Lord Ao the Overgod

(a.k.a. The Overgod, The Hidden One, The Watcher, The One Who is Hidden)

Lord Ao, known as the Hidden One or the One Who Is Hidden, is the Overgod of the worlds of Abeir-Toril and the multiverse, called a sphere, it resides within. As Overgod, all deities and Primordials of Abeir and Toril, are subject to him. To be more precise, all aspects of gods directly connected with Abeir-Toril are under Ao's power. Ao is reclusive and only rarely involves himself in the affairs of the multiverse, in fact if it were not for Ao's involvement in the Time of Troubles, he would likely have remained unknown to the mortals of Faerûn.
Ao only took physical form once, during the Time of Troubles. In that instance, he took the form of a being that was 12 feet tall, ageless (neither young nor old), with a visage that was not pleasant yet wasn't unpleasant, because it didn't have any remarkable features. He had a white beard and hair, and wore a black robe dotted by millions of stars and moons, arranged in a not-quite-perceptible pattern but which had a beautiful and harmonious feel. Otherwise, he is envisioned as a very literal beard in the sky, with only face and hands.
Ao's primary job is to ensure deities abide by the rules of the cosmos. Another of his functions is to decide which interloper deities are allowed in the sphere of Abeir-Toril and which mortals should be raised to godhood. If Ao doesn't allow it, a being cannot ascend to divinity, and an interloper deity could not enter the sphere or affect it in any way, regardless of how powerful it is.  Ao established some initial rules concerning the management of the divine.  For instance:

• No two gods in the same pantheon can have identical portfolios.

When two gods clashed, one of three results occurred:

• One god fades from the sphere.
• Both gods merge.
• One (or both) god(s) alter their portfolio(s) sufficiently that both could remain in or join the Faerûnian pantheon.

These rules were more problematic than they were worth, because they encouraged the gods to battle among themselves for supremacy. During the Second Sundering, Ao discarded such rules, reassigned portfolios, and created more flexible rules.
Theoretically, Ao can do anything he wants to. He is credited as the creator of the cosmos, and exists beyond concepts such as alignment and divine rank. He is more powerful than all the gods and Primordials of Abeir-Toril, even combined. In fact, Ao has the power to create gods out of thin air. In addition, unlike the gods under him, Ao does not need nor desire the worship of mortals, whereas those "normal" gods who do not receive the worship of mortals can die from lack of it. Ao initiated this after the Time of Troubles in order to enforce his will that the gods act as guardians of the Balance rather than kings of mortals. His powers are limited to the sphere of Abeir-Toril, however, and he cannot control or influence something from beyond it.

Divine Domains

All Domains

Divine Classification

Overgod

Realm

Abeir-Toril