If such doesn't exist I'm interested in knowing what everyone here thinks the dogma and the faith of At'ar would look like, as well as portfolio's she'd hold.
For those of you who don't know At'ar the Merciless is believed to be the remnants of Amaunator. She (yes, the deity is female instead of male) is worshiped by the Bedine. They claim that each night she sneaks off to betray her husband to be with N'asr (Myrkul), the god of the dead.
-The Harper novel that first introduces Ruha, The Parched Sea has some mentions of At'ar, and even a holy site if I recall properly. That's about all you'll find there, though.
Yeah, I didn't think there would be a dogma or a detailed outline of the faith. So... non-canonically, if such a thing existed, what do you think it would say?
-Speaking in very vague generalities here, going by what I know of At'ar...
-I'm thinking it wouldn't be very organized, I'm thinking that the priests and priestess of the faith would be very harsh, and demanding (like the sun and the desert and all of that). At'ar herself might be Lawful Neutral with Chaotic Tendencies (given her affair and all).
But the bit about her going to Myrkul by night sounds like she had some strange enthralling encounter with the Lord of the Dead. Did Amaunator ever meet the three mortals-to-be-gods Bane, Bhaal and Myrkul? Or has he had any alliances with them as gods?
Actually I'm pretty sure At'ar is Lawful Evil.
-Got the lawful part right, at least!
-I used LN, being as that Big A is LN. Was LN.
Did Amaunator ever meet the three mortals-to-be-gods Bane, Bhaal and Myrkul?
-This, we don't know.
Or has he had any alliances with them as gods?
-Same as above.
"Most of Faerun venerates the moon goddess, Selune, but not a sun-based deity. The Bedine tribesmen of Anauroch, though they have no priests, are an exception. They respect and fear At'ar the Merciless, the Yellow Goddess. Symbolizing the heat of the desert sun, At'ar is seen as a spiteful and faithless woman whose fury in the full day strikes fear into the bravest hearts. She is a harlot who betrayes her lawful husband Kozah every day to sleep with N'asr, god of night and the dead. The cautious regard the Bedine have for At;ar has never brough them any answer to their prayers, however, because At'ar does not exist. She is but a twisted memory of Amaunator, the ancient Netherese god of law and the sun, derived from the tales that the migrant ancestors if the nomadic Bedine were told by the survivors of the fall of Netheril"
-I like the name, though.
I guess that answers my question!
"The Bedine tribesmen of Anauroch, though they have no priests, are an exception."
Chief among them is At'ar the Merciless, the Yellow Goddess.
She is the sun, seen as a spiteful, faithless woman. Of old, At'ar was called
Amaunator in full, and was the male sun deity of Netheril. At'ar tends to ignore the Bedine completely; if a DM wishes her to manifest, use the entry for Horus-Re in the FR10 Old Empires sourcebook
Bel
"The cautious regard the Bedine have for At;ar has never brough them any answer to their prayers, however, because At'ar does not exist."
Whoever wrote that makes it sound like that's a bad thing.
Wasn't it mentioned that Beshaba or someone else maybe liked to masquerade as At'ar and screw with the Bedine's heads? Or am I hallucinating again?
-You might be hallucinating. That doesn't sound familiar. Doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong, though.
Wasn't it mentioned that Beshaba or someone else maybe liked to masquerade as At'ar and screw with the Bedine's heads? Or am I hallucinating again?
Actually, you've jogged memories for me. I distinctly recall reading that Beshaba liked to "mess around" in the Anauroch, but I don't remember the details about it.
Wasn't it mentioned that Beshaba or someone else maybe liked to masquerade as At'ar and screw with the Bedine's heads? Or am I hallucinating again?
You and your Gnomeish moshrooms
Point: Stay away from the Mushrooms kiddies (and you too, Stig) ;)
-Well, no one said that At'ar had to exist. :P
-I like the name, though.
Never exist if they're interested in Ol' M, eh?
Anyway! p 70 of Anauroch: "The Bedine do not have priests who are granted spells by the gods (although in rare cases, fervent prayers have caused a deity to manifest magically and aid a Bedine supplicant). Bedine are devout, following the dictates and wishes of the gods as interpreted by learned elders ("holy men") and sheikhs, reading natural signs, but they do not have a priest "class" in the AD&D* game sense."
Later "N'asr, the Lord of the Dead, is the Bedine name for Cyric, the god of death [dated, mind you], murder, and tyranny (who has taken the place of Myrkul)."
It goes on to say that At'ar "forsakes her lawful husband Kozah." Now I could be mistaken (as I do not have my Netheril Boxset in hand), but I thought Kozah was basicly the Netherese Talos? Also, it talks of "Shaundakul, the Treacherous Lurker In The Sands" who "appears as a jackal-man but corresponds in powers to the deity Beshaba". Doesn't sound like the wind-walker we all know and love....
So what I gather, take everything you know (and like) about the real gods that the Bedine names correspond to, and throw them out the window. Make At'ar the inverse of big A' or Lathander by making her deceitful, duplicitous, ambitious, and possibly even passionate. Sounds awfully like Cyric (or maybe even Mask) to me....
Beshaba intentionally misguides the Bedine so they fault her forays into Anauroch to Shaundakul as an attempt to spite him. Probably she is holding a grudge for some reason.
And yes Kozah was the Netherese name of Talos.
Well when trying to understand At'ar you need to remember why Amaunator died and what information the survivors of Netheril would pass on. Amaunator was a very popular deity in Netheril, and many among the lower class who had worshipped him fervently for generations despaired that their god never tried to come to their rescue when Karsus' folly devastated their cities. (Amaunator could not because he was bound contractually not to interfere with what was in essence Mystryl's portfolio, and as a god of law could never break said contract). So his former worshipers reviled the deity they believed had betrayed them in their hour of need. It is only logical for him to be presented as the opposite of what Amaunator was.
Good call. I was just trying to make a general point without looking too much into it. That is a good interpretation of it. And we all know, Karsus is to blame in the end.
18DELTA
It goes on to say that At'ar "forsakes her lawful husband Kozah." Now I could be mistaken (as I do not have my Netheril Boxset in hand), but I thought Kozah was basicly the Netherese Talos?
-Right. If I recall correctly, Kozah is also the name for Talos in Calimshan. I know he had a different name there...
Or was he just a cross-dresser?
And it makes me wonder about Lathander, and why he wants to be him again so bad...
Risen Sun, indeed.
-I never viewed the Dawn Cataclysm as an actual spell, as much as I did a..."political maneuver".
Same here.
-I never viewed the Dawn Cataclysm as an actual spell, as much as I did a..."political maneuver".
This, with the cross dressing big A talk reminded me of an episode of Sliders where Hoover had everyone in the US cross dressing....
But I assure you, I was not interested in a cross dressing Amaunator!
Talos could have kept it to himself...But I assure you, I was not interested in a cross dressing Amaunator!
-That's...good, that's good...
This, with the cross dressing big A talk reminded me of an episode of Sliders where Hoover had everyone in the US cross dressing....
I must have missed THAT one.
But I assure you, I was not interested in a cross dressing Amaunator!
Are you still feeling mad about that time Bane and Bhaal took you camping? :P
I actually remember reading somewhere that in the Dawn Cataclysm Lathander attempted a spell that would purge the world of evil. Trying to track down the source.
-Sure, but the Dawn Cataclysm was more than just a spell. There was a lot of political jockeying and such. A spell that purged all of the evil from Faerûn wouldn't install Lathander as the head of the "Faerûnian Pantheon".
Are you still feeling mad about that time Bane and Bhaal took you camping? :P
Yea, well I died last.