Lord of Illusion

The Confuser of Ways

THE DEITY

Name(s): THE CONFUSER OF WAYS, THE GREAT DECEIVER, MASTER OF MISCHIEF, ADDLER, FATHER OF ALL FALSEHOODS, LORD OF ILLUSION, THE GREAT IMPOSTOR, THE NEW CREATOR

Spheres of Influence: The Confuser of Ways is the god of lies, deceit and mischief.

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Spells Returned: 1d6 after Dusk

Favored Weapon: Club

Appearance: The Great Impostor usually appears in the likeness of some other deity. It is said that the Lord of Illusions prefers the image of the Creator above all others. His true appearance is known only to the Creator and, perhaps, a handful of other gods.

THE CHURCH

Worship: The Imposters worship in other deities’ temples, and almost anywhere. A favorite tactic of corruption by The Imposters is to find an isolated community and begin preaching a corrupted version of another faith there. The scheme often comes complete with false canons, subtle yet important doctrinal changes, and even occasional visits from other Imposters pretending to be members of the same faith. Many a village has fallen prey to this tactic, some never discovering the error even after generations.

Unholy Symbol: The Imposters use a snake head with extended tongue as their unholy symbol.

Unholy Days: Seemingly at random, yet annually, a meeting (called the Gathering) is held where all Imposters gather to tell tales of mischief and deeds from the past year. It is at this time that new initiates are inducted into the fold. The time and place of the Gathering varies from region to region and year to year. It is said that it is easier to catch a greased leprechaun than to find the local Gathering.

Unholy Colors: Various.

Unholy Animal: A snake. Imposters are particularly fond of snakes and will often be found raising them or in possession of one.

Raiment: Clerics of The Confuser of Ways are simply that – confusing. They freely wear clerical vestments of other religions and attempt to invade other places of worship. The Imposters may never create liturgical vestments. During services, Imposters always wear masks to hide their identity.

Advancement: Without a formal church, The Imposters have no means of rank advancement.

Imposters excel at hiding their identity not only from other faiths but from each other as well. The faith’s main growth comes from direct divine inspiration from The Confuser of Ways or one of his immortal servants. Growth through personal contact is less important to this faith than the more open ones. Imposters advance in ranks of the church they are infiltrating, meeting all the prerequisites for advancing as normal.

Imposters are incapable of deceiving the gods, however, and so gain only limited benefits from advanced ranks. Imposters gain the ecclesiastical rights, social status, stipends, followers, and magic items as would any other cleric. They do not, however, gain any supernatural, spell-like or similar abilities that would come from a given rank. It requires a truly gifted Imposter to advance to the higher ranks of other churches, but the damage they can inflict to a faith in those positions is frightening.

An Imposter that is discovered and cast out of the faith she impersonates loses all benefits immediately (except monetary and other such gifts, unless she chooses to surrender them voluntarily). The Imposter must begin again in another location or another faith, starting at rank 1. Before embarking on another such mission, the Imposter must atone for her crime of being caught. Until she atones, the Imposter cannot cast any spells.

Sacrifices: Imposters sacrifice items from other religions’ temples and altars.

Friends and Allies:

The Temple of Strife: “Violence is usually brought about by lies and deceit… We supply the discord, they supply the violence.”

**No other church trusts the Imposters enough to call them allies.

Foes and Enemies:

The Hall of Oaths: “Oaths are made to be broken. The Keepers of the Word foolishly believe that they could never do so, but in claiming this, they lie to themselves."

The Courts of Justice: “Our greatest enemy – they who refuse to give false witness. They are also our greatest target, as we use deception and lies to confuse them so that the truth they tell is our false truth, not theirs.

Major Temples: The greatest temple to The Confuser of Ways is said to exist in Bet Kalamar.

The Imposters have no obvious temples or cathedrals of their own, only secretive ones hidden in unexpected places. In fact, they often hold their services in the temples of other gods, altering dogma by degrees to spread the confusion that is their namesake. The faith’s worshippers likewise act within other religious teachings, sowing dissent and creating division among the sincere worshippers.

Sayings: “May the truth be suffocated in a coil of lies.” - “The key to victory is deception.” - “Never let truth get in the way of a good lie.” - “One good lie can breed days of mischief.” - “All truth is but an illusion, for if others believe your deception it becomes truth.” - “Strive for a world in which every truth is born on the wings of a falsehood.” - “The power to deceive is the greatest of all powers, for it is the power to create; it is the power to create reality for others from the depths of your own imagination.” - “Oh what a tangled web we weave!”