Lady of Strategy, Grandmaster of the Lanceboard

Demipower of the Prime Material Plane
LN
PORTFOLIO: Strategy, planning
ALIASES: None
DOMAIN NAME: Toril/Faer&circu;n
SUPERIOR: Tempus
ALLIES: Tempus, Torm, Valkur the Mighty
FOES: Cyric, Garagos
SYMBOL: A red knight chess piece with stars for eyes
WORSHIPPERS ALIGNMENT: LG, NG, LN, N, LE, NE
The Red Knight serves Tempus, the Lord of War, as the goddess of planning and strategy. She is portrayed as a dark-haired woman in blood-red armor, with a map of the Realms tightly clasped in her hands. The Red Knight keeps her true name secret from all but the Lord of Battles, as she realizes that if any power, mortal or divine, were to gain any measure of control over her, they would be privy to all the plots and stratagems of rulers throughout the Realms and the powers throughout the planes.
The Red Knight is venerated by the Foehammer's followers in a secondary position to the Lord of Battles. Only since the Time of Troubles has a small priesthood distinct from that of the Foehammer arisen in her name. This small priesthood, owing it existence in part to the increasingly complex nature of war, is grudgingly tolerated by Tempurans and apparently encouraged by the Lord of Battles himself. Some sages speculate that Tempus has sponsored the Red Knight to the rank of demipower and encouraged her worship as a natural counterbalance to Garagos the Reaver, his mortal enemy.
The Lady of Strategy is calm and logical in demeanor, but displays a great wealth of compassion, though she is unafraid to send her worshipers to their deaths when necessary to secure the objective of a plan. She rarely raises her voice and is said to love a good joke and have a throaty laugh. She dislikes flighty behavior, and looks unfavorably upon those who switch alliances often or capriciously.
The Red Knight see Tempus as a father figure, and the two spend a great deal of time together. They sometimes hunt together or exchange tales in his feasting hall, but most often they are busy visiting the numerous fields of battle in Faerun or reviewing battles of times past. The Red Knight sees Valkur as her best ally in the disposition of naval conflicts, though her expectations of him sometimes exceed his demonstrated level of commitment to all but the protection of sailors. The Red Knight and Torm are similar in disposition, and their interests in battle and the duties of warriors coincide well. She is known to be fond of him, but whether they are in love or merely close friends is a matter they have kept very private. The Lady of Strategy dislikes Garagos from what she has been told of his behavior by Tempus, though she personally has not come to blows with him. Her animosity is reserved for Cyric, who she despies as the utmost of traitors and liars and a poor planner besides.
During the Time of Troubles, the Red Knight was active in Tethyr defending the strife-torn nation against an army of monsters that threatened to surge forth from the Forest of Tethir. Her military genius was decisive in numerous battles where the small, but determined, Company of the Red Falcon overwhelmed numerically superior armies of beasts and humanoids.
Other Manifestations
The Red Knight commonly manifests as a chess board on which various pieces are positioned. By discerning the most appropriate next move on the board, worshipers blessed with such a vision can intuit an appropriate strategy for the future for their current situation.
The Red Knight shows her favor by the discovery of small, red chess pieces carved from price-less rubies. She shows her displeasure by the discovery of similar pieces carved from crumbly white quartz. She also has been known to enable trained battle animals to perform feats of strength or intellect normally beyond their capacities in order to aid their owners. The Red Knight is served by einheriar, maruts, pers, and stone golems and stone guardians shaped in the form of chess pieces. More common creatures said to manifest her presence or interest include owls, eagles, falcons, elephants, pegasi, horses, and domestic dogs and cats, especially those trained for battle, most such creatures are of a ruddy hue.
The Church
CLERGY: Clerics, Specialty Priests, Crusaders, Monks
CLERGY'S ALIGNMENT: LG, LN, LE
TURN UNDEAD: Cleric: Yes (if good or neutral), Specialty Priest: No, Crusader: No, Monk: No
COMMAND UNDEAD: Cleric: Yes (if evil), Specialty Priest: No, Crusader: No, Monk: No
All cleric, specialty priests, crusaders and monks of the Red Knight receive religion (Faerûnian) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency.
Only in recent memory has the Red Knight emerged as a demipower in her own right, distinct from Tempus. Most folks still view her as a follower or aspect of Tempus, similar to Veiros and Deiros, the Foehammer's twin steeds. Although the Red Knight serves all sides in battle, villagers and city dwellers perceive her as an ally of civilization who enables small numbers of brave defenders to triumph through superior intelligence and foresight against ravening hordes of rapidly breeding humanoids.
The Red Knight has but a few shrines dedicated to her name, and all but one are found within temples of Tempus. Chapels of the Red Knight are dominated by images of chess pieces and the floor is inlaid with a chess board (also known as a lanceboard) of black and white or red and white marble. Typically they are guarded by numerous stone guardians of blood red and bone white hue, carved in the shape of various chess pieces.
The clergy of the Red Knight, known as the Red Fellowship, is an offshoot of a monastic order within the hierarchy of the church of Tempus that concentrated on planning and strategy. Evenly divided into clerics, crusaders, monks, and specialty priests (known as holy strategists), this relatively small priesthood has only organized into a distinct faith since the Time of Troubles and has been most active since after the end of the great crusade against the Tuigan Horde in the Year of the Turret (1361 DR). Regardless of class, priests of the Red Knight are regimented in a strict hierarchy with corresponding titles. In ascending order, these titles include: Page, Squire, Knight, Knight Quartermaster, Knight Commander, Knight Captain, Lord Knight, Lord Knight Commandant, and Lord Knight of the Red Standard. Higher-ranking priests precede their titles with their relative rank within the clergy (for example, the eighth-highest ranking priest of the Red Knight's faith is known as the Eighth Lord Knight of the Red Standard), although this practice may be abandoned as the clergy grows in size.
Dogma: War is won by those with the best planning, strategy, and tactics, regardless of the apparent odds. Any fool can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with fortune's aid. Only a master strategists can ensure victory and that is will last.
War is a series of battles. Losing a battle does not necessarily indicate the war is lost. Seek out your opponent's weaknesses and recognize your own; avoid an opponent's strengths and play to your own. Only by focusing one's own strengths on one's opponent's vulnerabilities can triumph be ensured.
In times of war prepare for peace; in times of peace prepare for war. Seek out your enemy's enemies as allies, and be prepared to compromise. Life is an endless series of skirmishes with occasional outbreaks of war. Be ready—and have a contingency plan.
Day to Day Activities: Members of the Red Fellowship serve in armies throughout the Realms. Many are high-ranking commanders, often of elite squads. Others are well-respected instructors in war colleges in kingdoms throughout the Realms. A few are quartermasters skilled at obtaining and maintaining supply lines over hostile territory. Quite a few priests of the Red Knight have authored tomes on military strategy.
When not on duty, priest of the Red Fellowship are known for their love of gaming. Although they avoid games of chance that require the smile of Lady Luck more than the brilliance of the Red Knight, priests of the faith strive to constantly improve their skills in abstract games of all sorts to further challenge their development of parallel lines of thought and new stratagems and to sharpen their ability to read an opponent's intenions.
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: In addition to observing the holy days and important ceremonies of the church of Tempus, the clergy of the Red Knight observe two important holy days themselves.
The Retreat is an annual event held every Midwinter's day. During this solemn cermony, the clergy of the Red Knight assemble for a day-long retrospective on the previous year's campaigns. Strategies are discussed, battles are analyzed, and the accumulated lore is intergrated into the church's teachings.
The Queen's Gambit is celebrated on the first day of Taraskh. During this festival, the clergy of the Red Knight unwind with a day of feasting and gamesmanship. Day-long tournments of chess and go (a game imported from Kara-Tur) are held, with tournments victors receiving recognition, titles of merit, promotions, and sometimes a precious gift from the temple armory.
Major Centers of Worship: The Citadel of Strategic Militancy has arisen as the center of the Red Knight's faith outside of the aegis of the church of Tempus. Located at the juncture of the Coast Way and Thundar's Ride, approximately 40 miles northeast of Baldur's Gate, this small castle was the hold of the Bloodhawk clan, part of the minor, self-styled nobility scattered throughout the region encompassing the Fields of the Dead. The castle was built by Taric Bloodhawk over a century ago with money he plundered from an orc chieftain's secret horde during the battles of the Year of the Lost Lady (1241 DR).
During the night of the Fall of the Gods, Lady Kaitlin Tindall Bloodhawk, sole heir of Lord Ronlar Bloodhawk, was exploring the ruins enveloping the village of Tempus's Tears with the rest of her adventuring band, the Company of the Red Falcon. During the night, she was possessed by the Lady of Strategy to serve as her avatar host. The Red Knight forged the Company of the Red Falcon into a small, but powerful, mercenary company. She led the band south where the group was single-handedly responible for eradicating an army of monsters that swarmed out of the Forest of Tethir and threatened to overrun the northeastern quarter of beleaguered Tethyr. The strategic genius of the Red Knight enabled the Company to triumph against overwhelming odds and forever earned them a place in Tethyr's history.
When Lady Kaitlin returned to her ancestral home at the conclusion of the Godswar, however, she found the lands pillaged, the castle a smoking ruin, and all of the inhabitants put to the sword. Broken-hearted, she vowed revenge, but she could never discover the perpetrators of the foul deed. In her family's memory, she rebuilt the castle and dedicated it as a temple to the Red Knight.
Today the Citadel of Strategic Militancy is a bastion of military might and serves as the home of the newly founded Red War College. This school caters to military officers throughout the Realms who are sponsored by their lieges to study strategy and planning. The Citadel's walls are checkered with red and white marble, and a blood red dome tops the central keep. The central chapel is a giant lanceboard on which the priesthood engages in strategic battles during religious ceremonies. Farmlands in a 20-mile radius are worked by peasants who gladly embrace the Citadel's expanding hegemony. The havrested land serves as a training field in the cold winter months. High Lady Bloodhawk admnisters the burgeoning complex in the name of her liege, the Red Knight, and serves as First Lady Knight of the Red Standard (high priestess) of the faith.
Affiliated Orders: The Order of the Red Falcon is a fellowship of crusaders, warriors, and a few paladins who serve the Red Knight and Lady Bloodhawk. Small in number, the elite knights of this order are dangerous opponents who have triumphed in the face of overwhelming odds on numerous occasions. Based in the Citadel of Strategic Militancy, many of the knights serve as instructors in the Red War College. Other serve stints in various armies throughout the Realms training the officers in military history. On rare occasions they are all summoned back to the Citadel and led into combat by Lady Bloodhawk herself.
Priestly Vestments: Clergy of the Red Knight wear blood-hued suits of plate armor or plate mail for ceremonial functions over which is worn a white tabard embroidered with the Red Knight's symbol. They are not forbidden to cover their faces with their helms like Tempuran clergy are, however, and so they often sport full helms when visibility is not a concern and they wish to convey a grand impression. When not armored, their clerical robes are red, although the shading varies slightly from darker to lighter with increasing rank. They wear the symbol of the Red Knight carved from a red-hued gemstone on a chain around their necks.
Adventuring Garb: Adventuring garb for priests of the Red Knight is the best armor they can obtain. Although their armor can be battleworn, most priests strive to keep it polished and unmarred, as befits a commander seeking to inspire both his followers and the bards. All clergy of the Red Knight have a battle standard, paint their heraldic symbols (in entitled to one) on their shields, or display the symbol of the Lady of Strategy on banner or shield to form a rallying point for troops when they are going into organized battle. Covering or concealing such a standard generates no disapproval from the church however, if a strategem should require it.

The Binder of What is Known, the Lord of Knowledge, Patron of Bards, the Wise God

