The Glittering God

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> The Glittering God
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> The Lady of Light
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> Classification
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> ### Pantheon
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> Elder - Major
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> ### Sect
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> Celesium
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> ### Domain
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> Light
> Navigation
> Stars
> Divination
> Prophecy
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> ### Alignment
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> True Neutral
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> ### Home
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> Aurora
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> ### Aspects
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> Astanian - Asteria
> Elven - Al'Treoraí
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> Relgion
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> ### Exalted
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> -
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> ### Lesser Pantheon
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> Asteriam
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> ### Faith(s)
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> Church of the Heavens
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> ### Order(s)
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> Order of the Pathfinders
> Council of Grand Diviners
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> ### Symbols and Iconography
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> Three Sunbursts
> Three Eyes
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> ### Artifacts
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> Astesia
> Drop of Starlight
> Goblet of Forbearance
> Nyxweave Robes
> The Wetted Veil
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> Personal Information
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> ### Appearance
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> A nebulous female figure formed of starlight
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> ### Family
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> Syndarr (Brother)
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> ### Spouse(s)
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> Vorai
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> ### Allies
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> Etrix
> Irum
> Medon
> Syndarr
> Tholara
> Vorai
> Yndol
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> ### Enemies
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> Elder Evils
> Itix
> Iranos
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> *"Desperate to banish this mortal foe, Clank beseeched the heavens for aid, his cry echoing to the Grand Above. All thought his prayer unanswered, until a blanket of glittering light encompassed the blackened cave, and a column of purified starlight shattered the body of the Myrmidon."*
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> - Stories from the Dancing Footman VI: Breakers of the Black Earth
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**Asteria** is the **Elder God** of **Light**, **Navigation**, **Stars**, **Divination**, and **Prophecy**. Her followers claim that she knows every potentiality, whether its likelihood is guaranteed or obscure. She presides over her **domains** within the **Celestial Plane** of **Aurora**, divining portents and granting visions from within the **Well of Before and Beyond**.

Starlight blankets Asteria in a shimmering robe of stardust, dazzling those who are graced by her presence. Her voice is said to be soothing and reassuring, explaining the most complex of portents with an eternal patience. Others say her voice carries the booming imposition of the stars, commanding and overwhelming when enforcing her Domains over foolish mortals or meddling Gods.

Asteria's form is that of a nebulous woman; a collection of light and stardust with a billowing dress of stars that twinkle with the light of the infinite night sky. Two radiant orbs of light emanate from her head, suggesting eyes. Those who hold their gaze are said to see all potential futures, the knowledge of which kills them instantly.

## Asteria's Influence

Asteria holds dominion over the numerous stars in the night sky, as well as the light and guidance they offer and the portents they provide. She is associated with divination and prophecy, as well as navigation. Her followers include scholars, sages, and travelers who look to the sky for guidance. She is especially popular among the denizens of the Skysea and Infinite Above, since the night sky is the only reliable point of navigation in the ever shifting world of the Lands Above.

The true contents of the future are known only to three beings, one of which is Asteria. She knows everything that will ever come to pass, so she and only she decides which potentiality should be loosed upon the world, and which must be kept forever hidden in the hopes it does not come to pass. She has existed since before the Unmaking brought the New Races to the world, and is one of the few deities who fully understand the purpose of the Divine Mandate, as well as the consequences associated with its breach.

Asteria acts to aid Yndol in his maintenance of the Divine Gate, and is one of the only beings who has the ability to seal the borders between the Realms. She uses this power to safeguard the mortal world from the dire futures associated with divine meddling, as well as to release omens from the Well of Before and Beyond for mortal interpretation.

Because of the nature of her gifts, many mortals consider Asteria a minor god, even obscure, and thus undeserving of the respect of her brother. To those who know better, however, she is an essential component of the world's preservation, and a being demanding the utmost respect.

### Asteria's Goals

Like her siblings and her peers in the Masons, Asteria wishes to simply exist. She yearns for nothing more than to help guide the lost and to oversee the distribution and interpretation of omens. She views many of her fellows in the Elder Pantheon as petty and vengeful, and she opposes anyone who tries to obtain power that would upset the delicate balance of the Divine Mandate.

Like the rest of the pantheon, Asteria is first and foremost concerned with the continued containment of the Far Realm, alongside the entities that preside within it. While many of her peers have moved on from the Wars of Ascension, Asteria still recalls the ever present threat of the Elder Evils. She uses her domain's position within the Astral Sea to keep an eternal vigilance over any potential breaches from the Realms Beyond, illuminating any corner within which aberrations may hide and spread their taint.

