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Azuth (/ˈɑːzuːθ/ A-zooth) is a fictional deity in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. He is the god of mages. His alignment is lawful neutral. The appearance of Azuth seems to be somewhat indistinct, he often manifests simply as an elderly voice or shimmering blue luminescence.
Azuth is known as the god of all mages and wizards in the realms. This would seem to make his portfolio conflict with that of Mystra, however she is the goddess of all magic, while Azuth specializes on practitioners of magic. Azuth is one of Mystra's subordinates but he is also known to be a friend and advisor to her. During the Time of Troubles in 1358DR he spent much of his time caring for part of Mystra's power and guarding a statue of her at the Pool of Yeven in Battledale.
Publication history
Ed Greenwood created Azuth for his home Dungeons & Dragons game, inspired by the version of the Nehwon deity Aarth found in the original Deities & Demigods book.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)
Azuth first appeared within Dungeons & Dragons as one of the deities featured in Ed Greenwood's article "Down-to-earth Divinity" in Dragon #54 (October 1981). Azuth is introduced as the High One, patron of magic users, a lawful neutral demigod from the plane of Arcadia. The article notes that "Azuth serves Mystra." Azuth is most commonly worshipped by magic-users of any alignment.
Azuth later officially appeared as one of the major deities for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set's "Cyclopedia of the Realms" booklet (1987).
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)
Azuth was described in the hardback Forgotten Realms Adventures (1990), the revised Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (1993) in the "Running the Realms" booklet, and Faiths & Avatars (1996).
His role in the cosmology of the Planescape campaign setting was described in On Hallowed Ground (1996).
Azuth is described as one of the good deities that celestials can serve in the supplement Warriors of Heaven (1999).
Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)
Azuth appears as one of the major deities of the Forgotten Realms setting again, in Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (2001), and is further detailed in Faiths and Pantheons (2002).
Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)
Azuth is mentioned as having been destroyed in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide (2009). When Dweomerheart exploded with the death of Mystra, Azuth fell through the cosmos into the Nine Hells, where Asmodeus consumed his essence to become a fully-fledged god.
Worship of Azuth
Azuth and his faithful, the Azuthans, concern themselves with the way in which mages behave, not simply magic itself. Because Azuth is concerned mostly with wizards, Azuthans mainly feel that it is best to approach magic with logic and reason. For the Azuthian clergy caution and clear focus are the order of the day. The clerics of Azuth teach wisdom and restraint. This means that Azuth is often not the favoured god of sorcerers with their fiery, instinctual use of magic, and bards with their somewhat fanciful approach to it.
Details regarding the Azuthian clergy are few and far between. What is known is that they mainly eschew any formal titles and wear his holy symbol upon their chests. A magical aura emanates from this symbol, the color denoting an individual's rank in the church. Blue is the most common color.
Clerics of Azuth pray for their spells at dusk. Whenever a mage ascends to the rank of Magister, Azuth's church celebrates a holiday. His clerics recognize few other holidays of note, though liturgical readings at meal times play an important role in honoring the Lord of Spells. Texts composed by famous wizards make up the bulk of the church's canon. Clerics of Azuth commonly multiclass as arcane devotees or wizards.
Azuth controls Savras the All-Seeing and Velsharoon the Vaunted among the lesser Gods and associates with Deneir the Lord of Glyphs, Oghma the Scribe and Leira the Lady of Mists. Azuth's greatest enemy, perhaps his nemesis, is Bane, god of strife, kin to Bhaal and Myrkul.
Dogma of Azuth
Reason is the best way to approach magic, and magic can be examined and reduced to its component parts through study and meditation. Maintain calm and use caution in your spellcasting and magic use to avoid making mistakes that even magic cannot undo. Use the art wisely, and always be mindful of when it is best not to use magic. Teach the wielding of magic and dispense learning throughout Faerûn that the use and knowledge of magic may spread. Live and teach the idea that with magical power comes grave responsibility. Learn every new spell you discover and make a copy for the temple library. Do not hoard your knowledge, and encourage creativity in magic in all ways and at all times.
Saints of Azuth
- Hobark: one of the few recognized saints in all the realms and now adopted as a saint of Mystra as well.
Temples of Azuth
- Selgaunt
- The Divinatorium, Cimbar
References
- ^ Ed Greenwood, Jeff Grubb and Karen S. Martin (1987). Forgotten Realms Campaign Set. Wizard of the Coast. ISBN 0-88038-472-7.
- ^ Ed Greenwood, Dragon magazine #54 - "Down-to-earth divinity" (October 1981), p. 52: "Azuth is merely a renamed Aarth."
- Grubb, Jeff and Ed Greenwood. Forgotten Realms Adventures (TSR, 1990)
- Ed Greenwood (1993). Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. ASIN B000K06S2E.
- Martin, Julia, and Eric L Boyd. Faiths & Avatars (TSR, 1996)
- McComb, Colin. On Hallowed Ground (TSR, 1996)
- Perkins, Christopher. Warriors of Heaven (TSR, 1999)
- Ed Greenwood; et al. (2001). Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. Wizard of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-1836-5.
{{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in:|author=(help) - Boyd, Eric L, and Erik Mona. Faiths and Pantheons (Wizards of the Coast, 2002)
Additional reading
- Reynolds, Sean K., Duane Maxwell, and Angel Leigh McCoy. Magic of Faerûn (TSR, 2001).