Auppenser
Encyclopedia
In the Forgotten Realms
campaign setting
of the Dungeons & Dragons
fantasy
role-playing game
, Auppenser is (or was) the deity of psionics
. Having lost most of his power and being in a coma
-like endless sleep, he is considered, in game terms, to be a dead deity.
(2005).
. He was also the main deity worshipped in the ancient psiocracy (government by psions) of Jhaamdath.
Unfortunately, the collapse of that nation stripped the god of nearly all his power and worshippers, and in order to live, he has had to go into a deep, endless slumber from which he has only just begun to awaken. This supposedly is what accounts for the continuous decline in the use of psionics in the Realms, and his recent stirring its slow reblooming.
.
. Auppenser pledged obeisance to Mystryl but in reality he was his own master who sought to free himself from the internecine politics of his godly brethren. His church was most powerful during the heady days of the Jhaamdath Empire, and it was that kingdom's destruction that spelled the deity's demise. Worship of Auppenser all but ceased in the years following the drowning of Jhaamdath, an event that would have sent the god to a certain death if not for the intervention of Mystra. Mystra, reluctant to let the mystical art of psionics such a terrible loss, placed Auppenser in a deep slumber from which he has just begun to stir.
The entire destruction of Jhaamdath coupled with the slumber of the god of psionics brought about a centuries-long decline in psionic practice. It is only recently that awareness of this forsaken area of magic has cultivated renewed interest in its study.
The church of Auppenser was well established throughout the Jhaamdath Empire although its organization was loose and not hierarchically structured. Each Jhaamdathan city boasted several large temples and monasteries while towns usually had a single, small center of worship. These temples were usually domed, colonnaded rotundas of white stone. Larger temples contained numerous private chambers for individual worshippers seeking solitude to pray, to compose one's thoughts, and to seek divine guidance for greater enlightenment.
The church of Auppenser zealously opposed slavery, a pious belief that frequently brought the church faithful into conflict with slave-owning kingdoms, most notably Calimshan.
Monastic servants were expected to be of sound mind and body. Personal discipline was seen as the utmost sign of respect to Auppenser. Nothing was ever done to excess be it drinking, eating, or sleeping. Self-restraint, meditation and moderation were the means to true enlightenment and perfection of self - honorable goals embraced by the god of psionics.
Tireless enemies of slavery, monastic servants worked openly and unflinchingly against those nations who traded in enslaved beings. Their actions brought the peaceable but ever expanding psiocratic empire of Jhaamdath into frequent skirmishes with the slaving nation of Calimshan.
After the coup, the new regime mercilessly persecuted those monastic servants who vocalized loudly their disapproval of the empire's new and unbalanced direction. Monastic servants were frequently imprisoned, tortured and publicly executed as traitors for speaking their mind.
The monastic servants rightly feared that the radical changes in the Jhaamdathan Empire would ultimately be its undoing. While the form of the empire's doom was unforeseen, the followers of Auppenser believed that only an equally terrible act would restore the balance to the region. Unfortunately for all past and future practitioners of the Invisible Art, that terrible act would nearly wipe out all knowledge of psionics and do dire harm to the god of psionics
The elven magic that destroyed Jhaamdath also killed most of Auppenser's monastic servants. The impact on Auppenser was just as devastating. Greatly diminished in power, the god of psionics was sent into a deep slumber by the goddess of magic. The few monastic servants who survived had neither home nor the guidance of their deity. They spent their days in isolation around the shores where Jhaamdath once stood. The servants were also watchful for retribution from Jhaamdath's enemies who took great delight in tormenting Jhaamdathan survivors.
Auppenser has only recently shown signs of stirring from his sleep. The cause of his slow awakening is unknown but it may be tied to a greater awareness of psionics in areas near to the ancient lands of Jhaamdath, particularly Hlondeth and other yuan-ti
populated areas.
No monastic servant of Auppenser has existed for centuries. Detailed knowledge of the order exists in a few places most likely beneath the waves recorded in some permanent form such as a psionic stone or buried by a surviving monastic servant who sought to leave a reminder of who he was for a future generation.
A new church of Auppenser would have many obstacles to face - the most important being how to awaken their deity.
Forgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...
campaign setting
Campaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
of the Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
, Auppenser is (or was) the deity of psionics
Psionics
Psionics refers to the practice, study, or psychic ability of using the mind to induce paranormal phenomena. Examples of this include telepathy, telekinesis, and other workings of the outside world through the psyche.-History and terminology:...
. Having lost most of his power and being in a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
-like endless sleep, he is considered, in game terms, to be a dead deity.
Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition (2000-2007)
Auppenser was introduced in the third edition in Lost Empires of FaerûnLost Empires of Faerûn (accessory)
Lost Empires of Faerûn is a campaign supplement for the fictional Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:...
(2005).
Overview
Auppenser was once relatively powerful, worshipped by human and demihuman psions, monks, and psychic warriors, and all manner of psionic creatures such as blues and duergarDuergar (Dungeons & Dragons)
In Dungeons & Dragons fantasy, the duergar, or gray dwarves are a cruel and evil subrace of dwarves.-Publication history:The duergar are named after the dvergar of Norse mythology, who were the builders of Gleipnir...
. He was also the main deity worshipped in the ancient psiocracy (government by psions) of Jhaamdath.
Unfortunately, the collapse of that nation stripped the god of nearly all his power and worshippers, and in order to live, he has had to go into a deep, endless slumber from which he has only just begun to awaken. This supposedly is what accounts for the continuous decline in the use of psionics in the Realms, and his recent stirring its slow reblooming.
