Venerator Creed

The Venerator Creed was one of the major illithid Creeds in the Realms. They represented the interests of Ilsensine and revered the deity. Rather than persuing psionic achievement, a Venerator focused its life's work on its devotion to the great brain. Venerators always held a position of prestige in their city unlike illithid arcanists. It was common for the Creed to die out in one generation since illithid were often more interested in improving their psionic might than they were in channeling even the powers of Ilsensine.

The Tenets

 * To spread membership of the Creed to other cities for glory of Ilsensine.
 * Illithids are meant to rule the multiverse, to enslave the "cattle" that overrun the lands, to use them, to consume their minds.
 * The pursuit of knowledge, exploration of new territory, and the exploitation of knowledge gained through these explorations.

Results of Becoming a Venerator
The main advantage presented to an illithid for joining the Venerators was the ability to use divine magic on top of their psionics. The second major advantage was that Ilsensine bestowed its clergy with knowledge. Gaining favour with the deity allowed a priest to gain an answer to any question that Ilsensine could answer.

There are two major disadvantages. A Venerator was not allowed to join the elder brain in death. The other disadvantage was that an illithid's magic resistance was significantly reduced so they could utilize Ilsensine's power more effectively.

Illithid clerics could not turn undead. They were however given access to the spheres of all, astral, charm, divination, law, numbers, sun (reverse), thought, and time.

Bases
The Venerators had temples called the Shrines of the Great Brain in Oryndoll but were based out of the Grotto of Sacred Thoughts. In the city, the tenets of the Venerator Creed and the Loretaker Creed dominated every aspect of life. Dissent was tolerated though rarely shown. This Creed believed that the Flowstone Tapestry was a manifestation of Ilsensine's thought processes. They were closely aligned with the Abysmal Creed. The Venerators did not eventually die out as often occurred in other cities because the priests there maintained the belief that joining with the Encephalithid guaranteed an afterlife with Ilsensine.

History
The Venerator Creed in Oryndoll was founded soon after the duergar uprising in. This happened as a result of Ilsensine appearing to restore order to the city. Ilsensine allowed Venerators to join with the Elder Brain in death, so the Creed flourished.

By 1370 DR, the Venerators were the most powerful Creed in Oryndoll, with the Loretaker Creed close behind them. The Creedmaster of the Venerators, Cephalossk, had assumed a prominent position on the Elder Concord, even above the Encephalithid.