Cynebald the Unseen
Saint of Thievery, Poison, Lies, and Deception
Titles: Saint Cynebald the Unseen, The Title-Taker, The King in Black, The Taijitu Terror, Father Allsight, Witherbone
Favored Weapon: Shortsword
Alignment: Air
Elemental Lord: Zaltath, Lord of the Zephyr
Obedience: Spend one hour placing wooden eyes and ears around your surroundings in places they are unlikely to be found. Place at least one poisoned needle in a place where a passerby might accidently prick themselves.
Effect: Gain a +2 on Bluff and Diplomacy Checks. By focusing as a full-round action, you can see and hear as if you were standing at a location connected to your current location by open windflow that is no more than 30ft per HD away from you.
Divine Domains
Death, Trickery, Knowledge(Espionage and Thought Subdomains ONLY), Madness, Chaos
Holy Books & Codes
The Black Book
Divine Symbols & Sigils
A Yin-Yang symbol upon a mask
Tenets of Faith
All things belong to those who have the power to take them. Let nothing be beyond your grasp.
Ignorance is a sin. Enlighten yourself with the secrets and lies of others at every opportunity.
Show every face but your true one. Never reveal your true nature or the whole truth.
Never take credit nor accept blame. Always work in the shadows.
Give no mercy and expect none. All are expendable.
Divine Goals & Aspirations
Unknown.
Followers & Priesthood
Followers of Cynebald are considered cultists by nearly all nations on Zheng-Kitar. Only a few select countries tolerate their existance(Like the far off nation of Tarthus-Tetsu, where his followers there serve as the country's secret police), while most others have declared the faith of Cynebald forbidden - though this is due in part to their incredibly secretive tendencies, it is also due to their very nature - followers of Cynebald are almost impossible to find or spot with any consistency, and they have a habit of placing themselves in just the right positions to hear each and every dirty secret that is spoken in a given city or area. Nothing is beyond the reach of their eyes and ears - they are notoriously dangerous and experienced spies and saboteurs, and are an infestation in each city or location they inhabit - one incredibly difficult to remove or root out. His followers tend to be rogues, assassins, clerics, and bards, and wear masks to identify themselves as a symbol of devotion to their god, though the exact form of the mask changes to better fit in with their occupation and/or location. They only remove these masks in private, and the masks themselves are often elaborate, with hinged jaws and colored lenses. Followers of Cynebald can come from nearly all walks of life, and the way they see him might vary depending on what they occupation might be, but these individual cults to him mostly see eye to eye, with some exceptions - though they are often loathe to work together and are oftentimes best thought of as seperate faiths. His followers and their 'churches' are always hidden from the general public, and are often disguised as another normal structure and transformed during the night into a more recognizable establishment befitting his followers - these churches are run by guildmasters and are structured in a military or business-like hierarchy. His followers are collectively termed 'The Faceless' - a title which traces its roots back to their tendency to obfuscate and hide their faces with one or even several layers of masks, but also strange rumors that persist of those who anger Cynebald stripped of their faces as punishment for their crimes - doomed to live a life in his service without senses.Ethics
As Cynebald is not strictly a Saint of Murder or Assassination, his followers are not commonly found as assassins for hire or murderers - they are instead most commonly found as thieves, thugs, spies, saboteurs, politicians, and uncommonly alchemists or herbalists. They do not hestitate to kill - but to followers of Cynebald, the act of murder or death is oftentimes seen as a waste of a good lead or information - far better they believe to keep a target alive so long as their cover is not blown to listen in on their daily lives and gather more insidious information to advance their mysterious god's cause. They are more inclined towards shadowy manipulation than outright assassination - gatherings of The Faceless tend to accumulate knowledge and use it to subtly manipulate the area they exist in rather than outright murder - though the occasional death isn't uncommon, they prefer to use the information they gather towards more insidious ends. Nothing is more sacriligious to a follower of Cynebald than breaking their cover or revealing their identity - both are offenses punishible with exile at best and death at worst. Secrecy is paramount to Cynebald and his faithful, as is the hiding of their true nature - their true identity is their greatest secret, and to have another find out their true name and identity is a feat that would surely get them expelled from the faith. They are also notorious thieves - they see it as a divine right to take that which is not nailed down, and enjoy both the challenge of the act and the gaining of new items - it both proves that they were more worthy of having such an item, and that they are capable and worthy of Cynebald's continued trust. As such, they are often accomplished larcenists capable of breaking into the most secure vaults and tombs - they even take such tasks as a welcome challenge, and enjoy the act greatly. They often come to respect those who secure their belongings well, treating them like worthy rivals who have earned the right to potentially keep their belongings...for now. Once angered or once forced to act, followers of Cynebald are often ruthless - they will never show their target mercy, for it often means that leaving them alive will ensure their cover is blown. It is all but unheard for a follower of Cynebald to ask for mercy - only the most dire and sadistic of threats of mutliation or torture can hope to sway their minds from the threat of Cynebald's face-stealing wrath. Likewise, one will almost never find a follower of Cynebald taking credit or accepting blame for their crimes, thefts, or feats - such a thing is often proof that the culprit is anything BUT a follower of Cynebald, as their mantra of living in the shadows means that faithful of Cynebald see the act of taking credit as unneeded glory-seeking or defeatist acceptance - they need nothing but their god's attention, for they know he alone is the only one who needs see their deeds.History
Cynebald's history is a thing of heresay and superstition - concrete facts about his reputation or his origin are shrouded in myth and rumor, and before his rise to Sainthood in the summer of 2034 ASK during the Age of Apostasy next to nothing is known about the mysterious man. Much speculation swirls about him, but if there is a truth it is all but lost to time - his followers guard his secrets with utmost passion as if the mere notion of their god's secret origin being release to the world would spell his damnation. A popular theory holds that the mysterious Cynebald may in fact have been the "Assassin of Angmar" - the nameless assassin who, according to the histories, came within a scant 5 steps of putting a knife through the throat of the legendary Tyrant Cao Lu nearly fourty years before the tyrant's death of natural causes - a herculean feat that would not be matched for the rest of his reign. The fate of the Assassin of Angmar is ultimately unknown, but historical mentions of a "Face-Reaping Shadow" indicate a possible connection between Cynebald and this ancient historical figure.
We are the blade in the night. We are the needle that strikes unseen. We are the eyes unnoticed, the voice unheard. Our name and nature is forfeit. We are the faceless. Every step in the shadow and each secret heard furthers his cause.
Divine Classification
Elemental Saint
Alignment
Children
Example Divine Oaths
Oath of the Rumormonger: Never let a rumor or potential secret go uninvestigated. Keep a detailed record of what you uncover somewhere, and use what you learn to your own distinct advantage. Let no means be beyond your grasp in pursuit of a victory, no matter how underhanded or vile.
Oath of the Unseen: Never reveal your true name and identity to anyone. Never show anyone your full face - kill or alter the memories of those who do. Do your best to enter every combat unseen or in stealth in some way.
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