Nemedia’s Ibis

Heretical Religion in Hyboria

Ibis is a god forbidden in Stygia but exists in a strange relationship with Mitra in Nemedia. Their shared opposition to Set gives them a common cause but some of the priests of Mitra are suspicious of the Ibis worshippers, distrusting anything with such a close connection to the land of their enemies – and rightly so. A god of moonlight and knowledge, Ibis’s priests teach he was self-created. He is depicted either as an ibis-headed human or simply as an ibis. He always carries a pen and scrolls and is the recorder of all things. He invented alchemy and, until his banishment, was the scribe of Set. He created the law of the monster-kings and is said to have married truth, proclaiming the Giant-Kings and the things of old to be more powerful than the dusky-skinned usurpers of the Styx. When the Khari came to the lands of the Styx, they vanquished the Giant-Kings of old, horrible monsters with antiquated laws. These kings fled the lands of the Styx and founded Acheron. When they fled, they took Ibis with them, as well as Set. The Khari, however, to indicate a new order was coming, banished the old scribe and gave Set a new scribe, Djehuty (see page 82).

Ibis, however, continued to serve Set in the pantheon of Acheron. Nemedia was once the heart of Acheron before it was conquered by the Hyborians. All things Acheronian were thrown down and the surviving Acheronian people fled into hills and valleys to hide in bleak villages and hamlets, shadows of their former selves. One of the Acheronian cults, the cult of Ibis, did not want to go into hiding and did not care to be hunted down, so the cult’s priests made a hard decision. Seeing the way the wind was blowing, the decision was to aid the Hyborians. Pretending to be opposed to Set, they helped the Hyborians hunt down and destroy every vestige of Acheron and the cult of Set they could find. The cult, its ranks substantially reduced from the wars, established itself firmly in Nemedia. A millennia and a half later, when the religion of Mitra swept through the Hyborian world, the cult of Ibis found itself untouched, an ally of sorts against evil and oppression. The Ibis cult survives to this day in Nemedia, the old heart of Acheron, in the city of

Hanumar. Hanumar is the home of Kalanthes, the last

Acheronian-style high priest alive today. Another cult of Ibis exists at the Oasis of Nafri. The high priestess of Ibis there is named Paniwi and was trained in Acheronian alchemy and magic by Kalanthes himself.

Philosophy of Ibis’ Cult

The Cult of Ibis teaches that men are little gods, that the spirit within transcends the flesh. The cult teaches that man is born in order to commune with nature but that the spirit is still god-like – but that 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. If he partakes of enough knowledge, a scholar becomes as the gods are.

Although 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. Their own existence is too precarious to practice such a philosophy; Set’s cult, for example, is far larger and has far more resources than Ibis’s meagre cult and could 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.

Sacramental and Mystical

The cult of Ibis is a sacramental and mystical religion. It is sacramental to commoners and becomes mystical to the priests when they are initiated into the Inner Mysteries. The cult often becomes sorcerous when the priests learn the Inner Mysteries and terrors.

Veneration of Statues

The priests of Ibis believe their god may, at any time, possess statues depicting him; they are receptacles for the god’s Ka (Charisma). The statues are often made in the nude and the priests clean them and clothe them in clean linen outfits and headdresses daily. Petitioners sometimes bring the statues offerings of food, wine, blood and mummified animals as sacrifices. Not venerating the gods’ statues is dishonourable and brings certain doom upon the heads of all involved. By performing these ceremonies, the priests show the people

the gods must be cared for in order for them to care for the people.

Religious Symbols

The cult of Ibis is a religion steeped in mysticism. Animals, weather, terrain and emblems all have powerful magic contained within them.

Writing Palette and Reed Pen

Ibis once carried the ankh (see page 81), the symbol of life, but this symbol has vanished over time as it has become equated with Stygian religion. Now Ibis is shown holding a writing palette and a reed pen. These are his symbols of office, as a recorder of knowledge.

Crescent Moon

The beak of the Ibis represents the crescent moon, and Ibis often is shown with a crescent moon on his headdress. Priests of Ibis also have a crescent moon on their headdresses as well.

Calendar

As a god of the moon and of learning, Ibis is associated with calendars and his image often illuminates or adorns calendars in Nemedia.

Ibis, the Banished God of Alchemy

Ibis has a relatively small but respected cult with cordial but uncomfortable relations with the cult of Mitra in Nemedia. Ibis was once a respected part of the grim, bestial pantheon of gods worshipped by the Giant-Kings of old, then became a respected god among the black-hearted pantheon of Acheron and, 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. Many Mitrans argue that the Ibis cult is just as evil as Set, but others argue differently.

Ibis himself is now portrayed to outsiders as a simple moon-god, a patron of scholars and those who seek to gain sorcerous knowledge but use it for moral ends. He is also portrayed as having an abiding hatred of Set, a serpent who oppresses knowledge and true alchemy. It is whispered that worshippers of Ibis survive in Stygia itself, keeping their religion secret but ever eager to foil the schemes of Set and his followers at any opportunity. It is also whispered that the cult of Ibis may 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. Ibis is an ancient god of knowledge and its priests know things that should not be known.