Greater Power of the Plane of Concordant Opposition
N
PORTFOLIO: Knowledge, Invention, Inspiration, Bards
ALIASES: Curna (Durpar, Estagund, and Var the Golden)
DOMAIN NAME: Plane of Concordant Opposition/House of Knowledge in Tir na Og
SUPERIOR: None
ALLIES: Deneir, Milil, Gond, Lliira, Mystra, Azuth, Lathander
FOES: Talos, Bane (now dead), Mask, Cyric
SYMBOL: A simple, blank scroll
WORSHIPPERS ALIGNMENT: Any
Oghma (OGG-mah) is the most powerful god of Knowledge in Faerûn. Much as Mystra of old was said to sit in judgment of each new spell, Oghma is said to decide whether a new idea would be known to the world or confined to its originator. Deneir and Milil both act as intercessors for Oghma, carrying new information both to him and to those whom Oghma favors. He is on good relations with the artificer god, Gond Wonderbringer, who serves him by giving ideas manifest forms, but their relationship has sometimes become tense due to Gond's proclivity to press for the rapid introduction of new devices throughout Faerûn. In Durpar, Estagund, and Var the Golden, Oghma is worshipped as part of the Adama, the Durparian concept of a world spirit that embraces and enfolds the divine essence that is part of all beings. Here he is known as Curna, goddess of wisdom.
Oghma is a cheerful and wise power whose ability to persuade others to his point of view he puts to endless use. He can be solemn and righteous, but he is more often quietly humorous and quick to smile. His one flaw may be his fondness for his own thoughts; he tends to implement rather convoluted plots that he has worked out first in his own mind rather than to take direct action.
Other Manifestations
Oghma most often manifests as a blue-green radiance accompanied by distinctive crawling cords of rising, almost menacing music. These are always the same, and only Oghma dare use them. Others who try to imitate the chords are visited by an immediate warning manifestation; if they persist, this is accompanied by a blue ring of flame that encircles and burns them either severely or fatally, depending on the anger of the god. The radiance is always accompanied by a strong sensation of being watched, and Oghma may even speak in an elderly, echoing, cultured voice, using words sparingly to say, for example: "Well said," "'Tis well done," "Desist from thy course, or perish," or "What ye seek is to found in …"
Oghma has also been known to manifest as a blinding white light that may from time to time extrude two blazing eyes of fire, emit beams of coloured force that bestow magical effects, or project hands that can point, carry or wield things. He also uses various golems, translators, electrum dragons, feystags, watchers, and watchghosts to demonstrate his approval or disapproval or to send aid to his faithful.
The Church
CLERGY: Clerics, Specialty Priests, Monks, Bards, Wizards
CLERGY'S ALIGNMENT: LN, N, CN
TURN UNDEAD: Cleric: Yes, Specialty Priest: Yes, Monk: No, Bard: No, Wizard: No
COMMAND UNDEAD: Cleric: No, Specialty Priest: No, Monk: No, Bard: No, Wizard: No
All clerics, specialty priests, and monks of Oghma receive religion (Faerûnian) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency.
Oghma is venerated by sages, wizards, and the knowledgeable. He is particularly worshiped by bards, who also show their bended knees to Milil. Anyone seeking information, particularily lost or hidden information, sends a few good words in Oghma's direction and asks for his blessing.
All priests of Oghma are called loremasters. Other clergy include a smatering of bards and wizards. All races are freely admitted to the priesthood. The entire church hierarchy is devoted to the spirit of one man, the Grand Patriarch of Oghma, who until the Time of Troubles made his home in Procampur and was recognized as being the "voice of Oghma." During the Time of Troubles the Grand Patriarch disappeared without a trace. Answers from Oghma have been conflicting and confusing as to what happened to him. The Patriarch's house in Procampur has become a shrine to Oghma. Until the Grand Patriarch's fate is known, the church is running without an ultimate head, and it has split into several factions and subfactions.
The largest faction is the Orthodox Church of Oghma, which does not recognize anyone using the title Patriarch since its hierarchy holds that the Patriarch who vanished during the Time of Troubles is still serving Oghma. Perhaps the Patriarch is on another plane of existence or has ascended to a semidivine state, but nevertheless, until Oghma says otherwise, he is the only rightful Patriarch.
The second largest faction is the Church of Oghma in Sembia, which is distinguished mainly in that it believes a new Patriarch has been appointed and that all knowledge should be tested and proven to be worthy of dissemination before it is given out into general release. This faction is joined in its stance on the church hierarchy, but not on theology, by the Pursuers of Pure Knowledge in Mintar. (The pursuers of Pure Knowledge have met a great many setbacks recently due to Mintar being taken over by Teldorn Darkhope, Lord Knight Imperceptor of the Dark Lord, who claims to serve Bane reborn and has killed all who oppose him openly. The church opposes him, therefore, covertly).
To date, there has been a tenuous cooperation between most regional churches, but a recent rift between the Church of Oghma in Sembia and the Orthodoxy in Cormyr has caused relations to be broken off totally between the church in those nations. Loremasters of the one nation are not welcome in the others' temples and vice versa. The heart of this problem seems to have been caused by assumptions behind the keynote remarks of one Sembian loremaster at a Sembian arts festival in which an extensive Cormyrean Oghmanyte contingent had come to participate.
Acolytes in the service of the Binder are called Seekers, and those of some accomplishments are Senior Seekers. When an acolyte demonstrates clear (good and useful) inspiration, solid service in Oghma's cause, or true loyalty to the god to the discernment of at least two priests of the Wise God; those two priests confirm the acolyte as a true priest of Oghma, bestowing upon him the title of loremaster. Those who rise in the service of Oghma may win various titles in different places and jurisdictions, but the most widely recognized hierarchy of ranks (in ascending order) is: Loremaster, Loremaster Amanuensis, Loremaster Venturer, Loremaster Bold, Lore-Scribe of the God, Wise Anticipator, Inspirator, Inspirator High, Atlar, Higher Atlar, Loremaster High, Loremaster Most High, Eye of Oghma, Divine Hand of Oghma. The Church of Oghma in Sembia and the Pursuers of Pure Knowledge in Mintar use the titles (in ascending order) of: Advocate, Accomplished Advocate, Loremaster of the Twelfth, Loremaster of the Eleventh (and so on up to Loremaster of the Second), Loremaster First, Loremaster High, Learned One, and Patriarch. Clergy address each other as "brother" and "sister" regardless of rank, and a polite form of address for outsiders and lay worshipers to use when dealing with any priest of Oghma is "lady (or lord) loremaster".
Dogma: Knowledge is most supreme, particularly in its raw form, the idea. An idea has no weight but can move mountains. It has no height but it can dominate a nation. It has no mass but it can push aside empires. Knowledge is the greatest tool of humankind, outweighing anything made by mortal hands. Before anything can exist, the idea must exist.
Knowledge is power, and must be used with care - but to hide it away from others is never a good thing. At least once within the passing of each moon, the clergy of Oghma should copy some information of import in written or inscribed form so that the records multiply and knowledge is not lost. Oghmanyte clergy are to stifle no new ideas, no matter how false or crazed they seem, but to let them be heard and considered freely. They must never slay a singer, nor stand by while others do so. They are to listen to new bards when they meet them and sponsor bards when they can.
A typical Oghmanyte charge to novices is: "Spread knowledge whenever it is prudent to do so. Keep no secrets for their own sake. Curb and deny falsehood, rumor, and deceitful accounts and histories whenever you encounter them. Write or copy some lore of value and give it away freely at least once a year. Hide some writings away while distributing others widely so that the written knowledge of Faerûn is larger when you leave life than when you entered it. Sponsor, assist, and teach minstrels, bards, scribes, and recordkeepers whenever you encounter them and perceive a need. Spread truth and knowledge throughout the Realms so that all folk may know more. Never deliver a message falsely or incompletely, but always just as you receive it. Teach any folk who ask how to read and write or as much of these crafts as time and tasks permit - and charge no fee for this teaching."
Day-to-Day Activities: Priests of Oghma have traditionally been of two sorts: those who remain within the temples, monasteries, and abbeys, spending their lives in analysis, reading gathered tomes, and copying out texts and spells as requested and those who go out into the world to find the writings that fill the abbey libraries. There have always been conflicts between the overly fussy pedants among the cloistered and those who chafe under the petty rules and infighting they encounter within abbey walls and prefer to face the real world as one of the wayfaring. Most abbeys of Oghma support themselves by selling maps, scribework, and spell scrolls. Wayfaring clergy are frequently sent armed with spell scrolls to trade and coin to purchase learned works and scrolls with.
Wayfaring priests who run out of abbey funds or who are independent of any abbey make their own writings from observations of Faerûn and make money by teaching, selling maps, writing poems, letters, songs, and lyrics for various patrons, and answering specific questions about Faerûn from their accumulated store of knowledge. Their map copies are always of real maps. A member of Oghma's clergy may sell a map that she or he knows to err in some respects but to be the best available, but can never knowingly sell a false map or a copy of it. An Oghmanyte is expected to publish at least one book and cause it to be delivered to at least three temples of the Wise God. Such books may be some sort of small chapbook, such as a collection of song lyrics overheard from observation of performing minstrels, or they may even be romantic fiction, so long as such works realistically portray an existing society or place in the Realms and so impart some true knowledge to the reader.
Priests of Curna are paid to give advice and draw up contracts, and they may even work directly for rich merchants, giving advice and judging the reactions of opponents of their patron during tough negotiating sessions. They receive tribute for Curna before merchants make important business deals and before the inhabitants of Durpar, Estagund, and Var the Golden embark on new ventures. The priests who work at the Library of Curna also manage and supply the teams of explorers and sages who constantly update that vast storehouse of knowledge.
Holy Days / Important Ceremonies: Midsummer and Shieldmeet are the most sacred days of the Oghmanyte calendar since they are occasions when agreements are made or renewed and many contracts, bonds, and the like are drawn up. However, a priest of Oghma must observe two solemn rituals every day: the Binding and the Covenant. The Binding is a morning service wherein the symbols of Oghma are written in the dirt, in ashes upon a stone altar, or in the mind if a clergy member happens to be shackled or otherwise unable to write, while a silent prayer of loyalty and praise is made to Oghma. The Covenant is an evening service during which a passage from some work of wisdom is read aloud or recited from memory, a song or poem is offered up to Oghma, and some item of knowledge that the clergy member has learned during that day is spoken aloud to the god and to any fellow clergy present.
In monasteries, temples, and abbeys of the Wise God, the rest of the day is typically occupied by readings aloud from great books of lore, philosophy, and history at gatherings held every two hours or so. It should be noted that almost all temples to Oghma have their own rituals that vary from one temple to the next except the Cornerstones of the Day (the Binding and the Covenant) and that many have two different sets of rituals: those for the resident clergy and those for laity and visiting clergy.
Major Centers of Worship: Candlekeep is traditionally the greatest center of learning in Faerûn, and one of the most holy places of Oghma. The Leaves of Learning temple in Highmoon (Deepingdale) is the most recently prominent center of worship., but several temples are vying for supremacy in Oghmanyte worship in Faerûn at present: the Tower of Thought in Selgaunt, where Most High Learned Priest Urdiyvan Eraen leads the Church of Oghma; the gilded Domes of Reason temple in Procampur, where High Loremaster Librarian Estember Orntalar seems to be winning a vicious power struggle to succeed the Patriarch of Procampur as leader of the Orthodoxy; and the House of Many Tomes fortified abbey in upland Impiltur, west of Songhal, where Loremaster Most Exalted Prespaerin Cadathlyn claims to have reached "a new closeness" to the Binder and has taken on the title "Binder of Faerûn" as a mark of his oneness with the god. The Font of Knowledge in Waterdeep is also notable as the most recently completed Grand Temple of Oghma. It was finished in Midsummer of the Year of the Banner (1368DR) and is led by Loremaster Most High Sandrew the Wise.
The Library of Curna in the Curna Mountains (also known as the Mountains of Wisdom) in the Shining South holds the most prominent center of scholarship and worship of Oghma in the guise of Curna. Its contents are said to differ from Candlekeep's in that they focus more on current events, business, and naturalistic studies than Candlekeep's collection, whose strength is by far in historical works.
Affiliated Orders: While the church of Oghma sponsors no military or knightly orders, it spreads its aegis over a countless number of monkish fellowships, scholarly orders of honour, guilds of naturalists and herbalists, and colleges of bardic knowledge. Some of these include the Children of the Passive Voice, an order or learned monks whose members protect many libraries and abbeys; the Order of the Gilt Laurel, an honourary society of historical fiction authors; the Fellowship of the Forest, a naturalist society; and the Companions of the Silver Strings, an order of heroic bards who acted valiantly at risk of their own lives in the service of the church of Oghma. The Oghmanyte faith also has ties with Those Who Harp (the Harpers), an organization working for good against the rise of great powers throughout Faerûn.
Priestly Vestments: All priests of Oghma have the same ceremonial dress - white shirt and trousers with a vest of black and gold brocade. The shirt sleeves are wide, but tied at the wrists. The vests, known as kantlara, depict many glyphs, sigils, runes, and symbols of magical power, arcane meaning, and significance in various realms of Faerûn down through the ages. Such markings are sewn on by the wearer using gold braid. They may be of any sort and size and are displayed on any spot on the garment that the wearer desires. At any time a priest ascends a level, she or he usually sees the symbol to be sewn in a dream vision. Kantlara are thus personal and individual garments.
Priests who lose or are separated from their kantlara are allowed to use purple or crimson vests adorned with a simple scroll of Oghma on the back and the symbol of Chelsinara on both breasts. This symbol, named for an important early priestess of the god, consists of two cupped hands, fingers uppermost and thumbs touching. It means "I learn." It is the badge of Oghma used by all who worship him, both laity and clergy, to denote their membership among the faithful.
A small boxlike hat is worn in ceremonies held on sacred grounds; off of ground Holy to Oghma it is removed. In addition to their other ceremonial garb, the priests of the breakaway Church of Oghma (in Sembia) always wear a harlequin's mask.
Adventuring Garb: In the field, Oghmanyte priests have a relaxed dress code, wearing what they choose and usually choosing as much armour as possible. The Church of Oghma (in Sembis) retains the harlequin's mask, but only within the borders of Sembia.
Priests of the Wise God are encouraged to develop any music skills they possess under the tutelage of senior clergy and bards of accomplishment, and they usually carry some sort of instrument on their persons as well as some means of writing things down. Many loremasters carry items of minor temple magic known as pens of Oghma. These are quill pens that do not break, glow at the writer's will brightly enough to see to write or read by, and generate their own endless ink: a substance that does not blotch or fade and dries instantly.

Lore Firemane, King of the Beasts, King of Lions and Strong Beasts, the Lion King, Lord of the Gulthmere Forest, Guardian of the Vilhon Reach

Demipower of the Happy Hunting Grounds, LG
PORTFOLIO: Lions, good-aligned beasts, lammasu, wemics, werelions, felines, noble beasts, royalty
ALIASES: None
DOMAIN NAME: Krigala/Pridelands
SUPERIOR: None
ALLIES: Balador, Ferrix, Gwaeron Windstrom, Lurue, Mielikki, Sharess, Shiallia, Silvanus, Tapann, Torm, Tyr, Water Lion
FOES: Malar
SYMBOL: A male lion's head or a golden lion rampant on a green shield
WOR. ALIGN.: LG, NG, CG, LN, N, CN
Nobanion (No-BAN-yun), the Lion God of Gulthmere, is viewed of the protector of that woods, the wild natives within it, and the nearby Shining Plains. He is typically portrayed as a great male lion or a majestic lammasu. He draws his power from the wild animals of the Vilhon Reach and Dragon Coast regions, particularly the great cats and wemics of the Shining Plains.
Worship of the Lion and the Unicorn, as Nobanion and Lurue are often called, is frequently lumped into the catch-all category of "beast cult." These two deities, however, differ from the tribal totel great spirits of the Uthgardt and the Ice Hunters of the North which are often cited as typical beast cult "deities," as those spirits are not divinities in their own right, serving rather as conduits for the actions of Uthgar or Ulutiu, respectively. Nobanion is a deity in his own right and always has been since he entered the Realms from another crystal sphere. However, his primary worshipers are not human, but rather animals, especially felines, strong beasts, and animals of regal bearing, and most of them do not maintain written histories or even many oral traditions. Their religion is a personal and direct faith, and until Nobanion began attracting human and humanoid worshipers, such as wemics, the ways of his religion went unrecorded and were little noticed.
Nobanion entered the Realms centuries ago through one of the many magical pools in the Weathercote Wood, each of which acts as a gate to another world on the Prime Material Plane. Lord Firemane stalked the length and breadth of the Realms for over a century before settling amidst the trees of the Gulthmere Forest with a pack of greater lammasu and claiming that land as his pridelands.
During the Time of Troubles, in a titanic combat known as the Roar of the Shadows, Nobanion and a handful of Emerald Enclave druid allies drove Malar the Stalker north and west from the region. Nobanion has since become something of a legend in the Vilhon Reach and Dragon Coast regions. After driving off Malar, Nobanion emerged from the Gulthmere Forest to roam the Shining Plains. Most of the Tenpaw Tribe of wemics joined Nobanion's Great Pride, as the Lion King's followers are collectively known, and Lord Firemane's faith rapidly spread south and west throughout the Shining Plains and beyond. (While the wemics revere him as a great warrior god, Nobanion has yet to make a significant impression on their neutral morals and ethics, though he is gradually swaying them.)
In the aftermath of the Godswar, Nobanion opened a permanent portal to the Beastlands in the heart of the Gulthmere Forest. The Lion King and his pride now split their time between their territory in the Outer Planes and the lands under his dominion in the Realms. He holds court with representatives of all the beasts, great and small, in both realms, and he serves as king over those who accept his benevolent sovereignty.
Nobanion and Sharess get along well because of their mutual feline natures, but Nobanion finds himself frequently annoyed at Sharess's inability to focus on long-term plans and her constant innuendo-laden teasing. he is on good terms with most of the animal lords of the Beastlands, Water Lion, Balador (lord of werebears), Ferrix (lady of weretigresses), Tapann (god of korreds), and most of the nature deities of Faerûn. He hates Malar with a passion as the perversion of all that is noble and natural in beasts, and he would hunt Malar to extermination if he had the resources to do it. Gwaeron Windstrom and he share this hatred, and they sometimes coordinate their efforts against Malar.
Nobanion also gets along well with Torm and Tyr and sees himself as trying to emulate among beasts what they strive for among humans; however, both these powers are too busy with human affairs to have developed a relationship with Nobanion beyond cordial acquaintance. Nobanion and Lurue have a long-standing alliance and deep friendship that has stood for many centuries, and their relationship is one that Nobanion counts upon most when he needs to get an outside viewpoint on a problem or is troubled or depressed.
Nobanion radiates both power and gentleness. His roar is deafening, and when he chooses to exert the full force of his charisma, his regal majesty is overwhelming, yet the tinest creature who approaches him in good faith finds itself comfortable in his presence. He tries to lead his pride to do what is noble and right, but does not force his faithful to pursue that path. He deeply wants those under his rule to willingly choose good over evil, action over inaction, and order over chaos. He does not command from the rear and would never ask someone to do something he would not be willing to do himself, including laying down his life for another.
Other Manifestations
Nobanion often manifests as a lion's roar that seems to emanate from everywhere and rumble across the landscape. If he so desires, he can create a roar of the king effect emanating from any feline, no matter how small.
Nobanion sometimes appears to his worshipers as a great lion's head outlined in a mane of amber and scarlet flickering fire. In this form he can also unleash the roar of the king effect discussed previously for his avatar.
Nobanion is served by good major incarnates and charity, courage, faith, justice, temperance, and wisdom minor incarnates, androsphinxes, dragonnes, lammasu, greater lammasu, and great cats of all sorts, including leomarhs, lions, mountain lions, sea lions, thylacines, and tigers. He is said to love fine poetry and song and to have a particular sentimental fondness for pastries and sweetmeats, cinnamon, rice candies from far Kara-Tur, and sweetened concoctions made from Maztican cocoa, cream, and butter, in addition to liking a good cut of meat.
The Church
CLERGY: Clerics, specialty priests, crusaders, shamans
CLERGY'S ALIGN.: LG, NG, LN, N
TURN UNDEAD: C: Yes, SP: No, Cru: No, Sha: Yes, if good
CMND. UNDEAD: C: No, SP: No, Cru: No, Sha: Yes, if neutral or evil
All clerics, specialty priests, crusaders, and shamans of Nobanion receive religion (Faerûnian) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency. In addition to becoming shamans, wemics in the service of Nobanion may become clerics, crusaders, or specialty priests. Nobanion is not served by any witch doctors.
Worship of Nobanion is scattered throughout the Vilhon Reach, Dragon Coast, and Shining Plains regions, but Lord Firemane is venerated primarily within the confines of the Gulthmere Forest, in the city of Nathlekh, and among the wemics of the Shining Plains. In the Gulthmere Forest, Nobanion is the much-beloved monarch of the beasts and the wild natives within. Those who serve another lord, such as the druids of the Emerald Enclave and the inhabitants of Cedarsproke, are expected to live in harmony with the Lion King's laws nonetheless. On the Shining Plains, he is honored as the titular ruler of the Tenpaw tribe. Across the Vilhon Reach region, he is seen as the great protector and the guardian against Malar the Stalker.
Aside from his temple in the city of Nathlekh, Nobanion is worshiped at simple shrines, not elaborate hosues of worship. Shrines to the Lion God of the Gulthmere are often difficult to locate, since they are carried by nomads or tribes of wemics who migrate with the seasons (which makes it all the more difficult for Malar's clergy to seek vengeance for their god's defeat during the Time of Troubles). Such shrines are typically set up atop granite outcroppings or beneath solitary trees on the savanna.
Clergy of the Lion God, known as the Pride of Nobanion, are not given to elaborate titles. Specialty priests are known as firemanes and are commonly referred to as Lights of the Lion's Mane. Clerics and crusaders are known as Roaring Avengers, while shamans are addressed as Speakers of the Paw and Roar. Lammasu and greater lammasu are considered part of the clergy and are addressed as Elders and Reverend Elders, respectively.
Dogma: Hunt only when hungry and do not gorge without need. Waste nothing and all shall have plenty. The cycle of life links all living things into one being and that being is life itself. The law of the jungle is that only the strong survive, but they survive best by being leaders, not tyrants, and by protecting the weak, not bullying them. All creatures have their strengths in their assigned roles and should be encouraged to find their niche. From cooperation between beings of differing strengths comes the strength of teamwork and community, the strongest force of all. By demonstrating compassion and tolerance and living within the land, all living creatures may find harmony with nature and one another. By staying true to oneself and one's pride and conducting oneself with dignity and honor, the respect of one's peers may be earned.
Much of what is known of Nobanion's teachings has been filtered through the wemics and is colored by their racial tendencies into a harsher dogma than is presented above. Their interpretation of Nobanion's teachings is more along the lines of "Only the strong survive," "Live and let live unless provoked," and "Protect the pride and all its members, but if injury or illness bring one of them down, allow him or her a swift and painless end to suffering." Nobanion hopes that as more beings of other species flock to his church, his message will be more clearly transmitted.
Day-to-Day Activities: The Pride of Nobanion fill leadership roles in many communities where the Lion God is revered. Many serve as benevolent monarchs, judges, militia, constables, or as guardians against evil. The vanguard of armies loyal to Nobanion is typically filled with clerics and crusaders of the Lion King. Others teach their hunting or martial skills to the young, while passing along moral instruction and important traditions both by word and deed.
Among the wemic tribes of the Shining Plains, Nobanion's shamans are typically powerful leaders, second only to the chieftain or king. They are responsible for choosing which creatures to hunt, blessing the kill, and confirming the passage of young members of the pride into adulthood.
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: Two major religious observances are held each year for Nobanion, and they are always exactly three and one half months apart. Their spacing is representative of the gestation period of the lion.
The Festival of the Pride normally takes place during the first week of Ches. This is a time for frolicking, dancing, courting a mate, lovemaking, and generally celebrating the bounty of life and its potential. Religious belief promises that a child/cub conceived this night will go on to become ruler of the church/pride.
The Newborn Celebration always takes place during the third week of Kythorn. This ceremony celebrates the birth (or rebirth-church teachings are vague) of Nobanion, the prominence of lions in the Vilhon Reach, and the importance of the hunt in the region. It is marked by a great hunt and a great feast. Newborns undergo the Rite of the First Blooding where their right paw (or hand) is placed in the blood of the prey and blessed by a priest of Nobanion.
Major Centers of Worship: Deep in the Gulthmere Forest is the village of Gurnth, inhabited by human followers of the Lion God. The inhabitants live the "life of teh cats," following the tenets of Nobanion. The villagers worship Nobanion at the nearby Machran Spire, a mountainous outcropping of granite from which Nobanion is said to have held court on numerous occasions. Lammasu and greater lammasu are said to reside on the Spire most of the year, and the priests of Nobanion in residence are believed to include numerous werelions among their ranks. Any worshiper of Nobanion who spends the night atop the Spire is said to receive the benefits of a heal or regenerate spell, as needed.
Nathlekh, City of Cats, is located at the western end of the Gulthmere Forest and the northern edge of the Shining Plains on the banks of the Lake of the Long Arm. Overrun with felines of all breeds, this city is loosely governed by the Council of the Cat Lords. Numerous werecats, werelions, and weretigers are citizens of Nathlekh in addition to the mysterious Cat Lords who rules. Twin temples of Nobanion and Sharess dominate the religious activity of the city, although a temple of Malar the Beastlord is rumored to exist in the city's catacombs.
The Pride of Nobanion, his temple in Nathlekh, is a vast pillared structure built on the city's acropolis. Constructed to evoke the impression that it is a natural extension of the granite plug extending up from the city's heart, this porticoed and colonnaded structure is festooned with statues of lions in various natural poses. Numerous real lions wander the temple's halls and gardens, but they never molest the citizenry unless provoked. Nathlekh's judiciary, a trio of greater lammasu, holds court within the Pride of Nobanion on a weekly basis.
Affiliated Orders: The Legion of Lions is a military order of wemic firemanes, clerics, and crusaders. In the aftermath of the Time of Troubles, this unorthodox fellowship of beast knights was founded by Karrlon, formerly a scout of the Mindulgulph Mercenary Company and now a crusader who fights for the Lion God's standard. Thought small in number, this elite fighting company has quickly become the champion of good-aligned beasts throughout the Realms and the bane of Malarites everywhere. In addition to the main company, individual members often join adventuring companies of disparate races to see more of the world and spread the faith of Nobanion.
Priestly Vestments: Priests of Nobanion have little in the way of formal raiment. Typically they garb themselves in cloaks made from the hide of a gazelle or antelope and wear a necklace of the teeth and claws of vaniquished opponents around their neck. Their symbol is a single, unblinking lion's eye which each priest pains on his or her forehead. Priests also often depict the face of Nobanion on their robes in stitchery, beadwork, or quillwork or on their chests in paints or as a tattoo.
Adventuring Garb: When adventuring, the Pride of Nobanion select armor and weapons as appropriate for the foe they expect to face. Although they may wear any type of armor available, many eschew armor altogether or wear hide armor fashioned from beasts they themselves have hunted. A few powerful wemic priests have commissioned (for a minimum of 1,000 gp) a hybrid plate mail and chain mail suit of armor that resembles conventional human armor for their upper half and barding for their lower half, giving them an effective AC of 4.

