Astilabor (as-TIL-uh-bore)

The Acquisitor, Hoardmistress

Astilabor is the goddess who represents the desire most dragons have for gaining status amongst their peers, mostly through the acquisition of wealth and treasure. This is not greed in the normal sense, for the wealth is not desired for its own sake or to deprive others of the opportunity of gaining it; that is the realm of Task. The importance of status and wealth to most dragons has made Astilabor one of the more powerful draconic deities, and while she feels her wealth places her above the other deities, she does not think her abilities surpass theirs in all things.
Astilabor is also the goddess of draconic status and social rank, and the desire to gain the wealth that for most species is the measure thereof. One of the most popular draconic deities, Astilabor is venerated by most dragons who wish to gain the benefits greater status brings, such as larger domains, more respect from their brethren, and the best mates. The Acquisitor sees wealth and treasure as a valuable tool to gauge relative status and power both within and between species; she despises naked greed and the desire to gain treasure for no reason other than the treasure itself.
Astilabor is on reasonably good terms with most of Io's Children, although she holds no close ties with any of them. Towards her siblings, she is generally somewhat aloof and maintains a slightly snobbish attitude, feeling that her hoard places her at a rank second only to Io himself, although this attitude never interferes when mutual interests necessitate working together. As her attitude is about superiority of rank rather than ability, she has no trouble admitting when another has a clearly better idea or is better suited to a particular task. The Hoardmistress holds great contempt and disgust for the avarice shown by Tiamat and Task, as they simply desire what others have and place little value on what they have or what it represents. Despite her feelings towards her greedy siblings, she prefers to act in subtle ways to disrupt their plans and confound their followers; one of her favorite tactics is to make information available to thieves and adventurers in such a way that they might burgle valuables from the followers of Task and Tiamat.
Astilabor has little contact with deities outside the draconic pantheon. She is on fair terms with deities of merchanting and wealth, for they know the value of money and the power and prestige it brings, although she counts none amongst her allies. She is generally on poor terms with deities of thievery and is downright hostile towards those who make a habit of raiding dragon hoards. The only non-draconic deity she actively opposes is the dwarven God Abbathor. In him Astilabor sees the same unbridled avarice that she so despises in Task, and the alliance between the two has only cemented her opinion and opposition. This has led her to make overtures towards the dwarven god Vergadain.
The Hoardmistress is not a particularly active deity; she prefers spending her time in her lair on Limbo, surrounded by her hoard. It is said this hoard is the single greatest accumulation of wealth anywhere in the multiverse, and contains coinage from every realm that has ever existed and precious objects from every master jeweler who has ever worked in gold or silver. No one can find her lair without her permission, and if there are any living beings who have seen her hoard, they aren't speaking of it. When she feels it necessary to act elsewhere, she favors manifestations or servitor creatures, although she regularly sends avatars to collect treasures from her temples or those followers who left their hoards to her upon their deaths.

Manifestations

Astilabor appears as an enormous dragon whose scales shimmer and change through all the colors of metallic, chromatic, and gem dragonkind. On rare occasions she appears in the form of a female dwarf bedecked in fine clothing and a tremendous amount of jewelry, all of which still manages to be tasteful. She draws her spells from all schools and all spheres save plant and animal.
Other Manifestations
As Astilabor prefers her followers to achieve greater status and larger hoards on their own, she does not typically manifest her power in their lives. When she does feel the need to do so, her manifestations are usually through divinely inspired knowledge, such as a warning of an impending attack by an intelligent foe interested in their hoard, or the general location of a rival's lair or a lost treasure cache. Followers who have especially pleased her in their efforts at building their hoards may be granted a boon from Astilabor's hoard, suitable in nature to the accomplishment and the dragon's own hoard. Followers who have greatly displeased the Hoardmistress may find their own treasure hoards subject to a blast from her teleportation breath weapon.
Astilabor is served primarily by magpies and bower birds, as well as aurumvorae, blood rings, buzzjewels, gemstone golems, goldbugs, lock lurkers, mineral quasielementals, spectators, stargazers, stone golems, and tsnng. The Hoardmistress shows her pleasure through the discovery of worked gems, jewels, and precious objects of all types. Her displeasure is shown in the ruination of precious objects or the discovery that such items are fakes and forgeries made of base materials.

