” the gods were frauds through reason, comic illustration, or the stories of individuals bilked by the powers. Both initiatives continue to this day.
Long after the Harmonium gave up, the Believers of the Source made new trouble for the Athar. The Godsmen began erecting small shrines for their more prestigious members. Though initially the shrines centered around the Great Foundry, construction soon moved toward the Shattered Temple.
The Godsmen’s invasion of both the Defiers’ mental territory and physical precinct did not sit well.
The Athar responded by training proselytizers of their own to wait at the false altars and accost would-be worshipers. Their first tactic? Distraction. Defiers made up stories to convince the erring berks that they had business elsewhere, perhaps giving them “news” of a friend newly returned to Sigil. If distraction failed, the Lost attempted direct persuasion, elaborating on the folly of revering normal beings as gods. Only when both distraction and persuasion produced no effect might the proselytizer resort to physical violence. The Defiers grew so skilled at turning away prospective tithers, the Godsmen declared the cost of maintaining the personal shrines prohibitive. The altars abandoned, the two factions forgot their hostility: the similarity of their philosophies brought friendlier relations.
Under Factol Terrance relations with the Godsmen have improved and the faction has steered away from its more confrontational methods of proselytizing.

Faction Philosophy

According to these folks, the great and feared powers are liars! Those who claim to be the "gods" of the planes are just mortals like us. Yeah, they're unbelievably powerful, but they're not gods. After all, they can die, they've got to keep their followers happy, and they often feud among themselves like children. Thor, Zeus, and the others - they're all impostors. Sure, there might be a true god, or maybe even more than one, but such power is beyond all understanding. Such beings cannot be seen, spoken to, or understood by mortals. What's the proof? Look at the spells and granted powers of priests. Where do these abilities really come from? Why, it must be from the unknowable, from the true god that is behind everything, and the powers are nothing but channels for its will. Foolish mortals believe the powers are the source of all majesty, and why would the powers do anything to correct that mistake? Ysgard, Mechanus, Baator, and the like are all lies, too. These planes aren't the abodes of supreme beings, just lands shaped by the wills of the powers. Anyone could do it with enough expertise. All the sweat and worry of petitioners ain't just for oneness with their plane - it's for a greater reward, if there's any at all. Proxies are merely magical or bio-magical transformations, the result of natural planar magic. 'Course, the Athar ain't stupid. "Let the powers call themselves gods," they say. "It ain't worth the laugh, because there's no point upsetting the powers." With all that might, an angry power'd be a dangerous enemy. All the Athar want is to part the veil, discover the secret behind everything, and look on the face of the unknowable.

Roleplaying the Athar

Not all the Lost are hitter, hut most have had a power turn stag on ’em. That’s why folks join the Defiers, and a lot of them cany around a heavy load of cynicism, paranoia, and resentment. Whatever their attitude, Defiers follow the Rule of Three by having three main goals: to prove publicly the falsity of the so-called gods, to lessen or destroy their influence, and to part the veil of the unknowable to glimpse the truth.

Alignment

Defiers of various ethical systems all look at the Athar philosophy a little differently. A hasher with a bent, toward charity wants to save the “faithful" sods from suffering the pain of the inevitable betrayal by their powers. A few Lost value honesty, and so find motivation in a love of truth. Self-centered Defiers hope to pull down the powers to leave more room for their own schemes to gain wealth, pleasure, or even revenge: Strip the false gods of power by stripping them of believers. ’Course, the Defiers who naturally refrain from passing judgment still detest shams. What is, is - and fraudulent gods only muddy the waters. Lawful Athar think a berk who follows the wrong guidelines: he needs to see past the powers to the order of the great unknown. Chaotic Defiers insist that the multiverse has no rhyme or reason and think the powers just form part of a false veneer of order. The neutral Lost believe the phonies distort the balance between law and chaos.

Class

A basher's profession determines the reason for joining the faction and the methods used to pursue its aims. Fighters seek combat with all who serve powers and believe that the truth will out in melee. Rangers consider deities who enslave animals more vile than others and claim that animals in their natural state provide clues to sublime truths. Paladins hope to convert all beings from worship of their idols to reverence for the true (although unknown) source of all majesty. Priests also look beyond the powers in search of the Great Unknown god. Druids insist the powers interfere with the natural cycles of the multiverse and want to see them operate without these interlopers. Wizards claim the powers deliver tainted magic, and thieves want ecclesiastic wealth for themselves.