The Lady of Mysteries, the Mother of All Magic, Our Lady of Spells

Greater Power of Elysium
NG
PORTFOLIO: Magic, spells, the Weave
ALIASES: Midnight, Mystryl, the Hidden One (Rashemen)
DOMAIN NAME: Eronia/Dweomerheart
SUPERIOR: None
ALLIES: Azuth, Kelemvor, Selûne, Oghma, Deneir, Milil
FOES: Cyric, Bane (now dead), Talos
SYMBOL: A circle of nine stars, with a red mist rising toward (or flowing from) its center or a circle of seven blue-white stars, or (older) a single blue-white star
WOR. ALIGN.: Any
Mystra (MISS-trah) is the goddess of magic and with that the goddess of possibilities, which makes her arguably the most powerful deity in Faerûn and possibly throughout Realmspace. She is said to have taught the first spellcaster of the Realms, and to have enabled many of the races to use magic. She supposedly weighs and judges each new spell or magical item to determine whether it should be permitted into the Realms. She is most venerated by wizards and those who use magic or magical items in their daily use. She differs from Azuth in that Azuth is the god of wizards (as to a much lesser degree, all spellcasters), while Mystra is the goddess of the essential force that makes all spellcasting possible. She provides and tends the Weave, the conduit to enable mortal spellcasters and magical crafters to safely access the raw force that is magic. Mystran advisers are common in Azuthian churches, and vice versa.
During the Time of Troubles, the former incarnation of the goddess of magic, Mystra, was destroyed and her essence merged with that of the land itself. A new goddess of magic, arising from the human form of the magician Midnight, took the mantle of divinity and the goddess's portfolio. At this time, the goddess of magic's alignment shifted from lawful neutral, maintaining the balance in use of magic, to neutral good, reflecting the new incarnation's attitudes toward the uses and purpose of magic. Rather than forcing her worshipers to change their ways, Midnight has taken a conservative, long-term strategy by assuming the name and trappings of her predecessor to make the change as smooth as possible for her church and worshipers. Midnight is now revered within the church as the human avatar of Mystra, and her form now graces the avatar of the goddess when she walks the Realms seeking to rebalance the dead and wild magic areas of the land.
In the past, Mystra contested with Talos and Gond as rivals and with both Bane, and later, Cyric over attempts to control or usurp her power. She despises Cyric.
Mystra is fond of Kelemvor, Lord of the Dead, who was her love during her mortal life. Whether their relationship will again blossom into love is yet to be seen. She is aided in her work by Azuth, Dornal the Watcher, and by her Chosen: Elminster, Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun, and the Seven Sisters. (The powers of the Chosen are discussed extensively in The Seven Sisters accessory.) Mystra is also served by the Magister, a title borne by a single mortal worker of the magical arts chosen by victory in one-on-one spell combat to be champion of magic. The Magister is also one of the Chosen of Mystra. The current Magister, Lady Magister Nouméa, was elevated to the position in 1354 DR.
Other Manifestations
Mystra's typical manifestation is as a blue-white, pulsing glow on items, beings, or places that the goddess wishes to draw attention to, such as a hidden door or item. She also appears as a slender, graceful, disembodied human female hand outlined in blue-white motes of light that points, gestures, writes, inscribes lines on stone with one finger—often writing the tomb inscription of a powerful dead mage as an obscure clue—or unleashes spells.
Mystra has also been known to use agathinons (in natural and magical item forms); devas; maruts; light aasimons; einheriar (former wizards and other prominent users of magic); hope, faith, and courage incarnates; radiant mephits; guardinals of all sorts, hollyphants; gem and metallic dragons (including steel and mercury dragons); pseudodragons; selkies; bluejays; sparrowhawks; white cats, dogs, donkeys, horses, pegasi, unicorns, and mules (all with blue or mismatched eyes); blue and clear gemstones of all sorts; rainbow tourmalines; amarathas; rogue stones; beljurils; and small creatures composed of translucent magical force to demonstrate her approval or disapproval or to send aid to her faithful.
The Church
CLERGY: Clerics, Specialty Priests, Wizards, Bards
CLERGY'S ALIGN.: LG, NG, CG, LN, CN, LE
TURN UNDEAD: C: Yes, if good or neutral, SP: Yes, M: No, B: No
CMND. UNDEAD: C: Yes, if evil, SP No, M: No, B: No
All clerics and specialty priests of Mystra receive religion (Faerûnian) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency. All priests of Mystra are granted weaveglow (see below) upon their initiation.
Most worshipers of the Lady of Mysteries are human, but all natives of Faerûn who seek to become powerful in magic without benefit of divine aid must at least appease the goddess with sacrifices. (Burning items that have temporarily been enchanted with a spell is the easiest way to do this.) Wizards, especially good wizards, hold her name in special veneration, even if they primarily worship Azuth or some other deity.
All wielders of magic and seekers after arcane lore of any race are welcome in the service of Mystra. The hierarchy of the Mystran faith is wide and varied, separating into orders concentrating on one form of magical energy or another. Clerics, specialty priests, wizards, and bards can all he found in its ranks without regard to experience level or origin. The general rule of the Mystran faith is that talent and ability for the job outweighs social rank or legendary feats. Only those clergy members who gain their spells directly from a higher power gain their spells directly from the goddess, but all are welcome within the church's hierarchy. Relations between the various orders and subgroups of the faith are very good. The priests of Mystra are known as Servants of Mystery. Higher level priests, both those with title and lands and legendary adventuring priests, are called Ladies or Lords of Mystery. Titles within the faith vary from temple to temple and follow no standard form across the whole of the church, though most temples are rigidly self-consistent.
Mystran temples can be structures of almost any size or style, and some shrines are natural carves or special grottoes. Through the grace of the goddess, Mystran priests who stand in a place sacred to Mystra can cast spells for the maximum possible damage, duration, or extent of effect (their choice of which). Such places include all Mystran temples and shrines, and most private spellcasting chambers.
All priests of Mystra can cause their own flesh—all of it, or specific areas, such as a hand—to glow at will with a soft, blue-white radiance as a boon from Mystra. This radiance, known as weaveglow, is enough to read by or to allow a priest to clearly see items and surroundings within 5 feet. Most Mystrans keep this sign of the favor of the goddess secret from nonbelievers. As something mysterious, it is more useful, allowing them, for example, to feign affliction or magical attack. Weaveglow is granted to priests after their initiation, which is often a Starflight ceremony.
Dogma: Choice, decision, and knowledge, leavened with a healthy dose of good for the most individuals, are the hallmarks of Mystra's faith. Magic is great power, and it brings with it great responsibility. Mystra's clergy are given the following charge upon aspiring to the faith:
"Love magic for itself, not just as a ready weapon to reshape the Realms to your will. Learn when not to use your magic, and you will have learned true wisdom. Play with magic and learn how best to wield it, but not when the price is paid by others. Strive to use magic less and less as your powers develop, not more and more; often the threat and promise of Art outstrips its performance.
"Remember always that magic is an Art, the Gift of the Lady, and that those who can wield it are privileged in the extreme. Conduct yourself humbly, not proudly, while being mindful of this.
"Use magic deftly and efficiently; eschew carelessness and recklessness in the unleashing of Art. When magic imperils you, hide it or hurl it away into other planes rather than destroy it, for any destruction of Art is a sin.
"Seek always both to learn new magic and to create new magic, but experimenting to learn to craft something oneself is better than merely buying scrolls or hiring tutors. Exult more in creation than in hurling spells, and ensure that your creations are shared with others and so outlive you. Those who succeed in this last and in maturing into true wisdom and consideration for the greater balance of things in Faerûn in the use of Art are most favored in the eyes of the Lady and will serve her beyond death as beings who have become one with magic and live on in it forever."
Day-to-Day Activities: Mystran clergy work hard to preserve all magical lore in secret libraries, private safeholds, well-guarded research laboratories, and small, hidden stashes so that magic flourishes in the future regardless of what befalls the thinking races of Faerûn or the powers of the planes. Mystrans also search out beings skilled in spell use, seeking to keep watch on the identities, powers, and behavior of individuals likely to become magic-wielders of importance.
Not everyone can find old magic of note, but all clergy of Mystra can devise their own new magic upon gaining sufficient experience, and they are expected to do so. In this way magical study remains a growing, vibrant thing, and magic does not merely become a handy power to serve rulers and engineers as a tool to tame the Realms, but remains a thing of wonder.
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: In Waterdeep, the church of Mystra celebrates Gods' Day on the 15th of Marpenoth, the anniversary of Midnight's elevation to divinity as the new Mystra, with a huge festival centered around the House of Wonder that ends in magical fireworks that go long into the night. This holiday is being gradually adopted by shrines and temples of Mystra throughout Faerûn.
On the whole, though, the worship of Mystra tends to be a personal thing rather than a series of calendar rituals. For some mages whom the goddess counts as devout believers, it never goes beyond a whispered prayer of thanks to her with each spell they cast coupled with some thought as to the moral consequences of the use of this or that spell. For Mystra, that is enough. The goddess gains both delight and strength, however, from beings who do more in reverence to her. Two ceremonies of personal significance stand out: Starflight and Magefire.
Starflight is often used as an initiation when an individual joins the priesthood of Mystra or a celebration when two worshipers are wed. It is a special ceremonial cooperative magic worked by several priests that empowers one of the faithful to fly so long as stars are visible in the sky. This can make long journeys easy, provide a joyous change of pace, serve as a special means of looking over the land, achieve privacy for important discussions, place one of the faithful a safe distance away from precious things in order to try hurling spectacular spells, or provide a very special beginning for one's marriage.
Magefire is renewal; it is the exciting feeling of great magical power surging through one's body, blazing out as flickering blue fire as it spills forth, cleansing and renewing. With enough clergy powering it, this cooperative ceremonial magic can heal all sorts of fell conditions. Mystrans describe it as "the most blissful feeling one can know." It is spectacular to watch. The Mystran to he affected lies down on the ground and the circle of celebrants pours power into the worshiper—until his or her body, blazing with blue fire, slowly rises to hang in midair above those fueling the ceremony, humming and crackling with the power of the magic surging through it. Magefire often ends in a Starflight ceremony, provided the celebrants intone the correct incantation.
The Hymn to the Lady is a solemn ritual performed at funerals and magemoots, that calls up visions of dead mages and Mystran clergy as a plainsong dirge is intoned by the living clergy present. Mystra often uses these visions to insert her own guiding scenes. A modified Magefire ceremony may be employed at the end of the Hymn to raise the honored dead aloft into a floating pyre on high.
Major Centers of Worship: On the wooded eastern verge of Elventree stands a ruined, overgrown stone hall known as the House of Mysteries. It is reportedly the strongest place of power to Mystra in all Faerûn (along with the nearby Harper refuge, the House of the Harp).
Those who enter the House of Mysteries say that the inside is like a sound-eating dark void where soft voices whisper and glowing, varicolored motes of light drift about. No spell can illuminate this darkness, and out of it comes the Voice of the Goddess (or a senior devotee) answering questions with cryptic advice, identifying items apparently without need of spells, and (rarely) altering supplicants with spells that come "out of nowhere." Word of such puissant divine aid and guidance has spread swiftly across Faerûn, and wizards from distant realms indeed have come to Elventree in search of grandeur.
The largest temple to Mystra in all the Realms is located in Mt. Talath in Halruaa. It occupies an entire cavern complex, and its high priestess, Lady of Mystery Greila Sontoin, is very old but still capable of performing powerful ceremonies and casting mighty spells. The grand temple of the complex is open to all who want to worship, but the storerooms and libraries are only open to Halruaans of proven good intentions and of Mystra's faith. Non-Halruaans are sometimes admitted to certain libraries and halls deemed to contain nonsensitive items and reference works, but usually such admittance is at the price of a very steep admission fee.
Affiliated Orders: Most wizards and bards in the Mystran church are members of the clergy and belong to no special order, though the church of Mystra has close ties with Those Who Harp (the Harpers), an organization working for good and against the rise of great powers throughout Faerûn. Those bards who are not clergy members belong to the Children of the Starry Quill and often work as information gatherers and rumormongers for the church or spend part of their time in designated libraries unearthing magical knowledge and then preserving it for posterity. Some members of the Starry Quill are also Harpers.
The church also sponsors a knightly order of paladins and a small order of rangers. The paladins, the Knights of the Mystic Fire, are granted their spells by Mystra. They often accompany members of the clergy on quests to locate lost hoards of ancient magic and also form the cadre from which the leadership for the small groups of armed forces who guard Mystra's larger temples and workshops is drawn. The rangers, known as the Order of the Shooting Star, also receive their spells from Mystra. They serve as long-range scouts and spies for the church and also deal with magical threats that threaten the natural order of things, such as unloosed tanar'ri and baatezu and creatures born of irresponsible wizardly experimentation.
Priestly Vestments: The ceremonial garb of Mystran priests is simple blue robes that are sometimes trimmed with white. They are accented by a cloak of deep blue in colder climates. Some form of headgear is required, though this may range from a simple blue skullcap for the scholarly orders of the Sword Coast North to wide, ornate, blue hats and helms in southern lands.
Mystra's symbol was a blue-white star before the coming of the Avatars and now is a circle of stars in a ring, with a red mist rising toward (or flowing from) the center. Both symbols are still in use. Mystran priests are very tolerant of the older symbology and beliefs in Mystra, as they feel that one may only press forward by learning about the past. They let established symbols of the old Mystran faith stand, but when creating new symbols, they always use the new sigil of their goddess.
Adventuring Garb: In the field, priests of Mystra wear armor and bear the new symbol of Mystra on their shields as a display of their faith. If armor is inappropriate, they dress in the fashion of the land they inhabit appropriate for the inclement weather.

