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The Athar believe simply that the gods, commonly called "powers" on the Outer Planes, are frauds.  Sure, they're unbelievably powerful, but that doesn't make them gods.  Look, they say, what would you expect of a god?  Great wisdom?  Immortality?  Unlimited power?  The powers have none of these.  They fight amongst themselves like children, they can die like you or me, and their power comes from their believers on the prime material worlds.  You want proof that they're not gods?  Look in the Astral Plane, where the bodies of countless dead powers float.

That doesn't mean that the Athar believe that there is no true god, though.  In fact, most believe there is at least one that created the multiverse and then stepped back and doesn't interfere much anymore.  They call it the Great Unknown, and clerics that worship the Unknown do get spells, so there may be something to their talk, after all.  Some go as far as to say that all clerics ultimately draw their power from the Great Unknown, and the so-called gods are nothing but channels for it's power.

Of course, the Athar aren't stupid, so they avoid trying to anger any one power overmuch.  After all, they may be frauds, but that doesn't make them any less dangerous.  There's no point in upsetting them. All the Athar want to do, they say, is part the veil, discover the secret behind everything, and look on the face of the unknowable.

In Sigil, the Athar use the Shattered Temple as their base.  Once, it was the center of worship for the deity Aoskar - before Aoskar was killed by the Lady of Pain.  On the planes, they base themselves most heavily in the Astral Plane and the Outlands.  On the Astral, the bodies of the dead powers can be seen by all.  On the Outlands, even the powers loose their powers close to the Spire.  Both are seen by the Defiers as symbols of the truth of their philosophy.

 

 

Divine Resistance [General, Athar]
The Athar are resistant to most divine spells.
Prerequisites:  Membership in the Athar
Benefit:  You gain a +2 bonus to saves vs divine spells.

Priest of the Great Unknown [General, Athar, Godsmen]
The Athar venerate the Great Unknown, which they believe is the only true divinity.
Prerequisites:  Membership in the Athar or Godsmen, access to a domain.
Benefit:  You are now a priest of the Great Unknown, and you must renounce your former deity as a fraud.  However, you retain all your spellcasting abilities and may replace your spell domains with any other spell domains of your choice (you may only do this when you first take the feat, and you may not choose an alignment domain unless you are of that alignment, i.e. you cannot choose the Law domain unless you are lawful). 
Normal:  Priests may forsake their deity and worship the Great Unknown without taking this feat.  However, they may not choose new domains when they do this.  Clerics that worship the Great Unknown without ever having worshiped any previous powers gain access to the Knowledge domain as well as those domains that match their alignment.

Called the "Unknowing" by their more derisive critics, many Athar and Godsmen believe that if there is a Power that made the universe, it certainly isn't any of the fractious, petty powers that make up the high-ups of the Great Ring. They believe in the Great Unknown - an unnamed 'power of powers' that actually birthed the universe and now largely inclined to watch its creation unfold.

Of course, the fact that it's "unknown" doesn't keep its followers from coming up with their own theories regarding it. Some say that all clerics actually draw their power from this sources; others claim that 'powers' - even the so-called overgods - are just aspects of a greater being. Whatever the truth, there is something empowering these clerics.

A handful of planars truly embrace the Great Unknown, believing its influence encompasses all. Embracing this belief, their own power broadens, allowing them dominion over more elements and possibilities than the clergy of most Powers. Unlike some of the more fanatical defiers, the Disciples focus on the power of the Great Unknown rather than rebellion against the Powers, seeing its influence and glory everywhere. While this class is most common among the Athar, a few Godsmen have taken it up as well.

Requirements:
To qualify as a Disciple of the Great Unknown, you must meet the following requirements:
Base Will Save: +4
Feats: Iron Will, Priest of the Great Unknown
Spells: Ability to cast 3rd-level divine spells

Class Skills
The Priest of the Great Unknown's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge: Religion (Int), Profession (Any, Int) and Search (Int).

Skill Points at each level are 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features
All of the following are class features for the Disciple of the Great Unknown:

Hit Die: d6

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Disciples of the Great Unknown gain no new proficiencies with weapons or armor.

Spells per Day: The disciple continues to gain divine power through the Great Unknown. Thus, when a level of the Disciple of the Great Unknown class is gained, she gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in the divine spellcasting class she belonged to before adding the prestige class. She does not gain any other benefit a member of that class would have gained (improved chance of controlling or rebuking undead, favored enemies, improved wild shape, etc.). This means that she adds the level of Disciple of the Great Unknown class to the level of the divine spellcasting class she had, and then determines spells per day and caster level accordingly.

If the character had more than one divine spellcasting class before becoming a Disciple of the Great Unknown, she must decide to which class she adds each level of Disciple of the Great Unknown to for purposes of determining spells per day when she adds the new level.

Bonus Domains: At 1st level, 5th level, and 9th level, the disciple gains a new spell domain, along with the granted power thereof. This is in addition to any domains the Disciple already has. The only limitation of this is that you cannot take an alignment-based domain (Chaos, Evil, Good, Law) unless you are of that alignment yourself when you choose the new domain.

Domain Alteration: At 2nd level or higher, whenever the disciple gains a new level of any class, she may choose to replace any of her current spell domains with new domains of her choice. While the restriction on alignment domains remains, you may otherwise select any new domains you like (except for prestige domains, such as those presented in Defenders of the Faith).

The Unknown is Known: At 3rd level, the disciple may use a spell and magical items normally restricted to a single diety as if she worshipped that diety. In addition, if she does not gain domain spells (as a cleric does), the domain spells are added to her list of available spells, with the level of the domain spell corresponding to the level of the spell on the spell list.

