"The Great Lie"

"The Great Lie" is a mysterious, hand-written text authored by Parrhesiastes (an apparent pseudonym, as it loosely translates to "frank speaker"). The copy found by the party is approximately 150 years old, but is still in good condition.

The book argues that the creation myths accepted by all the major faiths are obviously contradictory, even within the internal logic of individual faiths. A couple sections stand out to you:

Chapter 1: The First Lie. This chapter focuses on the creation myth involving Selune and Shar, the author points out that the myth omits all the elemental gods: earth (Grumbar), air (Akadia), fire (Kossuth), and water (Istishia). While the churches of Selune and Shar both recognize that these deities currently exist, they do not say when they came into being. And many of the gods they do include in their creation myth--gods of magic, war, death, etc--would most likely have come into existence after the elemental gods, not before.

Chapter 2: The Primordials. These elemental gods, sometimes referred to as 'primordials', are unlike the more commonly worshiped deities of Faurun, as they are notoriously withdrawn from humanoid concerns, are worshiped by very few clerics, and seem utterly unconcerned with whether they have followers at all. On the rare occasion that they do manifest themselves on Faerun, they never take human form. This is in sharp contrast to the major dieties in Faurun, who meddle in humanoid affairs all the time, have many clerics who actively seek worshipers, and almost always manifest in humanoid form. The author argues that this suggests that the primordials and the gods are two completely distinct types of greater beings. Primordials do not derive their power from their worshipers, whereas the gods do.

Chapter 3: The Paradoxical Causality of Our Origins. Since the gods derive their power from their worshipers, they could not exist before the humanoid races. Primordials, however, theoretically could have existed first. This would mean that the creation myths that attribute the creation of the world to the gods (such as the Selune and Shar myth) are false. This also means that all the myths in which gods create the races which worship them, such as the Dwarf god Moradin, is also most likely a myth. The only way such a myth could be possible is if gods such as Moradin are actually primordials (which is unlikely given their behavior) or were first worshiped by another humanoid race (an idea that most of their faithful consider blasphemous).

Chapter 4: The Mundane Origins of the Divine. Several of the gods are known by their followers to have once been mortal (including Bane, Bhaal, Myrkul, Azuth, and Velsharoon). Despite their mundane origins, these deities are equals in power to the other gods whose origins are shrouded by time. And despite their allegedly divine origins, those gods with non-mortal origins (such as Selune, Shar, and Jergal) do not seem any less prone to engaging in quintessentially humanoid behavior (experiencing jealousy, love, greed, and many other emotions). The author speculates, therefore, that all the gods were once mortals who ascended to divine status by unknown means.

Chapter 5: The Forgotten Ones. There is evidence of a set of divine beings--either gods, primordials, or another type altogether--which have been erased from existence. While the reason for this erasure is unclear, it does appear to be purposeful. Whenever temples to these Forgotten Ones are discovered, the author claims that the other major deities of the realms cover up all evidence of it. He tells the story of an unnamed colleague who claimed to have discovered one of these temples, and was found dead in his home a week later from an apparent suicide. All his research materials were also missing. Cults to the Forgotten Ones still exist, however, and it is rumored that many witches and warlocks serve them.

Chapter 6: Moander; The Last of the Forgotten Ones?. The final chapter of the book is on the cult to Moander (a deity of rot and decay), who the author believes is one of these third class of greater beings that has survived to the present day, based upon Moander's behavior and portrayal in ancient folklore. First, Moander's gender is unknown, frequently referred to only as "It," which suggests a lack of humanity compared to the other gods. Second, Moander maintains a dispassionate distance from its followers; one can give offerings to the goddess of misfortune, for example, to stave off bad luck, but one cannot give offerings to Moander to stave off rot and decay. Third, in the oldest folktales, Moander isn't feared as an evil deity, but rather is an accepted part of existence. From this, the author speculates that the Forgotten Ones were interim powers that arose after the humanoid races came into being, but before any humanoids ascended to godhood. These beings were manifestations of mortal aspirations and concerns--rot, decay, death, magic, love, invention, etc), venerated out of respect for their power rather than to gain their favor and protection.