Mystra

Before her ascension to godhood, the third Mystra was a woman named Midnight, who, along with several other individuals, including Kelemvor, played a large role during the Avatar Crisis, also known as the Time of Troubles. Midnight, born Ariel Manx in 1332 DR, was the second child of Theus Manx, a merchant, and his wife Paiyse. Midnight had an elder sibling named Rysanna who assumed the role of the family's demure "princess" whenever wealthy suitors called. As a teenager, Midnight became familiar with the night's populace of bards, thieves, sorcerers, and fighters and was eventually nicknamed "Midnight" by these friends, a name she immediately preferred to Ariel. Midnight's first taste of magic began with her tryst with the conjurer Tad, who set her on her path. She began to exhibit less interest in her hedonistic pursuits and more in the quest for magical knowledge and training, gradually becoming more obsessed with her magical quest. Eventually, Midnight moved out of the family home to seek her own path. It was during this time that she fell into the worship of Mystra, whose attention Midnight attracted during her time of service in one of Mystra's temples. From her 21st year on, Midnight began to feel a presence from time to time. She would feel her skin tingle coolly and began to feel that she was somehow being followed or observed. After such attentions, she always found that spells, which she had labored over for weeks, would suddenly work without any problem. Midnight soon suspected that she had been granted special attention by Mystra herself and believed that she was being groomed for the position of Magister. Sunlar, high priest of the Deepingdale temple of Mystra, took Midnight under his supervision. It was during this time that Midnight's knowledge of self-defense and magic improved leaps and bounds and Midnight spent a year in the temple at Deepingdale before she left. For the next three years Midnight devoted herself to Mystra's worship and pursued every scrap of magic she could. During the Time of Troubles, when the gods were cast down by Ao, Midnight joined with Kelemvor Lyonsbane, Cyric, and Adon in the search for the stolen Tablets of Fate. During this time, the previous Mystra was killed by the deity Helm for defying Ao's command and trying to climb the Celestial Stairway back to the heavens. Her death caused great damage to the Weave, but eventually Ao selected Midnight to replace the destroyed Mystra, restoring the magic of Toril. Immediately prior to her ascension, Midnight killed Myrkul, the god of death, in a duel in the skies over the city of Waterdeep. Midnight was not long the goddess of magic and in the Year of Blue Fire, 1385 DR, Cyric supposedly murdered her, at the behest and with the aid of Shar, who sought to obtain control over the Weave. The results of Midnight's disappearance, however, were far worse than Shar had supposed it would be and the Spellplague soon followed, causing magic throughout the planes to go wild. In the beginning, only Mystra's temples knew that Cyric's slaying of her had ushered in the Spellplague. Soon after, it became well known that she had sacrificed herself to save everyone. In the Year of Darkenbeasts Risen, 1442 DR, in the absence of Mystra, Azuth offered the position of Magister to Tannathra of Hardcastle. In the Year of the Ageless One, 1479 DR, while recuperating in a cabin in the King's Forest, Elminster felt Mystra's presence calling to him. He found her much diminished, possessing the body of a bear that had guarded a cache of items Mystra's still-mortal form had collected. She asked her most trusted servant to find new candidates to become Chosen and to recruit Cormyr's War Wizards. Only a few weeks later, having been restored to his full powers as a Chosen by absorbing the silver fire of the dying Symrustar Auglamyr and then that of the Simbul and Manshoon, Elminster returned to Mystra (in agony from absorbing too much of it) and returned much of it to the Lady of Mysteries, restoring much of her power and divinity. This event became known as Mystra's Return. But it was not until 1487 DR that the goddess was whole again. In the Year of the Star Walker's Return, 1490 DR, after conferring with Mystra, Azuth offered the office of Magister to Valargrim Hond upon Tannathra's voluntary retirement. In 1496 DR, Ramarthant Horaerays was offered the office by Azuth upon the death of Valargrim. Some of Mystra's other activities involved the Dracoliche, Daurgothoth, Daurgothoth would become her targets only at the moment they stepped beyond gathering magic (which she encouraged), and onto restricting it from others. Azuth and Mystra were likewise wary of Ioulaum and his attempts at controlling the Weave. They allowed him only minor successes, so as to keep him away from his more nefarious plans. Mystra and Azuth also punished egregiously deceitful auctioneering of magical items, such as when an item was covertly exchanged for another, or was not magical to begin with. The church of Mystra preserved magical lore so that magic would continue and flourish in the future even if the dominant races of Faerûn were to fall. Its members also sought out those skilled in magic or who had the potential to use it, keeping a close eye on those who were likely to become skilled. Her clerics were encouraged to explore magical theory and create new spells and magic items. Sites dedicated to the goddess were enhanced by the Weave to allow any spell cast by her clerics while in them to be affected by metamagic. Mystra honored commitments to members of her predecessor's clergy who'd joined the church before the Time of Troubles, preventing them from being forced to leave the clergy due to alignment differences. Mystra's customary adviser was Azuth and she was also served indirectly by Savras and Velsharoon. Other allies of hers included Selûne and Kelemvor, whom she knew as a man when she was a mortal. Mystra's greatest enemies were Shar, who created the Shadow Weave to oppose Mystra's Weave, and Cyric, who was a mortal along with Mystra and Kelemvor. Mystra also had powerful mortal servants among her ranks of followers, including Elminster, Khelben Arunsun, and the Seven Sisters. As a mortal, Midnight was initially hedonistic but became deeply obsessed with magic, showing a passionate and adventurous side. As a goddess, she is dedicated to guiding and maintaining the Weave, the fabric of magic, with a nurturing attitude toward magic users, viewing them as "flowers to be nurtured in a garden," as described by Elminster. However, she can be strict, punishing those who disrespect magic, reflecting a balance between care and discipline. Her Neutral Good alignment suggests a strong moral compass, aiming to do right and restrict magic's evil use, though this sometimes caused cosmic imbalances, indicating her struggle with her divine responsibilities, as it appears that some of mortal personality is still present in her current divine form. Compared to Mystryl, the first incarnation, who was Chaotic Neutral and mercurial, and the second Mystra, who was Lawful Neutral and strict due to trauma from Karsus's Folly, Midnight's incarnation is seen as more balanced, focusing on maintaining peace and order in magic. This is evident, where her Neutral Good alignment and efforts to prevent evil magic use, though not always successfully. Though her current moral alignment is neutral good, with the passage of time, it has become harder for her to retain her mortal values and beliefs, as she is experiencing first hand what the previous two Mystra experienced and it has made her more distant and somewhat cynical with the passing of each century.

