Koios is the second eldest of the twelve Titans, and is held to be the origin of human thought and inquisitiveness. He is the the Font of Heavenly Knowledge; the source of esoteric philosophy for followers of the Titans.
Koios (PDF Version)
(The Font of Heavenly Knowledge, Avaricious of Knowledge, the Sinister Sophist)
Intermediate Power of Carceri, LE
Portfolio: Thought, inquisitiveness, philosophy, research, astrology, the pole of the heavens, wizardly magic
Aliases: Coeus, Polos
Domain Name: Othrys/Mount Othrys (the Library of Thought) and Minethys/the Library of Thought
Superior: Kronos
Allies: Maanzecorian, Mellifleur, the Titans (except Mnemosyne, Prometheus, and Themis)
Foes: Ilsensine, Ouranos, The Olympians, the Imperial Pantheon
Symbol: The pole star
Wor. Align.: Any
Second eldest of the Titans is Koios (KOY-us), born to Ge and Ouranos shortly after Okeanos. Where his brother brought forth the waters that nourish life, with his own birth, Koios brought into being mortal thought and inquisitiveness. Among the Titans, he is the father of philosophy and the use of study to learn new things.
The worshippers of the Titans see Koios as the Font of Heavenly Knowledge, ideas which deal with concepts of a metaphysical or conceptual basis rather than those that deal with concrete physical matters. He also presides over astrology and prophecy from the heavenly realms. His prison-realm in Carceri is filled with all manner of books, scrolls, and tablets covering philosophical topics and the movements of planets and stars in dozens of spheres, although he jealously guards this knowledge and rarely shares any of them with visitors except those willing to pay. His followers similarly seek to hoard knowledge and charge high prices for access.
Despite being second born among Ge’s Titan offspring, he lacks the leadership qualities of his brother Kronos. When his mother came amongst her children asking who would take up arms against the cruelty of their father, he did not step forward until after all of his brothers had. This was not due to cowardice, however, for he calculated that they could only succeed if five participated. During the attack itself, each of Kronos’s brothers took up cardinal positions in order to hold onto Ouranos; Koios took the northerly position and so came to represent the point about which the heavens and constellations appear to revolve. With the deed done, he took his position on Olympus alongside his brothers and sisters, until the coming of Zeus.
After his brother Okeanos introduced marriage to the Titans, Koios asked his sister Phoibe to be his wife, and she accepted. They were married, alongside Kreios and Theia, as a celebration of their victory over Ouranos. After their marriage, Phoibe bore him two daughters, Dark-Robed Leto and Starry-Eyed Asteria who took after their parents each in turn. While Asteria inherited Koios’s stellar prophetic ability, he was a distant parent to both of his children; many sages claim this explains why they both opted to ally with the Olympians.
During the great conflict of the Titanomachy, Koios once again stood beside his brother and leader Kronos; at the conclusion, he was imprisoned in Carceri along with most of his siblings. Koios deeply resents his imprisonment, but he is not a Titan of action, so he bides his time until Kronos decides to act. He holds court in his main temple on Minethys, as well as joining his brothers on Mt. Othrys. His realm is a great but crumbling temple complex on a flat-topped mountain; the largest structure in the complex is the Bibliotheca Mysticos, a great library of incredible knowledge. Visitors can study rare tomes should they offer vast sums of wealth, rare and powerful magics, or unique tomes the temple does not possess. However, there is a catch that they are not told, and that is many of the books are cursed to steal away the knowledge or souls of such visitors, should they stumble across them; still, the lure of forbidden knowledge is often worth the risk to the most ambitious.
Koios has been known to host many powerful visitors, such as tanar’ri and baatezu lords and other gods of knowledge or philosophy. Most such visits are little different from mortal visits, however, exchanging wealth or power for knowledge they cannot get any other way. It is said the only regular visitor who actually likes the Sinister Sophist is the Philosoflayer Maanzecorian. This friendship does not stretch to the other illithid power Ilsensine, for it is widely said agents of Ilsensine took advantage of the Titanomachy to pillage Koios’s library. The Sinister Sophist also appears to have an alliance with Mellifleur, since lich-servitors of the Deathmaster apparently serve as librarians in part of the Bibliotheca Mysticos.
