Athena

Athena (also known as Minerva or "She Who Fights in Front") was an ancient deity.
== History ==
Athena was a goddess who was destroyed in an age long forgotten, and no known record remains of her origins or history. She claimed to be the daughter of Zeus, a long-dead thunder god who once ruled an ancient pantheon of deities known as the Olympeans (this would make Heracles her half-brother). She claimed that her father devoured her mother alive while she was pregnant with Athena, fearful of a prophecy which suggested that Zeus would sire progeny whose wisdom would exceed his own. Soon after Zeus was plagued with a terrible pain in the head, and in desperation commanded a lesser god to take an axe and cleave the thunder god's brow open with it. The lesser god obeyed and Athena leaped from the wound, already fully grown and dressed for battle.
== Description ==
Athena was the goddess of cities, civilization, wisdom, artifice and just war. She was said to have bestowed the gifts of pottery, weaving and architecture to mortals, and was also a goddess of heroic endeavor said to lend counsel and aid to noble champions striving against evil. Although a powerful warrior goddess, she valued virtue above strength and taught her followers that prudence and mercy were necessary in order to achieve true victory in battle. She wore a a plumed helmet and heavy armour, and carried a spear and a great round shield decorated with the symbol of an olive wreath. This shield was forged by the Olympean gods to be so sturdy that even the thunderbolts of Zeus could not penetrate it. She was often associated with owls, who served as her divine messengers. Even today the magic used by spellcasters to bolster their insight may have been her invention. In battle she performed impressive acrobatics in order to evade attacks, used carefully crafted words to fill the minds of her enemies with doubt, and tended to rely on a particularly powerful protective spell which (although it lacked aggressive potential) ensured peace by communicating to would-be attackers that an attempt to harm her would result in their immediate destruction.
== In the Campaign ==
Vantis, Lannus and Rexxar encountered an aspect of Athena inside the corpse of Cuthbert at Godsfall. They found a riverside settlement and a stately temple, the door of which was sealed with a dangerously mind-bending riddle filled with contradictions and paradoxes. Lannus solved the riddle and gave the answer ("a river flowing down the back of a giant leaf into a frying pan"), communed with the statue of Athena within and then ascended the winding staircase that led to the heptagonal rooftop. There the three champions fought Athena and her owl servants, at first being forced to flee but then returning to claim victory.
== Unlocked Statistics Blocks ==
CR26 Aspect of Athena - Large Outsider29 (Extraplanar, Good, Lawful)
HP449 Initiative+9 Speed90(18),F90 AC48(T40,FF39) Saves+27+25+31(+35 against enchantments) Abilities21,29,32,39,37,29
Spear+31/+31/+31/+26/+21/+16(2d10+5+2d6 holy+golden ice fortitude DC14 d6/2d6 dexterity) or +37 range
SQ Reach 10, DR20/evil, darkvision, immunities (disease, shock, petrification, poison), improved evasion, SR34, Words of Doubt (free action, Will DC33 or -4 on attacks, AC and saves, a new saving throw allowed upon successfully attacking Athena), blindfight, combat expertise, combat reflexes, tongues, wholeness of body (heal self 60 hp), Nimbus of Light, spontaneous healing
Skills - Balance+47, Concentration+43, Speech+45 (+47 vs good creatures), Escape+41, Heal+45, Intimidate+41, Clamber+67, Knowledges(arcana, religion, the planes)+41, Perception+45, Sense Motive+45(+47 vs good creatures), Search+41, Spellcraft+45, Survival+49, Tumble+48
Spell-like abilities - at will: continual flame, detect chaos or evil, freedom of movement DC23, greater dispel magic, Holy word (DC26), ray of hope, remove fatigue, shield of the archons, sword of conscience DC23, trueseeing, vision of heaven DC20, crown of brilliance (DC24 fortitude or blinded for d4 rounds), 3/day: heart's ease, waves of exhaustion, 1/day: miracle DC28
Spells (DC23+level, caster level 20) 1 - bless water, sanctuary, remove fear, lantern light III, command, deathwatch, comprehend languages, obscuring mist 2 - bull's strength, bear's endurance, cat's grace, fox's cunning, owl's wisdom, eagle's splendor, hold person, silence, zone of truth 3 - daylight, helping hand, remove curse II, searing light, dispel magic II, speak with dead 4 - discern lies, death ward, dimensional anchor, restoration, holy smite II, divination II, inflict critical wounds 5 - atonement, break enchantment, commune, dispel evil, greater command I, mass cure light wounds, flame strike, slay living DC28 6 - undeath to death, heal II, harm, hold monster, greater dispelling II 7 - greater restoration I, destruction DC30 II, righteous smiteII, holy word II 8 - mass cure critical wounds, holy aura (+4 AC and saves), dimensional lock, mass cure critical wounds, fire storm DC31 9 - End to Strife II, golden implosion II, summon celestial memories II, Mass Heal II
ACTIVE BUFFS - Truesight, end to strife, holy aura
CR11 Giant Owl of Athena - Gargantuan Outworlder18 (good) HP207 Initiative+2 Speed20(4),F80(16) AC21(T12,FF19)
2 talons+21(2d6+12) and bite+19(2d8+6) Saves+22+17+13 Abilities34,15,24,3,13,11 Perception+14
SQ DR10/evil, darkvision, acid immunity, cold immunity, shock immunity, SR23, snatch+37, reach15, smite evil+18
ACTIVE BUFFS - see invisibility, holy aura
CR11 Owl of Athena - Large Outworlder10(good) HP85 Initiative+9 Speed30(6),F90(18) AC28(T18,FF23)
2 claws+13(d8+3) and bite+8(d6+1/19-20) or eye rays+15 (petrification fortitude DC20) Saves+15+18+18 Abilities16,20,18,17,25,15
SQ Reach10, DR10/evil, darkvision, magic circle against evil, shock immunity, petrification immunity, SR25, tongues
Spell-like abilities - At will: dispelling, faerie fire, freedom of movement 3/day: greater dispelling, neutralize poison 
Concentration+15, Diplomacy+16, Escape+16, Heal+19, Knowledge(ancient)+15, Stealth+17, Search+15, Sense Motive+19, Spellcraft+15, Perception+23
ACTIVE BUFFS - see invisibility, holy aura
Category:Deities
Category:Dead
Category:Unlocked Statistics Blocks