The Knowing Mentor

Ioun, the Knowing Mentor
Symbols of the Knowing Mentor.
Deity information
Type	Prime Deity
Title	The Knowing Mistress The Knowing Mentor The Knowing Mother The Broken Goddess (by Sprigg)
Province	Knowledge, Learning, Teaching
Common symbol	Pair of open eyes crowned with a third open eye
Gender	Feminine
Pronouns	She/her/hers
Alignment	Neutral
Home plane	Tengar (originally)
Realm	Endless Athenaeum
Worship
Worshipers	The Cobalt Soul Slayer's Take
Holy day	None
Associated domains	Arcana Knowledge Twilight
Appearances
First seen	"The Fear of Isolation" (1x105)
Last seen	"Downfall: Part Three" (3x101)
Stream	Campaign One (2 episodes) Campaign Three (1 episode)

Ioun, the Knowing Mentor, also known as the Knowing Mistress, is the goddess of knowledge, prophecy, and skill. She opposes Vecna, who deals in dark secrets and hidden knowledge. As an NPC, the Knowing Mentor is played by Matthew Mercer and Brennan Lee Mulligan.

Description

Appearance

Fan art of Ioun, the Knowing Mentor, by Christian Thor Lally.

The Knowing Mentor's avatar appears as an older woman with long, wavy silver hair. Her olive skin is weathered and wrinkled around her almond shaped eyes with purple irises. She wears blue and white robes that tumble out from her form in tendrils of parchment.

Her avatar has a large, darkened gash of black, curling void in her stomach.

Personality

In the Campaign One scenes where she is encountered by Vox Machina, the Knowing Mentor comes across as a rather kindly, and even rather tolerant deity. The one thing she is intolerant of (or perhaps impatient with) is the keeping of secrets and the hiding of knowledge. This is the reason given as to why she chose Scanlan as her champion rather than Percy, who to many seemed a more obvious choice. This is a bit ironic considering her own secretiveness about her presence and location, though such caution's necessity was made evident by her unhealed wound.

Symbols

Fan art of symbols of the Knowing Mentor and her followers, by Aaron Larsen.

The Knowing Mentor is frequently represented in religious iconography by either a triple eye symbol (such as the one shown at the top of the page or to the immediate right) or a unique eye-and-staff symbol, as shown center right.

Commandments of the Knowing Mentor

“

Commandments of the Knowing Mentor

• Unmask those who would destroy the Knowing Mentor. Learn their secrets and unveil them to the world.

• Uphold and teach the importance of reason, perception, and truth in guiding one’s emotions and path.

• Condemn those who lie without moral cause, for evil folk gain power when their followers obscure the truth. Never stoop to the level of selfish liars.

”

– 

from the Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn

[!h]

Places of worship

Fan art of the Chamber of Seasons, by Clara.

During the early Age of Arcanum, before the city of Aeor developed disdain for divinity, they had a temple known as the Chamber of Seasons that, although it represented and honored multiple deities, was dedicated to the Knowing Mistress.

Though the Knowing Mentor's followers generally worship in private, as they are hunted by followers of her enemies, not all of her temples are secret.

In Tal'Dorei, the Knowing Mentor has a minority following in the Verdant Expanse, and there are halls in which to worship the Knowing Mentor in Emon's Temple District as well.

In Wildemount, the Knowing Mistress is one of the six deities approved for worship within the Dwendalian Empire. And in Gwardan on the Menagerie Coast, the House of Enlightenment is both a temple to Ioun and a place of higher learning.

Ancient ziggurat temples

Beneath Whitestone

Fan art of the ziggurat beneath Whitestone, by Son of Joxer.

Beneath Whitestone lies an ancient underground ziggurat that was a temple to the Knowing Mentor. During the Calamity, Ioun baited the rampaging Tharizdun to her central temple there, but Tharizdun, the Chained Oblivion, badly wounded her and nearly destroyed her, causing her temple to sink underground in her sorrow. After the Dawnfather then defeated the Chained Oblivion in a climactic battle that transformed the nearby region in its violence, and after chasing and banishing Tharizdun elsewhere, the Dawnfather returned to the site of the Knowing Mentor's wounding and blessed the land with his own Sun Tree directly over the site of her sunken temple. The land has been under his protection ever since.

Beneath the Slayer's Take guildhall

The space underneath the guild hall of the Slayer's Take in Vasselheim holds another ziggurat, where Vanessa Cyndrial brings Vox Machina for their induction into the Take. The gynosphinx Osysa also resides within the walls of the temple.

Beneath the Smouldercrown Mountains

Scanlan Shorthalt and Lionel Gayheart discovered a ziggurat on the continent of Marquet, within the Smouldercrown Mountains. Here Delilah conducted a second, or possibly third, ritual for Vecna before Vox Machina could interfere.

The Cavern of Axiom

This cavern in the Frostweald, watched over by the androsphinx Kamaljiori, is a hidden shrine to the Knowing Mentor.