As an imprisoned power, Koios is unable to send his avatars directly to the Prime Material Plane. He can, however, have them travel to other planes and find portals to the Prime, however, although he rarely does so unless seeking some sort of rare text or accompanying one of his fellow Titans. His imprisonment does not prevent granting spells or creating other sorts of manifestations, which is the main way he interacts with his followers.
Koios’s Avatar (Mage 34, Cleric 34, Fighter 22, Bard 18)
Koios appears as an enormous human with dark hair and a beard with a wavy texture. His skin is a greyish-bronze, and his deep blue eyes gleam and twinkle like starlight. He wears a black himation with silver threaded fringes. He can easily alter his 100-foot height to that of a normal human, or anywhere in between, over the course of a single round. He draws his spells from all schools and spheres.
AC −1; MV 36; HP 216; THAC0 −2; #AT 5/2
Dmg 6d6+15 (staff +4, +9 Str, +2 spec. in staff)
MR 60%; SZ M–G (6 feet tall to 100 feet tall)
Str 21, Dex 20, Con 23, Int 23, Wis 24, Cha 23
Spells P: 15/14/13/13/12/11/9, W: 8/8/8/8/8/7/7/7/7
Saves PPDM 2; RSW 3; PP 4; BW 4; Sp 4
Special Att/Def: Koios wields a black-and-silver staff +4 named Cosmostaff. Any creatures struck by this staff must make a saving throw versus spell with a −6 penalty or be stunned for 2d3 rounds. He prefers to use magic to enchant or beguile foes rather than engaging in melee or utilizing directly-damaging spells.
The Sinister Sophist can cast suggestion and enthrall at will, and three times per day he can engage in a Leomund’s lamentable belaborment. Six times per day he can cast charm monster, and once per day he can cast mass suggestion or mass charm.
Koios can only be struck by +2 or better weapons. He is immune to size-affecting magic and all mind-affecting magic and psionics. He cannot be silenced, nor can he be affected by babble or similar magic that would impede his ability to communicate.
Other Manifestations
As with his brethren, the Sinister Sophist rarely manifests on the Prime Material Plane. When he does so, it typically takes the form of a temporary enhancement to a follower’s Charisma when they are discussing or debating with other scholars. This boost of Charisma is not apparent to those participating in the debate, lasts until the debate is adjourned, and increases the speaker’s ability score by 1d6+2 points, to a maximum of 20. He also is known to cause a star to glow more brightly for his followers, guiding them to safety, or in rare cases, those who are secretly espousing views antithetical to the Koion church. Finally, he occasionally grants a follower a mind blank effect for up to a week if they are keeping their faith secret and in danger of being discovered by magic.
The Titans call on asuras, lesser titans, and monsters of legend as their preferred servants, but Koios is also served by baatezu (any least as well as amnizu), bookworms, constellates, contemplators, nightmares, radiant dragons, stellar dragons, and any and all creatures represented by the zodiac of any given crystal sphere he is worshiped in, such as bulls, fish, pegasi, etc. The Font of Heavenly Knowledge displays his favor through the appearance of shooting stars, galaxy petunias, star jasmines, and stargazer lilies. He displays his displeasure through excruciating headaches, an inability to speak clearly, and dire portents written in the stars.
The Church
Clergy: Clerics, specialty priests, monks, wizards
Clergy’s Align.: LN, N, LE, NE, CE
Turn Undead: C: No, SP: No, Mon: No, W: No
Cmnd. Undead: C: Yes, SP: Yes, Mon: No, W: No
All clerics, specialty priests, and monks of Koios receive religion (Titans) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency.
