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 as patron of everything beautiful and creative in all genders 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.

Abilities
The Oghma had all the abilities of a great bard and wizard and more, as well as, of course, a god. In particular, every non-divine being who heard Oghma's avatar speak could be charmed by him; while they could resist the magic, there was no immunity and it continued as long as he kept talking. He also had ESP, allowing him to read the minds of all creatures up to away. He himself was invulnerable to all spells and powers that charmed, altered emotions, or harmed or hampered one's intellect, wisdom, or sanity. He was known to use all schools of arcane magic and was especially potent in spells of abjuration and divination. He possessed four psionic powers (three devotions, one science) with all attack and defense modes. He could sense any idea or type of creative expression anywhere in the world, up to 160 days before it occurred and retain the feeling for as long afterward.

The Lord of Knowledge could answer any question put to him, though it might take even him a little while to research for the trickier topics. He also knew the secret name or true name of every non-divine creature, especially on worlds where the Celtic pantheon held sway. With this name, Oghma could control any creature or cause them to die. However, this was usually not applicable on Toril.

Oghma had the power to force demons and devils into a special prison he had created. They stayed trapped there until he chose to let them out for some reason. Some accounts said this was the origin of this title, the Binder.

Manifestations
When Oghma did manifest, it was commonly as a blue-green radiance an accompaniment of musical chords. These were distinctive, being described as crawling or rising and almost menacing in their pitch. The chords never changed between manifestations and were proprietary to the Patron of Bards—any musician who dared to try play them was instantly met with a manifestation warning them to desist. Those who continued were also encircled by a ring of blue flame that could burn them, inflicting serious injuries and even death if they had angered the god enough. In any case, those who beheld the blue-green radiance had a strong feeling that were being watched. Oghma was known to speak through it in a voice that was aged, refined, and echoing and made laconic statements such as "Well said," "Tis well done," "Desist from thy course, or perish," or "What ye seek is to be found in..."

An alternative manifestation was as a white light of blinding intensity. It could display a pair of eyes of blazing flames; project colored beams of force to apply magical effects; or extrude arms and hands capable of carrying items, wielding weapons, and indicating things of importance.

To aid his followers or show his approval or disapproval of their actions, the Binder could send golems of various makes; metallic dragons, particularly electrum dragons; feystags, translators, watchers, which were a type of beholderkin; watchghosts, and lillendi.

Tactics
Oghma preferred to use his spells in combat, but when he had need of a weapon, he could summon his longsword into his hand. He was highly specialized in its use.

In addition, he was exceptional at the sport of wrestling, being the best among the Celtic pantheon at least and their chosen champion in their battles with giants. He would often call out foes for a wrestling match, with the loser being forced to leave the field of battle. However, his strength in wrestling was always the sum of his own strength and that of his opponent.

Activities
Oghma's domain was nothing less than the whole of knowledge and thought, both those that were written down and those that were spoken aloud and even those that still remained in the mind, for the idea was the purest and highest incarnation of knowledge. Oghma passed judgement on each and every new idea and innovation, determining if it should be released to the world or if it should remain with the one who formed it. Thus, he was widely viewed as the source of creativity and inspiration. He was quite protective of this duty and of the body of knowledge that was in the world.

He so enjoyed hearing stories, poetry, and songs that he regularly adopted human form and wandered the world in search of the most talented composers and performers. When a song was sung for the first time, there was a one-in-a-hundred chance that Oghma would be in the audience. Otherwise, when a new song or story was then spread by others, there was a one-in-twenty chance the Patron of Bards would soon hear it and gift its creator with gold, often via the local lord strangely choosing to bestow it.

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. Oghma maintained the three magical springs in the woods of the plane.

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. He wore +4 chainmail.

Relationships
Having no superior, Oghma was the most powerful deity of knowledge in the Realms, second only to Mystra if one counted magical ability as a form of knowledge. Oghma was the head of a small pantheon called the Deities of Knowledge and Invention, including himself, Milil, the god of music; Deneir, the god of writing and images; and Gond, the god of crafts. These three gods were allies of Oghma, but were secondary to him, acting as his servants and agents in the preservation and propagation of knowledge in a slightly patronizing arrangement. In the 15 century DR, Milil was labeled as Oghma's exarch. Milil and Deneir were both Oghma's intermediaries, who brought new knowledge to him and delivered it to beings he favored. Deneir was also called the Scribe of Oghma. It was sometimes considered that Deneir was the right hand of Oghma and Milil the left hand, also called the One True Hand, with no insult intended to Deneir. Instead, it represented a belief in the tendency for artistic talent to be linked with left-handedness and the idea that the highest art arose from the acceptance of truth.

