Apollo

Apollo is an interloper deity of music, light, and healing who originated from another plane of existence and is considered the third greatest member of the olympian pantheon.

Description

Apollo's avatar typically appeared as a well-muscled, incredibly handsome young man.

In his true form, he was a beardless young man who rarely wore clothing.

Apollo possessed an enchanted +7 composite longbow made of silver, with the weapon qualities holy, mighty, speed, and disruption. Along with this bow he had +5 arrows,[note 2] twenty in total at any time, that were made of adamantite. Those struck by these arrows would instantly fall ill with a supernatural disease.[note 3] Apollo also had a golden, magical lyre with a wide variety of abilities. These included raising an ally's strength to that of a storm giant, bestowing curses, and casting disintegrate.

Personality

Apollo is a tolerant deity, generally benevolent and helpful, but terrible whenever he gets angry. He values peace, forgiveness, and justice, strongly disdaining vengeance. And though forgiving, he is intolerant of those who willfully commit acts of evil or are unrepentant criminals that make a living through dishonest means, thus he is an advocate of strict laws or penalties for outlaws.

One aspect of Apollo that stands out from the rest of his personality is the vanity he has towards his musical prowess.

Divine Realm

Apollo resides within a temple on Mount Olympus, in the divine realm of Olympus. It is made entirely of beaten gold, which shines intermittently with the sun. On either side of the entrance's interior where his representatives gauge whether a performer or philosopher is worthy of entering. In the throne room sunlight floods in from all corners, focusing on the throne. Off to the side of the throne room are a feasthall and a rehearsal room.

Behind the temple stands an amphitheater, made of white marble and carved into the southern mountainside, where talented playwrights can enact their work and mortal poets can recite verses honoring him. Across from the amphitheater stands a debate hall, where philosophers can get into heated discussions.

Activities

Whenever Apollo is fond of a human he is likely to give them needed advice or aid them indirectly in battles. Such as giving archery skills, gifting his enchanted adamantite arrows, healing them, or using his prophetic power to advise.

Beyond individual humans, he is likely to help ripen crops, destroy pests, cure illnesses, and protect shepherds and their flocks.

Whenever he needs to send lesser proxies out on a mission, he prefers to use pers and solars.

Dogma

Apollo urged his followers to be bold and relentless when facing evil, but to make peace where they could and try to help those who strayed atone for their misdeeds. They were also urged to provide compassion to the victims of evil and to appreciate the finer things in life, most of all music. Additionally, they were urged promote the lawful administration of their local government.[note 5]

Clergy

The priests of his faith typically wielded bows and arrows, nets, or staves as weapons. They wore laurel leaves, along with tunics of a golden or yellow hue, as part of their priestly vestments. They were required to use laurel wood in their devices. They had access to spells from the charm, divination, healing, and sun spheres. They particularly had access to the spells cure disease, heal, augury, and divination.

His priests generally served in peaceful roles, such as advisors, diplomats, teachers of music and song, oracles, or healers. Though they weren't afraid to take up arms when needed.

Temples

On the worlds where he was worshiped, temples to Apollo were usually constructed in sunny areas, near caves or hot springs. These temples typically featured hospitals for the sick and divination chambers where his oracles divined the future.

Temples of Apollo built within cities were usually shared with the worshipers of his twin, Artemis.

Relationships

Apollo was respected by all members of the Olympian pantheon, but had no true friends among them besides his siblings Hermes and Artemis. The Olympian Pan had an intense dislike of him for usurping many of his portfolios and would often play practical jokes on him.

The Celtic deity Diancecht got into bitter disputes with him at times, due to the latter obsessively wanting to be the best healer in the multiverse. He had a secret friendship with another Celtic deity, Goibhniu, despite Zeus's forbiddance of fraternizing with the Celtic pantheon. He was also friends with Mitra of the Lords of Creation, Seker, and Amaterasu. And he admired the Oerthian deity Trithereon's zeal for creativity.

He considered himself an enemy of all deities of darkness and harm.

History

Apollo was born with the goddess Artemis to the Olympian god Zeus and a greater titan by the name of Leto.

One day Apollo was watching over a herd of cattle when his newly born sibling (from a different woman), Hermes, came and stole them, hiding them within a mountain cave. An act which left him with a distaste for thieves for many years. While he went looking for the lost cattle, Hermes fashioned a lyre for Apollo as a gift of appeasement. He was Later gifted pan pipes by Hermes, for which he gave the golden caduceus that Hermes would be widely known for. He later gifted these pan pipes to Pan in return for some unknown service.

On the first world the Olympians were worshiped on, Apollo had a particularly famous oracle at a place called Delphi. He later took this oracle, named Pythia, and established a site on Mount Olympus for her where deities in need of advice could seek aid.

As the Olympians grew to be among the most influential pantheons on the Outer Planes over the course of a few thousands years, Apollo would establish an oracle on every Prime Material world where the Olympians had influence. And along the way he siphoned followers from the Mulhorandi deity Ra by appropriating his portfolio of light.

At some point Apollo also usurped many portfolios of Pan, particularly that of music.

Some centuries prior to the Time of Troubles, a group of Olympian worshipers from another world brought their faith to the Raurin Desert on Toril and formed cities such as Medinat Muskawoon. From his dealings with the city, the mage Martek would come to learn of Apollo.[note 4]

Centuries later, Apollo one day bumped into Hermes outside of the palace of Zeus. His siblings proceeded to boast of his scheme to stir up controversy among the Olympians, involving a group of Torilian adventurers that had mistakenly entered the plane of Olympus by ascending the island of Achea. Intrigued, Apollo wagered a hundred golden apples on the mortals' success, which Hermes then counter wagered his best lyre that the mortals could never secure the favor of Daphne, a nymph that had recently caught Zeus's eye. The two deities then began using magic to closely observe the progress of the mortals.

The mortals' quest lead them to undertake three labors for Daphne's father, the wood elf King Hiyawat. The third of these labors took them to the chained Prometheus, who they defended from one of his vulture torturers. For their aid he informed the adventurers of the fate of Hiyawat's people, then for saving him a second night he informed them of how they were pawns in Hermes' elaborate wager with Apollo. Including the exact bets that each of them made. He then warned them that whoever lost the wager would likely hold a grudge against them.

Some time long after this, rumors circulated in the city of Sigil that someone may have killed Apollo within his home temple on Olympus.

Apollo

Intermediate deity

Basic Information

Titles

Apollo Acesius
Phoebus Apollo
The Archer God
The Farshooter
The Healer
The God of Light
The God of Truth
The Musician of the Gods

Pantheons

Olympian

Attributes

Alignment

Chaotic Good

Symbol

Lyre

Realm

Olympian Glades of Arborea/Olympus/Mount Olympus/Apollo's Temple

Portfolio

Healing, Light, Music, And Prophecy

Favored Weapon

Composite longbow

Following

Worshippers

Bards
Elves
Healers
Sages
Sorcerers
Wizards

Alignments

NG, CG, CN

Domains

Good (-)
Healing (Medicine, Restoration)
Knowledge (Education)
Sun (Day, Light)

Favored Aspects

Animals/Plants

Crow
Falcon

Colors

Gold