The clergy of the Sinister Sophist is only prominent among cultures who worship the Titans exclusively. Among cultures who worship the Olympians, the clergy of Koios are a secretive and reviled order, if they exist at all. In the former environment, they are teachers and custodians of knowledge and philosophy. However, they are very strict on what they consider acceptable philosophies and suppress ideas that they don’t approve of. They don’t necessarily try to destroy such materials, instead collecting them and locking them away and keeping such texts and ideas to themselves. Nevertheless, as public teachers and thinkers, they are generally well regarded. Secret cults of Koios also hoard knowledge and try to suppress ideas they disagree with in public either through propaganda, theft, or destruction of such knowledge. They are seen as a dangerous cabal among those who worship the Olympians and widely regarded as users of evil magic and people who have turned their great knowledge towards deception.
Temples dedicated to Koios are generally built in the standard style of the Titans and Olympians but favor darker stone than most others. The complexes always house vaults for tomes, scrolls, and other texts, and will often contain small, semicircular outdoor lecture areas for resident and traveling teachers and philosophers to speak in. His statues are made of silver and ebony, or lesser materials that mimic their hues in less prosperous temples. They always depict him holding a staff in one hand and a starry orb in the other. The friezes, metopes, and pediments usually depict scenes of the Titans and their children, other ancient deities, and the castration of Ouranos, as well as mundane scenes of philosophers and teachers.
Novices in the service of Koios are known as the Unlearned. Full priests of the Font of Heavenly Knowledge are known as Holders of Heavenly Knowledge. In ascending order of rank, the titles used by the Koion priesthood match the zodiacal constellations of their crystal sphere, starting with the sign present for the vernal equinox. There is only one high-ranking title that exists beyond these ranks, in charge of a temple or temple complex; they are called the Asterial Magister. Specialty priests are called sophisticants. Males (73%) are found in higher numbers than females (27%) within the church of Koios. The priesthood is composed of specialty priests (46%), clerics (39%), wizards (9%), and monks (6%).
Dogma: Study the stars to divine their secrets; these secrets will guide you in life. Gather knowledge, hoard secrets, and ever expand your understanding. Teach those willing to learn, but only what is proper. Prevent the spread of false ideologies and improper knowledge, for these are dangerous to a cohesive society.
Day-to-Day Activities: Most members of the Koion clergy spend their days teaching or in study. They teach anyone willing to pay tuition; prices are generally not exorbitant, but they only teach topics approved by the temple authorities or political authorities, if those are in agreement. In Olympian settlements, they will even offer their teaching for free in order to mix in subtle anti-Olympian propaganda with their regular lessons. They also sometimes gather for debate and discussion, but never for symposia, considering these no better than Bacchic revels regardless of what discussions are had at such an event.
Important Ceremonies/Holy Days: The clergy of Koios observe no fixed ceremonies; however, in cultures that openly worship the Titans, temples of Koios do gather the faithful and other intellectual types for a series of debates once per year. Temples separated by political boundaries usually do not hold these events on the same day. Even within large nations, the dates may vary, allowing for attendees to visit multiple events, although this is usually only the case where a particular temple rises to prominence above others. Lasting between 3 and 7 days typically, these debates serve both as a means of honoring Koios and honing the clergy members’ own ideas as well as a way to find those engaging in ideas that are suppressed or creating new ideas that are contrary to the clergy’s ideologies. Should any such ideas be presented, the Koion clergy do what they can to poke as many holes as possible in the ideas during the debates, and then afterwards they work subtly to discredit the philosopher or scholar who presented it. Underhanded means are often used, such as framing them for crimes, uncovering and disseminating their secrets, and spreading unsavory rumors about them. If such tasks fail, they are not above murder or kidnapping, either. Finally, if the ideas have been published, they buy copies for their archives and then destroy the rest.
Major Centers of Worship: One of the few centers of worship of Koios on the Outer Planes outside of Carceri can be found in Sigil. The Library Sophisticate is located in the Lower Ward with a small columned front façade made of black marble; the interior functions as a library and book shop. However, beneath the building is a small temple run by a dozen devotees of Koios who seek to destroy any knowledge coming into Sigil from those who follow the Olympians. They especially hate any residents of Polykeptolon who find their way to Sigil, and more than a handful have been found dead in the back alleys of the city.