Race

Many planars in the Great Ring serve a power and would never join the Athar (nor find themselves welcome). This fact makes the Lost less multicultural than some other factions, such as the Believers of the Source and the Free League. Bariaur, half-elves, humans, tieflings, dwarves, elves, gnomes, and halflings are all well represented. Githzerai seem few and far between, though: The majority revere either their race's nameless wizard-king or the legendary Zerthimon as god.

Faction Membership

Folks can join the Lost just by presenting themselves at the Shattered Temple. Some of these namers find jobs at the Temple. All of 'em must provide room and board fro needy factotums, since the temple itself offers no housing. The faction treasury gives them a bit of jink for this service, but not enough to cover all the costs. The excess? Consider it the namer's contribution to the cause. Defier factotums are called athoons, a term meaning "godless" in the sacred tongue used by priests of the dead power Aoskra. A namer becomes an athaon in a night ceremony in the Shattered Temple. The basher must bring three articles (weapons, books, or symbols) imbued with the magic of a fraudulent god and destroy them all at the proper time during the rite. IN addition to the room and board an athaon can recieve from namers, a Defier factotum recieves steady work from the factors. Low-level athaons generally function as guards, messengers, or technical experts. Mid-ranked athaons (4th to 7th level) serve as envoys, independent operatives, or overseers. Athaons wanting to advance to factor rank must cause significant victory over a power or its proponents. Routing a battalion of hell hounds dispatched by Hectae might do. Slaying a paladin of Ra? Definetly. The factors choose the replacement factol when the office-holder dies, resigns, or grows incompetent. Candidates for the top position must defile an active chapel or temple before assuming tha factol's dignities. (Methods of defilement depend on the deity the temple honors. They may be as simple as uttering a profanity or as challenging as stealing the temple's most sacred item and burning the place down.) For all too many factors, their first attempt at this requisite is also their last. See, when a body pushes a power too far, it pushes back - hard.

Primary plane of Influence

The Astral, where the Athar point to the bodies of the dying powers as proof of their beliefs. The Athar headquarters in Sigil is the Shattered Temple, a place once dedicated to the now dead and forgotten god Aoskar.

Allies and Enemies

Allies: The Godsmen get along well with the Athar, because both groups believe that the powers aren't anything special. The Godsmen say that they've ascended up the karmic ladder, and the Athar say they're complete phonies.
Enemies: The Sign of One is the most recent enemy to the Athar, but not because of basic philosophies. The recent events of the Sign of One and the rumors floating around concerning the belief that the Signers are going to imagine a dead god back to life. Needless to say, the Aasimon, as servants of the powers, don't quite get along with one another. There's even a rumor that in the Upper Planes, there's a Planetar that's offering five hundred gold per Athar head brought it. As a rule, the Athar try to stay away from the Upper Planes. However, the other Upper Planar paramortals: Archons, Guardinals, and Eladrin really don't have anything against the Athar (although for the Archons it's shaky at best) because of their non-affiliation with the powers.
Priests of any sort will almost never tolerate an Athar. An Athar should consider himself lucky if he manages to survive an encounter with a priest of a power: while a priest might normally be dedicate to peace, sometimes it's almost as if the priest's deity reaches out through his servant to strike down the disbeliever.

Eligibility

The Athar are one of the few factions with class restrictions. Priests of specific deities are never members of this faction, since it's impossible to maintain faith in a "charlatan" deity. General clerics (believers in the greater power) can be members, though. Members can be of any race or alignment.

Faction Abilities

All Defier ranks prove immune to the following faith-based spells: banishing smite, banishment, dispel evil and good, divine word, planar ally, planar binding, and plane shift. The Lost all also pay a price for their defiance: Priests of specific deities may not aid known faction members with spells or other uses of divine power, particularly healing. Only extreme situations might lead a priest to violate this ban. 'Course, no Defier blood would accept this aid anyhow.
Athaons recieve a +2 bonus to their saving throws against spells cast by clerics, proxies, and servants of any of the powers. The bonus also applies to spell-like abilities of creatures such as devas and baatezu serving a power. The banishing skill of groups of four or more athanons remains the Athar's most prized ability.
Factors (9th level or above) learn special obscurement technique that cloaks them from observation by powers and their minions. Priests, divine servants, and the powers themselves using spells or spell-like abilities to locate or discover information about an Athar factor can do so only after a succesful saving throw. Obscurment counters the following wizard spells or abilities: detect evil and good, see invisibility, locate object, clairvoiance, magic mirror, contact other plane, sending, ensnarement, legend lore, foresight. It also counters these cleric spells and spell-like abilities: augury, detect lie, divination, find the path.
Only rarely and with the utmost discretion does the Athar use its most beloved asset: the power of banishment, as the 7th-level wizard spell. Four or more midlevel athaons (of at least 4th level) may link hands, encircling their target. By concerted force of will (one round in which they may perform no other action), they can banish petitioners, servant creatures, or proxies of a power back to the gods domain on his home plane. Petitioners who fail the saving throw are banished, unable to leave their power's realm for a year. Servant creatures who fail the saving throw find themselves constrained for a month, and banished proxies stay confined for a week. For every athaon in the circle beyond the minimum of four, the target suffers a -1 penalty to the saving throw. Unlike the spell, Athar banishment works only on represantatives of a power and requires no material components.

