Hoar

Hoar is the Astoran god of retribution, revenge, and poetic justice. The Doombringer spent some time as an exarch of Bane and is invoked by those who would have an eye for an eye.

Description

Hoar's favorite avatar appeared as a tall (either 6.5 feet (2 meters) or 10 feet (3 meters) tall) dark, gaunt man wearing a pair of gold bracers and the clothes of a noble or rich merchant, typically of Unther but sometimes of Chessenta or west Faerûn. He had jet black eyes and dark hair shaped into long, ringleted strands and a pointed goatee.

The Doombringer usually seemed tired and battered, with several poorly healed, serious cuts across his body, a dry, hollow chuckle, and an overall haunted appearance. Manifestations

Hoar's favorite manifestation were three deep rolls of thunder that echoed across the skies, often punctuating fitting punishment dispersed upon a guilty individual. Another common manifestation was a ghostly hand that presented itself only to the guilty party as it delivered its ironic punishment.

The Doombringer's good will could be discerned through appearance of red-colored gemstones shaped as a tear, while Hoar's fury was communicated via discovery of pulverized Laeral's tears. His servants were various aerial servants, invisible stalkers, cursts, feyrs, harrlas, haunts, justice incarnates, keres, living steels, revenants, lhiannan shee, and maruts.

Hoar's avatar wielded a massive enchanted +3 broadsword – Hand of Retribution, and carried an endless quiver of immensely powerful magic javelins of lightning on his back.

Personality

Hoar is a god prone to violence, mood swings, and has a penchant for bitter humor. He has a morbid fascination with doomed mortals and seeks to unleash misfortune on those who deserve it.

Divine Realm

In the Great Wheel cosmology, Hoar holds his Doomcourt, as his divine realm is known, on the lawful plane of Mechanus. His realm is tastefully decorated with heads of mortals on the pikes that give it the atmosphere of crushing despair and crawling horror. The Court itself is an elegant building of frosted cold marble with spacious halls that produce intimidating echo.

Following the cosmic chaos of the Spellplague, Hoar becomes an exarch of Bane, relocating his realm to Banehold.

Worshippers

Hoar's worshipers rarely held official sermons and participated in organized worship. The god's name appeared on the lips of those seeking vengeance. Hoar's hand was said to be responsible for unlucky accidents that took lives of wrongdoers.

If one wanted to seek vengeance on another by praying to Hoar, it was believed that writing prayers down made them more likely to be answered. To ensure a long-lasting reach for prayers, some vengeance seekers carved them into items made of lead. These were then buried to keep others from knowing about them.

In the lands around the Sea of Fallen Stars, Hoar was worshiped as Assuran, a deity of revenge, While in North Faerûn, Hoar was seen as the deity of poetic justice.

Besides those seeking justice, Hoar was worshiped by bounty hunters and some assassins. Prayers to the Hurler of Thunders were uttered before operations. The most devout among his worshipers tried to emulate Hoar by killing or capturing the marks in an ironic style. Some pirates of the Sea of Fallen Stars who survived unfair struggles of life came to worship Assuran. Non-Human Worshipers

Among other deities, Hoar was an appealing god for githyanki renegades found in the Realmspace, who did not sway too much to extremes of good nor evil. Fey wild hunters were creatures who sought to exact vengeance on behalf of fellow fey. They venerated both Hoar and Silvanus. Half-orcs were among less exotic non-humans who often turned to the worship of Hoar.

Temples

Temples to Hoar were rare and usually found in antique parts of Chessenta and Unther. By the late-15th century DR, smaller shrines of Hoar spread further north. One such shrine could be found in Baldur's Gate. Another well-maintained shrine to the deity could be found on Dragonisle in the Sea of Fallen Stars. Some of the other notable places of worship found in north and south Faerûn were:

Amphitheater of the First Thunder, a coliseum temple in Mourktar where the accused and accusers clashed in gladiatorial battles. Hidden Hand of Fate, a temple in the Arch Wood that saw growth in worshipers following the Time of Troubles. Temple of Hoar in Bezantur, the City of a Thousand Temples, was the main place of worship of Doombringer in Thay. Thunderous Hand of Vengeance, a loyalist temple in Akanax that sought to claim the leadership of the faith.

Rituals

The worshipers of Hoar were encouraged to celebrate vengeance and punishments on a personal level. There were only two festivals holy to the Doombringer: the Penultimate Thunder and the Impending Doom. The Penultimate Thunder celebrated Hoar's triumph over Ramman, on Eleint 11, with lavish feasts. The Impending Doom was a ceremony honoring future justice, celebrated on Marpenoth 11. The observance of the holiday lasted for an entire day, filled with ceremonies of oaths, exhausting acts of purification, all performed to the music of rumbling drums.

Relationships

Hoar's bitter rivals were Untheric gods Anhur and Ramman, both at one point banished Hoar from the region. Centuries later, Ramman was killed by Hoar's avatar.

The human deities Beshaba and Bhaal were among few allies of the Hurler of Thunders. In other pantheons, Hoar was allied with the drow goddess of necromancy, Kiaransalee, the god Shevarash who embodied elven hate for the drow,

As a deity whose domains included a very specific type of luck, Hoar's relationship with Tymora was complicated. At times, Hoar attempted to flatter and charm the goddess to bless him with better luck, yet occasionally treated her as an enemy. Tymora's sister Beshaba was an ally, and Hoar sought her aid when cursing mortals with ill fortune.

