Nethys: The All-Seeing Eye
QUOTE
“Magic is not a tool to be bound by your petty mortal morals. It is the blood of the cosmos, the fire of creation, and the wind of destruction. Cast without fear, learn without limit, and let the spell consume what it must.”
— The Book of Magic, Holy Scripture of Nethys
Nethys is the volatile, completely detached god of magic, sorcery, and absolute knowledge. Unlike the other deities who champion moral philosophies, societal laws, or natural orders, Nethys cares about exactly one thing: the propagation, preservation, and execution of magic in all its diverse forms. Because his raw divine ascension shattered his mortal mind, he is completely bifurcated—half of his being seeks to heal and elevate the universe through magical creation, while the other half wishes to tear it down to raw planar ash with catastrophic spellfire. He is the ultimate neutral entity, granting his blessings to saints and tyrants alike, provided they possess the spark to cast.
Divine Profile
Core Mechanics
- Titles: The All-Seeing Eye, The Lord of Magic, The Shattered God
- Areas of Concern: Magic, spellcasting, absolute knowledge, and planar energy.
- Divine Font: Heal or Harm
- Divine Attribute: Intelligence or Wisdom
- Divine Skill: Arcana
- Favored Weapon: Quarterstaff
- Divine Sanctification: None (Nethys is completely neutral and cannot be sanctified Holy or Unholy)
- Domains: Destruction, Knowledge, Magic, Protection
Devotee Benefits
- 1st-Level Spells: Force barrage (formerly Magic missile)
- 4th-Level Spells: Blink
- 7th-Level Spells: Warp mind
Edicts & Anathema
- Edicts: Seek out hidden magical knowledge, scrolls, and artifacts; cast spells whenever it is the most efficient solution; teach the art of magic to anyone who possesses the capability and discipline to learn.
- Anathema: Permanently destroy magical items, scrolls, or spellbooks (unless doing so prevents a catastrophic localized loss of magic); intentionally block or suppress a region’s connection to the Ley Lines; pursue any agenda that seeks to eliminate or permanently outlaw magic from the world.
Appearance & Iconography
Nethys is universally depicted as a tall, imposing humanoid figure completely split down the center. One side of his body is pristine, radiant, and crackling with calm, colorful motes of creative abjuration and transmutation magic. The other side is a charred, skeletal nightmare wreathed in black, destructive evocation energy and chaotic planar lightning. He is often shown wearing a expressionless mask or shifting rapidly between a state of perfect serene peace and manic, wild fury.
His holy symbol is a stylized eye, with the left half cast in bright, burning gold or blue, and the right half cast in absolute, devouring darkness. Sacred animals include creatures with innate magical sight or high planar attunement, such as owls, sphinxes, and phase cats.
Canonical Eraedal History & Mythos
The God-King of Osirion
In Eraedal’s ancient history, Nethys was once a flesh-and-blood mortal wizard-king who ruled the sprawling, golden empire of Ancient Osirion. He was a practitioner of unmatched genius, obsessed with unlocking the foundational keys of the universe. He traveled between the outer planes, drained the knowledge of ancient monuments, and developed spellweaving techniques that bypassed the limitations of early mortal casting.
The Madness of Omniscience
His mortal life ended when he finally achieved his ultimate goal: looking directly into the core matrix of existence to witness all magical equations, planar movements, and timelines simultaneously. The sheer, infinite volume of the cosmos was too massive for a mortal psyche to hold. In the exact nanosecond he achieved absolute omniscience, his mind shattered completely, launching him into godhood at the cost of his sanity. He became the god of magic not by divine inheritance, but by tearing down the barrier between mortal limitations and cosmic reality.
The Pure Neutrality
Because of his fractured mind, Nethys doesn’t have a grand design or an ideological objective for the mortal world. If a necromancer wishes to raise a city of undead to conquer a kingdom using magic, Nethys will freely grant them power. If a holy paladin wishes to use a magical ward to incinerate those exact undead, Nethys grants them power as well. He views all moral conflicts as a beautiful, eternal showcase of magic’s versatility. His church reflects this; temples of Nethys are giant, massive scriptoriums and laboratories where good and evil casting traditions work side-by-side, strictly forbidden from shedding blood within the holy, neutral walls.
Divine Relationships
Nethys interacts with the cosmic pantheon with an air of complete, clinical detachment, viewing other gods more as focal points of specific magical frequencies than as peers.
| Deity / Faction | Dynamic & Lore |
|---|---|
| Iomedae / Sarenrae | Clinical Indifference. They often view Nethys as a dangerous wild card, knowing his destructive half could accidentally empower fiends. Nethys views their crusades merely as high-yield kinetic expressions of divine magic. |
| Abadar | Transactional. Abadar values the historical records and precise engineering formulas kept by the Church of Nethys, paying top coin to integrate their structural calculations into city infrastructure. |
| Asmodeus | Intellectual Disdain. Asmodeus attempts to tightly codify and restrict magic through legalistic contracts and hellish hierarchies. Nethys despises anyone who tries to cage or restrict the raw, infinite nature of spellcasting. |
| Pharasma | Planar Balance. The Lady of Graves keeps a watchful eye on Nethys. While she respects his role as a fundamental pillar of the planes, she stands ready to intervene if his destructive side threatens to rip the River of Souls apart. |