The Church

Astilabor's worship spans virtually all dragon species, and she is one of the most commonly called upon of all the draconic deities. She represents the desire virtually all dragons have to become important amongst their peers and gain high status, which for most dragons means increasing the size of their treasure hoard. Astilabor is said to guide dragons in the acquisition of wealth and status, and many dragons pray for her favor before engaging in activities that could lead to an increase in the size of their hoard.
Actual temples dedicated to Astilabor are rare. Those that do exist are great treasure vaults that successive dragon priests add their own hoards to; it is said the Hoardmistress periodically transfers most or all such treasures to her own lair in Limbo, and expects her priests to continue to gather treasures for the temple. Magical traps are plentiful within these temples, and often curses are carried away with treasure acquired through theft or force. It is also not unknown for ghosts of dragon-priests to watch over the temples for a time before being called to the Hoardmistress's side. Many dragons, be they priests or not, set up small shrines within their lairs, although this may be as simple as carving her symbol in a prominent place that looks over their hoard.
On most worlds, dragons do not form organized priesthoods, as there are too few of them and they are far too individualistic. Only worlds with very dense dragon populations or very structured dragon cultures will develop hierarchical priesthoods, and the form they take are likely to be unique to those worlds. Specialty priests of Astilabor are known as acquisitors. Dragons of any draconic species capable of becoming priests may join the Hoardmistress's priesthood, although chaotic and materialistic dragons are most common. Those dragons that place little value on treasure hoards or status (amber dragons, aquatic dragons, electrum dragons, faerie dragons, vishaps, weredragons, etc.) virtually never join her priesthood. The Hoardmistress's priesthood is dominated by specialty priests (85%), with only a relatively small number of dragon-priests (15%). Astilabor is a favorite amongst non-evil half-dragon merchants and thieves, although none are allowed to join her clergy.
Dogma Wealth is the only concrete and universal measure of status. Always gather more to ensure your position in the social hierarchy. Your hoard is second only to your life itself. A large hoard and a high status ensures the respect of peers, the best mates, a leading voice amongst your species, and a better place in the afterlife.
Day-to-Day Activities: Astilabor's followers spend much of their time planning ways to increase their hoard and status, generally in ways typical to their species. They also encourage other dragons to do the same. They publicly discourage underhanded means such as theft, but they will often look the other way, as long as the goal was to increase status and not purely for greed. They also chastise or ridicule dragons who don't seem to care about their hoard size or status, as well as those who lose or give up wealth easily. They often make prayers to the Hoardmistress as they sort, organize, or count their valuables.
Important Ceremonies/Holy Days: The Hoardmistress's clergy has no fixed holy days; instead, her worshipers honor her when they reach significant milestones on hoard size or complete a venture that added significantly to their hoard. Many dragons also promise to make an offering to her should a venture succeed, although they never follow through, even if their plan succeeds, believing Astilabor would not respect a dragon that gave up treasure so easily. Oddly enough, her lack of retribution backs up this belief.
Major Centers of Worship: It is said that an ancient temple dedicated to the Hoardmistress is located somewhere within the Yatil Mountains of Oerth. No living priests oversee this temple, but it is said some dragons near the end of their natural life fly there to die, magically transporting all or a portion of their hoard there in order to bequeath it to Astilabor in hopes of assuring themselves a high place in the afterlife. Stories of this temple describe a vast chamber filled with the towering mounds of gold and jewels from all eras of Oerth's history, accessible only by a shaft hundreds of feet deep. No one who has found the temple has lived to tell the tale, although the legends continue to draw searchers.
Priestly Vestments: The holy symbol used by Astilabor's clergy is a twelve-faceted gemstone in a precious metal setting; while dodecahedrons are most common, hexagonal bipyramids and pentagonal cupolas aren't unusual. Often gems of different hues are magically merged to form one single gemstone, and the total value of the gemstone must be at least 200 gp per age category of the dragon.