Lord of Song, the Lord of All Songs, Guardian of Singers and Troubadours, the One True Hand of All-Wise Oghma

Lesser Power of the Happy Hunting Grounds
NG
PORTFOLIO: Poetry, song, eloquence
ALIASES: None
DOMAIN NAME: Brux/Library of All Knowledge
SUPERIOR: Oghma
ALLIES: Oghma, Deneir, Lliira, Sune, Mystra, Finder Wyvernspur, Stillsong, Hanali Celanil, Corellon Larethian, Serhanine Monnbow, Rillifane Rallathil, Erevan Ilesere, Labelas Enoreth, Lathander
FOES: None
SYMBOL: A silver harp, often depicted as a five-stringed instrument whose body is made of silvery leaves
WORSHIPPERS ALIGNMENT: Any
Milil (Mihl-LiLL) is depicted in religious art and song as a handsome male human or elf with a charismatic manner and a haunting, melodic voice. He is venerated by human, elf, and half-elf bards, who see him as the One Who Watches While Music is Alive (when they are performing), the Guardian of Singers and Troubadours, and the One True Hnad of All-Wise Oghma. (Deneir is the other "Hand.") Deneir, Gond, and Milil serve Oghma, though Milil has little in common with Gond, and their relationship is strained. He is on excellent terms with a number of powerful gods, including Mysta and Sune, and often works closely with Lliira. He is welcome in the elf pantheon as well as the Faerunian pantheon because of the beauty of his song.
Milil is the ulimate performer: self-confident, inspired, possessed of total recall or anything he sets a mind to remember, able to improvise facilely out of desire or necessity, well-educated in general theories of conduct and broad areas of knowledge, and masterful in all sorts of performance technique (including a passing knowledge of disguise derived from costume theory), especially within his sphere of knowledge--music, poetry, and elegant speech. However, he is also self-centered and egotistical and likes to be the center of attention. When he is not the center of attention, he bores easily, and his mind wanders or he leaves. He is also given to flirtation with both deities and mortals for his own enjoyment, to deep annoyance of more sober powers.
Other Manifestations
Milil often manifests as haunting music, particularly in clearing deep in woodlands. He appears as a wordless, lone male voice soaring through the air where no singer can be seen. At times, Milil draws the image of two dancing hollyphants in the air in glowing yellow lines or in ink (that appears from nowhere) on parchment to signify his approval. This seems to indicate his delight in watching such creatures dance to his music. More often, Milil manifests as a radiance surrounding a bard, storyteller, or epic poet in the throes of inspiration--a sight always heralding a performance that moves an audience to tears, blind obedience, enthusiastic offerings of money, or whatever else the performer desires them to do. Milil often places helpful visions (mental pictures of the whereabouts of treasure, lost loved ones, or directions overland) in the mind of a singer or musician who pleases him.
Milil also acts through the appearance or presence of aasimar (all accomplished singers), hollyphants, light aasimons, movanic devas, and solars. More commonly he sends songbirds (especially nightingales), white horses or pegasi, calico cats, red or yellow roses, lilies, peonies, perfect gemstones or any sort, and peregrine falcons to show his favor and as a sign to inspire his faithful.
The Church
CLERGY: Clerics, Specialty Priests, Mystics, Bards, Spellsingers
CLERGY'S ALIGNMENT: LG, NG, CG, LN, N, CN
TURN UNDEAD: Cleric: Yes, Specialty Priest: Yes, Mystic: No, Bard: No, Spellsinger: No
COMMAND UNDEAD: Cleric: No, Specialty Priest: No, Mystic: No, Bard: No, Spellsinger: No
All cleric, specialty priests, and mystics of Milil receive religion (Faerunian) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency. All priests must take singing and musical instrument as two of their initial nonweapon proficiencies.
Milil attracts those who love music--and who need to be a part of it, no merely listeners. Such folk tend to be sensualists. They love good wine, good food, pleasing art and architectural or natural surroundings, the amorous company of others, and the beauties of nature--many faithful of Milil enjoy rising before the sun to watch the wakening radiance. For reasons lost in the mists of time, all clergy of Milil are known as Sorlyn (probably after a founding patriarch of the faith), and specialty priests of the faith are called tuneservants. Both genders are represented fairly equally in the faith, and the ranks of the clergy are about two-thirds human, with a quarter of the remnant being elves, and the remainder half-elves. Sorlyn all tend to be charsmatic and physically attractive. All are also good singers skilled in the use of at least one musical instrument. Additionally, many are accomplished composers and musicians or even dancers. They tend to be active perfomers and travelers, not recluses or cloistered scriveners.
About half of the total priesthood of Milil are clerics, the remainder being specialty priests with a few bards, mystics, and spellsingers in the service of the Lord of All Song. In general, before the Godswar the priests in the larger cities, with more organized churches beneath them, were clerics, while the churches in more remote areas were commanded by tuneservants; however, the number of tuneservants in the faith has been growing steadily since the Time of Troubles. Relations between the clerics and the specialty priests are good, though the more conservative clerics are a bit concerned about recurring incidents of tuneservants using their enthrall and suggestion powers to enhance their own status and the tuneservants' continual support of "ner'er-do-wells" (adventurers). A quick way to determine whether a local temple of Milil is run by a cleric or a tuneservant is to listen to its music. All temples of Milil have very good choirs, songmasters, organists, and/or musicians, but the type of music varies. Clerics tend to play traditional songs and hymns while tuneservants prefer newer works, some of which may be disconcerting to the parishoners.
Milil's is an organized faith, with all churches paying heed (or at least lip service) to the Patriarch of Song in Waterdeep. Unfortunately, the influence of the Patriarch diminishes with distance, such that those congregations in Sembia tend to pay attention only to the most urgent messages.
Sorlyn adhere to clear rules and an organized hierarchy. They use the titles (in ascending order of rank) of: Mute One (novice), Chanter, Chorister, Soloiest, Lead Voice, First Voice, Songmaster, and Glorian--a title used by all senior clergy in addition to any temple rank of office they may also hold. Typical temple ranks include Castellan, Master Tutor, Master Wind, Master Serenader, Master Librarian, Master Instrumentalist, Prior, and Patriarch. The specialty priests of the faith address each other as Harmonian, regardless of rank or accomplishments, and are noticeably (and acceptably) lax about using the formal titles of other clergy members--except the Patriarch of Song, who they revere profoundly.
The mysterious Patriarch of Song appears as an old man with kindly features, a flowing white beard, and ice-blue eyes. He is probably the best harpist in the world. His knobby old hands are able to make a harp sing, moan, drone, and almost seem to talk, as well as emitting the more usual sounds of such an instrument. His voice is a magnificent baritone, though, he has a falsetto that seems like the clear, high voice of a young elf girl or very young human maiden. His true name and origins have been forgotten, but he has adopted various names--and appearanes-- in recent years, even apparently switching gender from time to time at the command of the Lord of All Songs. He is rumored to be ablt to enthrall intelligent beings with a song so beautiful that they enter a trance and hear only the music soaring endlessly in their heads until freed by rough handling. Sorlyn believe he has been given speical powers by Milil beyond his apparent immortality, and that as long as he survives, music in Faerun will grow and flourish. Legend insists that the Patriarch flits about the Realms from time to time insiring youthful and promising singers by showing up at their local tavern as an old minstrel and givning a performance that leaves everyone present weeping and yet bright-eyed with hope.
Mililan temples are soaring, catherdrals of spledid architecture. All of them have choir lofts, facilities for presenting stage performances, workshops for the repair and construction of musical instruments, extensive music libraries, and carefully crafted acoustics.
Dogma: Milil is a god of creativity and inspiration, of the whole song more than just the lyrics or the music. He represents the finished thought, the process that takes an idea from conception to completion. As a result, the ethos of Milil teaches to consider the world in terms of a continuing process, a song that begins at birth and is only silenced with the final chord.
Novices in the Mililan faith are given the following charge: "Life is a song: Strive always to make it more beautiful. Destory no music nor instrument, nor stop a singer before the tune is done. Listen to the world around as well as filling it with you own sound. One singer's music is another's noise, and musicianship always. Sing to Milil everyday. Music is the most precious thing folks can create--so encourage its training, use, and preservation at all times and in all possible ways. Awaken a love of song in all folks you can, and offer its performance freely around campfire or on the trail. Cease not in your own seeking for new tunes, new techniques, and new instruments to master."
Day-to-Day Activities: Most Sorlyn spend their time learning lyrics, tunes, and how best to perform them on a slowly expanding repertoire of instruments both in their temple and on the road. They take care to write down both original compositions and those they have learned, as well as recording tunes through the use of the singing stones spell for those as yet unborn. Such records are to be cached in hiding as well as stored in temple vaults to make the survival of the music as likely as possible. Sorlyn also work as tutors to all who profess faith in Milil or who pay for the training, as well as judging many bardic contests and adjudicating bardic disputes between individuals, companies, or colleges.
Tunesevants are more adventurous. They roam the roads of Faerun rescuing or protecting common minstrels and great bards alike when such individuals fall on hard times or into peril. They also accompany adventurers of other faiths on deeds of heroism so that they can compose ballads about what befell (from "Brave Sir Dobbyn Ran Away" to "She Was Only a Wanton Weredragon, But She Was a Fair Lady"). They also embark on adventures of their own to recover music, instruments, and the like from old ruins and tombs, or learn of music long gone by using their stone tell abilities and similar magics is such places.
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: Devout worshipers of Milil call out to him in a Song of Praise at least once a day and usually also after every victory of battle or great thing that benefits them. They also participate in either a personal song to the Lord of All Songs upon awakening or (in a temple) join in the softly voiced chorus of the Sunrise Song. Other rituals include the solemn, beautiful polyphonic chord-singing of the Song of Sorrowing, performed at the funeral of any faithful of Milil, and the Song of Welcoming, sung when someone is welcomed into the faith. The calendar-related festivals marked by rituals sacred to Milil are Greengrass, when the Call to the Flowers is sung by all faithful, and Midsummer, when the Grand Revel is held. The Revel involves a feast, dancing, and much roistering, and is marked by parodies and wickedly satirical song, but all other shared (by two or more clergy members and laity) rituals of worship to Milil involve a sung or played opening call, a prayer and solo song while kneeling before the altar, a unison hymn followed by a sermon or supplication to the Lord of Song (and the proffering of any offerings), and then a closing song that rises to a thunderous, grand cresendo that typically makes devout listeners or participants weep with joy-- and those of other faiths stop and listen in wonder.
Major Centers of Worship: The most significant temple to Milil is currently Arbalest's House in Athkatla (Amn), whence Milil journeyed during the Time of Troubles to personally found a singing circle. The Lord of Song charged the Patriarch of Song, the aged overlord of his church, to oversee this new temple's development. The Patriarch remains active in encouraging the faith in Waterdeep (notably the rising Temple of Good Cheer and the bards' college of New Olamn) and journeys often by means of a secret gate created by Milil between the hilltop temple in Athkatla, with its mightly Bellows of Milil organ and its growing circle of adherent bards and minstrels, and his own abode in Waterdeep.
Affiliated Orders: Milil has one knightly order of personable (and sometimes swaggering) fighters, padalins, and bards, the Harmonious Order, whose members, along with the clergy, guard temples and holy sites. Its members also often pursue quests or do good works in Milil's name, and tuneservants love to accompany them on these romantic and glorious quests. Though Milil's symbol is the silver harp, his symbol is not meant to directly link him to the Harpers, who use the cresent moon and harps; however, the church of Milil does have ties to Those Who Harp.
Priestly Vestments: Sorlyn wear robes of rich, lustrous fabic--usually crimson adorned with cloth-of-gold dragons, bards, or warriors arching and spiraling the length of the garment. Metal chimes are often worn as earrings, anklets, or on bracelets when outdoors, but these are always easily removable so not to mar music-making. Hair is worn short or-- in case of tuneservants-- bound up in a golden hair-net so as not to get in the way of playing instruments or listening acutely. Their holy symbol can take the form of a real harp or the symbol of Milil formed into an artfully crafted piece of jewerly.
Adventuring Garb: Sorlyn prefer the security of full (often chased and ornamented) armor when adventuring or traveling overland in dangerous regions, and defend themselves with magic, maces, and enchanted musical instruments. Song has its place, but in a world full of orcs, dragons, and critics, it is best to be prepared for anything.

