Nasaar

Sovereign of Magic and Mayhem.

All the forbidden arts belong to Nasaar: necromancy, demonology, and words of power no mouth should hold. What He demands in return is the leash.

His followers keep the titles and the signs of chthonic beings, the kinds and habits of the walking dead, the whole black library. He teaches them to call up dark things, converse with the dead, adopt terrifying forms, and seek out places where the walls are thin. His clergy are tolerated in Caernath for one reason: when such horrible things are loose, they possess the knowledge and power to send it back.

Traditions that teach him: the Gnomish Iconologist and the Antiquarian.

His worship day is Sul, the week’s first day. He shares Sul with Ouralon, who would bind by law and record that which Nasaar knows can only be bound by name and by rite.

Strictures

Nasaar’s traditions have many strictures. Find yours below.

Gnomish Iconologist

• She that binds others, herself is bound. A follower of Nasaar must always wear a form of binding (such as a chain, a cord, a manacle, an iron ring) visible upon her person when in public.
• A follower of Nasaar must not forget the forbidden names. Each day she must draw a circle and speak within it, each of the dark names of Nasaar she has learned, for one hour (6 turns) — that she may not forget them, and He may not forget her. She must speak the names alone, where no one can hear. On Sul, Nasaar’s holy day, she must speak them once forwards and once again backwards, and the rite takes at least two hours (12 turns).
• A follower of Nasaar must obey the master who taught her the names, in all matters of the art, until that master dies or releases her, or her power surpasses his.
• A follower of Nasaar must keep the art behind her teeth. No word of it may pass to the unsworn, and no name she holds may reach a mouth not sworn to Nasaar.
• A follower of Nasaar knows that His price will come due. During the week of Crya, when the walls are thin and reality settles, any use of her divine spells or class abilities risks Nasaar’s disfavor.

Antiquarian

An antiquarian of Nasaar abides every stricture listed for the Gnomish Iconologist above, and further:

• The antiquarian of Nasaar may be bound to her master even unto his undeath. Many a cautionary tale speaks of she who remains a servant eternally, through her own undeath.
• The antiquarian of Nasaar maintains her silence. She may not speak more than three words in a day, except to perform her prayers (the speaking of forbidden names), or to use her spells and class abilities. This stricture is lifted on Sul, Nasaar’s holy day.

The one discipline

What she knows, she must never let out. To Nasaar the word and the working are one discipline: a name spoken aloud is a summoning already begun, and knowledge of a binding is a binding half-undone.

She may teach the sworn. The seal is on the unsworn mouth, not on the art. An antiquarian may take apprentices and make them what she is — after they have taken their vows.