BlackengorgeSaga

Ioun

Ioun is the Goddess of knowledge, skill, and prophecy. Sages, seers, and tacticians revere her, as do all who live by their knowledge and mental power. Corellon is the patron of arcane magic, but Ioun is the patron of its study. Libraries and wizard academies are built in her name. Ioun is the twin sister to Erathis, Goddess of Civilisation. She represents another side of civilisation, that of learning, knowledge, and understanding. Whereas her sister encourages expansion and growth through building and creating, Ioun encourages mortals to learn, plan, and understand that which they build.

Symbol of IounIoun's church is relatively widespread over The Islands, but has never held much power or political influence. Most Ioun clerics avoid politics whenever possible, content to instead seek out books, preserve knowledge, and share their love of learning. The church of Ioun usually maintains a temple or shrine in larger towns and cities, often as part of a larger museum, library, or academic institution. Not surprisingly, Ioun has proven a favourite patron god amongst wizards, teachers, alchemists, and sages. Although Corellon is considered the God of Arcane Magic, Ioun stands for learning about magic and understanding the art.

She is often called the “Keeper of Knowledge” due to the amount of information and lore that is kept across the libraries of The Islands. Her academies, museums and libraries are marked with her symbol of the book. Unfortunately, the Great Retreat and the collapse of civilisation at the time had a huge detrimental effect on Ioun's faithful. The journey across the Great Sea did not allow the luxury of passage for books of lore and the light of knowledge is somewhat faded from the lands. It is said that since the Great Retreat Ioun has worn a veil across her face and when the history, lore and tales of the past are recovered, she will tear aside the veil and tell all.

The constellation of Ioun, the Stones of Ioun, are easy to spot in the sky, next to her sister's own constellation and represent one of the fabled relics of the Keeper of Knowledge.

Realm

Hestavar, the Bright CityShe is said to dwell within the Astral Sea in Hestavar, the Bright City. The cosmopolitan heaven of Hestavar is the most beautiful, richest, and civilized city on the plane, and this light-drenched oasis can feel familiar and downright cozy in contrast to the weird void of the Astral Sea that surrounds it. Its grand architecture and gem-paved streets shine brightly upon the stone settings of its lagoon's islands and earthmotes. Its gardens and parks are both lush and manicured, retaining their verdant beauty.

Within this city stands the tower of Kerith-Ald, also known as the Swan Tower, a glorious palace containing sages that attempt to learn, discover and catalogue every piece of knowledge in the universe. Those devoted to Ioun pray to fill a position within this tower, or even potentially be recognised as a Pillar of Ioun.

The scribes in this tower work to ensure that this knowledge is not lost, and encode each work with a distinct series of musical tones to track down specific topics. The seers use their divination talents to unlock specific mysteries either to provide to the sages for recording, or to heroes to handle urgent or dire situations. The sages work tirelessly to uncover the secrets of reality, sometimes specialising in one field, but are sufficiently theoretical that they may attract skeptics or detractors.

Relationships

Outside of the halls of Kerith-Ald, the King and Queen of Light, Pelor and Erathis, dwell in Hestavar, in the golden palace of “Aurosion”. Ioun and Pelor's relationship is a constructive one, with Ioun pledged to direct Pelor's scribes on the ways and arts of recording the annals of history.

Dogma

Tenets of the Faith

Seek the perfection of your mind by bringing reason, perception, and emotion into balance with one another. To a cleric of Ioun, there is no greater gift than his mind. All of her clerics are expected to spend their time and efforts dedicated to learning as well as sharing their skills. The faith seeks to help people to avoid extremes of emotion, with emphasis on planning and preparing rather than reacting to a situation. Most clerics of Ioun know a number of languages and are considered well versed, if not experts, in several areas of knowledge.

Accumulate, preserve, and catalogue knowledge in all forms. Books, scrolls, and even oral stories are sacred to Ioun and her followers. Although this has always been an important tenet of the faith, it has become especially vital since The Great Retreat. Countless books have been lost, destroyed, or forgotten. Clerics of Ioun are required to do what they can to recover knowledge, protect it from harm, and catalogue their findings. This concept points towards a fundamental belief of Ioun — the more you record and catalogue knowledge correctly, the harder it becomes to destroy or corrupt.

Be watchful at all times for the spread of corrupt information. Oppose the schemes and unmask the secrets of those that would spread information that is untrue, corrupt or deceitful. Blind the proliferators with the light of truth and reason. The world has already lost so many tomes of lore and history, information and practice and further texts should not be fouled by misinformation. Although Ioun does not espouse great passion or intense emotion, whenever priests of Ioun encounter a missive, or document, or scroll that is purposefully misleading the outcome inevitably escalates to anger. Deceit represents an anathema to the Keeper of Knowledge and her faith.

Scriptures

The Sagacious Libram. This holy book describes how to gather information, preserve knowledge, and encourage learning. The Libram is unusual in that its meaning and content seem to hold different meaning to each individual reader. The language of The Libram is such that it seems to contain countless hints, legends, and even rumours. Clerics of the faith believe the words within the book are not only divinely inspired, but magical as well. These words offer up secrets and valuable clues to Ioun's followers, but only those devoted and vigilant to seek the truths in them out.

Worshippers

If the church of Ioun can be said to be a university, its clerics can be said to be its professors. Clerics are the most likely of Ioun's servants to engage in original research alongside those wizards who worship the goddess, and they take the role of proselytisers and teachers within the clergy as well as its most learned healers.

Clergy

Clerics are usually called upon to run sponsored schools and libraries and to liaise with leaders and other faiths, and tend to be the most politically involved of the orders. They are trusted to be the keepers of the faith, able to go into the world and survive its rigours as better people.

