What do the Athar believe?
Simply put, the Athar claim that the beings who call themselves ‘gods’ are frauds; not divine or deserving of worship, just powerful entities who’ve pulled the wool over the eyes of us mere mortals for long enough and need to be pulled down a peg or three.
Believing in Disbelief
The latest in a long line of Athar rhetorical speeches has proved a great success with Cagers. Always looking for a new metaphor to use to bring the powers down a peg or three, Denzith Ab Plarok (Prime human 0-level [he/him] / Athar / CG) says that if a power is considered to be a human, then his proxies would be dogs – basically faithful, obedient, dumb, drooling slaves. Priests would be rats – sly and after as many crumbs of the human’s food as possible. At the bottom of the heap, as always, are normal bashers, who’d be the equivalent of mice – vulnerable to abuse from any of the others. All the more reason why, argues Denzith, we don’t let the powers get exactly what they want: Worship!
In another of his increasingly influential speeches, Denzith mocked one of the favourite claims of priests: That humans are the finest creations of the gods. If this is the case, Denzith argued, then these so-called powers ain’t exactly fine craftsmen, are they!
I’ve collected several more examples of the philosophies filtering out of the faction at present, and offer them as freely as the faction Denies the Gods.
“And what, my friends, were the ‘Powers’ doing before they made the Prime and the Heavens?”
— Athar rabble-rouser
“Preparing the Hells for the likes of you!”
—Priest heckler
Faction Headquarters
- The Shattered Temple — Former temple of Aoskar, destroyed by the Lady of Pain, and now the centre of the Athar propaganda operation
Philosophy By Numbers
- A Player’s Guide to the Athar — Being a background to the faction, how members of different alignments might interpret the faction’s philosophy, and what real-world philosophies have contributed parts to the Athar
Coteries of the Athar
- The Monotheist Conspiracy — An Athar’s Screed on the Conspiratorial True Nature of the Great Unknown
- The Necroalchemists — According to these bloods, Undeath is an Undeadly Disease
- The Seekers of Truth — Nexatl seeks to prove the Unknown cannot be Learned but encounters Opposition from many Quarters
- The Blasphemers — Who fight the Powers with their own Weapons; their Belief in Disbelief striking a Blow to the Hearts of the Faithful
“Where is your god now, hrmm?”
– Athar looking at a priest in a tight Tanar’ri fix
Source: Jon Winter-Holt, mimir.net
See Also: kriegstanz.com, an Athar D&D 3rd edition conversion here