Requirements of Worship: Pay a tithe worth 2 sp/level/ month to the priests of Ibis; report any Set-worship, sorcery or related activity to your nearest priest of Ibis as soon as possible; publicly oppose those who carry out human sacrifice or traffic with demons. Benefits of Worship: Faith, Atonement, Spells (Counterspells and Divination only); may call on priests for protection against Set and his minions generally. Requirements for Ordained Priesthood: Standard, plus as follows: must know Counterspells sorcery style. Must be willing to fight Set and his minions wherever they are found, even at great personal risk. May not associate with demonic entities or minions of Set. May not learn the Curses, Necromancy or Summonings sorcery styles until invited to the Inner Circles of Ibis. Benefits of Ordained Priesthood: Standard, plus as follows: sorcery teaching is available (Counterspells, Divination, Prestidigitations). Those of the Inner Circle may learn any sorcery, for Ibis records all things. Although Ibis hides things, he does not like for things to be forgotten.

Typical Punishments for Disloyal Priests:

Excommunication, unless the priest has been associating with minions of Set, in which case capture and summary execution. Inner Mysteries: The Mysteries of Ibis are learned by taking ranks in Knowledge (Mystery: Ibis). Every three ranks makes one eligible for the next Mystery.  The first Mystery of Ibis reveals most of the basic symbolisms of the religion, allowing a character with three ranks of Knowledge (Mystery: Ibis) a +1 bonus to Knowledge (arcana) and Craft (alchemy). May learn the Curses Sorcery Style if approved by the High Priest of Ibis – the character must swear an oath not to cast curses in public upon pain of torture and/or death.  The second Mystery of Ibis gives the character an understanding of truth and lies, giving the character a +1 bonus to all opposed Sense Motive skill checks to see if someone is lying and a +1 bonus to Disguise and

Bluff. The Keepers learn that man became physical in order to commune with nature, but retains his spirit – and his connection with the Creator God. The

Keepers learn that future Mysteries intend to teach them how to become gods again and lose the physical.  The third Mystery of Ibis teaches the importance of knowledge and how knowledge can be achieved through organisation and goal-setting. Keepers of the

Third Mystery of Ibis have a +1 bonus to all Knowledge skills. This stacks with Skill Focus and Knowledgeable feats. The truth of the origins of the Giant-Kings is taught as is how the Sons of God found the daughters of Men fair. The history of Acheron and of Stygiabefore-it-was-Stygia is taught. The Keepers are taught that sorcery was never meant for Man but was a power taught to them by fallen gods of old.  The fourth Mystery of Ibis teaches how Ibis created all that is in the world through sacred geometry and mathematics. The Keeper of the Fourth Mystery learns the sacred geometries of the human body. The Keeper of the Fourth Mystery may learn the Necromancy

Sorcery Style if approved by the High Priest of Ibis – the character must swear an oath not to cast curses in public upon pain of torture and/or death. He learns how the sacred geometry can build anything. The

Keeper of the Fourth Mystery gains a +1 bonus to

Knowledge (engineering & architecture).  The fifth Mystery of Ibis is that Ibis is a demi-urge and is not the true light of the universe. The Keeper of the Fifth Mystery may learn the Summonings Sorcery

Style (Master Words and Signs, not Demonic Pact) if approved by the High Priest of Ibis – the character must swear an oath not to cast curses in public upon pain of torture and/or death. The Keeper learns of the Source of All Things, the Light of the Universe and gains a +2 bonus on saves versus Corruption.  The sixth Mystery of Ibis sends the priest into an ecstasy wherein he believes he travels through the cosmos in an astral form and is invited to read from the Book of

Ibis. This book is a collection of 36,535 scrolls said to contain all the knowledge of the universe. It can only be found by the worthy. This book of knowledge allows the Keeper of the Sixth Mystery of Ibis to add his Wisdom modifier to all Knowledge skill checks and

Knowledge is Power checks (if a scholar).  The seventh Mystery of Ibis is that of immortality. The sacred geometry of the soul is discovered, as well as the horrible secrets of bodily regeneration and/or rebirth with an intact memory/soul. The consciousness of the

Keeper of the Seventh Mystery of Ibis is expanded and the Keeper may behold the Immortals. Further, the full truth about the hieroglyphics are unfolded – they are not just for writing – they are magical keys to

Immortality. The cause of death is the love of the body, of the physical. Immortality comes from knowledge of the true self. The Keeper may learn the Immortality style of magic, as a bonus Sorcery Style.

Priests of Ibis

Priests are initiated into the priesthood by a ritual shaving of all bodily hair followed by a baptism in a sacred pool to symbolise 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 led to the statue of the god or goddess of the temple and taught the secret ways to touch and work with the statue. The candidate is then lead away for a ten day fast. At the end of the ten days, the initiate is exposed to black lotus blossom (see Conan the Roleplaying Game) in order to reveal the Inner Mysteries of the god or goddess necessary for his job. These characters are permitted to take Profession (priest) ranks. They do not take the Priest feat.

If a priest is to become a full time priest, he serves for a term as a full-time priest and earns enough knowledge in the Mysteries to have earned initiation into the Second Mystery of his temple. If the character meets all prerequisites he goes through another Initiation and must also make an appropriate sacrifice to the gods and to the king, often a blood sacrifice. Thereafter, the character is permitted to take the Priest feat and, if he has enough ranks in the Knowledge (Mystery) skill, he may learn the Second Mystery of his cult. The ordained priest of Ibis is given a set of robes (or a mantle) befitting his status and is given a new ranking.

Temples of Ibis

The temples of Ibis are built identical to Stygian temples (see Conan: Stygia – Serpent of the South).