Camus Inakas

Camus Inakas is a god in the High Elven Pantheon, whose purview covers the arcane, the unknowable and unknown, the lands beyond the horizon and that which has yet to be learned. He is a middling god in the Pantheon, born of a dalliance between Lysanthir Lugolor and Fero Ilirel, the gods of Death and Medicine, respectively. His epithet, the keeper of secrets, is suggestive of his reputation for being selectively helpful. While career mages and philosophers are among his most obvious followers, he is also popular among adventurers, whose delving of ancient ruins is considered a sacred activity within his church.

His symbol is the Octarchy, a symbol of the eight elements of the arcane under Ars Magica. As a chaotic neutral diety, he grants his followers access to Artifice, Knowledge, Magic, and Rune domains. Her sacred weapon is the longbow, and those entitled to a proficiency through her are granted mastery of the same.

History

Born as the son of Lysanthir Lugolor during his affair with Fero Ilirel, Camus is the oldest of those gods not directly created by Pyria Valeptor, except of course for her fellow primordial, Shalaevar Shamaris. Camus's influence is said to be responsible for deepening the already-strong relationship of elf-kind in general with magic into the legendary affinity of the Atarlie for arcane magic. He is also believed to be one of the gods who dealt with Gul Spell-Speaker to grant him the power to become divine himself.

Relationships

Camus is a member of the divine family of the High Elven Pantheon, and so is friendly with all of its gods, though distrusted (by degrees) by Rophalin Imperator, who holds his one-time dalliance with Shalaevar Shamaris against him; this affair resulted in the creation of Hycis Uriris, one of the great enemies of elvenkind. Camus actively despises Hycis in spite of her nominally being his daughter, and will go to great lengths to demonstrate his continued loyalty to the rest of his family by acting contrary to both Shalaevar and Hycis whenever possible.

Unsurprisingly, he is best loved by Lysanthir Lugolor and Feno Ilirel, his parents and mentors, both of whom he works with closely. When he is present in Elysium, he is also known to frequent the court of San Sylvester, who is a rival god of magic and also teaches the arcane school Ars Magica.

Interestingly, he frequently brings himself and his supporters into conflict with those of Gul Spell-Speaker, though the two are of similar disposition. This betimes-violent rivalry is said to be rooted in their irreconcilable views of arcane power and the correct pursuit of knowledge.

Appearance

Camus stands head and shoulders above elves, but otherwise appears as a member of their race, ice-blue hair and soft, youthful eyes. He is typically depicted as wearing the red and gold robes of imperial court magisters.

Realm

Camus is, of course, welcome in Elysium. However, due to his own nature and the nature of Cosmology, his true realm is Pandemoneum. He maintains one of the most stable regions in the entire plane, near its shallow edges where the pull of Chaos is ameleorated by the influence of other planes, known as the Repository of Archmages. Among the gods, he is one of the most likely to visit the Eight Essential Planes, as well, being an adventurer himself.

Providence

Camus's favour is finding just the right article tucked between the leaves of a tome you accidentially knock from the shelf, or the apple falling from a tree that makes a riddle suddenly clear. Camus's direct teachings are rarely given to humans; he values the search for knowledge too greatly to give such shortcuts except sparingly.

Servants

Camus is served by a variety of elementals and constructs he has bound to his servants, and by a retinue of Azatas when he is present in Elysium.

Unique Servants

The Lens of Camus

This prismatic sphere, roughly the size of a football, is a major artifact of its own unique intelligence, serving as Camus's herald. Camus is known for sending the Lens to hide itself in some ancient tomb or ruin, spreading breadcrumbs in legend and rumour to lead the intended audience to uncover it.

Church

Camus's worship is widespread in the Atarlie Empire, and any city large enough to host one or more wizard's colleges usually also can boast a temple to this god - sometimes those institutions are one in the same.

Worshippers

Mages, both adventuring and professional, be they sorcerer, wizard, or otherwise, very often worship Camus Inakas, and his teachings are often the first forays of many elves into formal arcane theory and the Ars Magica. Scholars of non-arcane topics also follow Camus, as do cartographers, and many a professional adventurer.

Clergy

Many of Camus's clergymen are also arcanists, making themselves thaumaturges or theurges as the need warrants. They wear the red and gold robes of official court mages because they are, in fact, official court mages, and lead comfortable lives as a result of their relatively high office and the high demand for their services.

Such clergymen are usually clerics; neither paladins nor monks are of a suitable alignment to follow the sometimes-capricious Camus Inakas. If applicable, his adventuring clergy are often maguses, as confident in their swordsmanship as their spellcasting.

Temples & Shrines

Camus's temples are large, though the areas set aside for worship make up a small part of them. Several public fora are set aside for the discussion of various topics, arcane or alchemical demonstrations, and public study. Libraries, sometimes public and other times private, are also common features, as are living and working quarters for the clergy and magical laboratories for study. Many temples in key cities may have Gates, and Imperial officials rely on these gates to move quickly throughout the empire when the need arises.

Holy Texts

Camus's Compendium Magica is an enormous collection of magical writings and teachings-on-teaching, including several full works on Theory of Knowledge, that are necessarily published as carefully-curated sets of up to 24 volumes on their own, often with several additional volumes of commentary besides. In addition, each and every member of his clergy makes their own publications that join the Greater Compendium, a collection of sacred arcane theory documentation at the principle temple of the order in Heroka, which is said to be duplicated in Camus's realm as well.

Church History

Camus's church does not concern itself with political influence, beyond ensuring that the Empire remains aware that Camus and the Arcane are cornerstones of the imperial position and comforts, and that imperial funding and favour remains available to the church.

Holidays

Camus's birthday is said to be the First of the Third Month in the Rophalin Calendar, and on this day it is customary to hold a large festival of feasting and celebration, supplanted with large demonstrations of prestidigitation and other magical novelty.

Favoured Animals

Peacocks, especially the males, who are believed in some ways to be magical themselves, or otherwise connected to the acane, are held as sacred to Camus Inakas.