Oghma

Oghma is the neutral or unaligned greater god of inspiration, invention, and knowledge and the patron of bards in the Astoran pantheon. The Lord of Knowledge is the leader of the Deities of Knowledge and Invention and as such is the most powerful god of knowledge in Astora. The Binder of What is Known, or simply the Binder, is also a member of Tuatha De Danann as a neutral or neutral good intermediate deity of speech and writing, as well as patron of the arts and everything beautiful and creative in all genders. Oghma's domain is nothing less than the whole of knowledge and thought, whether they are written down, spoken aloud, or even still remain in the mind, for the idea is the purest and highest incarnation of knowledge.

Description

Although he was seldom sighted and was depicted in many different forms, Oghma's avatar most often appeared as a handsome, dark-skinned man in bright, resplendent, and stylish clothes and ornate armor more appropriate to a fantastic stage play than anywhere else. Typically, his outfit included a tabard with projecting, ornamented shoulder plates; a cummerbund with an exquisitely beautiful scene painted on its medallion-shaped buckle; and open-meshwork boots with long pointed toes that curled around and were tipped with dangling crystal teardrops that nearly touched the toes.

On very rare occasions, when battle was expected, Oghma appeared as an enormous, elderly but brawny man entirely cloaked by his long, flowing hair and beard, which was either white or black streaked with white.

Personality

While Oghma is outwardly carefree and cheerful in manner, often with a quiet humor and a ready smile, the Binder is possessed of great wisdom and can be solemn and righteous when needed. He is legendary for his geniality and all beings apart from the most evil and hateful appreciate his fine singing voice and fabled musical talents. He possesses profound powers of persuasion, using his good looks, peerless charm, and rhetorical prowess to sway even his most fierce opposition toward his point of view, and he does so at any opportunity. However, his critics—like fellow deities Lathander and Lliira, who are often radically opposed to conservatism—see such oratory and charm as manipulative and narrow-minded.

But it is Oghma's burden to choose which ideas and thoughts will spread and which will fade away with their creator, so that all others are not in jeopardy. Resting heavily in his heart are the experiences of millennia and hence in this duty he is serious, firmly protective, and deeply cautious. He favors a doctrine of ideological conservatism and sticking strictly to the status quo, rather than risking a rogue idea disrupting the delicate balance of knowledge he has been preserving since history began.

Yet after the Spellplague, something changes in Oghma. He is still the judge of ideas and innovations, choosing which will be remembered and forgotten, but the Lord of Knowledge cannot stand the suppression of any original thought, regardless of whether the consequences are good or bad. He thrives on ideas, especially new ones, and the sharing of knowledge in all its forms.

If the Wise God has a weakness, it might be his tendency to overthink things. He often concocts convoluted schemes in his head and implements those rather than simply acts directly.

Divine Realm

Oghma's divine realm is known as the House of Knowledge which, contrary to its name, is actually a wilderness of old oaks and clear pools, a lonely woodland across which can be heard the echoing music of harps. The plane is dedicated not just to preserving written text in dusty scrolls, but to living, oral tales, the blessings of speech, the understanding of deep familiarity with others, and all other forms of knowledge. Oghma maintains the three magical springs scattered amidst the woods, the question-answering Spring of Knowledge, language-granting Spring of Poetry, and performance-enhancing Pool of Music, each of which changes locations at his leisure, but he spends only about half of his time in his realm.

Within the Great Wheel cosmology, it is found in the Outlands, also called Concordant Opposition, a plane of complete neutrality. There, it lies in the land of Tir na Og. But in the World Tree cosmology, the House of Knowledge is considered a plane in its own right and in the World Axis cosmology, it is a dominion in the Astral Sea.

Activities

Oghma much prefers quiet conversations with travelers and sages to combat. He loves collecting and maintaining knowledge, spending half his time traveling to learn new things. He particularly seeks to learn secrets, and is also interested in the classification and definition of things. He values all knowledge, as well as all innovation, inspiration, and discovery, and truth no matter what form it takes, and he accepts all who pursue such things.

