Astilabor

Astilabor is the draconic deity of Hoards and Acquisitiveness. Her symbol is a gemstone with twelve facets. Astilabor manifests as a huge dragon who shimmers with all the colors of metallic and chromatic dragons. Astilabor is part of the draconic pantheon, which includes Io, Aasterinian, Bahamut, Garyx, Hlal, Lendys, Sardior, Tamara, Tiamat, and others. She is friendly toward Moradin and Garl Glittergold, but dislikes Olidammara. She dislikes the naked greed displayed by Tiamat and her followers. According to Nigel Findley in the 1990 book Draconomicon, Astilabor's realm is on the plane of Limbo. However, Races of the Dragon placed her realm on the Outlands instead, and didn't mention a chaotic component of her alignment. Astilabor is reputed to have a hidden hoard that contains more wealth than can be found on all the planets of the universe. Very rarely, she has been known to grant boons from this staggering wealth to followers who have particularly pleased her. Astilabor represents the desire in all dragons to acquire wealth and other forms of temporal power. However, she dislikes greed. She cannot abide thievery unless such an act is done in the name of building one's hoard. Astilabor is revered by dragons of all types and alignments, but actively worshiped by few. Most dragons will at least scrawl her holy symbol over their hordes in the hope that her favor will help protect their treasures. Some dragons promise the deity a share of her gains if she helps them in their ventures, but they never follow through with these promises. How could the Hordemistress respect them, after all, if they gave up their wealth so easily? Astilabor discourages her clerics from becoming involved in draconic politics, though they may give some reward to those who manage to achieve particularly large hordes. Astilabor accepts only clerics with an element of neutrality in their alignments. Temples to Astilabor are generally grand, secure, and well-protected. Their lavish furnishings, however, are typically on loan from the congregation rather than being owned by the temple outright. The true ownership of the items is clearly marked in the form of an engraving or plaque. The most common ritual to Astilabor involves gathering a group of supplicants, often closely resembling an adventuring party, to seek out wealth. Quests in Astilabor's name generally involve acquiring a specific amount of wealth. If those involved have displeased Astilabor, they typically turn the wealth gained over to one of the goddess's temples. Prayers to Astilabor are generally spoken while counting one's horde. For example, a worshiper may run her hands through a pile of gold coins while saying, "All this gold is mine. May it grow tenfold, a thousandfold!"