Asteria is the youngest of the Celesium gods and sees it as her responsibility to respect and aid her elders. Unlike Syndarr, Asteria knows that she isn’t powerful enough to impose her will unilaterally. Instead, she plays the other gods against one another by releasing vague and loosely interpretable omens to their oracles. She takes care to ensure that the other gods view her as impartial, as the believability of her divinations relies on their neutrality.

### Divine Relationships

Asteria strives to avoid the disputes of the gods, focused on her role as Grandest of Oracles as well as the warden against the Far Realm. Like any other god, however, she has both rivals and allies. While she holds no love for the Anathema gods and their unceasing plots, she does not involve herself in their wars.

Her main rivalry is with Etrix, whose strict enforcement of Fate interferes with her attempts to divine and inevitably alter the future. The Weaver cares little for the younger god, an attitude she mimics across the pantheon. Despite their one-sided conflict, Etrix does hold a modicum of respect for Asteria, as her precognitive abilities within the Well are second to none. Regardless of their personal differences, the two maintain a celestial alliance given the proximity of their domains.

Yndol and Tholara are close friends of Asteria, their goals and domains sharing much overlap. The three form a holy triad of vigilance over the Prime Material; Asteria guards Above, Tholara guards Below, and Yndol watches the boundaries between. It is under their constant vigilance that the mortal races have enjoyed their relative peace for so many Eras.

Her closest ally is Vorai, whom she is married to in Divine Matromony. The two have retained a close and loving relationship since Asteria first began spreading her influence among the Astral Sea. The two are often described as interwoven around the Prime Material, locked in an eternal embrace, vigilant against the forces of beyond.

## Worshipping Asteria

Many pray to Asteria when they are in desperate need of guidance, but few dedicate themselves to her worship. Cults devoted to Asteria spend more time than not in introspection, and their initiates are focused solely on divining the portents, leaving little time for charitable work. Some followers and champions of Asteria travel the world, searching for omens from their mistress. Many find shelter in the scattered Church of the Heavens, whose priests are charged with ensuring their wards are free to divine without interruption.

Rituals honoring Asteria are usually performed in pools of water under a clear night sky. One of the god’s greatest festivals is the Festival of Lights, which marks the end of the Celestial Calendar, when omens are released upon the world for mortals to interpret.

## Myths of Asteria

Asteria appears in stories in an ancillary role, often as the source of apocalyptic omens or heroic prophecies. Initiates in Asteria's churches know other stories in which she plays a more active role, including special versions of well-known legends, but they seldom share these tales with others so as to keep her actions shrouded in divine mystery.

***The First Nyxborn.*** According to one tale, it was Asteria, not Ferron, who was the first to fashion living Nyxborn creatures from the fabric of of the Astral Sea. Asteria created the divine artisan Vorian and ordered him to build beings of pure stardust who would become untiring sentries to watch over the boundaries between the realms. These sentries would eventually descend to Araam Vestii in its defense against incursions from the Far Realm, bringing the Nyxborn to terra firma. Vorian’s story isn’t widely known among mortals, but the Grand Temple of the Heavens in Khartoum is called Voriaddh in his honor.

***The Well of Before and Beyond.*** During Asteria's odyssey through the Astral Sea, she became infused with the latent magics of the realm. Immersed in the countless memories of what was and the infinite possibilities of what may be, Asteria attained her gift of impartial and flawless prophecy. Her nascent form gathered the fabric of the Astral Sea, manifesting a long trail that followed her through her wanderings. Vorai, bewitched by the beauty of Asteria's shimmering form, gifted her a pocket of her own being to call home. This pocket would become the plane of Aurora, with her flowing robes of starlight becoming the contents of the Well of Before and Beyond. It is said that every prophecy originates from this flowing weave, and only Asteria, whose immersion in its fabric has bestowed an innate understanding, can accurately interpret its shifting patterns.

***The Silence.*** When the War in Heaven threatened to manifest again, Asteria sealed herself in the Well of Before and Beyond, isolating herself from the Prime Material. Immediately, the gods’ oracles could no longer hear them, their blessings faded, and the night sky held only unmoving stars. The great Silence of the gods serves as the backdrop for numerous tales of heroism and sacrifice. Many alive today witnessed the sky go dark and the temples grow quiet. Most consider the Silence a terrible mistake that led to the corrupting incursions of the Elder Evils, but followers of Asteria know that it was a grim necessity to prevent a far worse calamity.

