Izetsu

Patron Izetsu Nemora (a.k.a. The Sea Sage; The Knowing Void)

Izetsu is among the second generation of Patrons in the Ancestral Patronism cosmology. Associated with water, inner and outer knowledge, and the void, Izetsu is considered the patron of spacers, explorers, scholars, and sensualists.

Divine Domains

Water, Knowledge, Magic; Pleasure, Pain

Holy Books & Codes

Izetsu appears in some of the earliest stories found in the Ancestral Codex the living socio-spiritual cannon of the Evermornan people. Indeed, as one of the immediate antecedents of the Elder Patrons, Izetsu was one of the spirits who survived the transition of Evermornan society from its pre-Harkinite, tribal condition to its more modern animistic religious tradition.

Tenets of Faith

Izetsu calls upon his faithful to seek knowledge of all things, explore the inner and outer world, and endure the suffering of the world in the name of higher causes. Self-awareness and self-knowledge are important to Izetsuites, as these help keep the spiritual seeker grounded and rebuff the perception of stubborness or hubris that sometimes accompanies religious fervor. Izetu encourages study, meditation, inquiry, and discussion to achieve ever-greater depths of knowlege and understanding of the world, drawing many scholars and explorers into the fold on this basis. The loneliness and austerity of a long voyage promotes the kind of introspection Izetsu encourages, potentially providing the historical connection between this Patron and the sea - and, as air and space travel were developed, with the void.
Izetsu is one of the only Patrons who encourages - or is at least permissive of - activities undertaken to significantly alter one's own mental state in the quest for self-knowledge. These activities might include hallucinogenic drug use, 'vision quests' involving prolonged physical or sensory deprivation, and the endurance of otherwise painful (but not self-destructive) activites like strenuous exercise. A statistically significant number of Izetsuites are masochists, though the question of whether joining the sect awakens masochism in the faithful or whether masochists are simply inherently more drawn to the faith is an open question.
Izetsu is said to bless the lessons learned by those who overcome physical or emotional trauma, as well as the work of those who help others conquer their trauma. For this reason, Izetsu is considered the Patron most closely associated with psychologists, counselors, and therapists. This patronage sometimes overlaps with that of Paulus with regards to psychiatrists and physical therapists, though the latter Patron is more associated with recovery from trauma in the medical sense.
Izetsu encourages his followers to be proactive in support of good causes. While the faiths of other Patrons might encourage moral circumspection, Izetsuites are leery of letting an opportunity slip to do right by others. This is not to say that Izetsuites are expected to be impulsive or to not seek out the relevant facts of a situation, but they do consider what they call 'moral sloth' to be a vice. The ethics of Izetsuism are somewhat deontological in nature; since the consequences of an action cannot be known with perfect certainty, putting one's pre-established moral convictions into action and then carefully considering the results afterwards helps one refine those moral convictions for the next time they might be needed.

Mental characteristics

Intellectual Characteristics

Izetsu is considered by his faithful to be brilliant and insane in equal measure. Among all the Patrons and Matrons, Izetsu is considered the closest to being omniscient, knowing virtually all that can be known given the bounds of a human-like psyche. The later Izetsuite texts insinuate that the world might be a work of divine fiction - the 'game of gods' that serves to 'guide and confuse the minds and hands of men for goals obscure' - though this belief has never held much sway over Patronists writ large.

Divine Classification

Patron

Alignment

Chaotic Good

Church/Cult

Ancestral Patronism

Gender

Male

Eyes

Green

Hair

Teal

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Blue