| Game background | |
|---|---|
| Title(s) | The All-Seeing,[1] the All-Seeing One, Lord of Divination Magics, He of the Third Eye, The Diviner[2] |
| Power level | Demipower (formerly Lesser Power)[2] |
| Alignment | Lawful Neutral[2] |
| Portfolio | divination magic, diviners, fate,[2] divination, truth[1] |
| Superior | Azuth, Mystra[2] |
| Design details | |
| Settings | Forgotten Realms |
Savras was a fictional deity in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Savras was created by Ed Greenwood for the release of the second edition of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting in 1993 and was described by publisher Wizards of the Coast until 2007, when he was eliminated in the transition to a new game rules system.
In the campaign setting, Savras was a deity of divination, divination magic, and truth. He was imprisoned in a scepter following a conflict with another deity, Azuth, and released centuries later. Savras was destroyed along with his superior, Mystra, in an attack by Cyric, the god of lies.
Contents |
Savras was created by Ed Greenwood for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Greenwood created Savras in the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) for the second edition of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting (1993), which used AD&D.[1] Information on the game history of the deity was provided by Greenwood and Eric L. Boyd in Volo's Guide to All Things Magical (1996) as back-story to a campaign plot device, the scepter that had previously contained Savras and gave player characters supernatural abilities.[3] The game history was expanded by Boyd in Powers & Pantheons (1997), where Savras was described as inhabiting Buxenus, the second layer of the Outer Plane Arcadia.[2] For the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons, the discrepancy between game history dates in AD&D products was explained in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting and Savras' home plane was changed to Dweomerheart.N-[1][4] Content for the edition was added in Magic of Faerûn (2001) and Faiths and Pantheons (2002).[5][6] In the fourth edition of Dungeons & Dragons, the number of deities of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting was reduced and Savras was eliminated in an in-game event that transitioned the campaign setting to a new game rules system.[7][8][9]
In the first centuries of the Dalereckoning (DR) calendar of Faerûn,N-[1] Savras, a former Halruaan wizard and young deity of the southern Forgotten Realms,N-[2] contended with Azuth,N-[3] who was equally powerful.[1] Azuth had unsuccessfully sought to bind a part of Savras' divinity to himself and both sought the favor of the goddess of magic, Mystra, but were unable to defeat each other for years.[2][5] Azuth was younger, impulsive, and powerful, and Savras was older, careful, and contemplative.[2] Savras' preparation initially gave him an advantage, but Azuth was a superior wizard and defeated Savras in a duel that destroyed a mountain.[2]
Azuth had constructed a scepter prior to the conflict and imprisoned Savras' essence in it.[3] He wanted to use the artifact as his staff of office.[3] Savras' power was reduced following his defeat, but he was able to teleport the scepter to the Forgotten Realms and block it from divination.[3] It was owned by mages for centuries and Savras attempted to influence the owners to set him free.[3] Syluné Silverhand, one of the Seven Sisters came to own the scepter and the deity granted her the ability to take the shape of a silver dragon to convince her to free him, because Savras believed Syluné, as a Chosen of Mystra, had the power.[3] Syluné did not trust Savras and kept the staff and used it to uncover divine secrets.[3] Azuth was informed of the location of the scepter and Syluné gave it to him upon his request.[3]
After the Time of Troubles in 1358 DR, Azuth reconsidered Savras' long imprisonment and chose to free him for a vow of loyalty.[3] After his release, during which the scepter disappeared, Savras served Azuth and oversaw divinations and divination magic, and the deities improved their relationship.[3] Savras' sanctum was located in Dweomerheart, a plane of existence ruled by Mystra, in caverns called "The Eye", which contained all his knowledge.[4] Savras became the patron deity of many diviners[6] and worked against Cyric, the god of lies, and the night goddess Shar, who worked to disrupt his divinations using the Shadow Weave, an alternative form of magic.[10]
In 1371 DR, worshippers received visions by Savras to prepare for a battle with Cyric.[11] In 1385 DR, Cyric, with the help of Shar, killed Mystra in Dweomerheart and the plane was destroyed along with Savras.[7]
Savras was portrayed as an older human male with a crystalline face and a third eye, whose presence silenced his surrounding, and described as careful, impassionate, and meditative, and as always speaking the truth and opposing efforts to conceal it.[12] His symbol was a crystal ball in which different types of eyes danced,[2] and he had a crystal ball, Truthseer, which resided in Mystra's library and his home domain at the same time.[12] His favored weapon was a dagger called "The eye of Savras".[13] He manifested as a single eye, or a mysterious vision of the future or past, or in speaking animals.[12] Savras' churches often contained a white statue of the deity in a meditative pose and were painted with divination texts.[12]
The church of Savras was a small and organized church and claimed Savras deliberately lost to Azuth after having foreseen the future.[10] Savras was known to few people in the Forgotten Realms who were not affiliated with divination.[12] While Savras was imprisoned he was followed only by wizards specialized in divination, but after his release his faith grew and priests campaigned to improve its standing.[12] Alaundo of Candlekeep was one of his followers and Candlekeep had a small shrine dedicated to Savras, the only known one in northern Faerûn,[1] in its inner rooms.[14] Savras was a commonly worshipped deity in Tashalar.[15] "The House of the All-Seeing Orb" in Tashluta, the capital of Tashalar, was the major temple of Savras in the Forgotten Realms and more than a thousand scholars lived and worked in it, administered by a powerful priest, the "Farseer".[14] Savras had a small following in Halruaa, which was controlled by the church of Azuth.[16]
Clerics of Savras wore plain yellow robes and often had a third eye tattooed on their forehead.[14] They prayed for spells at night,[10] meditated, and learned daily and practiced foretelling; some were legal scholars, others were hermit oracles or wandering prophets.[12] Savras' followers warned of harmful events when they were predicted and studied prophecies and interpreted dreams.[6] His devoted followers annually celebrated the "Feast of the Moon", which signaled the arrival of winter,[17] with a day of meditation, after which they received a divine vision.[14]
n-[1] a b Dating of the event differed,[18] and was given as "following the fall of the empire of Netheril" and "during or slightly after the Dawn Cataclysm",[2] "after the fall of Netheril and before the founding of Myth Drannor, in the Dawn Cataclysm",[3] "before the Dawn Cataclysm",[10] "some centuries before the Dawn Cataclysm",[18] and "in the first few centuries of the Dalereckoning calendar".[6]
n-[2] a He was described as having the portfolio of wizards[1] or divinations.[6]
n-[3] a Azuth was described as either a deity at the time of the conflict,[3] or as a powerful mortal.[5][6]
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||