Being the embodiment and consciousness of the Weave, Mystra could wield magic like no other being. She had no practical limitations on how many spells she could cast, how powerful they were, how often she could cast them, or what form they could take. Unless she willed otherwise, she was immune to all spells except those that bypassed her control of the Weave and drew on the raw magic from which the Weave was woven. She could withhold magic from any entity, making spellcasting impossible, and even prevent them from using magical items if she so desired. She could block other deities from accessing the Weave, but she could not prevent them from granting spells to their priests through prayer. As The Lady of Spells, Mystra could cast any spell ever known at maximum level, one offensive and one defensive spell per minute. The only exceptions to this were if she cast wish, time stop, alter reality, or gate, which required enough concentration that no other spell could be cast in combination. She could shape change at will and could grant other creatures spell knowledge by touching them. She controlled and provided the Weave, allowing (relatively) safe access to the power of raw magic to mortal spellcasters and magical craftsmen. Mystra's secret was that she was more powerful than any god, save for Lord Ao, but therein lay the secret. Roughly half of her power lay in her Chosen and in the lesser power Azuth, as planned by Ao so that Mystra did not rule all Realmspace. Mystra wielded Silver fire, a raw magic also available to her Chosen. After the Second Sundering, being spread across the Weave on Toril made Mystra much harder to find, and even harder to target. As the Lady of Spells, she was the source for other gods' spellcraft, making her normally immune to the direct effects of such spells, though not its after-effects. Mystra ruled over the divine dominion of Dweomerheart. Dweomerheart was a Celestial plane in the World Tree cosmology model and was also the name of the scintillating city that was the realm of Mystra here in the World Tree model and on the plane of Elysium in the Great Wheel model. The other deities of magic, Azuth, Savras, and Velsharoon, also made their homes on this plane not far from Mystra's domain. Dweomerheart was destroyed in a cataclysmic explosion in the Year of Blue Fire, 1385 DR, after Cyric assassinated Mystra causing the Spellplague. Though the deities of Dweomerheart largely perished, most of the faithful of Mystra, Azuth, and the other gods dwelling there were transported safely to the Fugue Plane where they were restored and re-assigned, many of them ending up either in Towers of Night, Gates of the Moon, or Kelemvor's own City of Judgment. Currently, Dweomerheart is in the process of rebuilding and former inhabitant of Dweomerheart are returning to rebuild their home. This plane was mostly uninhabited mountain ranges, teeming with wildlife, with no known portals to the other planes of existence. The only way to access this plane other than traveling through the Astral was via branches of the World Tree itself, which connected to other Celestial planes. The domains of the deities residing on this plane all occupied a single mountain with a flat top which was adorned with Mystra's shining city of magic, Dweomerheart. Dedicated to the appreciation and study of magic, especially to the creation of new magic, the city was the ultimate university for the Art. The city itself was the quintessence of alteration, powered by conjuration through evocation, all wrapped in illusions that changed daily. It was a high honor to be asked to exercise one's creativity in casting the glamors and redecorating the city for a day. The domains of Azuth, Savras, and Velsharoon were all sets of caverns and caves beneath the high plateau. Apart from the petitioners and the usual angels that served their deities, the only known inhabitants of this plane were the mysterious mercane looking for trading opportunities, and the inevitables: lawful constructs created to enforce the fundamental laws of the multiverse. After the Second Sundering, no mortal was aware that Mystra (Midnight) has been abiding within the Weave. In this way, she was ever-present & hidden across Toril, able to create other-dimensional spaces for mortals or servants seeking audience. Mystra's failsafe 'echoes' resided in Azuth's divine realm (also called Azuth), within a royal castle and surrounded by blue mists.

The only known description of the mortal that became Mystra was a "beautiful peasant women" who was just beginning her studies of the Art. As a goddess, Mystra could shape change at will and mortals who saw her reported she changed constantly. Others described her appearing in a form resembling a multicolored will-o'-wisp. When Mystra revealed herself to Midnight just before the gods were forced to walk the land of Toril, she was at first just a dark figure surrounded by an aura of blue-white light. As she created the pendant that held some of her power, the glow revealed the face of a "beautiful, willful young woman, with hints of a long-borne pain." If she does not appear in that form then she would take the form of a tall and beautiful woman with long black brunette hair and exudes a distant motherly aura. In this form she wears a simple but elegant dark navy blue dress that has small intricate gold decorations, the dress also shows her shoulders and a bit of her cleavage.