Category:Prophets of G'nar Peth

from A Brief History of the Guild of Moon Magic by Kssarh T'kinnirii, Apprentice to Guildmaster Tiv

Of the Prophets of G'nar-Peth, little can be said: the purple- robed mages came from what they called "Master G'nar-Peth's garden of paradise", the same hellish volcanic wasteland known to the rest of Elanthia as the Blasted Plains. Masters of perception and inner vision, it is said that no illusion could fool their minds -- nor their eyes, which were gouged out and the empty sockets hidden behind silken blindfolds.

While surely mad, these walking contradictions were also adepts of fierce power, and "saw" the future in the reflections of their strangely engraved sandstone bowls. While the original Prophets vanished long ago, back into the wastes, some of the bowls remain as their legacy: but, it is written, spending too much time in contemplation of their serpentine hieroglyphs can be dangerous to the mind and soul.

A blind prophet leans forward and speaks to you about this sect. "Sudu li aev sa dinta, li aevan sa ita. - When the eye be empty, the sight be full. This credo we of the G'nar Pethians live by, and it has served us countless generations. What use is mundane sight when we have foresight, gifted to us of the Sightless One? Our other senses are not even used to their fullest.
"There is much more to prediction than to turn a card or roll bones, a deeper meaning that eludes most of our brethren Moon Mages. Things best left unknown, yet all unwittingly have learned them. We all have taken the whispers of secrets into our ears, and only the G'nar Pethian is aware of the implications of these concepts nesting in our mortal minds. Do you have an inkling of comprehension?
"We, the G'nar Pethians, are keepers. Keepers of the lost, the forgotten, the best-left-buried. Ours is not the easy task."

More information can be found in:

• Profiles in Magic Volume 9: Rietyl Thumai

Symbol

• A delicate sandstone seal embossed with a closed golden eye.

Tiny images of constellations and beasts are etched in a circle around the eye on the seal.

Titles

• G'nar Pethian at Circle 39, as well as post-title Of the Prophets.
• Garden Seeker at Circle 70.
• Also: Title:Sightless, Title:Garden Seeker, Title:Lecanomancer, Title:Chaomancer, and Title:Blind Prophet.

Title Requirements: The Pethian focus is, as may be expected, on sight and understanding truths that others might not. They earn their titles based on Debilitation and Perception.

Cantrips

• Melyo'a Ihean (eye): Allows you to sense if something or someone is hidden or invisible in the room. No details about who, what or how many are given.

A shimmering eye appears out of nothingness.

You hear a voice say, "I shall reveal," and the eye quickly fades.

• Sumilo Aev (view): Allows you to observe, but not study, constellations that are in season but not visible, such as during the day or the wrong time of night.

You feel a sense of inner sight well up within you.

• Maren Alshabi (disclose): Identifies other Prophets in the room via a very brief purple aura that only you can see.

<Prophet> chants a few words in a low voice.

A milky-white eye appears out of nothingness, but quickly fades.

A milky-white eye appears out of nothingness. You hear a voice say, "Seek, and you may find," and the eye quickly fades.

• Veiled Identity (face):
  • <Name> has a purple blindfold across both eyes, a single dark ponytail hanging from an otherwise shaved head, and dark blue skin.

G'nar Pethian <name> who has an inhuman tone of flesh.

Spell Preparation

• An old Prophet raises one hand in a sharp gesture, chanting an obscure mantra.

Self:

• You focus your sense of touch on the energies in the air while chanting the mantra for the Shadows spell.

Spell Affinities

Prophets have an affinity to the Piercing Gaze spell.

Divination Tools

• Sandstone Bowl

Sect Shop

• Expeditionary tent

Armifer Lore

The Prophets of G'nar Peth are a society of perfectly rational archaeologists and historians who follow the mystic philosophy of G'nar Peth on its intellectual and spiritual merits. This is true.

The Prophets of G'nar Peth are imbalanced seers who walk around the wastes of the north, gouging out their eyes to increase the potency of their mad visions. This is also true.

One of the lessons of G'nar Peth is that something may exist in multiple states simultaneously.

All Moon Mages practice mysticism -- using introspection and meditation to attain irrational knowledge of the universe -- but none in such a blatant form as the Prophets of G'nar Peth. The core tenant of the G'nar Pethians is that through prophetic insight and occult lore, a seer can arrive at an understanding of the universe greater than what their imperfect senses can give them. Literally, the eyes of the supplicant cannot compare to the observational power of prophecy and the secret doctrine of G'nar Peth. Someone who follows the path and attains all of G'nar Peth's secrets will find the Garden, which is alternately described as a heavenly realm or a metaphor for transcendent enlightenment.

The Prophets are organized as a mystery religion, somewhat similar to the early 20th century Hermetic orders (or Scientology, for that matter). At the heart of the sect are a set of secret truths about the universe attributed to G'nar Peth himself, which are so profound as to be dangerous to the unprepared. Supplicants must prove themselves by mastering lesser lore, going on vision quests, and otherwise being good G'nar Pethians in a constant effort to learn more of G'nar Peth's wisdom.

Unlike the examples in the real world, the G'nar Pethians no longer have a temple, or much in the way of a sect hall. The lore masters of the G'nar Pethians can be almost as hard to find as the Garden itself. Many G'nar Pethians thus interpret the path as one of self-directed research, that you prove your worthiness to know the secrets of G'nar Peth by finding the secrets of G'nar Peth. These make up some of the most dedicated historians in the Moon Mage Guild and a large fraction of the Moon Mages who do archaeology duty at the ruins of Su Helmas.

The religious aspects of the Prophets are still alive and become a matter of some dissent between G'nar Pethians and their peers. This largely revolves around two points.

1: G'nar Pethians are, to a man, serious about the mystery of G'nar Peth. The G'nar Pethians who have learned some of G'nar Peth's secret doctrine take it to their graves unless they are utterly convinced someone is worthy of it (always another G'nar Pethian). Even the most open-minded and cooperative G'nar Pethian seems to have a transformative moment upon learning one of these occult truths. When asked, the G'nar Pethians repeat the age old answer: some truths are dangerous without greater knowledge, and some secrets are secret for a reason.

2: The whole eye-gouging-insane-seers bit is actually true. G'nar Pethians who devote their lives to the Garden and accumulate libraries worth of secret lore tend to be a bit... weird. They know something you don't (presumably) and react to the world as though through an entirely different system of values. The demeanor of a G'nar Pethian this far into the mysteries can be charitably called ominous, though G'nar Pethians credit it as the sort of fear and discomfort one has before what is divine.

Despite the difference in demeanor, there is no intra-sect conflict. The rank and file Pethians regard the "mad" seers as advanced disciples who practice esoteric rites and deal with strange truths that common men, or even common seers, cannot fully comprehend. The desert-dwelling seers regard the historians and conventional seekers as younger disciples who are going through a rewarding process of discovery. However, both sides have disdain for young G'nar Pethians who take on the trappings of the great seers before they're ready. A common remark among the Prophets is that you should keep your eyes open if you keep running into closed doors.

Also See

Click here to search for related posts.

• Player Prophets - Players that associate their characters with the Prophets of G'nar Peth