The third hand, however, was Gond. Gond's role was to put ideas in physical form as crafts, devices, and new inventions. But while they enjoyed amiable relations, these were somewhat strained by some of these inventions, especially the firearms developed in Lantan in the 1360s DR. While Gond pushed for the speedy proliferation of all new devices across Faerûn, some seemed ill-considered. Gond acted so independently of Oghma that many forgot he was actually supposed to serve him. While Oghma did admire Gond's creativity and even his enthusiasm, he disapproved of how he placed innovation above introspection and always pushed his technology too far.

Other deities allied with Oghma were the first Mystra and the second Mystra, the goddesses of magic; Azuth, the patron of mages; Lathander, god of creativity; Lliira, goddess of joy;   Oghma and his subordinate gods regularly worked with the first Mystra, likely in areas of magical knowledge. Although Lliira served Sune, goddess of love, she was linked most closely with Milil, and thus was counted as an ally of the Deities of Knowledge and Invention, so much so that sages habitually mistook her for a servant of Oghma. Outside the Faerûnian pantheon, Oghma established around 1370 DR a mutual accord and tentative alliance with Thoth, his counterpart in the Mulhorandi pantheon. They even had a friendly contest going to claim followers in Unther. Oghma was also allies with Dugmaren Brightmantle, dwarven god of scholarship and invention; Labelas Enoreth, the elven god of history; and Cyrrollalee, the halfling goddess of crafts.

Oghma's most common foes were Mask, patron of thieves; Cyric, the god of lies; Talos, the god of destruction; and Bane, the god of tyranny,  and the feeling was mutual. He saw these gods as the greatest threats to his balance of knowledge, as they all tried to lock away knowledge for their own end, corrupt it, or destroy it altogether. Oghma had also opposed the former goddess of lies, Leira, and their conflicts were legend. Over the centuries, every time Leira, goddess of lies, sent revolutionary and dangerous ideas to her faithful, Oghma restricted them to remain among her small cult, thus preventing them doing harm to wider society.

History
Oghmanytes believed that, soon after the creation of the world by Selûne and Shar and the birth of Chauntea, a traveller from a faraway realm arrived. He found a land in chaos, filled with vague, ill-defined concepts wanting to be given form. So he bestowed a name on each one, giving it a definition forevermore. These names held such power that the concepts were bound to physical forms within the material world and order was brought to the chaos. For this reason, he, Oghma, was called the Binder of What is Known and took his place as one of the oldest and greatest of the gods of Toril.

Whether this was true or not, Oghma was an interloper deity of the Celtic pantheon who had links to many different planes. He gained power in Toril's crystal sphere around the time of the rise of Netheril, when a wave of planar immigrants came from another world and settled in Faerûn. One of these groups of people came from a rugged land with a culture tied to nature, the sea, and the warrior history of its dozen-king greater god, bringing with them their own style of society and faiths, and their gods, of whom Oghma was but one.

Myths regarding Oghma were as old as human history, if not far older. As well as the one above about being responsible for all concepts, Oghma was also said to have given written language to the world. Scholars and theologians debated their veracity, but none disputed he was an ancient deity whose faith predated recorded history.

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.

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

Worshipers
The Lord of Knowledge had the distinction of being revered by beings of every race, every stratum of society, and every philosophy and moral alignment. His clerics could be neutral or of any alignment, unlike most neutral gods. All folk who valued, preserved, shared, sought, created, or uncovered knowledge and learning were perforce followers of Oghma  and anyone looking for information, especially if it was lost or concealed, would say a prayer to the Binder and beseech him for a blessing. Those who worshiped Oghma included artists, artisans, bards, cartographers, clerks, inventors, librarians, loremasters, sages, scholars, scribes, smiths, and wizards. Archivists, a bookish generalist cleric, might pray to him as well.

The worship of Oghma was favored in the Dalelands, the Western Heartlands, the Shaar, and in the North, especially in Silverymoon.

Background
As depicted in the 1-edition Deities & Demigods, page 29, Oghma is based on the Ogma, or Oghma, an Irish god of language, learning, and eloquence, and on the related Ogmios, a Gallic god of eloquence, both echoes of a lost Celtic deity. In particular, the 'Binder' title arises from a depiction of Ogmios with chains of gold and amber linking his mouth to followers' ears, representing the power of persuasion and eloquence to bind and control the listener.

Connections
Oghma