Although the clergy concerns itself with the theoretical more than the practical, it is most famous for its work on curing epidemics. New diseases attract healers of Ioun, eager to examine and if possible cure the new strain. The church doesn't maintain many healing houses, but those are always of the highest quality and brimming with the most brilliant minds in medicine.

Duties of the Priesthood: Most clerics of Ioun are cloistered individuals. They pursue a set of specific duties related to learning or knowledge, each according to her gifts and preferences. There are brother librarians, healers, teachers, explorers, writers, and scribes.

The profession of a scribe is a highly valued one across The Islands and the Church of Ioun often supplies teachers of this art to the Church of Pelor with instruction on how to distill, categorise, check and reference material across a number of other volumes.

Limitations and Sacrifices: Ioun clerics are expected to donate as much of their wealth and possessions as possible to the church. Their donations and tithes assist the church in protecting, copying, and distributing knowledge in many forms.

When a cleric of Ioun travels, he is expected to do whatever feasible to reclaim a book, scroll, or other work he encounters across The Islands, foregoing all other duties and expectations to save some vital scrap of information handed down over generations within a family that may have been from the time before The Great Retreat. Some people may not understand this apparent obsession, and they may not always appreciate how important it becomes to the cleric. Such works are sent to the nearest Ioun temple for cataloging and protection.

Druids

No druids are known to serve Ioun's faithful.

Paladins

A paladin of Ioun's unofficial motto is to learn by doing and teach by doing. The paladins also safeguard knowledge that is not easily recorded, such as of martial arts and athletic skill, through regular competition and constant practice. It is not unusual for Ioun's martial followers to use exotic or ancient weapon designs in an effort to preserve them in action, and they will even re-enact famous battles with the help of volunteers on occasion.

The Paladins of Ioun are not only the martial arm of the church, but also its librarians and archivists. Those few paladins who live to a considerable age are usually given this duty, which is considered amongst the highest of honours. When an Iounite asks you to be quiet, you listen because the paladin behind the desk has more than likely seen more martial combat practice than even the hardiest of the Border March. A common joke has elderly paladins of Ioun confront dragons just to retrieve overdue library books, and this is honestly not too far from the truth.

Servants

All those that teach others or respect the truth and power of writing and books are welcome in Ioun's faithful.

Rituals

There are no specific rituals associated with Ioun or her followers. With focus on learning and the collection of knowledge, there are no dedicated rites that they routinely perform. One might say that the care, attention and methodology of cataloguing and referencing information is their only ritual.

The clergy, however, do participate in meditation and debates to keep their minds sharp and refreshed. One such meditation is “There is one truth; there is no truth.” and is a contradiction, because for one half of it to be true the other must be untrue. However, which one is more true is unclear because logic and argument supports each side, and each with multiple interpretations. Debating the merit of each side is common among the followers of Ioun. The meditation reminds the cleric that there is more than one side to every problem or argument, and to consider everything from all possible angles to reach a full understanding. This makes them excellent diplomats and careful leaders who will readily listen to advice and lead with confidence in their plans.

Places of Worship

Temples

There are few temples dedicated to Ioun in smaller towns or villages, and they are practically non-existent where there is no settlement. In the larger civilised areas a temple usually forms part of a place of learning; a school, an academy, or a library. Where there are small temples or shrines, they are fairly small, unobtrusive, and simple.

All places of worship emphasise learning and knowledge over pomp and circumstance, with limited importance placed on liturgy.

The main library in Deepingwald, close to Pelor's Light in the Old Quarter, is that of “The Silent House”. This establishment was erected as part of the original build of the Old Quarter and has slowly and modestly been enlarged since then. Many tomes, scrolls and letters are catalogued and preserved here, under the watchful eye of Director Alfus Ravensleaf, who has held the position since the Year of the Open Tome (892). This library opens its doors to all who wish to learn, especially to those from the towers of the Robed Magisters, and those willing to learn the ways of scribing.

Holy Days

Ioun's faith has no holy day, preferring the quiet contemplation of a new tome in a silent library than the gaudy trappings of a festival.

Relics

Ioun Stones are the only relics truly associated with Ioun's faith. These were said to be magical stones that floated around a bearer's head and granted a range of enhancements or powers to a creature. The stones were small and crystalline, coming in a wide range of colors and shapes that determined their powers. Unattended Ioun Stones tended to hover and drift about by themselves. They were known to glow and occasionally to emit faint, musical sounds, sounding rather like chimes or a harp, in single notes or longer chords.

When someonw acquired a stone and wished to receive its benefits, they had to first hold it firmly for a brief time in order to attune themselves and imprint their own magnetic aura into its structure, and then release it or toss it in the air. Thereafter, when functioning, the Ioun Stone orbited the bearer's head, or else trailed after the bearer as they walked.

An Ioun Stone held stored magical energy. An orbiting stone created a link with its owner, through which it regularly transferred small packets of this energy to them. This magical energy could enhance them in the various ways Ioun Stones were known for, such as increased strength, limited invisibility, regeneration from wounds, or bestow more unusual powers.

Myths and Legends

Signs and Portents

Ioun speaks through omens, portents, and signs, but these are typically subtle, brief, and easily overlooked. A specific book or scroll may drop from the shelves into a person's hand at just the right moment. A book may open to precisely the desired page or passage. A candle or other light source appearing in what would otherwise be a dark place is considered one of Ioun's most common signs.

Although Ioun rarely demonstrates her displeasure, she sometimes makes her feelings known in minor ways. A narrow-minded scholar may fall blind for a day or a week. An individual who burns books or otherwise destroys knowledge might catch on fire instead.

back to top