Moral Flexibility: At 6th level, if the disciple has a class that has an alignment requirement (such as Druid or Paladin), she may violate that alignment restriction and still advance in that class normally. The only restriction is that a paladin that becomes neutral or evil still suffers from the loss of his class features. The Great Unknown allows increased flexibility for the paladin class, but its class features are still too dependent on the essential nature of good to be changed so easily.

Improved Domain Powers: At 7th level, the Disciple’s granted powers from spell domains with a limited number of uses per day may be used an additional time each day. The granted powers that add to effective caster level for certain spells find that addition doubled. If the granted power provides new class skills, you get a +2 bonus on skill checks for these skills. These enhancements apply even to domains gained after this class feature is gained.

Extra Domain Spells: At 10th level, the Disciple gains access to a domain spell at each spell level, allowing one to prepare one additional spell a day per level from a chosen domain. If the Disciple already has access to a domain spell (as clerics do), she may prepare two domain spells for every spell level, as long as the spells are from different domains.

Factol Terrance

Terrance, a human in his early sixties, is possibly the most mellow of all the factols in Sigil.  Which is odd, considering he leads a faction that's anything but.  While most of the Athar seem bitter and seek to convert believers whenever possible, Terrance seems laid-back in his approach.  See, the dark of it is that while most Athar hate all the powers as the great deceivers of the multiverse, Terrance judges them on an individual basis, and recognizes that some are good, and some are bad.  In fact, he still has nothing but respect for his former deity Mishakal, a goddess of healing.  That's not to say that he still considers her divine - he doesn't - he simply sees her as a powerful being that does good.  

And while Terrance might want to spread this way of thinking to the rest of his faction, he doesn't preach - he left that behind with his clerical robes.  Instead, he tries to lead by example, and doesn't push his approach on the rest of the faction.  Unfortunately, that means that when Terrance dies (he's not a young man anymore) his steady hand will probably be replaced by one of the fire-eating evangelists that seem so predominant in the faction as of late. 

Personally, Terrance is close friends with Factol Ambar of the Believers of the Source.  Both of their factions agree that the gods are merely very powerful mortals, and both agree that there is something greater than the gods.  Plus, Ambar is the only factol that can give Terrance a run for his money in the mellow department.  Terrance counts Factol Pentar and the Doomguard as an enemy, since their passionate, destructive nature is completely at odds with Terrance's sensibilities.  

Tactics:  The following represents Terrance's normal gear - if he was expecting trouble he could outfit himself with nearly any non-artifact in the DMG.  Terrance casts an empowered Owl's Wisdom and Endurance on himself at the start of every day, giving him on average an additional 38 hit points.  Additionally, he also casts Magic Vestment on his Robes, bringing his AC to 25.  Should PCs try to fight him, Terrance will try to subdue them with Hold Person and similar spells if he does not consider them a credible threat to his life.  However, if he judges them to be a serious threat, he will not hesitate to use his more destructive spells to kill them, generally starting off with an Implosion to try and eliminate as many of them as possible at first. If the fight is going badly, he will not hesitate to use his Miracle to teleport to safety should his life be in significant danger.

 

Terrance, M Human Cleric19  CR 19; Size:M Type Humanoid; HD (19d8)+19; hp 129; Init +0 (+0 Dex, +0 Misc); Spd Walk 30'; AC 20 (flatfooted 20, touch 15), *Mace +3 (Heavy) +18/+13/+8 0'/B (1d8+4 20/x2 Primary M ) or ; SA: Spontaneous casting, Turn Undead 6/day; Vision: Normal AL: LG; Sv: Fort +16, Ref +10, Will +14; Str 13, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 22, Cha 17

Skills:  Concentration +19, Diplomacy +18, Heal +32, Knowledge (Religion) +21, Profession (Herbalist) +13, Scry +14, Spellcraft +19

Feats:  Brew Potion, Divine Resistance, Empower Spell, Iron Will, Leadership, Priest of the Great Unknown, Skill Focus (Heal), Spell Penetration

Possessions:   Amulet of Proof against Detection and Location,  Cloak of Resistance +4, Hood of Comprehending Languages/Read Magic (as Helm),  Mace +3 (Heavy),  Ring +5 (Protection), Bracers of Armor +5

Deity:  The Great Unknown  Domains:  Healing (You cast healing spells at +1 caster level.), Protection (You can generate a protective ward, a spell-like ability to grant someone you touch a resistance bonus on their next saving throw equal to your level. It's an abjuration effect that lasts one hour, once per day.)
     Spells: Cleric:

Typical Prepared Spells:    Create Water x1, Detect Magic x4, Read Magic x1, Level 1: Command x1, Comprehend Languages x1, Cure Light Wounds x1, Detect Evil x1, Detect Good x1, Sanctuary x1, Shield of Faith x1, Level 2: Darkness x1, Delay Poison x1, Hold Person x3, Lesser Restoration x1, Shield Other x1, Silence x1, Level 3: Invisibility Purge x1, Locate Object x1, Magic Circle against Evil x1, Magic Vestment x1, Protection from Elements x1, Remove Curse x1, Speak with Dead x1, Level 4: Empowered Owl's Wisom x1, Empowered Endurance x1, Spell Immunity x1, Tongues x1, Level 5: Break Enchantment x1, Commune x1, Dispel Chaos x1, Dispel Evil x1, Greater Command x1, Healing Circle x1, Spell Resistance x1, Level 6: Antimagic Field x1, Greater Dispelling x1, Harm x2, Heal x1, Word of Recall x1, Level 7: Destruction x1, Greater Restoration x1, Repulsion x1, Resurrection x1, Level 8: Discern Location x1, Mass Heal x2, Level 9: Implosion x1, Miracle x1, True Resurrection x1,