Chauquin
God of Time and Future Possibilities
Intermediate God

Epithets: Lord of Time, the Historian, Seer of the Possible  
Alignment: Lawful neutral
Symbols: Sundial, hourglass
Colors: White, red, and blue
Primary followers: Historians and those seeking insights into future possibilities

    The true form of Chauquin the Seer is that of a remarkably well-preserved human gentleman of some eighty years. The six-foot frame of the True God is thin but not gaunt, bony but not frail. Almost completely bald, the visage of the Seer is quite distinguished, with its glacier-blue eyes, strong hawkish nose, and cleft chin. The Historian prefers to dress in simple white robes, with a braided sash of red and blue cloth about his thin waist.

     Mortal scriptures place the Lord of Time behind a featureless desk of polished gray granite. Upon the desk sits an hourglass to the left of the Seer, an inkwell and quill to the right. A sundial sits upon a pedestal some distance away, with a single beam of Illovia’s sacred light as its sun. Serene in this spare setting, the True God records the Past, divines the Present, and ponders the Future.

     The Lord of Time is not the absolute master of his realm. Though Chauquin possesses a flawless memory of the Past and an absolute awareness of the Present, the Future is as elusive to him as it is to any mortal. This knowledge, however, allows Chauquin to make the best of all possible guesses about what is most likely to happen. The Seer deals in probabilities, never certainties.

     Generally speaking, the Historian is loathe to interfere with the flow of worldly events, and is ever watchful of mortals who dare to meddle with the orderly flow of time. As a consequence, time-travel devices are rare in Minarra, and those who use them are often dangerous, desperate, and/or demented.

     In the worst of times (no pun intended), Chauquin will dispatch his servants into the temporal ether to do his bidding. Not only do these servants repair broken time lines, they might even alter history whenever "it is in the best interest of Creation." Just how Chauquin comes to this ominous conclusion is anyone’s guess, but no other Power has ever challenged his decisions.

     Aside from his own Order, there is one other group of time travelers that has Chauquin’s blessing. The Astarith mentions a conversation between Chauquin and Phyrrus towards the end of the Age of Mists, but does not reveal exactly what was said. But ever since, Chauquin has allowed a handful of Phyrrus’ faithful to drift through the ethers of time, stepping into history just long enough to serve the needs of both Powers.

Avatars: The Lord of Time has always hated making personal appearances upon the mortal plane. Whenever Chauquin needs to address a mortal directly, he does so through an inanimate object, usually an hourglass or sundial. These god-touched devices "call out" only to the Seer’s intended audience, and the True God’s missive is imparted directly into the subject’s mind when the mortal touches the object.

Mortal Servants: Since the close of the Astarith, the servants of the Lord of Time have been known as the Ethereal Order. Alone among the servants of the True Gods, Chauquin’s faithful are almost totally anonymous figures. This anonymity is of a different sort from those who serve the Dreamweaver; even though their features are completely concealed, Monnerihl’s servants are clearly marked by their dress. The "Ethereal Ones", however, keep their identities a secret even in broad daylight, wearing neither vestments nor holy symbols in their day-to-day affairs. (The elésahs of the Knighthood are invisible to mortal eyes and to all forms of divination magic.)

     Chauquin considers this secrecy absolutely vital to the safety of his worshipers and to the preservation of history. Any being even suspected of having the power of changing the past or altering the future would most likely spend their lives as unwilling pawns in all manner of mad schemes.

     The vast majority of the Ethereal Ones make their living as archivists and historians, while a rare few become adventurers seeking to unlock the mysteries of the past. The former types are usually the clerics of the Order, the latter its Knights. Though their spells are as potent and versatile as those of any clergy, the Ethereal Ones do their best to make their castings as unobtrusive as possible.

     But despite their best efforts, some members of the Order are eventually exposed. Chauquin trusts to the wisdom of each cleric or Knight as to the subtlety or vehemence of their response. Many who cross the paths of the Ethereal Ones vanish without a trace, but a few are deemed worthy enough to risk being taken into the Order’s confidence.

     The Ethereal Order comes together in their vestments of white, red, and blue only on the eve of the year. Their devotions are often held within some very secret chambers hidden within very public places: libraries, universities, and archives, to name a few. Given the Order’s need for secrecy, freestanding temples are out of the question.

Philosophy/Tenets of Faith: The preservation of the Past and the accurate, unbiased accounting of the Present are the Orders highest goals. To these ends, the Order must be always ready to resist any who would misrepresent history or cloud the events of the here and now. A true Ethereal One will push aside all irrelevant loyalties in the pursuit of these goals.

     The Ethereal Ones also know that they don’t have to fight their battles alone. If history teaches anything, it is that there are always allies to be found within the Orders of the Scroll, the Three Rings, and even the Ruby Legion. Obtaining their help without compromising your own position is the real trick…