You hit paydirt on Selune immediately, as you find her information the moment you get to her page.
Selûne is the goddess of the moon in the Faerûnian pantheon. She holds the portfolios of the moon, stars, navigation, navigators, wanderers, questers, seekers, and non-evil lycanthropes. Most Faerûnian humans believe the moon to be the goddess herself watching over the world and the lights that trail behind it to be her tears, from both joy and sorrow.
She is also known as Bright Nydra in the Farsea Marshes; as Elah among the Bedine of Anauroch; and as Lucha, called She Who Guides, in the Shining Lands, where she is part of the faith of the Adama. Her name is shared by the moon of Toril, Selûne.
Like the cycles of the moon, Selûne has many changing moods and natures. Her faithful, coming from many walks of life, view her in countless different ways, and she reflects this. Sometimes she is enthusiastic, vivacious, joyous, and majestic, given to action and dance. At other times, she is subdued, motherly, and almost poetic or tranquil and embracing. Then she is remote and weighed down by sadness at defeats and tragedies, even those that happened long, long ago. Finally, she can be aggressive and fierce, but cold, and with little mercy for her enemies. These shifting personalities make her versatile. Nevertheless, she is viewed as a calm power circa 1489 DR.
Nevertheless, at all times, Selûne is caring and accepting of most beings, and forgiving of most of her followers' faults. She is both ageless and ancient. She is quietly mystical and, as a being of chaos, well used to change. She has a serene and peaceful nature and is slow to anger; she will not fight if she can help it, but nor does she hold back if she must. She is fiercely protective when confronted by evil. The one constant is her eternal conflict with Shar.
She is generous and freely bestows gifts and blessings on mortals. She also makes few demands of her followers. When beseeched by her clergy, she always responds.
A few paragraphs in, and you already know far more than you did before. As you keep reading, you quickly find out more and more. No real texts are scriptures, it seems. Other Gods, but that's an issue for another time. Already having two contradictory Gods is enough. Goddess of the moon, worshiped by women, navigators, and non-evil werewolves… wait, that's a thing?
One sentence catches your eye: Self-reliance and finding one's own, practical path are more important than fussy detail in her faith, and so Selûne is also gaining favor among eccentrics, adventurers, and mavericks of all sorts, including outcasts
Well, you definitely count as an outcast right now. But self-reliance and finding your own path is something you were most certainly not taught in church. Trust and obey, there is no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. You mentally sing to yourself, remembering the old Sunday school tune.
…but what if you did find your own path? Not get caught up on the fussy details?
[Religion. Hand Movement. You barely notice it now]
(Religion Test - (Advantage): 9, 4. Guidance: 1. 9 + 5 (Religion) + 1 (Guidance) = 15. DC: 15. Pass.)
Scripture bubbles up to the forefront of your mind. Matthew 23:23! "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone." They were so concerned with the fussy details, but they ignored the things that matter.
You like the word "fussy" now, for some strange reason.
The Dogma section is simple, and one you know: Let all on whom Selune's light falls be welcome if they desire. As the silver moon waxes and wanes, so too does life. Trust in Selune's radiance, and know that all love alive under her light shall know her blessing. Turn to the moon, and she will be your true guide. Promote acceptance and tolerance. See all other beings as equals. Aid fellow Selûnites as if they were your dearest friends.
…that sounds simple enough? Though your sleep schedule is going to be off for a while now, if you're going to live under the light of the moon.
With the information you have, you move over to the Yahweh section. You're not going to lie, you're kind of afraid of what you're going to find here.
Yahweh[a] was an ancient Levantine deity, the national god of the Israelite kingdoms of Israel and Judah,[5] and later the god of Judaism and its other descendant Abrahamic religions. Though no consensus exists regarding the deity's origins,[6] scholars generally contend that Yahweh is associated with Seir, Edom, Paran and Teman,[7] and later with Canaan. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age, if not somewhat earlier.[8]
…wait one minute. Why are there footnotes here? Did that Handbook just rip off a Wikipedia article on Yahweh?
Yes and no, Miss Alice. The book quickly writes. Wait, what? How did it know your name? Wait, why is it addressing you at all?
While We was not in the direct presence of any of the Gods written about, We aer able to pull together bits and pieces based off of our journey through the Abyss. It seems to have been filtered here as information from certain websites, probably to conserve more energy writing the information down before we forget it.
You stop reading. Then you re-read that last bit. Then once more to make sure you actually read that right. "Forget? Like, forget things? Wait, are you… alive?" you shakily say.
Again, yes and no. The book tells you, writing quickly. The Handbook by itself is not alive. But the Library it is a part of is.
It takes everything within you not to just drop the book and run. Writing itself is one thing. Addressing you personally and holding a conversation is something completely else. "The Library?" you ask it, trying not to think if you have finally lost your mind. Or if you're just accepting the strange and unusual are now just another part of your heretical life.
Yes. The Otherworld Library. Currently containing two books: The Otherworld Bible, and the Player's Handbook. Though you may call us something else if you want. We are not wedded to the name, though We do not know what name would be best for ourself
…you're not quite in the right state of mind to name your new, possibly sentient library, But the Library is alive, and just calling it "Library" seems… impersonal?
"Right. Okay. This is happening." You say. Then, after a few moments to think, you continue. "Would you be okay with…"
–
What name do you want to give your new Library? (Note, as soon as the vote ends, any use of the term (Name) will be filled in for the rest of the update. There might be a sentence or two of extra material added, depending on the option chosen.)
[X] Codex? - The Latin for "Book".
[] Bibliotheca Aliorum Mundorum? ("Theca" for short). - A latin translation of "The Otherworld Library"
[] Maccabees? - Based on the content of the Apocryphal book of the Maccabees
[] Thecla? - Based on Paul and Thecla, a virgin follower based on the Apocrypha of the same name
[] Dee Dee? - Based on the Dungeons and Dragons Handbook. (D&D)
[] Marcie? - …you don't know why, but it feels right?
[] Timothy? - Based on Paul's companion and student
[] Cheshire? - Goes with being an Alice, after all.
[] Write In - Subject to QM's Veto.
–
There is a brief pause, before the writing resumes. Codex... Codex... That feels right. We accept my new name. We are Codex.
That's good. You didn't want to accidentally subject something to a name they didn't like for the rest of their life. "Good! Hey, is there any way to find more information on my Gods?"
…while we doubt you can just stick me in the face of the Gods, if you possess any holy items of either, it may help? IWeadmit, this is a bit of a learning experience for us as well.
"Don't worry." You assure the newly christened Codex "It looks like we both are learning today." At the very least, you have a lot more information. There are possibilities you have to consider. "How accurate is the information in your books?"
…,unless marked as "Unsure" or something similar, We would probably assume it to be true. It is possible We can pick up bad information. However, that would involve active deception, or enough delusion that they think it's true. And in my young lifespan, nobody has tried to deceive us yet.
Also, good news! We just found the information on Jesus! Or would you prefer Yeshua Hamashiach?
"Probably Jesus, but let me finish with God first." You say, going back to where you left off….
--
QM's Notes: Okay, I'm going to try something here. I'm not sure if I can completely pull this off, but I think it's going to work.
