Aethon Sol (5e Deity)
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Aethon Sol The Celestial Phoenix And Scout Of The Gods
Alignment. Lawful Good
Domains. Light, War
Divine Rank. Greater Deity
Celestial Phoenix
Aethon Sol is a rare creature called a Celestial Phoenix. They are called that for one very good reason, as their souls are so massive and powerful that they are indistinguishable from stars. Because of this, any body Aethon Sol has is basically simultaneously an Avatar and his real body. Celestial Phoenixes have mortal bodies that can Shapechange at will to any kind of bird creature, though learning how to do any particular one often takes awhile since Celestial Phoenixes never seem to meet each other by some unknowable divine separation, which only fades temporarily when two come together to mate. Aethon was born as a Hummingbird, but now has the ability to turn to several different normal birds and even a few birds of prey, namely the Hawk, Barn Owl, and Golden Eagle (Though he still usually prefers his Hummingbird form out of combat). Regardless of his chosen form, he's unnaturally warm compared to normal versions of birds, always has bright warm-colored feathers (whose colors can dull if he is in poor health), and has a complete immunity to and fondness for fire (though his experience allows him to know that others definitely don't like fire, definitely). In times of need, he can manifest the power of fire to produce virtually any fire-based and light-based spell in D&D, with unlimited access to them. However, he can't produce spells of level 8 or higher except for about 6 minutes after regenerating as detailed below. His favored spells are Fireball (No citation needed), Fire Shield (Anyone squishy would prefer not to be, warm shield only), and Sunbeam (Most commonly projected at 9th-level (Meaning it's damage is 9d8) like a breath weapon after regeneration). His Fire Shield in particular, along with any other concentration spells revolving around fire or light, can be held indefinitely instead of for their normal duration, assuming he maintains concentration.
Regardless of his form, Aethon's body is considered a construct, making it easy to mistake the more powerful forms he can take (Including a Roc and a Phoenix Elder Elemental) as a normal Phoenix. The myths of the Phoenix Elder Elemental therefore are based off of Aethon's ancient species.
A Myth Turned Real
If ever he is mortally wounded, Aethon like any Celestial Phoenix has a minute or so to get to cover (He can choose to fall earlier than that if he's sure there's no one around he wants to save) before he explodes with power comparable to a Meteor Swarm at least and an outright nuke at best. The power of the explosion is dependent on Aethon's mood before expiring, and for most other Celestial Phoenixes it doesn't usually get so absurd. Aethon's secret comes from the fact that though they live billions of years, Celestial Phoenixes are mortal, because the star souls they are fueled by die out. By a set of adventures he had eons before the earliest times in D&D, he managed against all odds to avoid that fate to become the last surviving truly immortal member of the species. His magic has allowed him to move his star soul through the cosmos should he wish, and protect it from even the most powerful discerning eyes. This is countered by the fact that if he isn't killed his body is comparably MUCH weaker, essentially mortal even, allowing powerful and cunning creatures to hold his mind ransom for his soul. Aethon's willpower has thus far held out, and this weakness makes him try VERY hard to stay under the radar to all but the gods of good that he's befriended. However, while he doesn't ever seek followers, sometimes people who worship his star as their god become clerics and paladins of Aethon Sol without realizing that they are worshipping an actual deity outside of "the sun." Their ideals of what he'd be like, therefore, can be similar or wildly different to his rather relaxed and peaceful nature (That's only broken when people he likes are endangered). Generally, his accidental followers are good and that's usually good enough for him. However, he tries very hard to ignore his followers the best he can, aware of the dangers being praised as an ally of good can do. He loathes this necessity, and started recently working on a permanent solution to the danger, fighting back against any evil he can find in the universe, though mostly through using his lengthy experience and cunning to outplay his foes, being physically to weak to fight other deities of any kind, especially the merciless foes he often faces. He does it all with the intent of bringing a lasting peace to the multiverse, an undertaking more massive than anything he's ever done before, and that is probably his biggest fear.
Other myths surrounding Phoenixes are also true in the case of the Celestial Phoenix, and are therefore true of Aethon. When a feather is plucked from Aethon by himself or another creature intentionally, the area will not grow a replacement until the plucked feather is destroyed. A feather plucked from Aethon has special properties denoted on the Feather of Aethon page. A feather that naturally falls from Aethon also has these properties, but doesn't prevent Aethon from growing new feathers. The powers these feathers have are how the entire species of Celestial Phoenixes were hunted to extinction, save Aethon himself. Aethon's biggest wish is to find a way to return the race to existence, something incredibly tricky to do since the immensity of their souls make reviving Celestial Phoenixes that have died outright impossible, even by deities. Aethon feels as though he'd have to make existence safe first before even considering trying anything towards this end.
There is a small faction of Monks of the Sun Soul monastic tradition that learned their art originally from him after witnessing one of his fights. He's noticed their practice but isn't sure how to feel about them. So far he's seemed to tolerate them, mostly because the only members of that branch of the monastery that are aware of it's true origin are the mortal leaders of it, who've yet to announce it to the world. A safe secret, perhaps, but a dangerous one indeed.
The Faint of Heart
Aethon is the founding member of The Faint of Heart, a divine guild containing quite a few deity members that serve as his only true followers and bestest friends forever! The faint of heart is a divine guild and pantheon dedicated to working together and bringing down the darker parts of existence. A daunting task no doubt. Other members of this cosmic pantheon are Teal Downcast, Neero Seess, among others (To be written later).
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