Our Lady of the Forest, the Supreme Ranger, Daughter to Silvanus

Intermediate Power of the Happy Hunting Grounds, NG
PORTFOLIO: Forests, forest creatures, rangers, dryads, autumn
ALIASES: Khelliara (Rashemen)
DOMAIN NAME: Krigala/The Grove of the Unicorns
SUPERIOR: Silvanus
ALLIES: Eldath, Silvanus, Shiallia, Gwaeron Windstrom, Lurue the Unicorn, Chauntea, Shaundakul, Lathander
FOES: Malar, Talona, Talos, Moander (now dead), Myrkul (now dead)
SYMBOL: A white unicorn on a green field, a white unicorn's head facing sinister, or a tiny star of dazzling white hue balanced on an open, lush green oak or ash leaf (older)
WOR. ALIGN.: LG, NG, CG, LN, N, CN
Mielikki (My-LEE-kee) is the Lady of the Forest, the goddess of the woods and those creatures who live within them. She is the patron of rangers in the same way that Oghma is the patron of bards. Until recently, Miellkki made her home on the Prime Material plane, and so was unharmed by the Time of Troubles, though the presence of so many other gods in the Realms gave her followers great difficulties. In the confusion following the Time of Troubles, she also gathered autumn into her portfolio, away from the dead Myrkul. She is worshiped by humans, elves, half-elves, and dryads alike. The Lady of the Forest is fond of wandering the woods of all of Faerun, although her faithful are concentrated in northern Faerun.
Mielikki is allied with and in the service of Silvanus, and with the growing power of that god, she was being diminished in her own right. In 1369 DR, she radically reorganized her priesthood, and the boost in power this gave her has forestalled her decline, and allowed her to establish her own realm in the Outer Planes for the first time. Her followers had already added the title "Daughter to Silvanus" to her other names previous to this point as an honorarium, causing some confusion since she is not Silvanus's daughter. Inaccurate legends have since grown up to explain the title in which Mielikki is said to be the offspring of dalliance between Silvanus and Hanali Celanil, the elf goddess of romantic love and beauty.
Mielikki serves Silvanus alongside Eldath. She considers Eldath to be almost her sister, and Silvanus a father figure. All three powers work closely and lovingly together, and this relationship is reflected in their churches and clergy also. Mielikki herself is assisted by three divine beings of lesser power: Lurue, Gwaeron Windstrom, and Shiallia. On rare occasions when Mielikki rides into battle, Lurue the Unicorn serves as her mount, and Gwaeron Windstrom, who can track infallibly through any conditions, in or on any terrain, aids her on some missions and teaches her rangers the way to read forest signs. Shiallia, a local nature deity of the High Forest, serves her as the midwife to pregnant forest creatures, the planter of seeds, and the nurturer of seedlings in that forest. In addition, Lady Jeryth Phaulkon of Waterdeep, the Chosen Star of Mielikki, serves as Mielikki's mortal champion. She has been gifted by Mielikki with unknown powers and is referred to in the faith as Our Lady's Champion or the Granddaughter of Silvanus. Though still fairly young, she has quickly matured from a frivolous debutante into a steadfast forest warrior.
Mielikki is good-humored and quick to smile. She is confident in her actions and conveys this confidence well in small groups, though she dislikes speaking formally or leading large contingents. She is fiercely loyal and protective to those she calls friend, but does not grant that consideration lightly. Though she knows that some creatures must die to make way for others in life, she finds the injuries of animals and other friends hard to bear and often cures hurt creatures that Silvanus would leave be to fuel the cycle of death and rebirth.
Other Manifestations
When Mielikki manifests, it is most often as a glowing white unicorn who gallops through the air and can teleport freely from place to place in Faerun. This manifestation can cast spells by touch from its horn and speak mind-to-mind with any living being. At times, Mielikki also appears as a drifting radiance of blue-white or green, gold, and rust that speaks with her voice, can move objects that it envelops about from place to place, and can unleash magic as she does. To test their behavior, the Lady of the Forest often appears to rangers as a mortal woman lost and alone in the forest. The alert will notice that her feet never touch the ground, and therefore she leaves no trail. Mielikki also works through the actions of dryads, satyrs, hawks, songbirds, sprites, swanmays, treants, unicorns, wolves, and other woodland creatures.
The Church
CLERGY: Clerics, druids, rangers, druid/rangers
CLERGY'S ALIGN.: LG, NG, CG, N
TURN UNDEAD: C: Yes, D: No, R: No, D/R: No
CMND. UNDEAD: C: No, D: No, R: No, D/R: No
All clerics, druids, rangers, and druid/rangers of Mielikki receive religion (Faerunian) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency. When in a forested area, all Mielikkian druids, clerics, and rangers may cast a variant of the 1st-level priest spell analyze balance at will. This ability works on characters, creatures, or objects, or on part of the forest itself. If used on people, creatures, or objects, the ability works as the spell. If used on the forest, this ability allows a Mielikkian priest or ranger to detect if the ecology of a forested area is seriously disrupted.
Most rangers venerate Mielikki as their deity, though some venerate Silvanus, Eldath, Chauntea, Shaundakul, Mystra, or other deities. She grants her rangers their spells when they attain sufficient experience, and they see her as their leader, the supreme ranger, and their watchful mother. Other followers of Mielikki include dryads, hamadryads, treants, woodsmen, the occasional elf (especially wood elves), a few bards, and many of the Harpers. The followers of Mielikki usually do not organize themselves into official temples, but rather assemble in peaceful forest glades to worship the goddess. Shrines to the goddess are more common than temples and are found throughout the North, the Western Heartlands, and parts of the Dalelands in wilderness areas.
In 1369 DR, Mielikki ordered the reorganization of her church and reintroduced druids among her clergy to counter the waning of her faith. What little church hierarchy the Mielikkian faith has is still almost exclusively clerics; however, druids now have joined their ranks or begun circles in the North in her name. All the faithful of Mielikki are known as Walkers of the Forest Way. They are now organized into three branches of devotion: the Heartwoods, the Forestarms, and the Needles.
The Heartwoods are the heart of the faith, and serve as voices of the spirits of the trees themselves. These members of Mielikki's faithful include dryads, hamadryads, and treants.
The spiritual followers of Mielikki, known as the Arms of the Forest, or Forestarms, are the clerics and druids of her faith. They protect the forests of the world. Mielikki's priesthood is open to all good and neutral humans, demihumans, and members of other woodland races, but tends to be dominated by human and half-elf women of battle experience, passionate character, and adventuring interests.
The Needles are rangers. They are considered to be the most beloved of the Lady of the Forest. They sometimes serve as clergy, but most often act as the warrior arm of the faith and serve a defensive role protecting the forests from marauders, humanoids, and the followers of the god Malar. Included in this branch is a small religious order of druid/ranger woodland knights known as the Shadoweirs (SHA-doh-weerz).
Forestarms and Needles are given to dwelling in the forest. (Heartwoods do so per force.) Forestarms and Needles often have two or more abodes and a dozen or more caches of food and items that they can travel to in times of need. They tend to be the most adventuresome of forest and wilderness dwellers and to have easy-going dispositions. They are serene in their knowledge of the balance of natural cycles and at peace with all other sylvan faiths except the followers of Malar (whom they call "the Great Beast" or "the Beast of Beasts" or "the Bloodgod").
Forestarms tend to be practical, unfussy folk, reverent in their fireside prayers to the Lady but impatient with too much ceremony. Their titles reflect this: Questers (novices) who are accepted into the ranks of the priesthood may rise through the following ranks: Spring Stag (clergy members of less than two winters of service), Stalkers in the Green (experienced clergy who have not achieved outstanding achievements or appointments to senior temple staff duties), Forest Flames (senior temple staff, envoys, and recognized tutors of the faithful), High Rangers (leaders of temples and champions of the faith), and Hawks of the Lady. This last title is given by the Lady herself to denote her most cherished and high-ranking followers. Temple staff titles tend to be very simple: Cook, Master of Novices, Doorwarden, Housemaster, Prior, Abbot, and Worship Master are all common titles.
Dogma: Mielikki's followers are close to those of Silvanus in outlook and ethos, save that they stress the positive and outreaching nature of the wild. Intelligent beings can live in harmony with the wild without requiring the destruction of one in the name of the other. Mielikki's outlook matches that of rangers in general, which is why she is their patron.
Meilikkians are taught to embrace the wild and not fear it, because the wild ways are the good ways. They are to keep the balance and learn the hidden ways of all life. They should not allow trees to be needlessly felled or the forest to be burned. They are to live in the forest and be a part of the forest, not dwell in endless battle against the forest.
Walkers of the Forest Way must protect forest life, defend every tree, plant anew where death fells a tree, and strive to keep the balance that indiscriminate fire-users and woodcutters break. They are to live in harmony with the woods, to teach others to do so, and to punish and frustrate those who hunt for sport (not food) and who practice cruelties upon wild creatures.
Day-to-Day Activities: The Forestarms outlook is oriented toward the protection of nature (and forests in particular) from the forces of evil and ignorance. Many of these priests can be found wandering among small communities nestled at the edges of forests both great and small. They seek to teach humans and other goodly races to care and respect the trees and the life beneath their leafy bows. They try to prevent further encroachment by civilization on the remaining great forests by teaching careful forest husbandry. When called upon, they defend the forest with force of arms if necessary.
The Needles support the Forestarms of their own faith and the clergies of Eldath and Silvanus in defending, renewing, and even extending forests and forest life. Wherever possible without conflicting with this prime interest, they are to work against those who deal in fire magic (notably the Red Wizards and followers of Kossuth) and encourage city- and farm-dwelling folk to revere natural life and to view woodlands as rich, friendly places that are pleasant refuges for renewal and enjoying natural beauty, not deadly backlands to be feared and fought. They are also charged with supporting the Harpers when this does not conflict with their more primary duties, since the Harpers work against the rise of great powers, which tend to endanger all natural life and conditions around them by trying to reshape Faerun.
Rangers of all faiths are to be assisted whenever possible by Walkers of the Forest way, and the seeds of trees and woodland plants gathered, nurtured, and planted in an ongoing process so that 40 new trees will rise for every one taken by flame or axe. Many of the Forestarms and Needles visit foresters regularly to heal them and provide guidance so that as few trees as possible are taken and the forest is culled of weak creatures and unnatural predators, not creatures in the prime of life and health. In recent years, the Forestarms and Needles have worked with ranchers north of Melvaunt, eastern Amn, and the lands of the Dessarin to breed deer in large herds for food and pelt use, leaving the wild deer of the forests to recover—along with all the other forest creatures that either depend on deer for food, or are killed or frightened away by casual human forest incursions.
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: Those who worship the Lady of the Forest believe her voice is echoed continuously throughout all forests by the rustling leaves. A worshiper in good stead can listen and understand the whispers of the woods after a period of meditation and extended introspection. These whispers have been transcribed by a few bards and rangers, but never seem to say the same thing twice. The general theme is the preservation and understanding of the forests and the creatures living within them. (Those who listen for a long period of time are reputed to improve their tracking and woodland survival skills as well as their knowledge of animal lore.)
Worship of Mielikki involves periods of introspection and meditation each morning and evening (in the forest whenever possible). Groups of worshipers also gather under the stars to sing the Lady's praises and ask for her guidance. When a worshiper of Mielikki begins a self-imposed quest to right a desecration of the forest, a special prayer is given up to the Lady of the Forest for strength and guidance. When aid is needed performing some simple task like setting the broken leg of a trapped wolf or following a trail, Walkers of the Forest Way usually ask for the Lady's blessing under their breath before proceeding.
The best-known to outsiders of the holy rituals of Mielikki are the Four Feasts of the solstice and equinox nights. These are known simply as the First Feast, the Second Feast, and so on. They are occasions for holy rituals and revels, wherein all Mielikki's faithful are expected to celebrate the sensual side of existence and sing praises to the Lady in forest depths wherever possible.
The festivals of Greengrass and Midsummer Night are even greater rituals, combining revels similar to those of the Four Feasts with planting rites and the Wild Ride. During the Wild Ride, the lady causes unicorns to gather in herds and gallop through the woods. Her faithful are allowed to ride them bareback through the night, covering astonishing distances and seeing much. On such rides, unicorns are empowered by the Lady to use their teleport ability as often as they desire for up to triple the normal range. On years when Shieldmeet follows Midsummer, riders can continue the Ride for that day and night if they so desire.
At least once a month, every member of the clergy must perform the Song of the Trees and serve any dryads, hamadryads, or treants their song calls forth. The clergy members perform the small tasks requested of them, but are free of dryad charms through the will of the Lady.
Every fire lit by a member of Mielikki's clergy must have the Dread Prayer whispered over it. In return, Mielikki makes the fire give off intense heat in particular directions indicated by the supplicant but almost no smoke. Such fires glow only dimly, so as to attract as little attention as possible, and do not spread. In this way, no watch need be kept against starting forest fires.
Major Centers of Worship: The most prominent center of the forest faith is located at the Falls of Tumbling Stars, west of Lake Sember. The locale is a hidden mountain valley where the Immerflow springs out of the Thunder Peaks and falls down the mountainsides to feed the river leading to the Wyvernwater. In this little-known valley, guarded against intrusion by rangers and half-elf archers of deadly skill, Hawk of the Lady Neretheen Jalassan, a priestess of Mielikki, and Hawk of the Lady Lord Ranger Beldryn Stormstone lead a small community of powerful rangers and other Walkers of the Forest Way in worship of the Lady of the Forest. To this holy place, the hurt and the favored of Mielikki's faithful are brought by secret ways. In the vale are holy bathing pools where the wounded are restored by the magic of Mielikki, and from this hidden vale the most powerful Walkers of the Forest Way fare forth to make pilgrimages to the distant Unicorn Run, where a gateway to Mielikki's realm is said to lie, and to work Mielikki's will across Faerun.
Affiliated Orders: Named for the greatest trees of the forests, the shadowtops and the weirwoods, the Shadoweirs are a highly secretive branch of the faith that originated in the northern reaches of the High Forest. Its members consist solely of half-elf multiclassed druid/rangers, and its membership has spread (thinly) beyond the High Forest throughout all of Faerun.
The Shadoweirs serve as a sort of religious knighthood of the woods. Unlike the Arms of the Forest or even the Needles, the Shadoweirs are an activist and proselytizing order who are willing to go on the offensive in the behalf of their sacred forests. They seek to advance the regrowth of ancient forests reduced by civilization. Many Shadoweirs are adventurers, wandering the Realms with missionary zeal. They seek to halt the endless assault of civilization on their ancient homelands.
Within the Walkers of the Forest Way, the Order of the Unicorn's Horn is a small society of itinerant healers who bring solace to both injured people, animals, and plants. The Mielikkian faith also has close ties with Those Who Harp (the Harpers), an organization working for good throughout Faerun and against the rise of great powers, which tend to endanger all natural life and conditions around them by trying to reshape Faerun.
Priestly Vestments: The colors of Mielikkian ceremonial garb vary with the seasons, each season having a base color and an accent. Winter is white with green accents, spring green with yellow accents, summer yellow with red accents, and fall red with white accents. The white and green of winter symbolizes evergreens and the unsleeping life of the forest, the green and yellow of spring is for the slow awakening of the forest to lush life, the yellow and red of summer represents the full splendor of flowers and burgeoning fruits and grains, and the red and white of fall symbolizes fall leaves being overlaid with snow. These colors govern capes worn with armor in times of war and the ceremonial dress of the Forestarms and the Needles: trousers, boots (always brown), a short cape, and a tabard that is long-sleeved in winter and sleeveless in summer. Whatever the garb, the unicorn's head of Mielikki, carved of ivory or bone or stitched in silver thread, is always worn over the heart.
The ceremonial dress of the Shadoweirs is chain mail and deep forest-green cloaks woven by dryads from spider silk and dyed with natural dyes. Many powerful forest knights wear ancient suits of elven chain mail they have been given by elven lords for their efforts in defending the forests. The symbol of the Shadoweirs is a giant shadowtop tree with a pair of crossed swords overlaying it, and it is sometimes stitched as a design on their clothing or worn on their shields.
Adventuring Garb: When in the field, most Walkers in the Forest Way dress appropriate to the weather and their duties, though they maintain the preferred seasonal colors of their faith. In very hot weather or in the summer woods most wear only a sash and baldric of the right colors. They carry needed gear in pouches, small packs, or strapped to their boots. The Shadoweirs prefer suits of gleaming chain mail or studded leather armor in the field.