Archives of the Cobalt Soul

Main article: Cobalt Soul#Locations

Worshipped in Ziggurat temples in the old days, the Knowing Mentor finds her current worshippers gathering not in conventional temples, but rather in libraries dedicated to furthering her goals of fostering knowledge and enlightenment. The general policy of the Cobalt Soul branches is to be open to the public under supervision, though they have off-limits areas requiring special approval for access. After signing in, a monk is assigned as a watchful escort. Within the public areas, attendees can read and take notes on the materials within, though removing items from the library is strictly forbidden.

Known worshipers

From the Cobalt Reserve

• Expositor Cressida Holt
• High Curator Greisalda Cassios
• Quian
• Archivist Salomane Rothtree

From the Cobalt Vault

• Kusuo
• Sura
• Wailen

From the Rexxentrum Archive of the Cobalt Soul

• High Curator Yudala Fon - Has dual leadership of the Cobalt Soul with the Curator of the Cobalt Vault of Vasselheim.
• Archivist Kathedoc - Handles the teleportation room.

From the Valley Archive of the Cobalt Soul

Fan art of Beau working out, by BlackSalander.

• Expositor Beauregard Lionett
• Expositor Dairon
• Archivist Delan
• Archivist Demid Sunlash (Was studying Exandria's moons in Uthodurn when the Mighty Nein first passed through, but he has left.)
• Archivist Galesh
• Archivist Jennah
• High Curator Loman Turray, Herald of the Zadash Archive
• Archivist Madeer
• Tubo
• Archivist Zeenoth

From the Slayer's Take

• Osysa: A gynosphinx; she and her followers at the Slayer's Take pay homage to the Knowing Mentor, and in return the Knowing Mistress extends Osysa's vision in order to assist them.
• Vanessa Cyndrial
• Mertin Cyndrial

Others

• Archivist Adia Shu
• Brom Goldhand: Master of Law on the Tal'Dorei Council and a cleric of the Knowing Mentor.
• Kamaljiori: An androsphinx guarding the Cavern of Axiom, a hidden shrine to the Knowing Mentor in the Frostweald.
• Theolocrat Kon Bruda (waning faith): He used to be a monk of the Cobalt Soul, now he uses and manipulates religion as part of his social working for the Dwendalian Empire.
• Scanlan Shorthalt: Champion of Ioun.
• Sprigg: Steward of the Knowing Mentor.
• Ulysses: Follower of the Knowing Mistress. He's buried in the Blooming Grove, and his grave has the Knowing Mentor's symbol.
• High Curator Jamil A'alithiya
• Iwo Zalarre
• Watcher Trast: This elven priest used to act as the Knowing Mentor's cleric but now leads the Sentinels of Memory in Ank'Harel.

History

Screenshot of a vision of the Knowing Mentor and the Everlight in the Calamity from "Those Who Walk Away (LoVM)" (LVM2x04).

Background

It was under the Knowing Mentor's guidance that civilization flourished and spread in the Age of Arcanum.

In the first century of the Calamity, it was thanks to the Knowing Mistress that the main pantheon reached a truce to deal with Aeor and its anti-divine technology. They decided to send multiple mortal avatars to infiltrate and sabotage the flying city, and the Knowing Mistress acted as their scout, incarnating as a woman named Arcadia Cerenvetorix who traveled to Aeor as soon as she understood her purpose and became an archmage there. Eventually the other avatars joined them in Aeor but before most of them arrived, Father Milo Cowst (the avatar of Asmodeus) managed to seal Arcadia inside a glass emblem he gave to their enemies and he took her place, pretending to be her in order to gain access to the Factorum Malleus. Although his plan failed and Arcadia was eventually freed, Archmage Selena Erenves's broadcast of the plans of the Factorum Malleus to the mages of the city made the destruction of Aeor inevitable. Before the city crashed SILAHA shared with Arcadia a poem he had acquired from the knowledge scrolls related to the god-killing weapon, since he knew she loved knowledge, and after the crash, the Knowing Mistress and some of the other Prime Deities discussed the possibility of moving away from Exandria in order to keep mortals safe, even if the Betrayers were defeated. After the goddess of knowledge confirmed that the heartbroken Everlight was willing to fight again in the war, if necessary, she returned to her realm.

Official art of the Knowing Mentor battling the Chained Oblivion, by Wesley Griffith.

The Knowing Mentor led the charge against Tharizdun during the Calamity. She devised the Prime Trammels that could be used to help banish a god from the Material Plane. She baited the Oblivion to her central temple where Whitestone now stands. She was badly wounded by the traitor god in that battle and has been recovering, in hiding, ever since. Some believe she cannot be completely healed until the Chained Oblivion is destroyed.

Campaign One: Vox Machina

"Elysium" (1x104)

The Dawnfather told Vox Machina that the Knowing Mentor had the design for the artifact necessary to banish Vecna, and gave them directions to the key, near the Pools of Wittebak.

"The Fear of Isolation" (1x105) and "The Endless Atheneum" (1x106)

Fan art of the Knowing Mentor's library, by Lap Pun Cheung.