Hidden somewhere on the world Thesalys in Greatspace is a large temple dedicated to Koios. Known as the Sophistvault, it is believed to be built in a cavern beneath one of the major cities of that world, with either tunnels or portals connecting to the surface. Agents of this temple can be found in many settlements, working subtly to destroy the progress of natural philosophies and knowledge that Greatspace is well known for. The temple itself is said to hold a truly vast amount of supposedly lost texts from the history of that sphere.
Affiliated Orders: On worlds where the Koion church operates openly, some remote temples dedicated to hoarding knowledge and texts are operated by a monastic order known as the Keepers of the Sealed Scroll. Consisting entirely of monks, they store the texts and dutifully copy them to ensure they are not destroyed. Only the highest-ranking members can actually read, however, although all are trained in rhetoric and debate.
Priestly Vestments: The priesthood of Koios wear dark blue or black himations with silver fringing and threading. They are embroidered with the constellations that denote the rank of the wearer. Their heads are kept bare, and the holy symbol used by the clergy is an amulet depicting an eight-pointed star overlaid on a scroll.
Adventuring Garb: When away from their temples, members of Koios’s clergy wear simple garb suited for traveling, such as a chiton with a chlamys over top. They carry simple weapons that would aid in travel, such as staves and slings. If combat is expected, they don leather or scale armor and usually wield staves, spears, or maces.
Specialty Priests (Sophisticants)
Requirements: Intelligence 14, Wisdom 12
Prime Req.: Intelligence, Wisdom
Alignment: LE
Weapons: Club, dagger, dart, javelin, knife, mace, sling, spear, staff
Armor: Any up to scale, plus shield
Major Spheres: All, astral, charm, divination, healing, necromantic, numbers, thought, wards
Minor Spheres: Protection, summoning
Magical Items: Same as clerics and wizards.
Req. Profs: Astrology
Bonus Profs: Reading/writing
- Only humans and the occasional half-elf are called to be sophisticants in the service of Koios, although rumors claim that some storm and cloud giants have been drawn to the service of the Font of Heavenly Knowledge.
- Sophisticants can multiclass as sophisticant/mages if allowed by race.
- Sophisticants gain a +2 bonus to their astrology proficiency checks if they have access to detailed charts and tables about past celestial observations. Such material normally costs 50 gp to purchase or create themselves. In addition to the normal usage of the proficiency, they may make a check once per week per three levels they have obtained to grant a group or individual a +1 bonus to their next surprise or encounter reaction check, as decided by the sophisticant at the time of the proficiency check. The sophisticant cannot perform another astrological reading for a particular group or individual if they have a still-active bonus, and the bonus is lost if not used within one week. Members not present for a reading can dramatically alter the results of astrological reading; thus, an individual cannot use an active bonus if accompanied by other creatures, and should a group gain or lose members, they similarly cannot make use of an action bonus. Finally, once per day per level, a sophisticant may perform a horoscope reading for a single individual. This reading grants a +1 bonus to a single attack roll, saving throw, proficiency check, ability check, or a 5% bonus to a single thief skill check, at the recipient’s option, chosen at the time of the reading. The bonus need not apply to the next roll of that type, and it may be used any time within one week, at which point an unused bonus is lost. An individual cannot receive one of these readings more than once a week. It takes a full turn to perform either of these readings.
- At 3rd level, sophisticants can cast augury (as the 2nd-level priest spell) once per week. They can only utilize this power if they have access to their celestial charts and observations.
- At 5th level, sophisticants can cast enthrall or starshine (as the 3rd-level priest spells) once per day.
- At 7th level, sophisticants can cast divination or paradox of thought (as the 4th-level priest spells) once per day.
