Ao, the Realmweaver

Greater Deity

Domains: Arcana, Knowledge, Order

Ao is the goddess of space, the planes, and the Veil that separates them. She emerged from the left eye of Elgalar alongside her twin Io, who arose from the right.

Creation traditions credit Ao with establishing distance between places and the boundaries between the planes. Together with Io, she also helped create the Weave through which much of Eldareth's magic flows.

Symbol

Ao's symbol is an interwoven eight-pointed lattice representing the planes and their relationship to one another.

The lattice is sometimes encircled by a dragon curling counterclockwise, recalling Ao's emergence from Elgalar's left eye. Io's corresponding dragon turns clockwise.

Depictions

Ao is usually depicted in humanoid form as a dark-skinned woman with long white hair and bright blue-white eyes. She wears layered robes with fitted armor and a tall crystalline crown.

Her draconic form is long and slender, with deep blue scales, broad wings, and crystalline horns. Religious art sometimes shows the space around her wings as slightly displaced, suggesting the boundary of the Veil.

Divine Realm

Ao shares the Eternal Archive with Io within the Astral Plane.

Its collections preserve records concerning the planes, the Weave, and changes in the boundaries between realms dating back to the earliest ages of creation.

Ao's work there is concerned with the arrangement of the planes and the condition of the Veil, while Io studies events across time.

Origins and Divine Role

During the ordering of creation, Ao established the separation between places and formed the Veil between the planes. Together with Io, she established the Weave.

Her faith accepts planar travel and magical experimentation, but expects care from those who alter forces they do not fully control.

A poorly made crossing can remain unstable after its original purpose has ended. Damage to the Weave can also spread beyond the working that caused it. Those responsible are expected to understand what they are changing as far as they reasonably can and to address any harm that follows.

Worship and Practice

Ao and Io are frequently worshipped together. Temples dedicated to the twins may maintain separate shrines while sharing clergy, libraries, and places of study.

Ao is also honored independently by those concerned with the planes, the Veil, or the structure of magic.

Her temples preserve accounts of unusual planar events and magical disturbances so that later scholars can compare them with earlier cases. Unfamiliar magical objects and workings may also be brought to these temples for study.

The Mythal

At the end of the Age of Divinity, Ao created the Mythal.

The barrier followed the defeat and banishment of the Triad, when the Prime Deities agreed to withdraw their full presence from the Material Plane. Ao gave that agreement permanent form around Eldareth.

The Mythal prevents deities from entering Eldareth in their full divine form. Demigods can still cross, and Feonar was granted a unique exemption when the barrier was created.

The Mythal suffered a major fracture during the Upheaval but retained its central function.

The Planar Drift

The Upheaval disturbed the relationship between the Material Plane and the realms beyond it. Since then, planar influence has become less stable, and some regions periodically experience another plane drawing unusually close.

These disturbances are known as the Planar Drift. They do not always create an open crossing, and their effects vary depending on the planes involved.

Ao is widely believed to be limiting the worst of this instability. Her clergy watches for new crossings and places where the Veil has grown unusually thin.

The Triad

Ao played an important role in the banishment of the Triad at the end of the Age of Divinity.

Malgathar was cast into Baator, Lessarith into the Abyss, and Vorandor into the Gray Wastes. Their removal from Eldareth directly preceded the creation of the Mythal.

Teachings

• Understand a force before you attempt to alter it.

• Accept responsibility for the magic and passages you create.

• Do not open a path you cannot safely close.

• Repair damage to the Weave or Veil when you are able.