Ao

(a.k.a. The Overgod, The Hidden One, The Watcher, The One Who is Hidden)

Ao

Lord Ao (pronounced: /ˈeɪoʊ/ AY-oh[2]), known as the Hidden One or the One Who Is Hidden, was the Overgod of the worlds of Abeir-Toril. As Overgod, all deities and primordials of Abeir and Toril, even those who also operated in other spheres and planes, such as Lolth, were subject to him. To be more precise, only aspects of gods directly connected with Abeir-Toril were under Ao's power.
If it were not for Ao's involvement in the Time of Troubles, he would likely have remained unknown to the mortals of Faerûn.

Description

Ao only took physical form once, during the Time of Troubles. In that instance, he took the form of a being that was 12 feet (3.6 m) tall, ageless (neither young nor old), with a visage that was not pleasant yet wasn't unpleasant, because it didn't have any remarkable features. He had a white beard and hair, and wore a black robe dotted by millions of stars and moons, arranged in a not-quite-perceptible pattern but which had a beautiful and harmonious feel. Otherwise, he was envisioned as a very literal beard in the sky, with only face and hands.

Personality

Ao didn't care what the deities or primordials were doing as long as they upheld their individual portfolios and did not completely ignore their worshipers. When a deity did something that wasn't accounted for by his or her portfolio, Ao would punish that deity, and such punishments were usually harsh. He could damage deities permanently, or even demote them at will.
Ao cared even less for mortals, and some theorized that he didn't want to be known by them. However, when Ao found worthy mortals, able to uphold the responsibilities of a deity, he promoted them to divinity almost instantly.

Activities

Ao's only job was to ensure deities abided by the rules of the cosmos. He had to report such developments to a "luminous being" that existed beyond the normal cosmology.
Another of his functions was to decide which interloper deities were allowed in the sphere of Abeir-Toril and which mortals could be raised to godhood. If Ao didn't allow it, a being could not ascend to divinity, and an interloper deity could not enter the sphere or affect it in any way, regardless of how powerful it was. He was also able to decide which dead gods—gods that had lost their connection with the sphere of Abeir-Toril—were to be revived or returned to the sphere, and allow such development if he deemed it necessary. Ao established rules concerning the management of the divine. For instance:

• No two gods in the same pantheon could have identical portfolios
• When two gods clashed, one of three results occurred:
• 1 - One god faded from the Realms
• 2 - Both gods merged
• 3 - One (or both) god(s) altered their portfolio(s) sufficiently that both could remain in or join the Faerûnian pantheon.

These rules were more problematic than they were worth, because they encouraged the gods to battle among themselves for supremacy. During the Second Sundering, Ao discarded such rules, reassigned portfolios, and created more flexible rules.

Powers

Theoretically, Ao could do anything he wanted to. He was credited as the creator of the cosmos, and even existed beyond concepts such as alignment and divine rank. He was more powerful than all the gods and primordials of Abeir-Toril, even combined. In fact, Ao had the power to create gods out of thin air.
In addition, unlike the gods under him, Ao did not need the worship of mortals and did not desire it either, whereas those "normal" gods who did not receive the worship of mortals could die from lack of it. Ao initiated this after the Time of Troubles in order to enforce his will that the gods act as guardians of the Balance rather than kings of mortals. His powers were limited to the sphere of Abeir-Toril, however, and he could not control or influence something from beyond it.

Worshipers

The cult of Ao was led by "ministers" instead of clerics, as these cultists never received any spells from the Overgod. The cult was more philosophical than religious in nature.
Among the known cults of Ao were a cult in Waterdeep, and another in Zazesspur, Tethyr. This cult was remarkable for the fact that its ministers could cast divine spells, but in the end it was revealed that those individuals received their divine powers from Cyric and not from Ao.
The gods of the established faiths of Faerûn informed their priests about the fact that Ao did not interact with mortals. Because of this, members of other faiths neither feared nor spoke out against the cults of Ao.