Acquisitor Domain

Clerics of Astilabor may select the Acquisitor Domain instead of the Protection Domain if they choose.

DOMAIN SPELLS

Cleric Level	Spells
1st	alarm, assess status*
3rd	arcane lock, hoard attunement*
5th	glyph of warding: Astilabor's Curse*, hoard armor*
7th	guardian of faith, hoard cache*
9th	animate objects, teleportation circle

*indicates a new spell described below.

Requirements

Acquisitors must be of a true dragon species or bloodline.

Wealth of Knowledge

When you choose this domain at 1st level, you become proficient in Persuasion or Deception, and with thieves' tools.
Additionally, whenever you make an ability check related to valuing the monetary worth of something, you are considered proficient in the appropriate skill or tool and add double your proficiency bonus to the check instead of your normal proficiency bonus.

Status Challenge

Acquisitors gain a +1 bonus to their physical attacks and damage when attacking another dragon in a competition to gain status; they are prohibited from killing a dragon that yields in defeat; should the acquisitor not do so, they lose their spellcasting powers and must perform some act of atonement; such acts often require giving up a portion of the dragon's own hoard. Should the acquisitor kill a dragon who is both yielding and offering up a portion of its hoard, they will forever be cast out of Astilabor's service and gain a curse that makes it very difficult to ever gain a hoard of any significant size. This combat bonus is also gained by the acquisitor when defending against the same sort of challenge, and they are prohibited from surrendering any portion of their hoard to the attacking dragon, even if it means death.

Channel Divinity: Hoard Servant

This use of Channel Divinity creates an entity similar to that created by the unseen servant spell. It lasts for 1 hour per level of the Acquisitor. Unlike an unseen servant, a hoard servant's sole purpose is to tend the hoard of the casting dragon. In fact, the channel divinity is cast on the hoard itself, binding the hoard servant to it for the duration; it can never move more than 10 yards away from the hoard without causing the effect to end. (Note that a dragon's hoard is treasure in a single location for the purposes of this power, not secreted in a number of separate lairs.)
Once cast, the hoard servant polishes jewels and gems, separates and stacks coins, organizes chests and boxes, etc. It is stronger than a standard unseen servant and is able to carry 50 lbs. or push or pull 100 lbs. over smooth surfaces. It is comparatively tougher than a normal unseen servant, having an AC of 15 and possessing 15 hit points instead of the usual 1. A hoard servant is identical to an unseen servant with regard to its other limitations and means of destruction.

Glorious Scales

At 8th level, the Acquisitor's Charisma permanently increases by 1 point. This increase can allow the Acquisitor to exceed the normal limitation of 20. Additionally, the Acquisitor can never be surprised as long as it is within 100 feet of its treasure hoard.
At 12th level, the Acquisitor's Charisma score will permanently increase by another point, likewise past the normal limitation of 20 if applicable.

Hoardmistress's Treasure

In their most dire times, an Acquisitor can borrow wealth and artifacts of great power from their deity's own store of treasure. At 17th level, they can perform an hour long ritual, petitioning Astilabor for aid. Once finished one of the following appears at their feet:

• One magic weapon, ring, staff, ring, rod, shield or suit of armor of their choice with a rarity of very rare.
• Two magic weapons, rings, staffs, rings, rods, shields or suits of armor of their choice with a rarity of rare or uncommon.
• Four scrolls or potions of their choice of a rarity of very rare, rare or uncommon.
• Wealth in the form of mundane equipment, currency, art objects and precious gems with a total value of 50,000 gp or less.