***The Róisíniachd.*** Some of Asteria’s worshipers don’t identify with their inscrutable deity, but with Róisín, a legendary eladrin who entered Aurora and whose transcendent encounter with Asteria each initiate strives to duplicate. The eladrin’s journey is celebrated in echoing song as veiled initiates are submerged in a pool of starlit water, an act that symbolizes immersion in the Well of Before of Beyond. Then the veils are lifted as the faithful intone a ritualistic prayer to Asteria. The hope is that Asteria will choose to reveal herself at the climax of the ritual, whether by the appearance of some omen or in a personal epiphany. Such a revelation isn’t always positive, though, as Asteria often imparts a glimpse of prophetic truths for which mortals have no possible context.

## Asteria's Champions

**Alignment:** Rarely lawful, often neutral

**Suggested Classes:** Cleric, druid, ranger, wizard

**Suggested Cleric Domains:** Arcana, Light, Twilight

**Suggested Backgrounds:** Acolyte, Astral Drifter, Hermit, Sage, Wildspacer

Most worshipers of Asteria believe Fate to be a perceivable web of threads, arranged in a complex cipher only readable by the most wizened of diviners. It is the goal of all of Asteria's faithful to one day perceive this web and unravel its mysteries without the aid of their mistress.

### Asteria's Favor

As the founding member of the Celesium Sect, Asteria is a God focused first on the maintenance of the Prime Material, second on the reading of portents, and last on the affairs of the world below. When her mortal agents beseech her for guidance, she is often slow to respond, if she does at all. When she does require a servant, she will often recruit those who show great foresight or have come into frequent contact with omens and other portents. The Asteria’s Favor table offers several suggestions for the nature of your connection to your God.

 **6** | You have no idea why Asteria shows interest in you. Whether her gifts are welcome or unwelcome is up to you.

### Devotion to Asteria

Servants of Asteria seek to understand the omens and portents that dominate their lives. As a follower of Asteria, consider the possibilities on the Asteria’s Ideals table as alternatives to those suggested for your background.

 **6** | **Mystery.** The cosmos is more beautiful if its greatest truths remain unknown. (Any)

### Earning and Losing Piety

You increase your piety score to Asteria when you expand the god’s influence in the world in a concrete way through acts such as these:

* Correctly interpreting an omen or drawing a correct conclusion from limited information
* Sharing your foresight with others
* Helping someone who is lost in life find their path
* Building or restoring a temple to Asteria

Your piety score to Asteria decreases if you diminish Asteria’s influence in the world, contradict her ideals, or make her look ridiculous or ineffectual through acts such as these:

* Misinterpreting an omen with disastrous consequences
* Keeping your foresight to yourself
* Misleading those who rely on your foresight
* Furthering the aims of the Elder Evils

Asteria, while benevolent, doesn’t care about the righteousness of a cause, especially if aiding said cause would negatively alter the future. Her followers will often reflect heavily on each course of action they take, unwilling to choose a side until they consult the portents and divine all possible outcomes.

#### **Asteria's Devotee**

*Piety 3+ Asteria trait*

As a devotee of Asteria, you have proven yourself adept at reading between the lines and interpreting the implications of your actions. As an action, you can consult the portents. All potentialities open up before you, granting you advantage on one attack roll, ability check, or saving throw of your choice within the next minute. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

In addition, you know the guidance cantrip. Asteria’s blessing manifests as a veil of shimmering starlight around the affected creature, causing them to shed dim light in a 5-foot radius until the spell ends.

#### **Asteria's Votary**

*Piety 10+ Asteria trait*

You can cast divination with this trait, requiring no material components. Once you cast the spell in this way, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for this spell.

#### **Asteria's Disciple**

*Piety 25+ Asteria trait*

You have learned to better control your precognitive abilities. When you consult the portents, you can further concentrate on the Weave, expanding your premonitions to those around you. Choose a number of creatures up to your Wisdom modifier that you can see. Each of those creatures also benefit from your Consult the Portents ability for the next minute. When this ability ends, you gain one level of exhaustion.

#### **Champion of the Stars**

*Piety 50+ Asteria trait*

You can increase your Intelligence or Wisdom score by 2 and also increase your maximum for that score by 2.