- At 10th level, sophisticants can cast Leomund’s lamentable belaborment (as the 5th-level wizard spell) or mass suggestion (as the 6th-level wizard spell) once per day.
- At 15th level, sophisticants can cast mind blank (as the 8th-level wizard spell) once per day.
Koion Spells
3rd Level
Curse of Curiosity (Pr 3; Abjuration)
Sphere: Charm
Range: 10 yds.
Components: V, S, M
Duration: Permanent
Casting Time: 7
Area of Effect: 1 creature
Saving Throw: Neg.
With this spell, the caster brings down a strange curse upon a single target. If the target fails a saving throw versus spell, they become incredibly curious about the properties of objects around them. The curse prevents the normal logic centers of their brain from stopping them from trying out things that are not obviously self-destructive; for example, the cursed creature will not throw themselves from a cliff out of curiosity. However, they might feel an overwhelming need to find out what all of their potions taste like, or they might want to know what the bedroom of a king looks like, or they might want to know what they can see from the top of a tree despite their poor climbing skill. Essentially, normal inhibitions against acting on idle thoughts evaporate. The DM should not force a player character to do things they have not mentioned, but periodically asking what their character is thinking about can be used to compel the character to act. Dispel magic cannot end this curse; a remove curse or more powerful spell is necessary.
The material components for this spell are the priest’s holy symbol and a tuft of cat fur.
Find Banned Texts (Pr 3; Divination)
Sphere: Divination
Range: 60 yds. + 10 yds./level
Components: V, S, M
Duration: 1 rd./level
Casting Time: 1 turn
Area of Effect: 1 text
Saving Throw: None
By means of this spell, the caster can locate nonmagical texts (books, scrolls, tablets, etc.) that have been banned by the local authorities or the church of Koios. The text must be known, either by title, first words, or author and subject matter; this spell does not find any material that the authorities would ban if they were aware of it, for example. This spell can locate partial copies, such as one scroll from a text that is ten scrolls in total, but it does not find torn scraps, burnt remnants, or the like.
To use this spell, the caster turns in a direction and can sense if the text is within range of the direction they are facing. Detection can be blocked by lead or the obscure object spell or similar magic. The caster gets no sense of how far away the text is; they get the same sensation regardless of whether it is 10 feet or 100 feet away.
The material component for this spell is a small lens or reading stone.
4th Level
Paradox of Thought (Pr 4; Enchantment/Charm)
Sphere: Thought
Range: 10 yds.
Components: V
Duration: Special
Casting Time: 7
Area of Effect: 10 ft. radius
Saving Throw: Special
With this spell, the caster presents a philosophical paradox for the targets to consider. The targets must all be capable of understanding the caster and able to consider esoteric matters; thus, those with an Intelligence score of 4 or less are immune. An initial saving throw is allowed to avoid the spell entirely; this is modified by the Encounter Reaction (rolled at the time of the casting of the spell if it was not rolled previously), adjusted by the spellcaster’s Charisma, treating them as Friendly. The saving throw is modified as follows:
Reaction Modifier
Friendly −2
Indifferent −1
Cautious 0
Threatening +1
Hostile +2
Any affected creatures who fail their saving throw agree to hear out the caster, engaging with them in conversation unless attacked. After one round, the caster has presented their philosophical paradox (favorites include the paradox of time, the paradox of distance, the runner and the tortoise, and the paradox of the stick), and another saving throw is rolled, modified by the target’s Intelligence, per the table below:
Intelligence Saving Throw Modifier
2 or less Spell has no effect
3–7 −1
8–10 0
11–14 +1
15+ +2
If the saving throw is failed, the creatures wander away in confusion for 1d4+2 rounds. If successful, they continue to be engaged with the caster for the next two rounds. At this time, a final saving throw must be rolled for the targets. Those who succeed in their saving throw become angered towards the caster, reacting as if they’d rolled a Hostile result on an Encounter Reaction. Those failing their saving throw are stunned for 1d3+1 rounds as they can’t comprehend the nature of the paradox.