Restrictions

Because Athars deny the validity of the powers, priests of specific deities can't provide known Athars with aid in the form of spells and magical devices, particularly those of healing. Only the most dire circumstances can compel a priest to violate this restriction. 'Course, no self-respecting Athar would let any toadie of a power touch him, anyway...

Safe Houses

On the Outlands and the far reaches of the Great Ring, the Defiers use abandoned religions huildings for refuge: any place the powers have left a footprint. When the faction’s enemies’ve got the upper hand, the Lost find inspiration in reminders that the works of the false gods don’t last. Ruined abbeys, empty convents, toppled hermitages, and decrepit chapels form a network of places to go to ground. They stock their rundown sanctuaries with food, wine, bedding, clothing, and extra weaponry. The more perilous or vital spots have resident caretakers.
Many of these ruins are haunted - so goes the chant among the locals. ’Course, the Athar only encourage such superstitions by impersonating ghosts or other undead. If the natives avoid the area, the chances of anyone unearthing the hideaway are few.

Faction Life

Many members of the Athar see the need to tell the truths that they're seen: the powers are false and people can't be fooled any longer. Some become scholars, figuring that when people are exposed to the truth that they'll see the error of their false worships. These are the people who write long treatises on the truths of the multiverse and the mysteries of the Veil. Some, discontent with books, turn their pens to the paper to churn out pamphlets and flyers that are distributed throughout the city. They are always ready for new information to add to their opuses, and always ready to engage in a scholarly debate on the true nature of the multiverse and the 'powers' within them. Others are less content to sit. These are the preachers, an ever-present factor in the Lower Ward and beyond. They stand on their soap-boxes denouncing the 'powers' and their 'servants' for all that they're worth. Usually they stay out of the Hive, as it is too dangerous (or maybe is it the fact that nobody cares?), and the Harmonium don't let them raise too much of a stink in the Lady's Ward or the Clerk's Ward: they keep too tight a fist on those sections to let the Athar make such a rucus. They'll scream about the falsehood of the powers until their face is red, usually using their powers of public speaking to sway large audiences to their cause.
One could imagine that the Athar run into trouble more than once during their controversial lives. For that reasons, there are Athar dispatched as "troubleshooters", as they are affectionatley known, to deal with any situations that might arise. They guard Athar highups and dignitaries, and deal with any situations that might arise with the god-obsessed members of the Sign of One. Some are no better than trained muscle that follows the leaders of their leaders. However, some of them can think for themselves and have other, more normal jobs, in civilian life.

Notable Faction Members

Name	Rank	Race	Class	Gender	Description
Factol Terrance	Factol	Human	Cleric	Male	A gentle, peacful figure
Factotum Caylean	Factotum	Tiefling	Ranger	Male	Optimistic and cheerful
Factotum Hobard	Factotum	Githzerai	Wizard	Male	A pessimistic, drap figure
Tobias Gnoas	Factor	Human	Cleric	Male	Proud, serious, and dedicated to the Athar. Runs the Citadel.
Garla Fistan	Factotum	Half-Elf	Cleric	Female	Handles administrative tasks for the Citatdel.
Ridgath Ro	Factotum	Bariaur	Fighter	Male	Trains the guards for the Citadel.
Bria Mossiki	Factotum	Human	Wizard	Female	Runs the library at the Citadel.

The gods are frauds; the unknowable truth lies beyond the veil.

Founding Date

~Hashkar -775

Alternative Names

Defiers, Agnosticists, The Lost

Demonym

The Defiers

Leader

Factol Terrance

Controlled Territories

• Athar Citadel
• The Shattered Temple