Ibis



IBIS The Banished God of Alchemy “The god Ibis has fought Set since the first dawn of the earth, and Kalanthes has fought Set's priests all his life.”-The God in the Bowl

Pantheon

 * Formerly Stygian Pantheon

Regions of Worship

 * Nemedia
 * Stygia - forbidden and almost extinct

Divine Relationships
Enemies with Set, and the rest of the Stygian Pantheon as well as, Azoth. Ibis has a relatively small but respected cult with cordial but uncomfortable relations with the cult of Mitra in Nemedia. Many Mitrans argue that the Ibis cult is just as evil as Set, but others argue differently.

Representation
Man with the head of an ibis or the ibis bird. Ibis seldom sends his avatar into the world, but might do so to further his own interests in seeking new knowledge or magic, or to oppose Set. Ibis can manifest as a sudden burst of inspiration, or through dreams and visions.

Gender representation: male

Symbolism

 * Crescent Moon
 * Ankh

The beak of the Ibis represents the crescent moon. As a god of the moon and learning, Ibis is associated with calendars and his image often adorns calendars in Nemedia. Ibis originally carried the ankh, the symbol of life, though now he is more often shown holding a writing palette and a reed pen.

It is said that Ibis maintains a set of three great books in which all knowledge is recorded. These books are locked away at the heart of a great crypt.

Spheres of Power

 * Knowledge
 * Magic
 * Protection
 * Alchemy

Ibis is a Stygian god of knowledge, learning and magic, opposed to Set. The banishment of the cult of Ibis, for example, was done for political reasons, not because Ibis is ‘good’ or morally opposed to Set. When the Set cult as a whole acts against any one thing, be it a person, a religion or a nation, it is not a religious crusade. It will act because it will bring power, wealth and prestige to the king, the cult or Stygia as a whole.

Ibis was once a respected part of the grim, bestial pantheon of gods worshipped by the Giant-Kings of old. Then he became a respected god among the black-hearted pantheon of Acheron. Only when Acheron was in flames, did the cult suddenly become respected as “goodly”. Many suspect this façade is but a false-face on a darker truth.

Rituals & Beliefs
Ibis is not generous with his knowledge, but neither is he covetous of it. Although Ibis hides things, he does not like things to be forgotten. For those who work long and hard at research and science, he is a faithful source of information. His worshippers claim that Ibis is omniscient. It is whispered that the cult of Ibis might be just as evil as the cult of Set, just opposed to the serpent-god’s cult, and that its supposed “morality” is the morality of Acheron — but those who whisper such things do not whisper them for long.

The Cult of Ibis teaches that men are little gods, that the spirit within transcends the flesh. Men have forgotten how to touch their godlike natures. Alchemy and magic are part of a god’s power and knowledge is the ultimate power. With knowledge comes godhood.

Also Ibis’s cult opposes the cult of Set to some degree, this is largely a façade. Ibis followers do not actively practice religious intolerance at all. Set’s cult is far larger and has far more resources than Ibis’s meager cult and could completely destroy them if Set’s cult saw the need to do so. Still, the priests of Ibis and the priests of Set like to play deadly pranks on one another and oppose each other politically when able.

The cult of Ibis is sacramental to commoners and becomes mystical to the priests when they are initiated into the inner Mysteries. The temples of Ibis are built identical to Stygian temples

The Priesthood
Priests of Ibis are scholars, sages, doctors and diviners. The priests of Ibis sometimes ally with the priests of Mitra against their common enemy, the snake-worshipping cult of Set. The wizard-priest Karanthes is sometimes referred to as "the last priest of Ibis". Inner circle of Ibis hides many secrets and those belonging to it may learn any sorcery.

Priests are initiated into the priesthood by a ritual shaving of all bodily hair followed by a baptism in a sacred pool to symbolize the coming out of the Cosmic Ocean. If the candidate has not been circumcised, he undergoes the appropriate ceremony. The candidate is anointed with oil and sprinkled with water. The candidate is then lead away for a ten days fast. At the end of the ten days, the initiate is exposed to black lotus blossom in order to reveal the Inner Mysteries of the god.

Implementation IC & In-Game
Ibis’s faithful can use vanilla Mitra altars and even pose as Mitrans if needed, but can't upgrade altar to T3 and are prohibited to summon an avatar of Mitra. Anyone associating with minions of Set should be secretly captured and executed. Horned helmets can be used as symbols of crescent moon that Ibis wears on his headdress. Tips for decoration: sacred pools and fountains.

More Information

 * Return to the Road of Kings (Conan RPG Book)
 * Faith and Fervour (Conan RPG Book)
 * Stygia - The Serpent of the South (Conan RPG Book)