Both Tyr and Shar tried to influence Hoar. The Dark Goddess pushed him to become more like his "Doombringer" persona and be her servant of bitter vengeance at all costs. The Maimed God cajoled him to embrace the humor and irony of life and bring poetic and satisfying justice to those with a sad view of fate. But Hoar rebuffed them and dallied with Beshaba instead, working with Lady Doom to spread misfortune to those that did not honor them.

History

Hoar's recorded origins stated that he was worshiped in the ancient Unther, where he was known as Assuran in the nations of the eastern Inner Sea. Many centuries before the Godswar, Hoar battled Ramman, the god of war of the Untheric pantheon. The battle of divinities was ruinous for Hoar as he and his devotees were pushed out of Unther by Ramman. Following the banishment, Ao allowed Hoar to gain power in Faerûn in exchange for giving Mystra influence in Unther.

Despite losing a majority of his worshipers in Unther, the cult of the Doombringer remained active in Unther, Chessenta, and the cities of Akanax and Mourktar. However, Assuran was no longer worshiped as part of the Untheric pantheon. With time, even the cult of the Doombringer lost worshipers to Anhur, the Mulhorandi god of war, introduced to Unther by Chessentan mercenaries.

In the Year of Shadows, 1358 DR, during the Time of Troubles, the deities of Unther and Mulhorand were greatly reduced in power as they stalked the Old Empires. The god-king avatars attempted to increase their divine powers by absorbing powers vested in their mortal incarnations; however, that plan failed. In Akanax, Hoar took the body of King Hippartes as his avatar. Then he appeared in Thay to obtain a cache of weapons, where the avatar that held Hoar's essence became a target for a power-hungry Red Wizard of Thay known as the Masked One. The ambitious wizard saw an opportunity to claim powers of a weakened deity, but with the aid of Overgod Ao and Elminster, the Masked One's hunt was unsuccessful. As King Hippartes, Hoar led mercenary companies of Akanax against the cities of Cimbar, Soorenar, and Luthcheq. His armies reignited old conflicts and grievances, plunging Chessenta into a series of long-winded armed conflicts that culminated in a forged alliance between Akanax and its old rivals – Cimbar, Soorenar, and Luthcheq. After this, Hoar led his armies to Unther, targeting the Church of Ramman. The Doombringer and Ramman faced off in an epic battle. Hoar exercised his love for poetic justice as he weaved a spell that turned Ramman's own lightning against him, slaying the ancient rival. However, Anhur swooped in and was gifted Ramman's portfolio by the dying avatar before Hoar could gain control. Empowered, Anhur led Mulhorandi armies against Hoar's Chessentan mercenaries, repelling them from Unther and swaying many of Hoar's worshipers to his side in the process. The Doombringer lost his place in the nation of Unther once again.

As the gods returned to the planes and the Time of Troubles came to an end, Hoar withdrew from the Realms. His church was slowly growing throughout the Heartlands. As of the Year of the Banner, 1368 DR, Hoar's thunder has not been heard for a decade, and theories of the deity being dead started appearing. In reality, Hoar's divinity was reduced to that of a demipower, and he retreated to plot revenge against Anhur.

By the 1370s DR, Mulhorand took control of the two-thirds of Unther while faith in Hoar was lit anew with zealot passion. Along with Hoar, zealots of Tiamat, Anhur, Selûne, and Horus-Re all fought for religious dominance. While Hoarites waged vengeful war against Untheri and Mulhorandi enemies, Hoar himself was searching for a worthy emissary in Unther to guide the faith to its former glory. Hoar enjoyed the poetic justice of taking back territory from his long-slain opponent, even if it took him centuries to accomplish.

With Tyr's death, Bane recruited Hoar as an exarch, causing Hoar to take on a more cruel persona.

Following the Second Sundering, Hoar shifted back to his more neutral outlook. He became something of a counterpoint to Tyr—concerned with punishing those who would break the law, whereas Tyr focused more on his role as an arbiter.

Hoar

Demigod

Basic Information

Titles

The Doombringer
God of Revenge
Lord of Three Thunders
Hurler of Thunders
Poet of Justice

Adjectives

Hoarite

Pantheons

Astoran
Untheric

Serves

Bane

Attributes

Alignment

Lawful Neutral

Symbol

Black-gloved hand holding a coin with a two-faced head
A coin with a two-faced head

Realm

Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus/Doomcourt

Portfolio

Poetic Justice, Retribution

Favored Weapon

Retribution's Sting (javelin of lightning)

Following

Worshippers

Assassins
Fighters
Rogues
Seekers of retribution

Alignments

LG, LN, LE

Domains

Destruction (Hatred)
Luck (Curse, Fate)

Favored Aspects

Monsters

Aerial servants
Invisible stalkers
Cursts
Eyrs
Harrlas
Haunts
Justice incarnates
Keres
Living steels
Revenants
Lhiannan shee
Maruts

Minerals

Red tear-shaped gems

Manifest- ations

Three strikes of thunder, ghostly hand