Deneir

Deneir was the neutral good lesser deity of art, cartography, glyphs, images, knowledge, literature, and scholars. The Scribe of Oghma was given purpose by his search for the Metatext, a single, perfect work of writing reflected in snippets of every written work committed to paper that, when read, would unlock the secrets of the multiverse. Whereas Oghma embodied the creative spark, the First Scribe was the recording of humanity's epiphanies.

Description
Deneir was portrayed in religious depictions as an old, balding sage with a huge, flaring beard. Sometimes his eyes were a vibrant violet with triangular pupils, at others a brilliant ice blue, and at others still they were blazing balls of blue fire, but they were always peculiar in some way. He was always shown holding a quill and with some form of parchment, either carrying or writing in a book or scroll.

Deneir most often appeared as he was depicted, with a white beard and intense blue or violet eyes, usually carrying quill pens, scrolls, and tomes. He sometimes, however, appeared younger, especially when in disguise. His voluminous robes were covered in symbols and glyphs that initiated random effects on those who touched them, ranging in effect from standard glyph or symbol spells, miscellaneous spell effects, or just bizarre happenings. The symbols seemed to serve as some sort of code to remind him of specific facts and events.

Personality
Deneir's vast accumulation of book knowledge was contrasted by his outward appearance of being a very absent-minded deity. He had a severe lack of focus that negatively impacted his ability to share what he knew, often trailing off mid-sentence because his mind raced along multiple trains of thought even while he was speaking. Once he started telling a story he would go off on seemingly endless digressions about tangentially related substories.

Furthermore, Deneir could be very out of touch with the modern world, particularly regarding what human customs were in practice. He often adhered to points of etiquette long since abandoned, mixed slang terms to unintentionally humorous effect, and ended up sounding profoundly dated when he tried sounding current.

Despite these flaws, Deneir was usually calm and had few characteristics that one could associate with madness. Indeed he was usually calm, with a stodgy and studious outlook on life and a dedication to the truth. As long as his stories could be, they always conveyed some vital piece of information for those with the patience to endure them.

Possessions
Deneir occasionally let some of his equipment fall when he appeared before leaving it behind, something that appeared accidental but in reality was always done on purpose. Mortals who obtained them would discover these to be pens, spell scrolls, magical tomes, or instructions for creating magical items or constructs.

Activities
Aside from his search for the Metatext, Deneir worked to ensure that everything known and true was accurately recorded in the Great Library. He was frequently caught up in recording, filing, indexing, and maintaining all that had even been written, drawn, or otherwise depicted.

Relationships
Deneir, along with Oghma, Milil and Gond, were known as the Deities of Knowledge and Invention. Like Milil, he acted as an intermediary for Oghma, carrying new information both to him and those he favored. Their relationship was a symbiotic one, and Oghma appreciated Deneir's commitment to his studies and truth, though he knew little of the obscure Metatext and suspected that his servant was chasing half-imagined ramblings and shadows of the mind.

His scholarly outlook and magical interests made Deneir popular among gods of magic, including Mystra, Azuth, and particularly Savras. He had forged contracts with the like-minded Thoth and could count Labelas Enoreth of the elves and Dugmaren Brightmantle of the dwarves as his allies. Lliira thought that she could scare some fun into him and gained endless enjoyment from making him uncomfortable, though she too was among Deneir's allies, as was Lathander.

Deneir counted among his enemies those who sought to hide or distort knowledge, such as Cyric, Mask, or Shar, or those who destroyed it, such as the Gods of Fury, notably Malar and Talos. These beings filled the normally collected scribe with rage.

Worshipers


Followers of Deneir always remained in close contact with those of Oghma as he was Deneir's brother god. Each of Deneir's churches maintained a library of their own, always collecting literature and maps, but also keeping records of ancient languages and artistic renderings. These churches were full of scribes that transcribed books for the ever-growing collection.

Deneir answered the prayers of his organized priests, but he was also known to choose a person who truly followed Deneir's ideals — to invent, to create, to learn. He himself seemed to have a problem with some of his strictly-organized orders, whose devotion to a hierarchy and their duties impeded his followers' learning and inventing, to the point of there being little joy in their work. Despite their generally laid back attitude, the teachings of Deneir dictated that his followers create with a conscience and refrain from casually designing weapons of war or death.

During the Spellplague, it seems as if Deneir tried to reestablish the stability of Mystra's Weave by writing the Metatext and thus, himself into it. During the battle of Spirit Soaring, Deneir seemed to completely disappear as a divine entity and instead became part of the Weave, granting his remaining Chosen, Cadderly Bonaduce, more arcane abilities.

Beyond Toril, Deneir, together with Oghma and Thoth, was worshiped by the fal, the enormous slug-like "scholars of wildspace".

Chosen
Some notable Chosen of Deneir were more relaxed about rules and hierarchy, capable of teasing or joking with their more staid brethren. They were sometimes granted direct access to divine spells, rather than having to study and pray for them and their god-given power exceeded that of older Deneiran priests. Thoroughly studying the holy book of Deneir, the Tome of Universal Harmony, was a prerequisite to be able to receive those god-given powers. The Chosen of Deneir include:
 * Cadderly Bonaduce
 * Pertelope

Other Favored
There were others who have been given special favor by Deneir, though what has been given to them varies per person.
 * Tomas Bookbinder, most high-ranking proxy in the Library of All Knowledge
 * Brother Chaunticleer, singer of Deneir's song
 * Kimitar Thaeless was a glyphscribe who recorded the account of Oshgir, a notable half-orc who had experienced the Underdark.

Places of Worship

 * The Spirit Soaring cathedral:
 * The impressive place of worship lay south of the Snowflake Mountains and was erected by the priest Cadderly Bonaduce at the former location of the Edificant Library. Built using Cadderly's very life energy, it was inexorably tied to him. When Cadderly was severely injured, the temple becamed ruined and since Cadderly left the Material Plane before he could heal, it remained so.


 * The Library of Deneir:
 * The Library of Deneir was a secret collective located deep inside a mountain in Waterdeep and was accessible only via a pair of portals. Both portals were only accessible with the use of a key. One portal was connected to a library within the temple of Deneir and the other with the temple of Oghma.


 * The Gallery Majesta:
 * This Deneirrath temple within the city of Calimport also functioned as a museum of magical artifacts.


 * Mierskar:
 * Deneir was the principal deity worshiped in the town of Mierskar in Lapaliiya.

History


Deneir's purpose was to act as Oghma's scribe; more importantly, he recorded the Metatext: the numeric representation of the multiverse and a form of ultimate logic. During the events of the Spellplague, Cadderly witnessed Deneir transcribing the Metatext into the remnants of the Weave for purposes unknown. In doing so, Deneir wrote himself into the Weave as well, passing out of known existence. Deneir granted a portion of his power to Cadderly in order for him to combat and imprison the Ghost King.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Patronage