| The Scholar |
Stop the Press! This Isn't Right! |
The Scholar Other Titles: Master Planner, Great Painter, Grand Librarian Associations: Books, Libraries Associated School: Compulsion Core Values: Wisdom, Learning, Truth, Knowledge
Knowledge
The Scholar is Illumitas’ shard of Knowledge. He is a god of wisdom, knowledge, and truth. It is the Scholar’s belief that reason and research alone can find the solution to any question, it can untangle any chaos, or settle any uncertainty. However the Scholar is also a god of secrets. Information is powerful, and it should not be given to just anyone. His secrets, great mysteries of science and history, are kept in a single volume known as the Libri Exemplar that never leaves his side. It is said that Draconus and the Scholar were once fond of long debates on the nature of secrets and mystery. The Scholar is a god of knowledge who keeps much of that knowledge secret. Draconus is a god of mystery who shares little of what he knows. They have much in common and yet never seem to work together. In the earliest days of the world principles of language, mathematics, engineering and alchemy were passed directly from the Scholar to the species of Vargainen. The Scholar is a patient god, and often seems to suffer defeat in the short term only to achieve a greater victory (sometimes decades or even centuries later) because of that initial defeat. The Scholar moves slowly, but with great deliberation. Following the destruction of Vargainen, it was the Scholar who led the reconstruction of civilizations on Novitas. Personality and Behavior The Scholar does not divulge knowledge he does not want or need to divulge. Knowledge is something for him to acquire that it might be doled out as necessary. He is quiet and reserved, showing little emotion. Though his intentions are always for the Septs benefit he is deeply manipulative, often giving away just enough information to motivate people to do what he wants done. Sometimes these tasks are necessary for the greater good, other times these tasks are little more than research projects. The great failings of the Scholar are his lack of swiftness and his mistrust. As a divinity of long, careful planning, a sudden need or change cannot be addressed by the Scholar until all aspects of the crisis have been researched, tested, studied, cataloged, and contemplated. The Scholar is loath to change plans once they have been precisely formed. Immediate demands will often go unattended by the Scholar while he studies. Evidence will not be admissible by Seekers until it has been confirmed to be trustworthy, rather than a dupe or a lie. Dramatic change, or a disruption of long and elaborate plans, will often frustrate the Scholar and will force him back to his studies, leaving the matter to twist and fester as it will. Some people suggest that sometimes the Scholar is pleased by Darkness’ labyrinthine plots, and will allow them to persist longer than they should as a matter of study. This is generally considered heretical thought, but there is evidence to support the idea.
Physical Appearance
Portrayals of the Scholar are usually sculpted as a wizened old man with his book, the Libri Exemplar, gripped tightly in his hands. His hands have permanent ink stains on them from constant writing. He often keeps a feather in his cap, a quill ready to write more things down at a moment’s notice.
Avatars of the Scholar
The Scholar was the first of the Sept to understand how the Dark Three had created Avatars but he allowed the Stranger to make the first Avatar of the seven. This in turn allowed the Scholar to understand more of the process and see it in action before doing so himself. Avatars of the Scholar tend to follow this pattern. Each is an experiment, a new way for the Scholar to gather information and see exactly what happens when he empowers an individual.
Worshiping the Scholar
Worshipers of the Scholar are those who pursue academic questions. Prayers to the Scholar by the uninitiated are often ignored, and the burning of libraries and sacking of laboratories almost assuredly result in some calamitous injury to the vandals… though usually not until years later. Prayers by students, scholars, artists, researchers, and engineers often are composed as poetry. Clever rhymes, mathematically balanced stanzas, and obscure diction reveal the strength of the applicant’s mind to the Scholar. If pleased, he will act. If not, the applicant is ignored. Those who devote themselves to the Scholar are known as Seekers. Be they Seekers of Art, Seekers of Numbers, Seekers of Truth, or even Seekers of Power, these are the Scholar’s faithful. The thinkers, philosophers, researchers, professors, and doctors serve as the Scholar’s priesthood. For his followers, study in search of understanding is worship, examinations and inventions are rites of passage, and the spread of new understandings to those who seek them constitute good works. One of the few secrets carried from long lost Vargainen is the Scholar’s gift of palaver, or Compulsion, as it is now known. Through this path of sorcery, Seekers may achieve their goals without base conflict or insulting coin. Additionally, this school embodies the Scholar’s favorite methodologies of planning, observation, deception, and struggles of mind over contests of flesh. Originally intended as a teaching tool for mortals, they have since adopted Compulsion into a tool for their own uses, which pleases the Scholar. Thus, the Scholar is not only the god of wise academics, but also careful diplomats, cunning courtiers, and deceptive grifters. Any who would succeed through skill of mind, rather than application of force, falls into the Scholar’s good graces whether they worship him formally or not. Often, those that follow the Scholar will appear erratic or touched, only to have their actions make sense years later when those strange actions put them in an advantageous position. Only an active assault on learning or understanding can earn the Scholar’s reprisal. Academics who abandon their research are still considered Seekers to the Scholar. The deity is a patient one, and so when the wayward academic returns to his work she is once again an active member of the Scholar’s demesne. Thus do most modern academies support the notion of tenure, in deference to the Scholar’s own policies.
Places of Worship
The great Universities of Evenandra, Civenopolis, and the Learning Halls of Terra serve as temples to the Scholar. Anywhere knowledge is stored and people can learn is a sacred sight to the Scholar. Many are dedicated to him but even those that are not are places that the Scholar will watch over.
Expectations of Chosen
Those who are Chosen of the Scholar earned his attention with their patience, their interest in learning and their pursuit of knowledge. They are expected to keep that willingness to learn, though it is expected that they will tire of an initial pursuit and seek new different knowledge instead at times. The Scholar does not have a preference for what they are learning, only that they continue to expand their knowledge. Keeping secrets from those who aren’t worthy or might be dangerous with knowledge is also a common habit of the Chosen of the Scholar. Failing the Scholar requires removing the ability of others to learn and grow, or the destruction of knowledge completely such that none will know it. Redemption is possible but it takes time, planning, and coming up with a way to undo what has been done.
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