Description
Auppenser appears as a youthful, robust, raven-haired and purple-eyed man of lithe muscle and catlike grace. His wise face is framed by a peaceful expression of thoughtfulness. He dresses in a simple flowing robe of purest white. His favored weapon is the KukriKukri
The kukri is a curved Nepalese Knife, similar to the machete, used as both a tool and as a weapon...
.
Personality
Auppenser is a strong-minded deity given over as much to deep contemplation as he is to decisive action. The god of psionics possesses a calm demeanor, as one completely confident in his clear-thinking ways. He strives to uphold the Balance wherever psionics are involved. Worshipped by all manner of psionic beings, the fair-minded deity has long been an advocate of the magic within one's personal being. In the days when Jhaamdath was expanding, the Lord of Reason served as the empire's patron deity. He is an amicable god who took great pains to foster psionics in communities wherever his church took hold.History
The deity of psionics was an aloof god who interacted little with the other deities of FaerûnFaerûn
Faerûn is a fictional subcontinent, the primary setting of the Dungeons & Dragons world of Forgotten Realms. It is described at a relatively high level in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting from Wizards of the Coast, and various locales and aspects are described in more detail by separate...
. Auppenser pledged obeisance to Mystryl but in reality he was his own master who sought to free himself from the internecine politics of his godly brethren. His church was most powerful during the heady days of the Jhaamdath Empire, and it was that kingdom's destruction that spelled the deity's demise. Worship of Auppenser all but ceased in the years following the drowning of Jhaamdath, an event that would have sent the god to a certain death if not for the intervention of Mystra. Mystra, reluctant to let the mystical art of psionics such a terrible loss, placed Auppenser in a deep slumber from which he has just begun to stir.
The entire destruction of Jhaamdath coupled with the slumber of the god of psionics brought about a centuries-long decline in psionic practice. It is only recently that awareness of this forsaken area of magic has cultivated renewed interest in its study.
Church and Clergy
Auppenser's clergy included clerics, monks and psionic characters of all types. Clerics of Auppenser were known as Psiarchs. Cloistered members of the church dwelled in temples and monasteries dedicating themselves to understanding the mysteries of the mind. Wayfaring psiarchs openly preached their lord's philosophy of personal strength through psionic development and promoted discourse that explored the myriad abilities of the mind.The church of Auppenser was well established throughout the Jhaamdath Empire although its organization was loose and not hierarchically structured. Each Jhaamdathan city boasted several large temples and monasteries while towns usually had a single, small center of worship. These temples were usually domed, colonnaded rotundas of white stone. Larger temples contained numerous private chambers for individual worshippers seeking solitude to pray, to compose one's thoughts, and to seek divine guidance for greater enlightenment.
The church of Auppenser zealously opposed slavery, a pious belief that frequently brought the church faithful into conflict with slave-owning kingdoms, most notably Calimshan.
Monastic Servants of Auppenser
Before the coup that destroyed Jhaamdath's psiocracy, monastic servants were the priestly wayfarers of the empire, wanderers who went beyond their empire's borders to spread the message of their deity, Auppenser. Skilled in both mind and body, monastic servants set the example of how devotion to Auppenser was empowering and ennobling. Their actions promoted psionics and the worship of Auppenser - and their chosen profession was seen as but one of many possible way of merging these two areas.Monastic servants were expected to be of sound mind and body. Personal discipline was seen as the utmost sign of respect to Auppenser. Nothing was ever done to excess be it drinking, eating, or sleeping. Self-restraint, meditation and moderation were the means to true enlightenment and perfection of self - honorable goals embraced by the god of psionics.
Tireless enemies of slavery, monastic servants worked openly and unflinchingly against those nations who traded in enslaved beings. Their actions brought the peaceable but ever expanding psiocratic empire of Jhaamdath into frequent skirmishes with the slaving nation of Calimshan.
After the coup, the new regime mercilessly persecuted those monastic servants who vocalized loudly their disapproval of the empire's new and unbalanced direction. Monastic servants were frequently imprisoned, tortured and publicly executed as traitors for speaking their mind.
The monastic servants rightly feared that the radical changes in the Jhaamdathan Empire would ultimately be its undoing. While the form of the empire's doom was unforeseen, the followers of Auppenser believed that only an equally terrible act would restore the balance to the region. Unfortunately for all past and future practitioners of the Invisible Art, that terrible act would nearly wipe out all knowledge of psionics and do dire harm to the god of psionics
The elven magic that destroyed Jhaamdath also killed most of Auppenser's monastic servants. The impact on Auppenser was just as devastating. Greatly diminished in power, the god of psionics was sent into a deep slumber by the goddess of magic. The few monastic servants who survived had neither home nor the guidance of their deity. They spent their days in isolation around the shores where Jhaamdath once stood. The servants were also watchful for retribution from Jhaamdath's enemies who took great delight in tormenting Jhaamdathan survivors.
Auppenser has only recently shown signs of stirring from his sleep. The cause of his slow awakening is unknown but it may be tied to a greater awareness of psionics in areas near to the ancient lands of Jhaamdath, particularly Hlondeth and other yuan-ti
Yuan-ti
The yuan-ti are a fictional species of evil snakemen in the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. The species comprises a number of castes. In some campaign settings, the yuan-ti are descended from evil human cultists who mixed their bloodlines with those of serpents...
populated areas.
No monastic servant of Auppenser has existed for centuries. Detailed knowledge of the order exists in a few places most likely beneath the waves recorded in some permanent form such as a psionic stone or buried by a surviving monastic servant who sought to leave a reminder of who he was for a future generation.
A new church of Auppenser would have many obstacles to face - the most important being how to awaken their deity.