Ibraos

You would think if this "Ibraos" existed, they would have, I don't know, shown up? Done something? Talk to someone outside of that little cult?

— Sinofiso citizen

Ibraos is a figure revered as a god of spellcraft and Magic in parts of Abravost. They are not considered to be a part of pantheon of Divinities, a fact which makes their worship heretical in some circles.

History

Due to the disputed nature of their existence, there are many competing theories about what kind of individual Ibraos is, and what life they have lived. Two main one exists - That Ibraos was created by The Mother, and that Ibraos is older than The Mother and was there at the beginning of the universe. Each theory has its supporters, with the former popular among more 'moderate' adherents like the Tominari.

Creation

As a creation of The Mother, Ibraos serves the important role of delivering magic to all creatures of Tiyu Amara. They are an entity made of concentrated magic energy, and it was their creation that caused The Mother to enter Her extended slumber.

Ancient

As a primordial entity, Ibraos has existed since the beginning of time, before even The Mother came to be. It is their blessing which allowed The Mother to create Tiyu Amara. A falling out between the two caused Ibraos to rescind their blessing, sending Her into a slumber.

However Ibraos came to be, their adherents believe they are strongly tied to The Mother as a being of equal or greater power. Despite this, their worship is a recent development. One of the earliest known works referring to Ibraos was only published in 209 BC, which posited that a deity separate from The Mother was responsible for granting magic to mortals and fuelling their spells. When this paper caused such controversy as to result in its author being executed for heresy, his ideas were spread and his name was given to the deity.
Worship of the deity was a largely covert affair due to their complex relationship to The Divinities. It began to gain more popularity after The Collision, largely thanks to the 'prophetic' writings of one Eri Ladan, who claimed to have received visions from Ibraos when the worlds collided. These writings form the basis of the Tominarvis faith, in which Ibraos has the epithet of 'Seven Tomed', and whose tenets are more 'moderate' than older versions of Ibraosi worship.
Tominarvis worship of them has grown in recent decades, particularly in the countries of Waal Zaimyatl and Telziad, with the latter even containing the largest Church dedicated to Ibraos in its capital, Sinofis.

Worship

How Ibraos is honoured depends on the individual and on their denomination within the broader faith. A commonality amongst all branches is the sacrificing of objects and energy to the god, on the understanding that Ibraos will repay their offerings with an equivalent amount of magical power. All followers are expected to be mages or at least capable of magic, with individuals who have no magic often being refused entry into congregations.

Divine Classification

Deity

Religions

• Tominarvis

Divine Domains

Magic and Spellcraft

Fiction?

Of all the deities worshipped in Abravost, Ibraos is the sole one whose existence is debated. After all, they have never been known to form Divine Contracts with mortals to grant them power, or to inhabit a mortal form to spread their word. The sole exception to this may be the visions of Eri Ladan, but many skeptics view those as little more than the delusions of a foolish mage during a world-changing event.
In defence of the deity, many of their worshippers will say that their presence is felt in the casting of spells, and even suggest that casting at all is a kind of pact in miniature where your life energy is exchanged for magic. Their silence, and the fact that depictions of Ibraos often differ wildly between groups, is far harder to explain away.
Some suggest that it doesn't matter, so long as worshippers of Ibraos don't do anything bad. That the Ibraosi have a reputation for human sacrifice does not help their case.

Planar Magic by Isaac Thompson