Nytheris
Nytheris, the Shadowed Sage, is the goddess of secrets, ambition, and the pursuit of hidden knowledge. She is the whisper in the scholar’s ear, the shadow cast by every flame of truth, and the silent patron of those who seek power through understanding.
Her followers call her the Keeper of Veils, the Mother of Mysteries, or the Black Quill. Nytheris is neither wholly benevolent nor malevolent, her teachings warn that truth is dangerous, yet she urges mortals to chase it regardless.
To some, she is enlightenment through courage, to others, corruption in the guise of wisdom.
Nytheris is depicted as a veiled woman cloaked in black and deep violet, her eyes gleaming like polished obsidian beneath a silver hood. In one hand, she holds a quill dipped in shadow, and in the other, a mirror that reflects not the face, but the soul of the onlooker.
In other depictions, she appears as a faceless archivist surrounded by candles that burn with black flame. Her temples and icons often show her half-shrouded by flowing curtains or pools of ink, ever seen, yet never fully known.
Titles
Adjectives
Worshippers
Alignment
Symbol
Domains
Favoured Colour
The Shadowed Sage
Therite
Spies, scholars, Seekers of Knowledge
Any Lawful, Any Neutral
A Quill
Secrets, Shadows, Ambition
Teal
Worshippers
Basic Information
Nytheris manifests in subtle ways, a fleeting shadow in a library, the echo of a voice when one reads forbidden words, or a dream of ink flowing like blood. Scholars and spies alike claim that she guides them through inspiration or warning. Her influence is strongest where curiosity and ambition meet, in the study of ancient relics, the unearthing of forgotten truths, or the quiet planning of political intrigue. Yet her presence is not always a boon. When her name is invoked with arrogance, the light may dim, and those who overreach find themselves lost in their own labyrinth of secrets, consumed by the truths they sought to command.
Nytheris is calm, calculating, and endlessly patient. She is drawn to curiosity and ambition, admiring those who question rather than obey. Her words are soft but piercing, cutting through the illusions of certainty. To the humble, she is a guide, to the arrogant, a test. Nytheris despises complacency and ignorance, believing that wilful blindness is the truest sin. Yet her favour is dangerous, for her lessons are harsh, she reveals truth not to comfort, but to challenge. Those who follow her path risk madness, but those who endure emerge transformed, marked forever by what they now know.
description
Activities
Personality
The origins of Nytheris are obscured, fittingly, even to her own clergy. Some claim she was born from the first lie ever told, the moment mortals discovered the power of words to conceal as well as reveal. Others say she is the shadow of Solara’s light, created when the Dawnmother first brought illumination to the world, proof that every truth casts its opposite.
Her worship began among scribes, mystics, and prophets who feared persecution for what they knew. They prayed to Nytheris for protection, whispering her name to guard their discoveries from destruction. Over time, her cults divided. The Seekers of the Hidden Star revere her as the muse of intellect and self-discovery, believing enlightenment lies beyond moral constraint.
Throughout history, her followers have guided kings from the shadows, unearthed truths that shaped nations, and unleashed horrors better left buried. Yet Nytheris herself remains impartial. She neither forbids nor encourages, she simply watches, waiting to see who is strong enough to bear the weight of what they uncover. Her faithful teach that ignorance is safety, but wisdom is divinity, and both demand sacrifice.
History
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Solara, The Dawnmother – Rivalry of light and shadow, truth and secrecy.
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Caedros, The Blade of Justice – Counterpoint; her ambiguity challenges his certainty.
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Myrris, The Weaver of Fate – Shared mastery of unseen truths; both shape destiny, one by thread, one by secret.
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Sylthara, Keeper of the Veil – Philosophical kin; both veil knowledge, one for protection, one for power.
Relationships
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Ink and Blood: Scholars dedicate their work by pricking a finger and mixing their blood into their ink, binding truth and sacrifice together.
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Night of Whispers: Once a year, her temples extinguish all light, and the faithful confess their deepest secrets in darkness, offering them to Nytheris’s silence.
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The Closed Tome: At the end of a scholar’s life, their unfinished work is sealed and burned, not to destroy it, but to return its knowledge to Nytheris.
Rituals
Worshippers of Nytheris are found wherever knowledge is prized or feared. Scholars, alchemists, spies, prophets, and rulers all whisper her name, seeking her insight or protection. Some honor her openly in great libraries and academies, others serve her in secret, hoarding knowledge and influence beneath layers of deception.
Her temples are quiet places of ink and candlelight, their walls lined with books, a reminder that ignorance and wisdom are often indistinguishable to the blind. Her clergy, dress in muted tones and carry quills dipped in black wax. To outsiders, they are secretive and suspect, to those who seek them, they are guides through the darkness within.
Nytheris teaches that truth is not a gift but a burden, and that those who carry it must do so in silence. Some emerge enlightened, others corrupted, but all who follow her find that the greatest mysteries are not written in books, but whispered in the dark corners of the soul.