Master of All Thieves, Shadowlord, Lord of Shadows

Lesser Power (previously Intermediate Power and briefly Demipower) of the Gray Waste, NE
PORTFOLIO: Thieves, thievery, shadows
ALIASES: None
DOMAIN NAME: Niflheim/Shadow Keep
SUPERIOR: None
ALLIES: Bane (now dead), Bhaal (now dead), Leira (now dead), Ibrandul (now dead)
FOES: Helm, Oghma, Torm, Tyr, Cyric, Selûne, Waukeen (missing), Deneir
SYMBOL: A black velvet mask, tinged with red
WOR. ALIGN.: NG, CG, LN, N, CN, LE, NE, CE
Mask (MASK) was the deity of intrigue along with being the patron of thieves, but his disastrous perusal of the Cyrinishad led to Cyric being able to steal this aspect of his portfolio from him. One school of thought believed the god totally destroyed after reading the Cyrinishad and having his Godsbane avatar form destroyed by Cyric, another held that Mask was totally subsumed by Cyric, and a third school believed that Mask, engaged in his own intrigues, faked his loyalty to Cyric and later his own death. The truth is that Mask survived the enslaving effects of the Cyrinishad and the destruction of a major avatar form at great cost, losing much of his godly power in the process.
Mask had allowed his intrigue with Cyric to progress so far that he had neglected his own worshipers and was effectively but a lesser power when hit by the effects of the Cyrinishad. When forced to cut away part of his divine power, leaving it in Cyric’s hands, Mask was temporarily reduced to the status of a demipower. To make matters worse, Mask crossed a powerful extraplanar entity known as Kezef the Chaos Hound, who has sworn eternal revenge. Mask cannot remain too long in one location or Kezef catches up to him, and Mask does not wish to confront the Chaos Hound until he regains the status of an intermediate power that he had just after the Godswar. Such is the price of intrigue, a price that Mask has paid dearly. (The Chaos Hound’s chase has slowed somewhat of late, though, as it becomes distracted by the new-found joys of freedom after so many years of imprisonment.)
Mask’s form is ever-changing in regard to appearance—and his true form is not known for sure. Mask remains the patron of thieves, and there his faith is strongest. After a year of frenzied activity by his priests on his behalf (at his encouragement), Mask has taken shadows into his portfolio and managed to climb to the status of lesser power. However, Mask is still a weakened power and walks (or runs, when the Chaos Hound is abroad) carefully in his dealings with the other powers. For the time being, he wants to remain out of the sight (and hopefully out of the mind) of Cyric, who might still covet his remaining power, but he is already plotting ways and means to regain that which he lost to the Mad God.
Mask is very self-possessed and confident—too confident for his own good. He enjoys erecting convoluted and intricate plots to achieve his ends and then playing them out to his benefit. As he has recently learned, however, such predilections proved a weakness for him, and he is now trying much more direct methods to accomplish his goals than before in order to avoid such needless—and unwanted—plot twists as nearly cost him his life and his godhood in his manipulations of Cyric.
Other Manifestations
Mask sometimes appears as a drifting, amorphous darkness, that may or may not have or grow a cowled human head. He also manifests as whispery, soft, chuckling laughter or an utterly black, nailless human hand that can carry or wield items, point, emit dust and write in it, or grasp and choke beings at THAC0 7, chilling and strangling for 4d4 points of damage and preventing forward movement, speech, or spellcasting, but always releasing the foe at the end of a round. (This hand cannot be struck except by magical weapons of +2 or better enchantment; it has an AC of -1, 14 HD, and 72 hit points.) The cloud of darkness can enter or pass through any known barrier without taking harm, but vanishes if struck by spells dealing 20 points of damage or more. The touch of these manifestations opens locks, causes manacles, chains, and bindings to crumble and fall away, and allows faithful worshipers to be protected for a day by an ironguard spell, just as the touch of Mask’s avatar does.
Mask also acts through the appearance or presence of annis (hags), dopplegangers, ettercaps, kenku, verbeeg, wererats, werewolves, werefoxes, shadow monsters (creatures as from the wizard spell shadow monsters made permanent by the power of Mask), shadow dragons, and undead shadows. More commonly he sends a shadow where there should be none, smoke-gray horses, iron-gray or black cats, gray dogs, gloomwing moths or tenebrous worms, gray goats, vapor flowers, smoky quartz, gray chalcedony, gray and banded onyx, ravenar, rogue stone, common crows, condors, and gray doves to show his favor or displeasure and as a sign to inspire his faithful.
The Church
CLERGY: Clerics, specialty priests, thieves
CLERGY’s ALIGN.: LN, N, CN, LE, NE, CE
TURN UNDEAD: C: Yes, if neutral, SP: No, T: No
CMND. UNDEAD: C: Yes, if evil, SP: No, T: No
All clerics and specialty priests of Mask receive religion (Faerûnian) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency.
The followers of Mask have been reduced to their central core: thieves and thieves. guilds. (However, in addition to thieves and more shadowy individuals, courtiers and diplomats have also been known to evoke the Shadowlord ‘s name in hope of guaranteeing a smooth negotiation.) Many guilds still have their shrines to the god, and in those regions where thievery is not actively frowned upon, temples to Mask survive. The priesthood of Mask is independent in each major city or region to prevent the frequent actions against one thieves. guild or temple from spilling over and affecting others.
The hierarchy makes use of clerics, specialty priests, and thieves in about a 30/40/30 ratio. Clergy of Mask are known as Maskarran. Specialty priests of Mask are called demarchesses (deh-mar-KESS-es) if female and demarchs (deh-MARKS) if male. There has been a significant increase in the number of specialty priests in the faith since Mask lost status as a deity; he feels that specialty priests are the most effective adjunct to the thieves who are his mainstay of worship and so has been furiously encouraging their recruitment and advancement by gifting them with more special abilities than before.
In areas with a single strong thieves. guild, the temple or shrine to Mask is usually connected to the guild hall via underground tunnels. In large cities with competing guilds, the temple is in an underground location and is recognized as neutral ground by all sides. Maskarran strive to keep hidden these days, sometimes holding services of worship in underground shrines (often cellars reached by old sewers) and often keeping hidden inside local thieves. guilds. It is to the advantage of such seasoned conspirators as Maskarran that many folk of Faerûn think Mask is dead, and his worship reduced to scattered, bewildered cults.
Maskarran address each other as .Brother/Sister Shadow,. regardless of rank, and hold the titles (in order of rank): Unproven (novices), Proven Brother/Sister, Veteran Brother/Sister, and Master Brother/Sister, with the leader of a temple assuming the title Lord/Lady Master. The elite of Maskarran are largely specialty priests, but nonspecialty priest high priests are known as Hidden Ones.
Dogma: All that which occurs within shadow is in the purview of Mask. Ownership is nine-tenths of what is right, and if a person happens to currently have something, it is his or hers. Previous ownership does not count. Therefore, the day belongs to the quick, the smooth-tongued, and the lightfingered. Stealth and wariness are virtues, as are glibness and the ability to sound smooth-tongued and conciliatory while taking control of a situation or twisting it to your advantage. (Needless to say, the writings of a true follower of Mask can be read in many ways.)
The Unproven in the church of Mask are charged as follows: .Wealth rightfully belongs to those who can acquire it. Strive to end each day with more material wealth than you began it with, but steal what is most vital, not everything that is to hand. Honesty is for fools, but apparent honesty is a very valuable thing. Make every untruth seem plausible, and never lie when you can cleave to the truth but leave a mistaken impression.a bridge burned means much rebuilding if you need to cross over there again. Subtlety is everything. A bribe is the least subtle of the tools Mask gives to us. Never force someone to do something when you can manipulate them into doing it and thinking the decision and the deed are entirely their own freewilled work. Never do the obvious, except to conceal a secondary or tertiary deed or arrangement. Spin secrets atop secrets, but do so unconcernedly, not with the sly excitement of untutored youth. Trust in the shadows, for the bright way makes for easy targets..
Day-to-Day Activities: Maskarran are perhaps the wealthiest clergy in the Realms, second only to those of Waukeen before the Time of Troubles.
They able to call on untold wealth stolen in the past and hidden away in secret places. Maskarran do not hoard and gloat over their takings like dwarves croon over gold; they actively use it to buy agents, bribe officials, sway agreements, and manipulate folk to do thus and so, working behind the scenes to achieve mysterious ends. The mark of a successful priest of Mask is to state to a superior that this or that end (in international politics or the doings within a realm) will be worked toward and achieved within such-andsuch a time.and then fulfill this promise. Maskarran who fail in their promises seldom rise far in the hierarchy, though several attempts at bringing something about are perfectly acceptable so long as none of them too obviously reveal the priest at work behind the scenes.
From day-to-day Maskarran typically tend to their plots and provide support to and collect tithes from individual thieves and thieves. guilds. Each church of Mask has its own policy about reporting .rogue. thieves to the guild of a region: Some provide aid but covertly inform the local guild, others refuse aid and inform, and still others provide aid to whoever pays the proper tithe and inform no one,
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: There are no calendar-related rituals in the Church of Mask, but at every full temple of the god, the Ritual of the Unseen Presence is celebrated at least once a month. This ritual is an acknowledgment in chanted verse, hymns, and offerings of wealth.coinage stolen by the faithful that is melted down in altar-flanking braziers or crucibles .of the constant regard of Mask, who sees all deeds, however well hidden.
Lay worshipers and Maskarran also participate in daily Sunset Prayers, in which they kneel, proffer coins to the clergy and worship before the Altar of the Masked God. Praying junior clergy members give coins to senior clergy members, and the highest-ranking priest of a holy house of Mask gives his or her coin to the lowest-ranking priest present in recognition of the wry humor of Mask, who so often makes the high low, and the low high. The Altar of the Masked God is always a massive stone block over which floats an enspelled black velvet, fur, or silk mask of giant size (6 feet across or more) or which has a mosaic in inlaid precious gemstones of a similar giant mask behind it.
The Church of Mask has darker rituals associated with the elevation of clergy members in rank known only to the initiated. These secret observances and the Ritual of the Unseen Presence are always guarded by striking shadows spells cast by senior clergy members to slay or keep away eavesdroppers
Major Centers of Worship: The House of the Master’s Shadow in Telflamm, where Lord Master Most Hidden Jalaunther Ithbreeiur leads over 300 Maskarran in worship, is the largest temple to Mask in Faerûn. Jalaunther has initiated several energetic programs designed to build the ranks of Mask’s faithful, including a network of undercover contacts in all major cities of Faerûn who double as information-gatherers and the spreaders of rumors about this or that treasure (to attract the interest of those interested in thievery). These agents, known as .local shadows,. identify important thieves and those rebellious to authority and approach both of these sorts of folk to recruit them to the faith or at least offer them training.for fees.in thievery or intrigue. Jalaunther has also set his clergy members the twin tasks of building their temple magic (including the spells they are currently researching) into a network of powerful, practical stealth and battle magic and working themselves into positions where they can influence the politics of all realms in Faerûn behind the scenes. Needless to say, these ambitious goals are achieving success only slowly.
Affiliated Orders: The church of the Shadowlord has no affiliated knightly orders. Members of the clergy who have pulled off a particularly daring heist or intricate piece of manipulation of people and events are often admitted (voted on by acclamation at a secret yearly meeting of members of the order) to the Circle of the Gray Ribbon. Many thieves. guilds (as well as individual thieves) throughout Faerûn have connections to the church and rely on it for medical and tactical support.
Priestly Vestments: Maskarran wear no badges of rank nor differing vestments, but all senior clergy members strive to purchase, have made, or (preferably) steal such useful items as slippers of spider climbing, teleport rings, rings of shadow (that generate darkness 15. radius at will of a sort that their wearers can see through), rings of invisibility, wands of viscid globs, ropes of entanglement, and protective garments enchanted to provide feather fall protection (as well as a wide array of enchanted weapons and armor).
Ceremonial Maskarran dress consists of tunics and trousers in a bright motley. The tunics sport ballooned sleeves and cuffs and bright embroidery, displaying wealth. The entire outfit is covered with a full-length, hooded gray cloak that can be drawn shut to hide the bright color beneath. A black cloth mask is worn beneath the hood. In some areas where Mask has fallen on particularly hard times, the gray cloak and mask only are worn as a symbol of the Shadowlord’s favor.
Inside a temple of Mask, the masks are of black gauze and do not conceal the identity of the wearer; in public, such masks are usually thick, black wool or heavy, double-thick silk and extend to cover most of the face in an effective disguise. (A bearded priest, for example, would have a mask that extended well down over the chin.) There is a saying that “the degree of law in a town can be seen on the face of a priest of Mask.”
Adventuring Garb: Priests of Mask are encouraged to hide their true nature and masquerade as other priests or commoners. Normal dress for clerics of Mask is similar to that of any merchant, craftsperson, or adventurer in the area or similar to that of any armored battle cleric or itinerant adventuring cleric of any faith. Specialty priests of Mask usually dress as thieves in leather or other light armor or assume the guise of typical peasants one might meet on any town’s or village’s streets.

The Beastlord, Lord of Beasts, the Black-Blooded Pard, the Ravaging Bear

Lesser Power of Tarterus, CE
PORTFOLIO: Hunters, marauding beasts and monsters, blood, bloodlust, evil lycanthropes, stalking
ALIASES: The Stalker (Vilhon Reach), Render (Endless Ice and Great Glacier), Blue Bear (Uthgardt barbarians), Herne (Orcs of the High Forest)
DOMAIN NAME: Colothys/The Land of the Hunt
SUPERIOR: Talos
ALLIES: Auril, Talos, Umberlee, Bane (now dead), Loviatar
FOES: Chauntea, Deneir, Eldath, Ilmater, Lurue the Unicorn, Nobanion, Silvanus, Sune, Gwaeron Windstrom, Shiallia, Uthgar
SYMBOL: A brown-furred, bestial claw with long, curving talons tipped with fresh red blood
WOR. ALIGN.: N, CN, LE, NE, CE
Malar (MAH-larr) is the god of the savage wild. Along with Umberlee and Auril, he is one of the Gods of Fury who revel in the kill or who hunt for sport or to excess, fallen rangers, sentient carnivores, and lycanthropes. Those who suffer the depredations of wild beasts attempt to placate the Beastlord with offerings of freshly killed and bloody meat, but Malar rarely recognizes their entreaties. In his more favorable aspects he is revered by beings who identify with the untamed nature, grace, and amorality of predators.
Malar achieves almost sensual fulfillment from the hunt and the kill. He revels in the fear radiated by the hunted and hungers for the blood of his prey. He speaks only in low growling undertone or vicious snarl. The Lord of Beasts despises the Balance sought by druids and their deities and seeks to overthrow it through the actions of his faithful. He manifests an avatar in Faerûn in an endless hunt across the Realms whenever the mood strikes him—which is almost constantly.
During the Time of Troubles, Malar stalked the length and breadth of Faerûn. He is known to have battled Nobanion in the Gulthmere Forest in a fierce conflict known as the Roar of Shadows. The Beastlord was driven north and west by the Lion God working in an alliance with the Emerald Enclave. When Malar appeared in the North, he was relentlessly pursued by Gwaeron Windstrom and could not shake the Master of Tracking from his trail. The Beastlord did challenge and defeat Herne, a corrupted incarnation of the Master of the Hunt brought to the Realms by an ancient wave of immigrants along with Oghma and other powers. Herne was venerated by the orcs of the High Forest, and Malar has since assumed his portfolio.
In the aftermath of the Time of Troubles, Malar has been weakened by the growing strength of Talos. As a result, he has been forced to seek new worshipers among the nonhuman tribes, and now numerous humanoids have begun to venerate the Beastlord as an adjunct to their traditional pantheons. Malar has also acquired additional human worshipers from the ranks of a few beast cults by slaying their totem spirits and assuming the animal spirits' portfolios as aspects of his own. One of the first beast totems to fall to his bloody talons was Blue Bear, an Uthgardt beast cult corrupted by pervasive contact with lower planar beings and venerated in other lands as Render, the Bear God.
Other Manifestations
Malar prefers to manifest as a cloud of darkness in which two large, red, feral eyes gleam. From this cloud may issue forth his voice, bestial roars or snarls, or (most often) deep, snarling laughter.
Malar may also manifest as, or change in one round to, a disembodied, animated furry beast limb (akin to that conjured up by the beast claw spell, described below) that can point, draw symbols or write in the air in letters of floating, blazing blood, carry or manipulate items, or fight (raking for 3d4 points of damage, striking twice per round at THAC0 -8, and having AC 0, MV Fl 21 (A), and 101 hp). An impossibly deep, bone-shaking snarl usually accompanies this latter manifestation.
Malar acts frequently through all sorts of predators, particularly bears, wild hunting cats of all sorts, displacer beasts, fang dragons, jackalweres, gargantua, leucrotta (greater and lesser), evil lycanthropes, owlbears, perytons, wolfweres, wolverines, aurumvorae, wolves, and even (very rarely) the tarrasque. He has been known to place appropriately seeded deepspawns in regions where predators and/or prey are scarce so as to ensure the hunt never ends.
The Church
CLERGY: Clerics, specialty priests, fighters, wizards
CLERGY'S ALIGN.: LE, NE, CE
TURN UNDEAD: C: No, SP: No, F: No, W: No
CMND. UNDEAD: C: Yes, SP: No, F: No, W: No
All clerics and specialty priests of Malar receive religion (Faerûnian) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency. Malar's clergy are required to take the hunting nonweapon proficiency, and animal lore and tracking are both highly recommended. Clerics of Malar are allowed to use daggers.
Malar is not a popular god with many devoted followers. Like Umberlee, he is invoked usually to prevent his intercession (usually heralded by wild beasts) as opposed to beseeching it. Groups devoted to following him are present, however, terrorizing civilized areas and surviving by poaching what they need.
Temples of Malar are simple affairs. Typically they are inwardly curving, fang-shaped stones arranged in a ring in shadowy forest glens. Many temples, particularly those located in more civilized settings where the activities of Malarites are viewed with loathing by the local populace, are built above extensive limestone caverns and accessed via a sinkhole in the circle's center. The twisting subterranean passages serve as hunting grounds through which ruthless Malarites stalk sentient prey (particularly humans and demihumans) captured from the surrounding region.
The church of Malar is loosely bound and without a central hierarchy. This makes it all the more difficult to counter or remove, for as soon as one den of Malarites is contained, another arises. The church organization is built around the concept of the hunt, and consists of local, independent cells or "Hunts." The leader and most powerful individual of each hunt is known as the Huntmaster, who may be a priest, warrior, wizard (very rarely), or shapechanging predator (such as a wolfwere or evil lycanthrope). If human, the Huntmaster can be identified by his or her headpiece: usually a bear, great cat, or other creature the leader has killed with his or her bare hands. The office of Huntmaster is won by challenge—a fight to the death if the incumbent does not resign—and the Huntmaster decides the locale, time, and prey to be stalked in the ceremonial hunts of the faithful.
Malarite priests are known as Lords of the Hunt or Huntlords (to distinguish them from lay followers, who are merely "of the Hunt"). No individual titles are used, except "Old Hunter" as an address of respect to senior clergy, but clergy members are often known by names such as Brother Stag or Sister Wolf in recognition of the most powerful beasts they have slain along with only their daggers, their bare hands, or claws of Malar. Specialty priests of Malar are known as talons.
Dogma: Survival of the fittest and winnowing of the weak are Malar's legacy. A brutal, bloody death has great meaning: "May you die an old man" is an insult among Malarites. The hunt is the fulcrum of life and death, and the focus point of life is the challenge between the hunter and the prey, the judgment of who may live or die. Malarites are expected to view every important task as a hunt and to remain ever alert and alive. They must walk the wilderness without trepidation, as Malar does, and must show no fear in the hunt. By being bold, they expect to win the day.
Malarite novices are charged as follows: "Savagery and strong emotions defeat reason and careful thought in all things. The strong must slay as frequently as possible and exult in the doing if they are to survive and achieve dominance of the pack that society truly is under the polite veneer it maintains. Taste the blood of those you slay and never kill from a distance. The glory and danger in the hunt should be told to all in grand tales. Work against woodcutters, farmers, and all fools who seek to cut back the forest and slay beasts because they are dangerous. Suffer no druid to live, for they believe not in survival of the strong, but in a weak-minded balance that allows the inferior to survive and often to rule. Slay not pregnant wild creatures, young wild creatures, or deepspawns so that dire beasts to hunt may always be plentiful."
Day-to-Day Activities: Priests of Malar indulge in hunting as often as possible and strive to route the hunt to make it as dangerous as possible, so that its finale (the killing of the quarry) takes place in a settled area (so that the Malarites can demonstrate their superiority, of course). Common folk who do not appreciate having desperate leucrotta, wolves, displacer beasts, and the like chased through town tend to hate and fear Malarite clergy members—which is the whole idea: Those who do not venerate the Lord of Beasts should respect him out of fear.
Malarite clergy members also preach the joys and the bountiful yields of the hunt and work to thwart the expansion of farms and settlements so as to preserve as much wilderness as possible. They work against the priesthoods of Chauntea, Deneir, Eldath, Silvanus, and Ilmater, staging raids and vandalism much as outlaws nad bored young noblemen indulge in.
Malarite clergy seek to slay druids of all faiths whenever possible, for they see the natural Balance that druids promote and maintain as the true foe of all who love to hunt. They believe it interferes with the rightful triumph of the strong over the weak. Consequently, druid organizations, those with druidic connections, and those sponsored even partially by nature deities (including the Harpers) also seek out and destroy Malarite strongholds at any opportunity.
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: Worship of Malar centers around the hunt and tends to consist of personal prayers to the Beastlord offered before the chase, during pursuit, and while drinking a toast over the slain quarry (sometimes a toast of the blood of the very animal killed). The droning Bloodsong is intoned over the bodies of all creatures slain during a hunt—and specific ritual prayers and chants should accompany feasting on any beast slain duringa hunt.
The only high rites of the faith are the Feast of the Stags and the High Hunts. The Feast is celebrated at Higharvestide, when Malarite clergy parade through settled areas bearing the heads of the beasts they have slain during the previous tenday (a frenzied orgy of killing) and lead all who desire to eat to a feast. The beasts hunted down by Malarite hands are the main dishes at this two-day-long revel of gluttony, and all folk are invited (even druids may come and dine in safety, protected by "the Peace of the Table"). At this feast, clergy publicly undertake to hunt throughout the winter ahead for the tables of specific widows, aged folk, infirm individuals, and orphan children. This day marks the annual high point of regard for the faith of Malar in most communities.
By Malar's command, every hunt (religious ceremony) of his worshipers must celebrate at least one High Hunt in each of the four seasons of the year. A High Hunt is a sporting event attended by all Malarite clergy members able to walk. They wear boots and headpieces made from the skulls or heads of beasts they have personally slain, and each wields only a single knife or the claws of Malar. Their quarry—a sentient humanoid, usually a human male—who is set free in a wooded area (or extensive cavern complex if necessary) ringed by Malarite clergy members. The quarry is armed and armored with all the nonmagical items he or she desires that can reasonably be obtained—and then hunted to death for the glory of Malar. However, if the prey escapes the boundaries of the hunt (set up at its beginning) within a day and a night or survives until the sun has cleared the horizon on the morning after the hunt begins, he or she wins freedom, can never be so hunted again, and can ask any boon of the Huntmaster that is within his or her power and does not involve killing a Malarite.
The prey is often a druid and cannot be a worshiper of Malar. (Huntmasters cannot use the High Hunt to eliminate potential rivals within the clergy.) When slain, victims of the hunt are wholly burned to ashes as a meal for Malar.
Major Centers of Worship: The Divine Den in Bezentil, where High Huntmaster Skith Tsornagar leads a congregation of 70 or so Malarite clergy members and twice as many lay worshipers who are avid hunters, is the center of Malar's faith in the Great Dale and all of Faerûn east of the Dragon Reach and north of Thay. The clergy members of the Divine Den mount many hunting expeditions to remote and perilous regions of Toril in pursuit of exotic prey. A dozen skilled smiths among them make the True Talons of the God (approved claws of Malar).
The Deep Hunting Grounds in Undermountain beneath Mt. Waterdeep is a powerful and rapidly growing temple located amidst a subterranean forest known as the Wyllowwood. Led by Benita Darkwind, the congregation of 60 or more priests and as many warriors, rogues, and lay worshipers is actively expanding its influence through the streets of Waterdeep.
Affiliated Orders: The church of Malar also includes lone priests unaffiliated with any particular hunt. These solitary women and men, known as Beastmasters, exhibit an amazing rapport bordering on telepathy with animals and other predators, and they are rumored to command fearsome powers resembling those of powerful druids. Beastmasters resemble savage beasts in disposition and lifestyle and exert control over most predators in large swaths of wilderness through the use of multiple, concurrent find companion spells. (Other clergy can only have one animal companion at a time.) Beastmasters only rarely call upon the aid of other Malarites in their territory, but when they do, few local Huntmasters defy their requests. There is a loose correlation between the geographic areas of influence of Beastmasters and circles of druids in the wild. Individual Beastmasters and their servitors contest in an endless cycle of violence with nearby druids.
Malar is also served by a few rare Beast Lords. These lone spellcasters breed unnatural monsters like bulettes, stegocentipedes, owlbears, perytons, and so forth. While most Beast Lords are human, a few are drawn from the ranks of other races such as illithids and beholders. One prominent nonhuman Beast Lord in the North is an illithilich, believed to be based in ruined Dekanter, who seeks to conquer part of the dark realms of the Underdark with an army of beasts.
Priestly Vestments: Huntmasters wear headpieces made from the pelt and head of the most impressive beast they have been able to slay with their bare hands (usually a bear or great cat, but sometimes an owlbear, leucrotta, or peryton). Malarites carry hunting horns as their belts and are never without at least three daggers (usually one sheathed in each boot, two in belt sheaths, one strapped to either forearm, and another hidden in a nape-of-the-neck sheath under the hair or in an armpit sheath). Woodland garb of red or brown is the favored dress for hunts. By day, red hunt clothing is often concealed by a woodcloak of mottled black, gray, and green. Necklaces of animal bones, fangs, and claws, and a variety of pelts are often worn in addition to normal hunt clothes when priests desire to impress.
Adventuring Garb: When adventuring, priests of Malar dress practically, but most favor armor constructed from the hides of living creatures that allows flexibility and rapid movement. Necklaces of claws and fangs and a variety of pelts from predator animals are often worn to quietly demonstrate a Malarite's hunting prowess to the members of a community.
Talons of Malar and Huntmasters are allowed to employ the weapons known as claws of Malar. Claws of Malar are metal weapons gripped in the fists that resemble brass knuckles studded with rows of sharp, jagged edges along the top like lion's claws. A priest must allocate a weapon proficiency for these weapons in order to use them. A priest trained in their use can strike once per round with each fist without disadvantage. Claws of Malar weight 1 pound total (a half pound each), have a speed factor of 2, are size S, and inflict 1d6 points of piercing and slashing (Type P/S) damage to size S or M targets or 1d4 points of damage to size L or larger targets.
Although crude local specimens of these weapons exist, the best True Talons of the God come from one source: the Divine Den in Bezentil, the most important temple to the Lord of Beasts in all Faerûn. Clawsfrom this source are blessed in the blood of beasts slain in the hunt, enchanted to never rust (even if touched by rust monsters or assaulted by spells that should make them rust), and bear tiny markings that allow the smiths who made them to identify each pair. Other individuals can try to use the claws, but a nonbeliever or a nonpriest of Malar suffers the wrath of the church if she or he does so, and said wrath translates the the Malarites hunting down and slaying the individual as a warning to others.

