Naeron
The Dark Dragon, The Wyrm of the Underworld, The Serpent of Death, The Keeper of Knowledge
Greater Deity
Symbol: A dragons skull with a blood red ruby eye
Home Plane: The Underworld
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Portfolio: Reptiles, Knowledge, The Underworld, Death
Worshippers: Chromatic Dragons, Knowledge Seekers, Reptiles, Necromancers
Cleric Alignments: LG, LN, LE, N
Domains: Death, Knowledge, Saurian, War
Favored Weapon: Piercing Claw (Shortspear)
Nearon is the wyrm of the underworld, a dragon arisen from the mists of time to care for those who have passed on and to collect their knowledge for those who may need it and can pay the price, he is an immense black wyrm, except that he has no muscle or flesh, he is purely a skeleton in the form of those creatures he created. He is followed by those who are seek to find or preserve knowledge, chromatic dragons honouring their creator, most forms of intelligent reptiles or those who simply wish to worship or understand the realm of the dead, whether clerics or Necromancers.
History and Relationships
Naeron’s only true relationships are those which are maintained against Trandim and Beher. He and Trandim are locked in a perpetual war which will only end when the threat of the metallic Dragons is removed and Naeron’s children once again can roam the skies freely. This antagonistic relationship does not, on the whole, involve Naeron’s non-draconic worshippers, between these worshippers and the metallic Dragons conditions of mutual distrust and wariness are more common that outright hostility. Beher’s usurpation of part of the Underworld has earned him the emnity of Naeron who awaits with eternal patience the day when Beher attempts to leave his realm. Naeron has little to do with the other gods, he maintains his mastery of the Underworld and waits patiently to garner all the knowledge of the world.
Naeron’s relationships with the other deities of Aerde is more fluid. As a rule he opposes the aims of the destroyer and dominator gods but also wishes to prevent the good and nature deities achieving the upper hand.
Dogma
All life exists for a brief moment to those in the highest positions, that of the gods, where a mortal life passes in the blink of an eye. Thus the god of the land of death is loneliest of all, knowing much from the passage of beings through the underworld, where all mortals must eventually pass, learning knowledge that many covet, but few understand. As such he knows all that mortal men have known, yet this does not fill the emptiness so he created races in his own image, ones that would survive for a noticable part of his eternity, these are the chromatic dragons, yet his creations were tainted by their creation at the hands of a dead master, given life and the power to destroy, but by a master who did not truly understand the concepts of mortality. Thus many of them have chosen a darker and more violent path and now only acknowledge Naeron as their creator and worship no higher cause than their own advancement. Although many of Naeron’s woshippers follow those parts of his teachings that suit their own ethos few can ever come to truly understand their God.
The religion of Naeron primarily exists to gather knowledge and to strengthen and defend Naeron's worshippers. They also know that at an unknown time in the future there will be an apocalyptic event that will involve the ban against the Gods returning to Aerde being broken and some or all of the dominator and destroyer deities will make a final play for control of all of Aerde. Once this happens the faithful will take up arms and fight to ensure that it is Naeron and his allies who are victorious and who will remake the world so that from the death of the Age of Kings come the birth of a new age.
In the Age of Kings quiet persuasion is the way that the Church of Naeron spreads its message, it is reasonably tolerant in public of most of the religions, except Trandim and Beher, although the other dominator/destroyer deities are held in low esteem and the church works to weaken their power and influence whenever it can.
Clergy and Temples
Clerics of Naeron are mainly collectors of knowledge, and the keepers of the dead. They also function as a conduit for Nearon’s will and desires. The primary duties of the priesthood of Naeron are to gather all mortal knowledge and to maintain the strength and purity of Naeron’s faithful in preparation for times of conflict.
In areas where the worship of Naeron are strong the temples wield both spiritual and limited temporal power, in other areas temples and shrines are often hidden or disguised, their true nature known only to the faithful.
Temples of Naeron are often represented aboveground only by a small complex containing the residences of those who serve the temple, and for major temples the barracks and training areas of the temple guards. The actual areas of worship are underground to represent the connection with the Underworld. Most large temples maintain a respectable library, parts of which can be used by the lay membership of the temple.
Chromatic Dragons and their Creator
Although the Chromatic Dragons revere Naeron as their creator and acknowledge their kinship with his other children their very nature, arising from the energies used in their creation tainted as they were by death and destruction, has led most chromatic dragons away from their creator and onto the path to evil. In Aerde most Chromatic Dragons conform to the normal stereotypes of being proud, aggressive, territorial and self-centred and among the Chaotic Evil dragons a proportion worship other evil deities more suited to their outlook. This is not a universal rule and in Aerde there are rare exceptions of such Chromatic Dragons being of Neutral alignments and actively worshiping Naeron and following his teachings more closely.
When worshippers of Naeron and Chromatic Dragons encounter each other it is unwise for either side to rely solely on a distant kinship as a basis for negotiations. Relationships will more normally develop on the in light of the relative power of the parties involved, so in areas where the worshippers of Naeron wield considerable temporal power both sides tend to respect the agreed territorial boundaries and can coexist in relative peace, in the wilderness no such protection can be guaranteed.
edited after input from Northman