However, it is his role to decide what place each idea and invention has to have in the world. Oghma passes judgement on each and every new idea and innovation, determining if it should be released to the world or if it should remain with the one who formed it. Thus, he is widely viewed as the source of creativity and inspiration. He is quite protective of this duty and of the body of knowledge that is in the world.

Oghma loves music and the bardic arts, and so enjoys hearing stories, poetry, and songs that he regularly adopts human form and wanders the world in search of the most talented composers and performers. When a song is sung for the first time, there is a one-in-a-hundred chance that Oghma will be in the audience. Otherwise, when a new song or story is then spread by others, there is a one-in-twenty chance the Patron of Bards will soon hear it and gift its creator with gold, often via the local lord strangely choosing to bestow it. His avatars perform the greatest ballads in all Faerun for those willing to stop and listen.

Worshippers

The Lord of Knowledge had the distinction of being revered by beings of every race, every stratum of society, and every philosophy and moral alignment. Unlike most neutral gods, his clerics could be of any alignment including neutral. All folk who valued, preserved, shared, sought, created, or uncovered knowledge and learning were perforce followers of Oghma and anyone looking for information, especially if it was lost or concealed, would say a prayer to the Binder and beseech him for a blessing. Those who worshiped Oghma included artists, artisans, bards, cartographers, clerks, inventors, librarians, loremasters, sages, scholars, scribes, smiths, and wizards. Archivists and truenamers might pray to him as well. Oghma was also among the deities of knowledge favored by the Fraternity of Order in the planes.

The worship of Oghma was favored in the Dalelands, the Western Heartlands, the Shaar, and in the North, especially in the Silver Marches and Silverymoon, and it was a major faith in Waterdeep. In the Sea of Fallen Stars, he could be followed by the aquatic races of Serôs, including shalarin, dolphins, and whales (who had some of the greatest bards).

Dogma

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Church_of_Oghma

Relationships

Oghma was the head of a small pantheon called the Deities of Knowledge and Invention, including himself, Milil, the god of music; Deneir, the god of writing and images; and Gond, the god of crafts. These three gods were allies of Oghma, but were secondary to him, acting as his servants and agents in the preservation and propagation of knowledge in a slightly patronizing arrangement. Milil and Deneir were both Oghma's intermediaries, who brought new knowledge to him and delivered it to beings he favored. Deneir was called the Scribe of Oghma and considered his right hand, while Milil was the left hand, also called the One True Hand. No insult was intended to Deneir by this title, it merely represented a belief in the tendency for artistic talent to be linked with left-handedness, and the idea that the highest art arose from the acceptance of truth. In the 15th century DR, Milil became Oghma's exarch while Deneir had written himself into the Metatext in an attempt to stabilize the failing Weave, seemingly becoming one with it as a result.

The third hand, however, was Gond. Gond's role was to put ideas in physical form as crafts, devices, and new inventions. While they enjoyed amiable relations however, these were somewhat strained by some of Gond's inventions, especially the firearms developed in Lantan in the 1360s DR. Gond pushed for the speedy proliferation of all new devices across Faerûn, some of which seemed ill-considered, and though Oghma did admire Gond's creativity and even his enthusiasm, he disapproved of how he placed innovation above introspection and always pushed his technology too far. Sometimes Gond acted so independently of Oghma that many forgot he was actually supposed to serve him.

Oghma had no superior himself, being the most powerful deity of knowledge in the Realms, second only to Mystra if one counted magical ability as a form of knowledge. He was allied with the first Mystra and second Mystra, the goddesses of magic, and her own suboordinate Azuth, the patron of mages. Oghma and his subordinate gods regularly worked with the first Mystra, likely in areas of magical knowledge. The two apparently had a secret agreement regarding the sanctity of Candlekeep.