At your DM's discretion, other items and artifacts associated with Astilabor may also be available. Any magic items summoned by this ability remain in the Acquisitor's possession for 24 hours, after which they disappear in a flash of golden light if not already destroyed or consumed. Once used, the Acquisitor cannot use it again until 7 days have passed.

Acquisitor Spells

Assess Status

1st level divination
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: 300 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Instantaneous

Upon casting this spell, the priest immediately knows the target dragon's status relative to his own. The caster can specify whether to base the assessment on hoard size only, or hoard size and any additional subjective variables. The assessment is made in terms such as "slightly lower status" or "considerably greater status." Subjective status elements are based on the target dragon breed; for example, a red dragon using this spell and reading the full status on a gold dragon who has a small hoard but is highly respected by other golds for single-handedly saving a human kingdom from an orcish horde would be assessed as having a high status, even though red dragons don't consider such acts of goodness when evaluating their own status.

Hoard Attunement

2nd level divination
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: Touch
Components: V, M
Duration: Special

Dragons are well known for the intimate knowledge they have of their hoards. Indeed, it is reasonable to assume that a dragon's hoard is very nearly an extension of the dragon itself. This spell enables the casting dragon to enhance that bond considerably.
For the spell to function, the dragon must be in contact with its hoard at the time of casting. Once the spell is cast, the dragon knows the exact value of the collective hoard, as well as the value of specific items (or a collection of similar items, such as a particular coin type) within the hoard. For example, a dragon whose hoard is valued at 50,000 gp knows how much of that amount consists of coins (type and number), how much consists of gems (type, number, and value), and so forth.
In addition, hoard attunement enables the dragon to notice whether any items in the hoard have been disturbed or stolen, even if but a single copper piece is missing. If the dragon is in physical contact with the hoard when it is disturbed, the dragon is immediately aware of the disturbance (even if sleeping, in which case, the dragon always awakes fully alert). If treasure is missing from the hoard, the dragon instinctively detects the distance and direction of the absent treasure with unerring precision, so long as the treasure is within one mile of the dragon per age category. For example, a Great Wyrm can track down missing treasure while it remains within 12 miles. Once the treasure leaves this range, the dragon's only choice is to continue moving in the direction in which the missing treasure was last detected and hope it comes back in range. Hoard attunement lasts for one month, so long as the dragon remains within the "tracking" range given above. If the dragon is separated by a greater distance for a number of days equal to its age category, the spell immediately ends. Therefore, a dragon who spends too much time attempting to track down a few missing coins could very well lose its attunement with its hoard, in addition to the missing items.
New treasure added to an attuned hoard does not receive the benefits until the spell is cast again.
Hoard attunement is unaffected by dispel magic and similar spells. To remove it, a full wish or similar magic is required.
The material component for this spell is the dragon's hoard and holy symbol, neither of which are consumed or otherwise harmed in the casting.

Glyph of Warding: Astilabor's Curse

3rd level abjuration
Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M
Duration: Until Dispelled or Triggered

This functions as the normal glyph of warding spell with Astilabor's Curse added as a third option to explosive runes or spell glyph.
Astilabor's Curse. When triggered, Astilabor's curse causes the creature who triggered it, and all other creatures within 10 feet, to be filled with insatiable greed. This greed is so powerful that the afflicted creatures regard all valuables they encounter as their own, even those of slight worth, such as copper coins. They will react in a hostile manner to any who would keep any such valuables from them. Creatures affected by this glyph are allowed a Charisma saving throw to avoid the curse, and the effect fades in those afflicted after one day per level of the casting priest. Regardless of the outcome of the save, affected creatures are teleported 1d6 miles away from the location of the glyph; such teleportation will never teleport the creatures into inherent danger (and active volcano, the den of a bear, etc.), and no save is allowed to prevent the teleportation.