The Unicorn, the Unicorn Queen, the Queen of Talking Beasts and Intelligent Monsters

Demipower of the Prime Material Plane, CG
PORTFOLIO: Talking beasts and intelligent nonhumanoid creatures
ALIASES: Silverymoon, Lurae, Yathaghera the Winged Queen
DOMAIN NAME: Toril/Faerûn
SUPERIOR: Mielikki
ALLIES: Chauntea, Gwaeron Windstrom, Mielikki, Nobanion, Shiallia, Selûne, Silvanus
FOES: Malar
SYMBOL: Unicorn head against the background of a silver crescent moon or a white unicorn rampant against a silver crescent moon
WOR. ALIGN.: LG, NG, CG, LN, N, CN
Lurue (Luh-RUE) the Unicorn, also known as "Silverymoon," is the goddess of talking beasts and good intelligent monsters. She is venerated by many sentient beasts who have inherited or magically acquired the ability to speak human and demihuman languages. While some entire species, such as unicorns, pegasi, and talking owls, venerate her as Queen, many of her worshipers are outcasts from their own kind due to their unique abilities.
Worship of the Lion and the Unicorn, as Nobanion and Lurue are often called, is frequently lumped into the catch-all category of "beast cult." These two deities, however, differ from the tribal totem great spirits of the Uthgardt and the Ice Hunters of the North, as those spirits are not divinities in their own right, serving rather as conduits for the actions of Uthgar or Ulutiu, respectively. Lurue is a deity in her own right, and always has been to the knowledge of her faithful. However, her primary group of worshipers is not human, or even humanoid, and most of them do not maintain written histories or even many oral traditions. Their religion is a personal and direct faith, and until Lurue began attracting human worshipers, her nature and the ways of her religion went unattended, unrecorded, and essentially unnoticed.
Lurue is said to be the daughter of Selûne, Lady of Silver and goddess of the moon. Some say she is also related to one of the Earthmother's children, Kamerynn the Unicorn, of the Moonshae Isles. Travelers from other crystal spheres have attempted to link her to Eachthighern, a male deity of unicorns and pegasi who is not worshiped on Toril, but she reacts only with puzzlement to mention of his name and claims no relationship to him. Lurue is revered by the elves as Yathaghera, the Winged Queen, the nominal ruler of the pegasi and unicorns of Evermeet. Lurue serves as Mielikki's ally, friend, and steed when the Lady of Forests needs her services. Lurue and Nobanion have a long-standing alliance and deep friendship that has stood for many centuries. Lurue detests the dark deity Malar, and battles with his avatar or his servants at any opportunity. Some indications seem to show she is preparing a realm on Karasuthra in the Beastlands in the Outer Planes to be relatively close to Nobanion.
The Queen of Talking Beasts and Intelligence Creatures is often taken with wanderlust. She can be whimsical but is infinitely loyal once she takes someone into her trust, and she never abandons her worshipers in times of need. When faced with no other option but combat, Lurue is a dedicated and intractable foe, but she prefers light banter, clever riddles, new discoveries, and the joyous exploration of life.
Lurue's greatest sorrow is the existence of the black unicorns created by the Red Wizards of Thay. These malevolent creatures are the offspring of true unicorns tainted with the blood of feuds. Lurue blames Malar for secretly assisting the Red Wizards in their magical research, and she seeks a method of redeeming their corrupted souls.
Other Manifestations
Lurue often manifests at night as a silvery nimbus around Selûne visible to a few lucky individuals. Such individuals are said to receive Lurue's blessing, a +1 bonus on all saving throws until the following dawn.
The Unicorn Queen sometimes appears on the horizon as a ghostly silver unicorn leading the Silver Herd—12 unicorn stallions of maximum hit points—in a spirited run. If a devout worshiper of the Queen of Talking Beasts and Intelligent Creatures is under attack, the herd bears down on the attackers in a thunderous stampede led by their ghostly queen. This ghostly charge is usually enough to scare off most antagonists, but if not the unicorn stallions attack until their opponents are driven off. If any of the unicorn stallions is slain, he immediately evaporates into morning dew. If the entire Silver Herd is vanquished, Lurue's avatar calls the other nature deities to her aid, solidifies, and attacks without mercy.
Silverymoon is served by courage, hope, temperance, and wisdom minor incarnates, unicorns, faerie dragons, firestars, ki-rin, pegasi, pseudodragons, talking owls, giant lynxes, tressyms, and a wide variety of sentient, talking beasts. She is said to love flowers, from romantic white and red roses to simple daisies, and to have a persistent sweet tooth with a special fondness for mint and for honey wine.
The Church
CLERGY: Clerics, specialty priests, crusaders, mystics
CLERGY'S ALIGN.: NG, CG, CN
TURN UNDEAD: C: Yes, SP: No, Cru: No, Mys: No
CMND. UNDEAD: C: No, SP: No, Cru: No, Mys: No
All clerics, specialty priests, crusaders, and mystics of Lurue receive religion (Faerûnian), land-based riding (horses), and land-based riding (unicorns) as bonus nonweapon proficiencies. All of Lurue's priests must be female and may be human, half-elf, or elf.
Lurue is well-loved by the goodly races throughout the North and wherever else she is known. Sightings of any unicorn are considered lucky, and the appearance of the Unicorn Queen is a blessed event. Dour guardians of order and discipline view her as flightly and mischievous, but most sentient creatures admire her free spirit and unrestrained, rollicking joy.
Lurue is worshiped in sylvan glades and moonlit glens wherever unicorns tread. She has no temples dedicated in her name, choosing instead to be worshiped at sacred natural sites and holy groves. The banks of the Unicorn Run, the river which winds through the southern reaches of the High Forest, are representative of her holy sites. Unicorns are known to cavort and gambol along th Unicorn Run's banks, and they are an example of woodland nature in its purest and most unspoiled incarnation.
Priestesses of Lurue have no formal hierarchy of titles. Junior clergy are known as Sisters of the Moonlit Sky, and senior clergy are known as Sisters of the Silver Moon. Those priestesses lucky enough to have ever ridden a unicorn are forever after known as Ladycorns. The clergy comprises clerics, crusaders, mystics, and specialty priests, known as silvermaids. The breakdown of classes within the clergy is approximately 40%, 10%, 5%, and 45%, with little differentiation between the types in the respect they accord each other or their responsibilities.
Lurue has many beasts in her clergy as well. Most unicorns could be considered lay priests of Silverymoon, as might quite a few pegasi. Lurue grants any unicorn who worships her to cast one beneficial priestly spell of any sphere or level per day.
Dogma: The Unicorn is a symbol of hope, joy, salvation, and protection for the needy, forlorn, and forsaken. Life is to be relished and lived with laughter. Quests are to be taken on a dare and gifts are to be made on a whim. Impossible dreams are to be pursued for the sheer wonder of the possibility of their completion. Everyone, no matter how unique, is to be praised for their strengths and comforted in their weaknesses. Evil melts quickest in the face of a rapier wit and unshackled joy. Search for the unicorn and in the pursuit find happiness.
Day-to-Day Activities: Priestesses of Lurue spend their days providing aid and comfort to the needy, lending support to dreamers so that they can achieve their aspirations, and rescuing all who need aid from whatever assails them. Few stick to a single duty for any length of time, though they are very good about seeing a single particular task through to the end, and most are periodically struck with wanderlust. Many of Lurue's clergy are adventurers who travel about the Realms seeking wrongs to right and finding a good balance of merriment, new experiences, and self-improvement in such a profession.
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: Lurue's twin holy days are Midsummer's eve and the Feast of the Moon. The former holiday is celebrated in a night-long festival of revelry, wild antics, and much hullabaloo. Such events are marked by wild rides through the countryside and sky, numerous theatrical skits, humorous oratories, mock duels, grand songs in which everyone joins in, and romantic declarations. Many unicorns take a mate for life on this night.
The Feast of the Moon is a quiet ceremony marking the onset of winter and serving as a time for remembering those who have passed away and now "dance with the unicorns." Many great works of art and epic song are unveiled during th Feast of the Moon to quiet applause, particularly in the city of Silverymoon, which celebrates its founding on this day.
Major Centers of Worship: Lurue's worship is scattered throughout the North, but her namesake, the city of Silverymoon, serves as the spiritual heart of her faith. The city is built along the banks of the River Rauvin at a site sacred to both Lurue and Mielikki. According to legend, these shallows were the site where Mielikki first encountered Lurue ages ago. The Unicorn Queen appeared on a shaft of moonlight, the newly foaled child of Selûne, while the Lady of Forests was quenching her thirst. Mielikki befriended the unicorn filly and taught her to run through the forests of the North chasing the moon, but the site remained holy to Lurue. Thereafter Lurue was seen on occasion in the vicinity of the Silver Ford as a glowing unicorn whose appearance was considered lucky.
The pair of goddesses returned centuries later disguised as a female ranger and her steed. They fell in love with the Moonsilver Inn and Silverymoon Town, which had been built on the site, since the inhabitants chose not to plunder the forests and destroy, but rather build in harmony with the land. The goddesses blessed the inn with their power, promising safety to all who kept goodness in their hearts.
Today, Lurue has no specific shrine or glade within the city. Rather every copse in the city is considered sacred to Lurue, and her avatar has been spotted in nearly every coppice, at least according to legend. Lurue's priestesses in Silverymoon commonly worship the Unicorn Queen in Mielikki's Glade or the Silverglen, sacred to Silvanus, but they may be found throughout the city ministering to the less fortunate. Almost all of the city's inhabitants venerate the Unicorn Queen as the sacred protector of their city and all they hold dear about it.
Lurue occasionally appears in a sacred grove that can only be found at night, located in the hills northeast of Leilon. It is known as the Place of the Unicorn. Wizards of the Sword Coast believe that it lies in another dimension, reached only by a moongate (a magical gate that operates only in moonlight). The Place is sacred to the Unicorn Queen and consists of a stand of trees whose leaves are brilliant blue, surrounding a bluegrass meadow. Beings who rest therein are healed of all diseases, poisons, curses, and insanity; unicorns (only) are healed of physical damage. Beings who have no faith or are wavering in their beliefs often see Lurue herself in the trees, and their reaction may reshape their lives.
Affiliated Orders: The Knights of the Unicorn began as a romantic, whimsical group of high-born adventurers from Baldur's Gate who roamed across the Sword Coast North seeking excitement and adventure wherever they wandered. Relatively early in their career, the Knights explored the legendary elven castle of El'lahana Raikeil at the heart of the Moonwood. During their explorations, the band confronted and overcame a series of puzzles with aplomb seasoned with a dash of whimsy. As they overcame each riddle, the image of a silver unicorn shadowing their progress slowly solidified. When they reached their goal, the long lost Crown of Joy and Tears, the Knights each in turn placed it on their brows and found themselves cavorting with elves and unicorns along the banks of a silver stream. When all had partaken of the crown's delights, the band returned the crown to its setting and took their lave of the elven castle in search of new adventures.
As the company strode through the gates into the moonlight, the leader of the knights, Javalar Roaringhorn, declared, "May none again find the Crown of Joy and Tears unless they enter with the heart of a child and the laugh of a dryad or wish to regain that which they have lost." Enchanted by the sense of whimsy and romance displayed by the Knights, an avatar of Lurue appeared to the adventurers outside the castle accompanied by the Silver Herd. The Unicorn Queen and her noble retinue took the Knights for the most exhilarating ride of their lives the length and breadth of the Moonwood that night. After their encounter with Silverymoon, the Knights chose their now-legendary name and pledged themselves in the service of Lurue. The Unicorn Queen found favor with their laughter and has gifted them ever since with an unending series of adventures to be had and wrongs to be righted.
Shoftly after the Time of Troubles, the Knights had the opportunity to ferret out a group of bandits that operated along the Sword Coast. When the time came for the final assault on the bandit stronghold, the Knights gathered a small corps of mercenary infantry, including a number of rangers and rogues. After the successful raid, the Knights kept much of the band together (perhaps 50 people), most of whom worshiped or at least revered Lurue. The group operated as a mercenary company for a while doing good deeds, but eventually began to fragment as wanderlust, the desire to pursue individual goals, and the whimsical nature of the original Knights began to reassert itself. During an expedition into Shilmista, Forest of Shadows, the Knights caught sight of Lurue's avatar once again and gave chase. The Unicorn Queen led them on a merry ride for one enchanted eve until she vanisehd by racing up a shaft of moonlight. The winded Knights vowed to "chase the Unicorn until they could see the moonlight in her eyes."
Immediately thereafter, the senior knights reorganized the group into a loose collection of affiliated adventuring bands known as the Order of the Unicorn. Reaffirming their dedication to Lurue, each company of Knights wanders the realms "chasing the Unicorn." On the way, they right any wrongs they discover and spread the tale of the chase. Each company of Knights is led by one of the original members or their henchmen, and Knights shift from company to company as needed or desired. Companies of Knights have begun to extend the range of the original group and have been seen as far afield as Tethyr, Myth Drannor, and Starmantle. Senior members include Javalar Roaringhorn (CG hm F19), Iallanara Moondust (CG hf P[Lurue]18), Plomdar the Bombastic (CG hm Enc18), Balanta Whiteshield (CG hf F16), Ventar Halfhuman (CG hem R15), Penegala Sashenstar (NG hf B14), and Jolboss "Stoutguts" Twylar (CG hm F14, of impressive girth and pompous manner).
Priestly Vestments: When priestesses dedicate themselves to Lurue, their irises change color to a deep shade of blue or purple. Priestesses of Lurue garb themselves in simple white robes of cotton, linen, or silk woven with threads of pure silver, often in form of Lurue's symbol. Most wear their hair long and free, dyed silver or bleached white. (Some say this is not artifice, but another manifestation of their holy calling.)
Adventuring Garb: Lurue's clergy garb themselves in relatively light armor, typically gleaming silver chain mail (or elven chain mail, for those so lucky) and a shield polished mirror-bright, and wield a lance and a long sword when expecting combat. The Lady Knights of the Silver Moon, as they are often called, rival Silverymoon's fabled defenders in martial skill and argent luster.

