Oghma

Oghma, also known as the Lord of Knowledge and the Binder of What is Known, or simply as the Binder, was the neutral or unaligned greater deity of inspiration, invention, and knowledge and the patron of bards in the Faerûnian pantheon,         Oghma was the leader of the Deities of Knowledge and Invention and as such was the most powerful god of knowledge in Faerûn. He was also a member the Celtic pantheon and was a part of the faith of the Adama, where she was known as Curna, goddess of wisdom, in the Shining Lands. "An idea has no heft but it can move mountains. An idea has no authority but it can dominate people. An idea has no strength but it can push aside empires. Knowledge is the greatest tool of the mortal mind, outweighing anything made by mortal hands. Before anything can exist, the idea must exist."

- An aphorism and common prayer of Oghma's faithful.

Description
Although he was seldom sighted and was depicted in many different forms, Oghma's avatar most often appeared as a handsome, dark-skinned man in bright, resplendent, and stylish clothes and ornate armor more appropriate to a fantastic stage play than anywhere else. Typically, his outfit included a tabard with projecting, ornamented shoulder plates; a cummerbund with an exquisitely beautiful scene painted on its medallion-shaped buckle; and open-meshwork boots with long pointed toes that curled around and were tipped with dangling crystal teardrops that nearly touched the toes. This avatar was favored for peaceful discussions with sages, scholars, and travelers, and was hardly ever used for battle.

On very rare occasions, when battle was expected, Oghma appeared as an enormous elderly but brawny man entirely cloaked by his long, flowing hair and beard, which was either white or black streaked with white. This avatar flew through the air hurling spells.

Personality
While Oghma was outwardly carefree and cheerful in manner, often with a quiet humor and a ready smile, the Binder could also be solemn and righteous and he had great wisdom. He was legendary for his geniality and all beings apart from the most evil and hateful appreciated his fine singing voice and fabled musical talents. He possessed profound powers of persuasion, using his good looks, peerless charm, and rhetorical prowess to sway even his most fierce opposition toward his point of view, and he did so at any opportunity. However, his critics—like fellow deities Lathander and Lliira, who were often radically opposed to conservatism—saw such oratory and charm as manipulative and narrow-minded.

But it was his burden to choose which ideas and thoughts would spread and which would fade away with their creator, so that all others would not be in jeopardy. Resting heavily in Oghma's heart were the experiences of millennia and hence in this duty he was deeply cautious. He favored a doctrine of ideological conservatism and sticking strictly to the status quo, rather than risking a rogue idea disrupting the delicate balance of knowledge he had been preserving since history began. He was serious about this duty and protected it firmly. Yet after the Spellplague, something changed—Oghma could not stand the suppression of any new idea, regardless of whether the consequences were good or bad. He throve on new ideas the sharing of all knowledge.

If he had a weakness, it might be his tendency to overthink things. He often concocted convoluted schemes in his head and implemented those rather than simply act directly.

Divine Realm
His divine realm was known as the House of Knowledge. Within the Great Wheel cosmology, it was found in the Outlands, also called Concordant Opposition, a plane of complete neutrality. There, it lay in the land of Tir na Og. But in the World Tree cosmology, the House of Knowledge was considered a plane in its own right and in the World Axis cosmology, it was a dominion in the Astral Sea.

Possessions
Oghma usually carried a special yarting made of white snowwood. This instrument could play any tone or song flawlessly, sound like several instruments at once, and perfectly mimic any noise. Any music Oghma played from it could influence the emotions of the listener, filling them with enrapturing joy, deep despair, or uncontrollable fury. The yarting seemed to possess other magical powers that might change each time. Oghma sometimes lent it to his followers when they were carrying out some important mission for him, in which case its powers could differ from those Oghma commanded.

In battle, Oghma wielded a magical longsword known as Mortal Strike.

Relationships
Oghma's most common foes were Mask, Cyric, and Bane.

Along with Milil, Deneir, and Gond, Oghma was one of the Deities of Knowledge and Invention. Oghma led the deific group.

Symbol
His holy symbol was a blank scroll, plain and partially unrolled.

Worshipers

 * Main: Church of Oghma

Those who worshiped Oghma included artists, bards, cartographers, inventors, loremasters, sages, scholars, scribes, and wizards. Archivists, a generalist cleric, might pray to him as well. His clerics could be of any alignment, unlike most neutral gods.

History
Oghma was an interloper deity of the Celtic pantheon who gained power in Toril's crystal sphere when a wave of planar immigrants settled in Faerûn, bringing their gods (of whom Oghma was but one) with them. He rose in power to the point where he became the leader of the Deities of Knowledge and Invention.

Shortly after ascending to divinity, Oghma fathered many demi-power children. A few of the children decided to specialize in a single subject and learn everything they could about it. At some point Cyric lured twenty-two of the children away from Oghma and transformed them into paintings known as the Whispering Children.

Connections
Oghma