Other allies of Oghma included Lathander, god of creativity, and Lliira, goddess of joy. Oghma and his gods were brought into contact with Lathander in the area of creativity. Oghma was one of the few deities (the others being Chauntea and Lliira) who were aware of Lathander's efforts to attempt again what had led to the Dawn Cataclysm, though circa 1372 DR they kept their own counsel in order to focus on the direct threat posed by Bane and other evil deities. Although Lliira served Sune, goddess of love, she was linked most closely with Milil, and thus was counted as an ally of the Deities of Knowledge and Invention, so much so that sages habitually mistook her for a servant of Oghma.[note 2]

Outside the Faerûnian pantheon, Oghma established around 1370 DR a mutual accord and tentative alliance with Thoth, his counterpart in the Mulhorandi pantheon. They even had a friendly contest going to claim followers in Unther. Oghma was also allies with Dugmaren Brightmantle, dwarven god of scholarship and invention; Labelas Enoreth, the elven god of history; and Cyrrollalee, the halfling goddess of crafts. Further afield, Oghma was good friends with Bragi of the Norse pantheon; they respected one another and collaborated on creating some of the best music known in the upper planes.

Enemies

Oghma's most common foes were Mask, patron of thieves; Cyric, the god of lies; Talos, the god of destruction; and Bane, the god of tyranny, and the feeling was mutual. He saw these gods as the greatest threats to his balance of knowledge, as they all tried to lock away knowledge for their own end, corrupt it, or destroy it altogether. Oghma had also opposed the former goddess of lies, Leira, and their conflicts were legend. Over the centuries, every time Leira, goddess of lies, sent revolutionary and dangerous ideas to her faithful, Oghma restricted them to remain among her small cult, thus preventing them doing harm to wider society. In the planes, the Lords of the Nine and Druaga hated Oghma for his habit of trapping fiends, but he did not fear them. Others

Oghma's proxy was the bard Fial Cairbre, who was believed to be his son.

A minor servant of Oghma was the brass dragon Ileuthra. According to legend, the great wyrm adored the game of chess and became so great at it that no mortal players could provide enough of a challenge. Finally, Ileuthra challenged Oghma himself to a match of three games—and handily defeated the god each time. Ileuthra then politely thanked Oghma and offered to then play a game of the god's choice. Oghma would raise Ileuthra to his servitor status and the two would continue to play chess, Ileuthra continuing to win.[note 3]

History

Oghmanytes believed that, soon after the creation of the world by Selûne and Shar and the birth of Chauntea, a traveller from a faraway realm arrived. He found a land in chaos, filled with vague, ill-defined concepts wanting to be given form, so he bestowed a name on each one, giving it a definition forevermore. These names held such power that the concepts were bound to physical forms within the material world and order was brought to the chaos. Some held that this was the origin of his title as the Binder of What is Known and so did he take his place as one of the oldest and greatest of the gods of Toril.

Whether this was true or not, Oghma was an interloper deity of the Celtic pantheon who had links to many different planes. But finding himself being pushed out power in his own pantheon, he looked elsewhere, to Toril, as many other deities did. He gained power in Toril's crystal sphere around the time of the rise of Netheril, when a wave of planar immigrants came from another world and settled in Faerûn. One of these groups of people came from a rugged land with a culture tied to nature, the sea, and the warrior history of its dozen-king greater god, bringing with them their own style of society and faiths, and their gods, of whom Oghma was but one.

Myths regarding Oghma were as old as human history, if not far older. As well as the one above about being responsible for all concepts, Oghma was also said to have given written language to the world. Scholars and theologians debated their veracity, but none disputed he was an ancient deity whose faith predated recorded history.