Maiden of Pain, the Willing Whip, Patroness of Torturers

Lesser Power of Gehenna, LE
PORTFOLIO: Pain, hurt, agony, torment, suffering, torture
ALIASES: None
DOMAIN NAME: Mungoth/Ondrland
SUPERIOR: None (formerly Bhaal)
ALLIES: Malar, Bane (now dead), Bhaal (now dead)
FOES: Ilmater, Eldath, Talona, Lliira
SYMBOL: A black nine-stranded whip, the ends bloody and barbed, or (in elder days) a chalk-white, slim, female human left hand, fingertips downward, with three drops of blood dripping from each of them.
WOR. ALIGN.: LE, NE, CE
Loviatar (Loh-VEE-a-tar), one of the Dark Gods, appears in her religion's art as a pale maiden dressed in white, pleated armor and carrying a bone-white wand, a whip, or a scourge that she uses as a weapon against her foes. She is venerated by torturers, sadists, and other twisted and evil people and creatures, including some nonhumans who love to bully other nonhumans. While he lived, Loviatar served Bhaal along with Talona, though the two goddesses are heated rivals. Loviatar loves to torment and tease Talona and has more than once expressed the opinion that by all rights Talona ought to and eventually will serve her.
Loviatar is aggressive, domineering, and fearless. She has a cold and calculatingly cruel nature and is also almost unreachable emotionally-toward love, fear, or even hatred. It would have to be a miracle for any deity or moral to make a dent in her icebound heart. She has an instinct for inflicting both physical and psychological pain, and she always seems to know what to say and the way to say it to inflict the most hurt and raise the biggest self-doubts in someone, mortal or deity. And unlike most simple bullies, she does not fear pain or hurt herself and laughs at attempts to physically damage or verbally humiliate her. The only possible weakness one might use against her is her very calculating nature, which relies on her assumption of the innate selfishness of human nature-beings acting in a self-sacrificing or heroic manner can sometimes snarl her carefully knit plans.
Other Manifestations
Loviatar manifests either as a flying black whip that moves as her avatar does and has the same properties as the whips her avatar can create or as a floating, disembodied human female head that laughs maniacally as it flies about, platinum blond tresses streaming behind it. In either form, Loviatar can use her kiss ability, speak, write (with the top of the whip or as an animated lock of hair, in either case leaving behind letters written in black blood), or cast illusions.
Loviatar also acts through the appearance or presence of baatezu (exiles), imps, and tieflings (mages and warriors who are all cruel, veteral adventurers, and skilled torturers). More commonly she sends inquisitors, nightmares, hell hounds, black rats, black poisonous spiders, wolf spiders, jet, ivory, snowflake ivory, snowflake obsidian, webstone, black violets, and black and red poppies to show her favor and as a sign to inspire her faithful.
The Church
CLERGY: Clerics, specialty priests, monks, mystics
CLERGY'S ALIGN.: LE, NE, CE
TURN UNDEAD: C: No, SP: No, Mon: No, Mys: No
CMND. UNDEAD: C: Yes, SP: No, Mon: No, Mys: No
All clerics, specialty priests, monks, and mystics of Loviatar receive religion (Faerunian) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency.
Worship of Loviatar tends to be strongest in large, decadent cities such as Athkatla, Calimport, Mulmaster, Saerloon, Selgaunt, Telflamm, Waterdeep, and Westgate. Newcomers are often recruited from the ranks of the bored and wealthy or the desperately hungry beggars through large revels where much drugged wine is drunk and dancing and more intimate pursuits go on for several days and nights.
Priests of Loviatar are few in number, but widespread in power. Opponents tend to avoid them, since murder is the least that they will do in revenge again insults to their goddess. Women-both humans and half-elves-dominate the ranks of the priesthood both numerically and in rank and have alsways done so. Loviatar's tightly organized priesthood is composed primarily of clerics. Her specialty priests, called pains, operate as a separate arm of the faith, moving from place to place and ensuring that the goddess's will is carried out; they serve as the envoys and secret agents/inquisitors of the church. The clerics hold the pains in great regard, since they are often the tools of Loviatar's punishment. If an organized temple or shrine of Loviatar is present in a city, clerics make up the bulk of the organization, but one to three pains are also able to be called upon by the clerics. Mystics often are attached to small groups of pains, and monks, while living only with other monks in monasteries and abbeys, usually owe fealty also to the temple to which their abbey is hierarchically attached.
Priests of Loviatar are known as Loviatans (pronounced "Low-VEE-a-tans" and in old texts are sometimes referred to as Lovites (LOH-vites). They tend to be cruel and sadistic. They enjoy bestowing pain upon others (and receiving it) within a hierarchy of strict rules and discipline. Junior clergy members are often ordered to do tasks in a needlessly difficult or painful way to reinforce this iron discipline. Those who stay faithful usually develop truly awesome self-control, and in battle can carry on thinking and acting calmly even when dying from wounds or lacking limbs. They become very used to pain and are usually much scarred from self-inflicted injuries and hurts dealt by their superiors. To increase the agonies they receive and inflict, handfuls of salt are often rubbed in open wounds.
Loviatans always pray for battle spells before going out in public and are admonished to be alert. Although they boldly walk dark streets alone, their reputations sometimes land them in trouble with drunken sailors or dock workers or into ambushes from adherents of goodly faiths. Such attackers rapidly discover that most devotees of the Maiden of Pain are vicious in a fight. Since they do not fear pain or disfiguring wounds, they strike boldly where a more prudent combatant might withdraw. Some priestesses even go into taverns when bored or restless and deliberately start fights, though Loviatans rarely resort to such public methods of spreading mayhem in civilized areas for fear that they will be thwarted, slain, and the faith outlawed or adherants harassed in the future.
Novices or postulants to the Faith of Pain are known as Kneeling Ones. Confirmed priests used the titles (in ascending order): Taystren, Adept (in Pain), Sister/Brother (in Torment), Supremar, Caressor (of Terrors), Whiplass/Whiplar, Paingiver, Whipmistress/Whipmaster, High Whipmistress/Whipmaster, Branded (of the God), and Truescar. Words in parentheses in the precending list represent parts of the formal title seldom used except in rituals, disciplinary hearings, or documents. The last two titles are applied to all Loviatan clergy members who have served as the head of a temple, abbey, or monastery of the goddess or who have personally distinguished themselves in their service and taken up a life of wandering to further Loviatar's will and influence, often sponsoring or leading bands of "dark adventurers" to spread torment.
The church of Loviatar is currently relatively independent, though its members id other evil churches when it suits them. They particularly hate the church of Ilmater, which teaches that strength comes out of suffering, and the church of Eldath, which teaches of peace, the banishment of fear, and living in harmony with nature, since the specialty priests of these deities are resistant to Loviatar's pain-inflicting abilities.
Most Loviatan temples feature extensive dungeons beneath their above-ground facilities. The surface temples are usually built of stone or thick wood and resemble nothing so much as a combination monastic cell complex and prison. Even the windows of priest's rooms often sport bars.
Dogma: Loviatar teaches that the world is filled with pain and torment, and the best that one can do is suffer those blows that cannot be avoided and deal as much pain back to those who offend. They (chillingly) believe that true pleasure is only won through pain. In the Loviatan faith, the strong are those who taste pain and strive on.
Novices in the Loviatan faith are charged as follows: "Kindnesses are the best companions to hurts, and incrase the intensity of suffering. Let mercy of sudden abstinence from causing pain and of providing unlooked-for lealing come over you seldom, but at whim, so as to make folk hope and increase the Mystery of Loviatar's Mercy. Unswerving cruelty will turn all folk against you. Act alluring, and give pain and torment to those who enjoy it as well as to those who deserve it most or would be most hurt by it. The lash, fire, and cold are the three pains that never fail the devout. Spread my teachings whenever punishment is meted out. Pain tests all, but gives strength of spirit to the hardy and the true. There is no true punishment if the punisher knows no discipline. Wherever a whip is, there am I. Fear me-and yet long for me."
Day-to-Day Activities: As one of the Dark Gods, Loviatar likes to be feared, and her clergy members are ordered to whisper of her ever-present power in the darkness after they have inflicted pain. Their Prime Charge is to tirelessly cause suffering, both widespread and personal. This work may be as brutal as flogging an encountered band of orcs until they flee or as subtle as breaking hearts among young nobles by pretending to fall in love with the gallants (while disguising one's Loviatan faith), working to break up existing amours and friendships, and engaging in scandalous dalliances before coldly spurning the victims and departing. The activities of prudent worshipers of Loviatar should never be so high-profile that local authorities set out to imprison or thwart them upon first sight, but such activites should be energetic and numerous. Being a good actor-and of striking beauty, or experienced in using spells to appear so-are very useful traits for a Loviatan, but the most successful Loviatans are those who understand the ways and natures of folk and so know just how to cause them the most pain and to manipulate them toward that end.
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: The most basic ritual performed by Loviatans is a kneeling prayer at morning and at evening performed after striking oneself once with a whip. Other rituals of the faith center on consecrating wine, whips, holy symbols, and other items-both practical, such as potions of healing, and horrific, such as tortune implements-used by the devout and on celebrating advancement in priestly rank.
All four seasonal festivals are celebrated by Loviatans with the Rite of Pain and Purity: a circle dance of chanting, singing clergy members performed upon barbed wire, thorns, or broken glass or crystal, where the priests allowed themselves to be urged to greater efforts by the whips of high-level priests and are accompanied by the drumming of lay worshipers. A red radiance rises gradually and forms a flickering cloud above the ring. If Loviatar has important missions to speak of, is especially pleased with this group of followers, or wants to enact her displeasure, she manifests in the heart of the cloud. If Loviatar does not manifest, the ritual ends after half an hour, and the priests heal themselves.
Every twelfth night (unless such a night coincides with a Rite of Pain and Purity, which preempts it) the clergy members celebrate smaller Candle Rite wherein they sing, chant, and pray as they dance around lit candles, passing some parts of their bodies through or over their flames repeatedly until the rite ends with the highest-ranking priestess extinguishing her candle with consecrated wine.
Major Centers of Worship: Aside from in the nation of Dambrath, where the worship of Loviatar is the state religion and the queen of Dambrath, Yenandra, is its high priestess, the Black Spires of the Maiden temple in the Vale of Wailing Women west of Ishla in Amn is the largest, wealthiest, and most energetic center of worship to Loviatar, sending out agents all over Faerun and speaking with "the close love of the goddess." The House of Spires has risen to such prominence only in the last decade and so very rapidly because of one priestess: Queen of Torment Chalathra Nyndra, a dark-eyed, raven-haired, gaunt woman of truly vicious tastes and a legendary hunger to feel pain. It should be noted that Chalathra has found and modified an old draconic spell that acts to heal through immersion in a pool of a secret, enchanted mixture of tree saps and plant oils-and that creatures in cantact with this substance automatically make all System Shock and Resurrection Survival rolls if faced with situations requiring them while largely immersed. Loviatans will hunt down-to the ends of Faerun and beyond-and slay anyone stealing any samples of this "Milk of the Maiden."
Affiliated Orders: The Loviatan church has no affiliated knightly orders. Monks of the faith all belong to the Disciples of the White Rod, named in honor of the token granted to their founder by Loviatar and held in the home abbey near Calimport as a relic. Mystics follow an eccentric philosophy/order that they call the Way of Transcendence. When asked what their order's tenets are, they just smile knowingly.
Priestly Vestments: Loviatans of both genders wear high black boots, black choker gorgets, and long black gloves that reach up to their shoulders. They also wear daring-looking leather body harnesses over or under side-slit ritual robes of icy white or black lined with scarlet silk (so that movements cause red flashes).
Loviatans are usually armed with saw-edged daggers and whips. A typical priest of low rank has a dagger at her belt, another in one boot, and a barbed whip with a 6-foot reach that lashes for 1d6+1 points of damage. A priestess of "full" (medium) rank adds to this gear a barbed cat-o'-nine-tails with a 4-foot reach that flails for 2d4 points of damage, and perhaps a black metal mace with skin-contact sleep venom in its holly handle, so that its first strike releases the venom, causing the next six blows to force saving throws vs. poison on a victim. (Failure of this saving throw means falling asleep for 1d8+3 turns commencing in 1d4+1 rounds, and slapping or downsing the sleeper in cold water does not awaken him or her.)
High-ranking priestesses are usually also equipped with several iron bands of Bilarro spheres at their belts, and afew also carry a wand of frost, fire, and fear. This rechargable magical weapon is a cat-o'-nine-tails with a 4-foot reach made of electrum tentacles attached to a steel shaft. Every strike from it drains 1 charge and deals out magical damage, as follows (roll 1d10): On a roll of 1, 4, or 7, the target takes 3d6 points of frost damage; on a roll of 2, 5, or 8, the victim is burned for 3d6 points of damage; on a roll of 3, 6, or 9, the victim is affected as if by a wand of fear; and on a roll of 10, two tentacles (determine their powers randomly) act on the victim, both dealing their usual damage (reroll any second roll of 10). Saving throws vs. spell are allowed against the whip's fear power, but not against its other two types of attack.
Adventuring Garb: Priests and priestesses of Loviatar wear a pleated armor that resembles scale mail. However, the ceremonial garb is lightweight and designed for fashion rather than protection. It is constructed to emphasize the figure of the wearer rather than to provide true protection. The AC of ceremonial scale mail is 6 instead of 4. Loviatar's priests wear it is a badge of honor and pride.
The pleated mail is often augmented by breastplates that bristle with spikes. From a wearer of such augmented armor, a firm hug (the Embrace of Loviatar) does 1d2 points of damage. The addition of the breastplate adds somewhat to the protection provided by the armor, raising the outfit's Armor Class to 5.
Loviatar grants boons, in the form of white wands, to those who have caused widespread suffering. She usually grants these boons to members of her priesthood who have served her outstandingly. However, she has been known to grant white wants to individuals outside her faith who have, willingly or not, caused widespread suffering. She prefers to grant them to those who have unwillingly or unknowingly done so, in particular good and lawful types who will be tormented just knowing that they have advanced her cause. (Loviatar delights in tormenting good or lawful beings with these "gifts"; in such cases, the wand emits her cold laughter whenever it operates.) Loviatar's white wands appear mysteriously, but their origin and purpose are mentally communicated to the beings they are intended for upon first contact. (If any other creature but the one it is intended for touches a white wand, it melts away like ice in the hot sun.) A white wand absorbs 1d10 levels of spells launched against the wand-bearer before being used up. It operates automatically to completely absorb such spells. When a white wand's capacity is exceeded, it dissolves-but it does wholly negate any last magic that overloads it, even if the spell greatly exceeds the level-absorption capacity remaining in the wand.