Ioun (EYE-oon)

Summary

Ioun's origins are unknown. She is either as old as Sune or younger than Tempus, Melorae, and Umberle; however, ironically, her first appearance has been lost to time. One of the few celestials who did not attempt to fight The Godbreaker, Ioun is recorded by her famous priestess Queen Taladriel vas Holeven as having "known her defeat"-- a turn of phrase in proto-Elvish that indicates not having been defeated but determined that defeat was certain.
This play on words is not an exaggeration. The goddess Ioun's inscrutable nature stems from her omnipotence; her rather drab appearance as a middle-aged, brown-haired, olive-skinned elven woman is made uncanny by her third eye, vertically-oriented and in the center of her forehead. The eye represents her celestial ability to "know all", and this is quite literal. Anything that can be considered a "fact" is in her domain. Ioun is notably feared and hated by many of her celestial siblings for her ability, and is absent from many accounts of the age of Glory simply by virtue of her reclusive habits. To be contacted by Ioun in any way is considered a form of sainthood among her clergy. Across the ages, these saints have often gone completely mad from the experience of being touched by their all-knowing divinity. A few primary sources suggest that her "knowing" is so complete that gaining complete understanding of one's own self is possible through her, and that the trauma of it is what breaks minds, but this is unconfirmed.
The notable exception to this is the legendary Drakon, the first vampire and the liberator of the Dragonborn from the reign of Archus. Before Drakon, the Archivists were mad sages and oracles, but his cultivation of the fey affliction of vampirism allowed him to endure the onslaught of information that the connection to his goddess induced. As the first Emperor of Eternal Night, he founded the Court to safeguard the secrets of Ioun from the outside world. After his death, the mantle of Archivist fell to his successor as Emperor, and has stayed within an unbroken line of vampires ever since. There are mixed opinions among the clergy of Ioun about their vampiric cousins, and many believe that their hoarding of the goddess's Archive is wrong and that the Court should be destroyed. The goddess is silent on this topic, as she is on almost every topic.

Spread

Devotees of Ioun are few, but extraordinarily passionate. Any place of learning has at least a shrine to the goddess, from the smallest country schoolhouse to the largest university. Libraries, museums, and other organizations that revere her more than make up for the lack of appreciation for the goddess among the bulk of the population. The clergy of Ioun are viewed as extremely valuable-- and boring as hell. However, what many might mistake for dourness is usually a dispassion for things that aren't learning, and it's said that once you get an Ioun priest talking they may never stop. Wizards and other studied magic users also pay fealty to the goddess, often with some kind of bookplate in their spellbook. These decorative panels are sold in varying degrees of luxury at magic shops and booksellers in every major city.

In Literature

Reference texts often include a devotional passage to Ioun, and the dragonborn poet Urias Thorn from the age of Magic was notably smitten with the goddess and would often reference her as his muse.

In Art

Icons of Ioun are very common, and are fairly bland. Usually wooden or stone. However, Ioun's eye is a popular image used to represent her without her actual figure in many illustrations and carvings. The carved vertical eye of Ioun is a popular waysign-- carved into a fencepost, it lets travelers know that homeowners have extensive knowledge of the area.