Shortly after ascending to divinity, Oghma fathered many demi-power children. A few of the children decided to specialize in a single subject and learn everything they could about it. At some point Cyric lured twenty-two of the children away from Oghma and transformed them into paintings known as the Whispering Children. Time of Troubles

When the gods were cast down to walk the Realms in mortal form during the Time of Troubles in the Year of Shadows, 1358 DR, the fate and deeds of Oghma, were, perhaps surprisingly, a matter of mystery.[speculation] Early on, in Kythorn, one old man in Arabel fervent in his belief, insisted that Oghma had adopted the form of his cat, Pretti. Supposedly the cat even talked, speaking to the man on things of great import. No one in Arabel believed him, and they were distracted by Tymora's much more public arrival anyway.

More importantly, Grand Patriarch Cullen Kordamant, head of the whole Oghmanyte church and widely recognized as the Voice of Oghma, vanished without a trace from his home in Procampur, as did much of his immediate clergy. The disappearance was a subject of much mystery and speculation. Unfortunately, answers from Oghma and other gods were confusing and contradictory, providing no clear solution. Though some thought that Kordamant simply died during the chaos, others claimed that it was actually Oghma who died, and the Grand Patriarch ascended to replace him. Some admitted the possibility that the Patriarch might be on another plane or had ascended to semi-divinity.

With the Oghmyte church left without an ultimate head, the mystery caused a growing split into rival factions, disagreeing along hierarchical and theological lines. In Procampur, the Orthodox Church of Oghma stated that Kordamant had ascended to semi-divinity and was currently serving Oghma and, until he was proven dead or the god appointed a replacement or commanded otherwise, Kordamant was still the only true Patriarch and they would not recognize any replacement. On the other hand, the Oghmanyte Church in Sembia and the Pursuers of Pure Knowledge in Mintar claimed that a new Patriarch had in fact already been appointed by Oghma himself, and naturally put forward their own competing candidates. This remained unresolved more than a century later.

Later, there arose a belief or heresy, depending on the faction, suggesting that Kordamant's fate had been concealed by Oghma as a test of faith for his priests, to determine whether they would hold to the quest of discovering and recording knowledge, or if they would fall prey to power struggles and reinterpretations of scripture. The cat's involvement and opinions are unknown.[note 4]

In the Year of the Banner, 1368 DR, Cyric created the Cyrinishad, a book of great power that gave a false account of his life and twisted the reader to his faith. To counter it, Oghma collaborated with Mask, Mystra, and Fzoul Chembryl to create another book, an accurate biography titled The True Life of Cyric. Both Cyric and Oghma enlisted the Zhentish scribe Rinda to write their respective books. Oghma granted Rinda an amulet of godblinding to shield her from all detection, allowing her to escape with the Cyrinishad in her care. The books were switched and The True Life read by Fzoul, revealing Cyric's treachery to the Zhents. This thwarted the schemes of the Prince of Lies, at least for the time being, but only after much of Zhentil Keep was destroyed and Mask inadvertently read the Cyrinishad and lost his power.

Oghma

Greater deity

Basic Information

Titles

The Binder
The Binder of What is Known
Lord of Knowledge
Patron of all Bards
Patron of Bards
The Wise God
Lord of All Knowledge
God of Wisdom
The Wise
The Bard
The Unknowing (derogatory)

Adjectives

Oghmanyte

Pantheons

Astoran
Tuatha De Danann

Served By

Deneir, Gond, Milil

Attributes

Alignment

True Neutral

Symbol

A blank scroll

Realm

Concordant Domain of the Outlands/Tir na Og/The House of Knowledge

Portfolio

Bards, Inspiration, Invention, Knowledge

Favored Weapon

Mortal Strike (longsword)

Following

Worshippers

Artists
Bards
Cartographers
Inventors
Loremasters
Sages
Scholars
Scribes
Wizards

Alignments

All

Domains

Artifice (Alchemy, Construct)
Charm (Captivation)
Knowledge (Education, Memory)
Rune (Language)
Travel (-)

Favored Aspects

Monsters

Golems
Metallic dragons
Feystags
Translators
Watchers
Watchghosts
Lillendi

Colors

White
Black
Gold
Gray

Manifest- ations

Blue-green radiance with distinct chords

Blinding white light