The Dawnfather's directions led Vox Machina to Sprigg’s home. Sprigg turned out to be the unwitting mortal "key" to the Knowing Mentor’s realm. Vox Machina and Sprigg entered the Athenaeum. Percy, who was able to read the life stories written in Celestial, found the existence of such complete records to be life-affirming: it meant no one is forgotten. Scanlan, with the assistance of his Ioun Stone, led the party directly to the common area where Ioun's avatar awaited.

The Knowing Mentor found, of the people present, only the prolific storyteller Scanlan worthy of a trial to be her champion; Percy was too fond of keeping secrets. She challenged Scanlan to find the Tome of Isolation within her vast library and return it to her within one hour, or else find someone else ready to take the challenge. Scanlan found that continuously singing about the Tome he sought, especially with the aid of Mythcarver, attracted the spectral servants to assist him, and on the back of Vex's broom he raced to the appropriate bookshelf. Vex had to pick a virtually impossible lock to get into the case, then they raced back to the common area, just in time. Along the way, Scanlan learned that casting a sufficiently powerful spell into the Tome would reveal the book’s text.

For completing the trial, the Knowing Mentor returned the Tome to Scanlan (it contained the Rites of Prime Banishment, needed to drive Vecna out of the Divine Gate) and granted him the Blessing of the Knowing Mistress. She imbued the mighty Grog with the knowledge to be proficient with blacksmithing tools, and incepted the design for Prime Trammels into the mad genius Percy, so that together they could forge the implements to make banishing Vecna feasible.

When Vax asked about Vecna, she told the story of the lich lord’s rise and fall in the Age of Arcanum, and noted that the Sword of Kas, though an evil weapon, could be a powerful tool to help take down Vecna, and was lost in Thar Amphala.

Fan art of the Knowing Mentor offering a fragment of divinity, by Linda Lithén.

Moments later, she sensed that Vecna had just completed the Ritual of Seeding to ascend to godhood, and urged Vox Machina to hurry before Vecna could fully come into his power through a "miracle of terror" that would attract worshipers. She painfully extracted from herself a fragment of divinity for use in creating another Prime Trammel, and gave it to Scanlan. Finally, she asked Sprigg to stay in her realm and help her tend to her books, and Vox Machina departed with a Plane Shift back through the Divine Gate to Sprigg’s house.

Appearances and mentions

Appearances

• Campaign One
  • "The Fear of Isolation" (1x105) (first appearance)
  • "The Endless Atheneum" (1x106)
• Campaign Three
  • "Downfall: Part Three" (3x101)

Mentions

• Campaign One
  • "Aramente to Pyrah" (1x22) (first mentioned)
  • "Consequences and Cows" (1x26)
  • "Return to Vasselheim" (1x43)
  • "Into the Frostweald" (1x48)
  • "A Name Is Earned" (1x49)
  • "Duskmeadow" (1x57)
  • "Trust" (1x70)
  • "The Coming Storm" (1x73)
  • "Voice of the Tempest" (1x90)
  • "Thar Amphala" (1x101)
  • "The Fate-Touched" (1x103)
  • "Elysium" (1x104)
  • "Scaldseat" (1x107)
  • "The Core Anvil" (1x108)
  • "The Ominous March" (1x109)
  • "The Final Ascent" (1x113)
  • "Vecna, the Ascended" (1x114)
  • "The Chapter Closes" (1x115)
• Campaign Two
  • "Disparate Pieces" (2x04)
  • "Whispers of War" (2x18)
  • "Lost Treasures" (2x22)
  • "Xhorhas" (2x51)
  • "Agreements" (2x61)
  • "Causatum" (2x70)
  • "Between the Lines" (2x78)
  • "Titles and Tattoos" (2x84)
  • "The Threads Converge" (2x85)
  • "Bathhouses and Bastions" (2x90)
  • "Traveler Con" (2x108)
  • "Frigid Propositions" (2x109)
• The Re-Slayer's Take
  • "The Cat's Cathedral" (RT2x01)

Quotations

• "Scanlan Shorthalt, you... are a buffoon."
• "For me, our greatest purpose has passed the moment we granted your forbearers the spark to seek their own purpose. We now stay to inspire, to guide, to guard the Gate, to keep the hate of ignorance we spawned in our hubris from burning away everything. The rest is up to you. We need you, perhaps, but you do not need us. That is our gift. You, Fate-Touched, you are the embodiment of this truth. All mortal life has potential with or without the gods. We offer some paths, but it's up to you to decide if they are the right ones for you."

Trivia

• According to the page dedicated to Quian on the Vox Machina Wiki which was created by Matthew Mercer before Critical Role began, Delleb was the god of intellect and study in the pre-stream campaign rather than Ioun. If Delleb is still worshiped in Exandria, it is as a lesser god, since in the campaigns and the sourcebooks the Knowing Mistress is depicted as the main deity of knowledge, as well as a member of the Prime Deities.
• Since the Knowing Mentor is the goddess of prophecy, it's very probable that she has/had oracles under her service.

References

Art: