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Kruphix, God of Horizons

Kruphix is the enigmatic god of mysteries, horizons, and the passage of time. His followers claim that he knows not only everything that is known at present, but everything that has ever been known by anyone. Quiet surrounds Kruphix like a shroud. Standing apart from the other gods, he speaks rarely, even to his most favored followers. When he does communicate, it is often as a barely audible whisper. Kruphix can speak with a booming voice directly into the minds of all the other gods simultaneously, though, doing so when something threatens the cosmic order.   Kruphix's true form is more abstract than that of any of the other gods. He appears only in star-filled silhouette, usually as a hooded, four-armed figure of indeterminate species and gender. Two of the stars in his "body" often shine brightly, suggesting eyes. Kruphix's starry silhouette sometimes takes the form of a bird or a whale.   Kruphix’s Influence Kruphix holds dominion over everything unseen or unknown. He is associated with the horizon—the brink of the unknown—and with navigation. His followers include scholars, sages, and a handful of sailors who have an inclination toward the mystical.   Perfect understanding is like the horizon: easy to move toward, but impossible to reach. Kruphix knows everything that has ever been known on Theros, so he and only he decides which secrets should be loosed upon the world, and which must be kept forever hidden. He has existed since before mortals occupied Theros and numbers among the few who understand the role of mortal belief in shaping the younger gods—a concept even most gods don't fully comprehend.   Kruphix is the only being who has the ability to seal the borders between the mortal realm and Nyx. He uses this power to safeguard the mortal world from reckless divine meddling and enforce the balance of power among the gods and their faithful.   Because of his lack of followers, many mortals consider Kruphix a minor god, even obscure. To the other gods, however, he is a force within the pantheon, worthy of both respect and wariness.   Kruphix’s Goals More than any other god, Kruphix simply is. He seeks nothing but to oversee the acquisition of knowledge, maintain the cycles of time, and uphold the divine order. He views his fellow gods as petty and vengeful, and he opposes anyone who tries to obtain power that would upset the delicate balance of the pantheon.   Kruphix is the eldest of the gods and sees it as his responsibility to rein in the excesses of his younger siblings. Unlike Heliod, Kruphix knows that he isn't powerful enough to impose his will unilaterally. Instead, he plays the other gods against one another and serves as a mediator in their endless disputes. He takes care to ensure that the other gods view him as impartial, which he considers essential to maintaining his authority.   Worshiping Kruphix Many pray to Kruphix when they need to find something lost, but few dedicate themselves to his worship. Cults devoted to Kruphix fiercely guard their secrets, and their initiates refrain from drawing attention to themselves. Some followers and champions of Kruphix travel the world in secret, searching for hidden truths. Many use secret signals to enable them to find safe lodging with other worshipers nearly anywhere.   Rituals honoring Kruphix are usually performed at boundaries, both temporal and spatial: shorelines, riverbanks, equinoxes, and sunsets. One of the god's greatest festivals is the Agrypnion ("the Watching"), which marks the end of winter and the close of the year.   Kruphix’s Champions Alignment: Usually neutral
Suggested Classes: Bard, cleric, druid, monk, ranger, wizard
Suggested Cleric Domains: Knowledge, Trickery
Suggested Backgrounds: Hermit, outlander, sage, sailor   Most champions of Kruphix seek to learn the secrets of the universe and maintain the balance of the world. They largely view the other gods as petty and seek to separate themselves from divine squabbles.   Kruphix’s Favor Kruphix's champions are less his agents than his charges, and he is loath to release them. Even those who leave his service often find themselves unwittingly aiding his agenda for years to come. How did you initially attract the god's attention?  

Myths of Kruphix Kruphix appears in stories in an ancillary role, often as the impartial judge who ends a conflict between gods. Initiates in Kruphix’s mystery cult know other stories in which he plays a more active role, including special versions of well-known legends, but they seldom share these tales with others.   The First Nyxborn. According to one tale, it was Kruphix, not Purphoros, who was the first to fashion living Nyxborn creatures from the fabric of Nyx. Kruphix created the divine artisan Nykthos and ordered him to build altars to the gods. Nykthos’s story isn’t widely known among mortals, but the Shrine to Nyx is still called Nykthos in his honor.   Kruphix’s Warning. When Purphoros attacked Heliod in a destructive rage, Heliod demanded that Kruphix intervene. Kruphix constrained the forge-god’s mind and memory in punishment for his attack. He warned all the gods that if they threatened the mortal realm with their disruptive quarrels, he would bind them to Nyx for as long as he saw fit. As of yet, no god has dared to test Kruphix’s threat, but there are certainly those among them who might try if they could see a way to retain their own powers.   The Silence. When the squabbling of the gods threatened the world once more despite Kruphix’s warning, he etched all their names—including his own—in the bark of his great tree at the edge of the world. Immediately, the gods’ oracles could no longer hear them, their blessings faded, and the night sky held only unmoving stars. The great Silence of the gods serves as the backdrop for numerous tales of heroism and sacrifice. Many alive today witnessed the sky go dark and the temples grow quiet. Most consider the Silence a terrible mistake that led to the rise of the usurper god Xenagos, but followers of Kruphix know that it was a grim necessity to prevent far worse calamity.   Theophilian Mysteries. Some of Kruphix’s worshipers don’t identify with their inscrutable deity, but with Theophilia, a legendary naiad who entered Nyx and whose transcendent encounter with Kruphix each initiate strives to duplicate. The naiad’s journey is celebrated in hushed chants as blindfolded initiates are led across a boundary—often stepping into a river or over a low stone wall, an act that symbolizes crossing the horizon. Then the blindfolds are removed as the faithful intone a paean to Kruphix. The hope is that Kruphix will choose to reveal himself at the climax of the ritual, whether by the appearance of some omen or in a personal epiphany. Such a revelation isn’t always positive, though, as Kruphix often imparts a glimpse of cosmic truths for which mortals have no possible context.
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