Auppenser

In the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, Auppenser is (or was) the deity of Psionics. Having lost most of his power and being in a coma-like endless sleep, he is considered, gamewise, to be a dead deity.

Overview
Auppenser was once relatively powerful, worshipped by both human/demihuman psions, monks and psychic warriors and all manner of psionic creatures such as blues and duergar. He was also the main deity worshipped in the ancient psiocracy (government by psions) of Jhaamdath.

Unfortunately, the collapse of that nation stripped the god of nearly all his power and worshippers, and in order to live, he has had to go into a deep, endless slumber from which he has only just begun to awaken. This supposedly is what accounts for the continuous decline in the use of psionics in the Realms, and his recent stiring its slow reblooming.

Description
Auppenser appears as a youthful, robust, raven-haired and purple-eyed man of lithe muscle and catlike grace. His wise face is framed by a peaceful expression of thoughtfulness. He dresses in a simple flowing robe of purest white. His favored weapon is the Kukri.

Personality
Auppenser is a strong-minded deity given over as much to deep contemplation as he is to decisive action. The god of psionics possesses a calm demeanor, as one completely confident in his clear-thinking ways. He strives to uphold the Balance wherever psionics are involved. Worshipped by all manner of psionic beings, the fair-minded deity has long been an advocate of the magic within one's personal being. In the days when Jhaamdath was expanding, the Lord of Reason served as the empire's patron deity. He is an amicable god who took great pains to foster psionics in communities wherever his church took hold.

History
The deity of psionics was an aloof god who interacted little with the other deities of Faerûn. Auppenser pledged obeisance to Mystryl but in reality he was his own master who sought to free himself from the internecine politics of his godly brethren. His church was most powerful during the heady days of the Jhaamdath Empire, and it was that kingdom's destruction that spelled the deity's demise. Worship of Auppenser all but ceased in the years following the drowning of Jhaamdath, an event that would have sent the god to a certain death if not for the intervention of Mystra. Mystra, reluctant to let the mystical art of psionics such a terrible loss, placed Auppenser in a deep slumber from which he has just begun to stir.

The entire destruction of Jhaamdath coupled with the slumber of the god of psionics brought about a centuries-long decline in psionic practice. It is only recently that awareness of this forsaken area of magic has cultivated renewed interest in its study.

Church and Clergy
Auppenser's clergy included clerics, monks and psionic characters of all types. Clerics of Auppenser were known as Psiarchs. Cloistered members of the church dwelled in temples and monasteries dedicating themselves to understanding the mysteries of the mind. Wayfaring psiarchs openly preached their lord's philosophy of personal strength through psionic development and promoted discourse that explored the myriad abilities of the mind.

The church of Auppenser was well established throughout the Jhaamdath Empire although its organization was loose and not hierarchically structured. Each Jhaamdathan city boasted several large temples and monasteries while towns usually had a single, small center of worship. These temples were usually domed, colonnaded rotundas of white stone. Larger temples contained numerous private chambers for individual worshippers seeking solitude to pray, to compose one's thoughts, and to seek divine guidance for greater enlightenment.

The church of Auppenser zealously opposed slavery, a pious belief that frequently brought the church faithful into conflict with slave-owning kingdoms, most notably Calimshan.

Monastic Servants of Auppenser
Before the coup that destroyed Jhaamdath's psiocracy, monastic servants were the priestly wayfarers of the empire, wanderers who went beyond their empire's borders to spread the message of their deity, Auppenser. Skilled in both mind and body, monastic servants set the example of how devotion to Auppenser was empowering and ennobling. Their actions promoted psionics and the worship of Auppenser - and their chosen profession was seen as but one of many possible way of merging these two areas.

Monastic servants were expected to be of sound mind and body. Personal discipline was seen as the utmost sign of respect to Auppenser. Nothing was ever done to excess be it drinking, eating, or sleeping. Self-restraint, meditation and moderation were the means to true enlightenment and perfection of self - honorable goals embraced by the god of psionics.

Tireless enemies of slavery, monastic servants worked openly and unflinchingly against those nations who traded in enslaved beings. Their actions brought the peaceable but ever expanding psiocratic empire of Jhaamdath into frequent skirmishes with the slaving nation of Calimshan.

After the coup, the new regime mercilessly persecuted those monastic servants who vocalized loudly their disapproval of the empire's new and unbalanced direction. Monastic servants were frequently imprisoned, tortured and publicly executed as traitors for speaking their mind.

The monastic servants rightly feared that the radical changes in the Jhaamdathan Empire would ultimately be its undoing. While the form of the empire's doom was unforeseen, the followers of Auppenser believed that only an equally terrible act would restore the balance to the region. Unfortunately for all past and future practitioners of the Invisible Art, that terrible act would nearly wipe out all knowledge of psionics and do dire harm to the god of psionics

The elven magic that destroyed Jhaamdath also killed most of Auppenser's monastic servants. The impact on Auppenser was just as devastating. Greatly diminished in power, the god of psionics was sent into a deep slumber by the goddess of magic. The few monastic servants who survived had neither home nor the guidance of their deity. They spent their days in isolation around the shores where Jhaamdath once stood. The servants were also watchful for retribution from Jhaamdath's enemies who took great delight in tormenting Jhaamdathan survivors.

Auppenser has only recently shown signs of stirring from his sleep. The cause of his slow awakening is unknown but it may be tied to a greater awareness of psionics in areas near to the ancient lands of Jhaamdath, particularly Hlondeth and other yuan-ti populated areas.

No monastic servant of Auppenser has existed for centuries. Detailed knowledge of the order exists in a few places most likely beneath the waves recorded in some permanent form such as a psionic stone or buried by a surviving monastic servant who sought to leave a reminder of who he was for a future generation.

A new church of Auppenser would have many obstacles to face - the most important being how to awaken their deity.

Dogma
"Develop the latent abilities within you for that is your power alone. Psionics is the ultimate art of magic and you are its practitioner. Through lifelong dedication, strive to unite your will with your physical form to become one. Only through the unrestrained union of one's mind and body can the magic of psionics truly be mastered. Throw off the yoke of any who would impose tyranny upon you. Likewise, do not ever force another to submit to your will. Free your mind, free yourself and you have only just begun the path to true psionic mastery. Free others, open their minds to the Invisible Art, and you will show them way to Auppenser."