Hoard Armor

3rd level alteration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 0
Components: V, S, M
Duration: 8 hours

Hoard armor is used by dragons both to take advantage of the large number of coins and gems that comprise their hoards for defensive purposes, as well as to dazzle other creatures with a garish display of their wealth. When this spell is cast, any unsecured gems or precious metals (copper, silver, electrum, gold, or platinum only) that are less than a half pound in weight apiece and within 20 feet of the spellcaster are drawn to the immediate vicinity of the spellcaster's body. The gems and chunks of precious metal (usually coins) form a whirling cocoon around the spell-caster that shimmers and sparkles in nearly any intensity of light. By means of the magic of this spell, the enveloping hoard never obscures the spellcaster's face, hands (claws), or feet, so it is possible to eat, talk, cast spells, fight, or walk normally.
The spellcaster receives a +3 bonus to their armor class for the duration of this spell.
Although the spellcaster does not physically carry the material components of hoard armor, any movement the spellcaster makes while under the effect of the spell is considered to be through difficult terrain.
When this spell expires or a dispel magic or similar incantation is successfully cast, the enveloping hoard armor immediately falls off and is once again subject to the pull of gravity.
Casting this spell is costly, particularly to naturally avaricious dragons, for 1% of the gems and pieces of precious metal composing the hoard armor, selected randomly, are consumed by the magic of this spell and are forever lost. As a result, this spell is not as commonly employed as one might expect.
The material component of this spell is the 1% of the gems and pieces of precious metal used to comprise the hoard armor that are consumed when the spell ends.

Hoard Cache

4th level alteration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M
Duration: Special

Hoard cache provides the casting dragon with a quick and easy means to transport its hoard when circumstances demand relocating to a new lair. The spell enables the dragon to temporarily transform an ordinary box, chest, barrel, or similar enclosed container into an extra-dimensional receptacle akin to a portable hole or bag of holding, though one with near infinite storage capacity. The dragon must touch the container during the spell's casting or else the spell fails and is wasted.
Once the transformation is complete, the dimensional space remains active indefinitely, provided the dragon maintains physical contact with the container. If the wyrm breaks contact with the container, it remains stable for 1 hour. The dragon can break and reestablish contact repeatedly, but the 1 hour time limit is not renewed with each contact. If the spell expires due to non-contact, the container's contents are lost forever. Thus, a wise dragon maintains contact as long and often as possible until the hoard is removed from the hoard cache.
As noted, the hoard cache has near infinite storage capacity, enabling it to hold the dragon's entire trove. The dimensional space is precise in accordance to its cargo, expanding and contracting as treasure is added or removed, but weight never exceeds that of the container itself. It cannot store items that are normally too large to fit through the container's opening, so larger containers are generally preferable to smaller ones.
A hoard cache container is not affected by dispel magic and similar powers, but as a dimensional space, it is subject to the same dangers associated with portable holes, bags of holding, and similar dimensional receptacles. In this instance, a hoard cache is treated as a portable hole for the purpose of determining the results if it comes in contact with another dimensional container or in case the hoard cache container itself is damaged or destroyed. In the event that the container is brought within an anti-magic shell, dead magic zone, or similar magic-dampening condition, the hoard cache is not negated or destroyed, but cargo cannot be removed or added while it remains in such an area. Non-contact time still counts against the spell if the container is left unattended within such an area. Hoard cache cannot be made permanent, much to the chagrin of those dragons with access to the spell.
The material component for this spell is the priest's holy symbol.

Lesser God

Draconic Pantheon

Titles
The Acquisitor, Hoardmistress
Sphere of Influence
Status, acquisitiveness, wealth, desire to gain and hold wealth to gain status
Alignment
Chaotic Neutral
Symbol
Twelve-faceted gem
Home Plane
Outlands
The Hoardmistress's Lair

Superior
Io
Allies
Aasterinian, Bahamut, Hlal, Rais, Sardior, Tamara
Foes
Abbathor, Tiamat
Worshipers
Dragons and draconic humanoids that seek wealth
Worshiper's Alignments
Any
Domains
Protection, Acquisitor