Amaunator

Также известен как: Хранитель Вечного Солнца, Хранитель Желтого Солнца, Хранитель Закона, Латандер, Желтый Бог
Уровень силы: Высшее божество
Мировоззрение: Законопослушно-доброе
Любимое оружие: "Скипетр вечного солнца" (булава)
Родной план: Вечное Солнце. Раньше: Дом Природы, Механус
Сфера влияния: Солнце
Портфолио: Бюрократия, контракты, закон, порядок, правление
Домены: Цивилизация, Правосудие, Солнце. Раньше: Закон, Благородство, Планирование, Время
Верующие: Политики, волшебники, жители Верхнего Нетерила
Мировоззрения верующих: LG, NG, CG, LN, N, LE

Амонатор - нетерезское доброе божество Порядка, Солнца, Закона и Времени. Считался суровым, но справедливым божеством; его почитали многие правители, солдаты и могущественные волшебники. К году Вечного, ему поклонялись и как под именем Амонатора, так и под именем Латандера.

  

История

Когда Нетерил пал, большинство простых людей, которым удалось выжить в результате падения анклава, отказались от Амонатора, полагая, что он не сделал ничего, чтобы предотвратить катастрофу. Его последователи были правы, но согласно договору, руки его были связаны. Магия во всех своих формах находилась под абсолютным контролем Мистрил, и у Амонатора не было законного права вмешиваться, даже тогда, когда волшебные катастрофы, вроде падения Нетерила, находились в самом разгаре.
На протяжении веков поздними религиозными последователями было выдвинуто много теорий о том, какая судьба в итоге постигла Амонатора. Некоторые утверждают, что он умер, другие (в частности, Солнечные мастера Братства Прославленного Солнца) - что он переродился в Латандера. Третьи считают, что он выжил в лице мстительного бога бединов, известного как Ат’ар Безжалостный, а четвёртые - что он отвернулся от Фаэруна и вошел в пантеон земель Кара-Тур, или просто ушёл на другие планеты (например, Оерс). Правда в том, что с потерей почти всех своих последователей после падения Нетерила, для Амонатора начался долгий, тяжёлый и болезненный процесс смерти в забвении. Спустя тысячелетие у него уже не было достаточно сил, чтобы сохранить своё влияние на Материальных Планах, из-за чего он оказался изгнан на Астральный План. В какой-то момент Амонатор снова появился в пантеоне Фаэруна, на этот раз в образе великого божества Латандера. Он набрался сил и обрёл союзников, вновь став доминирующим богом солнца в Фаэруне. Мудрецы начали предсказывать столкновения между Латандером и богом солнца Малхоранди – Гором-Ре (имеется ввиду слияние Фаэрунского и Малхорандского пантеонов), но подобная битва никогда не состоится (даже если бы пантеоны успели смешаться и слиться до наступления Магической Чумы, борьба всё равно не состоялась бы: Латандер симпотизирует Гор-Ре).
В годы перед катастрофической Магической Чумой высокопоставленные клерики и паладины Латандера стали получать сообщения о таинственном явлении под названием "Освобождение", которое подтолкнуло их начать агрессивную кампанию вербовки.
Другим важным событием стал день, когда солнечный мастер Дэйлигос Омдейра стал верховным жрецом Храма Морн. В середине лета 1374 ЛД он совершил чудо, создав второе солнце над городом Элверсульт, которое никогда не заходит, его видно с расстояния 150 километров. Новообращенные толпами стекались в город, пока церковь Латандера размышляла о том, что делать. Латандер раскрыл себя как Амонатора в Год Голубого Огня, сразу после Магической Чумы.

Внешность

Когда он не исполняет роль Латандера, Амонатор выглядит как долговязый человек с серебристо-белыми волосами, с недельной белой щетиной, и кожей, которая светится тихим золотым сиянием. Он несёт Скипетр Вечного Солнца в одной руке и большой юридический том в другой, носит одежды судьи: длинные черные или фиолетовые платья, отделанные серебром или золотом. Находящиеся рядом с ним чувствуют исходящую мощь истинного правопорядка.

Личность

Амонатор - осторожное и педантичное божество, которое следит, чтобы каждое соглашение было записано, контракты подписаны и пропечатаны в присутствии свидетелей. Строгий приверженец порядка, он следует букве закона, но не обязательно его духу (только если дух ему гораздо больше по душе). Того же он ожидает от своих последователей. Амонатора почитают и как хранителя времени. Это искусственное "дополнение" к его обязанностям связано с грамматической ошибкой в договоре между ним и другим божеством, в котором говорится: "... за все время Амонатор несет ответственность, любое неправильное представление фактов совершенное им или его последователями, падет виной на Амонатора... ". Эта незаметная путаница в запятых и точках привела к тому, что Амонатор считал себя свладыкой "всех времен". К счастью, он никогда официально не выступал в этой роли, потому как не хотел.

Прихожане

Члены церкви Амонатора это влиятельные политические фигуры на высших правящих должностях Нетерила. Духовенство Амонатора было чрезвычайно иерархическим и подчинено строгим правилам. Каждый Справедливый Властелин (верховный жрец храма, который называется «Суд») курировал все аспекты церковных функций. Никто не может исполнять или оставлять свои обязанности без согласия Справедливого Властелина или одного из его семи Монастырских Настоятелей. В подчинении у каждого из семи Монастырских Настоятелей было еще семь Высших Юристов (священников), которые служили, безжалостно выполняя все обязанности, которые на них возлагались. Духовенство нижних рангов служило под началом Высших Юристов, они именовались (в порядке убывания): Юристы, Высшие Магистраты, Магистраты, Защитники Закона, Львы Порядка, Сияющие Служащие и Клерки. В церкви Амонатора была элитная секта священнослужителей и святых воинов, называемая Мастера Солнца, которая сейчас представляет собой ответвление церкви Латандера, известное как Братство Великолепного Солнца.

Все члены духовенства должны выучить, понять и знать, как извлечь выгоду из (использования) законов страны, города или провинции, в которых они живут. Для того, чтобы полностью понять нюансы закона и законодательной власти, духовенства непрестанно тренируются друг с другом, занимаются юридической практикой, когда это возможно, и применяют законы на практике во время судебных заседаний. Они принимают участие в расследованиях на местах преступлений и в создании новых законов в их местности, делают это с большим энтузиазмом и рвением. Амонатори часто служат в суде в качестве судей, представляют дела, выслушивают законные аргументы и споры. Они получают хорошие деньги за урегулирование торговых споров по договорам, соглашениям и другим способам по ведению торговой практики, создают комфортные условия жизни для себя и своей церкви, выступая в качестве арбитров всех видов коммерческих и личных претензий, которые не заслуживают внимания деятелей власти в высшей инстанции.
Церковь Латандера не обошлась без выдающихся ересей, в том числе Ереси Взошедшего Солнца и Ереси Треликого Солнца. Обе организации сосредоточились на том, чтобы вернуть Амонатора, и первая из них позже доказала правду, когда Амонатор вернулся.

Ордены

Братство Солнца Этот орден был объединением странствующих монахов, которые верой служили в своих областях, неся слова утешения Амонатора крестьянам и простым людям, и сохраняли порядок на всей территории страны. Хотя Братство пережило падение Нетерила и смерть Амонатора, оно никогда не объединилось вокруг собственного преемника. Вместо этого, каждый монастырь выбрал себе иное божество для прислуживания, и большинство, в конечном счете, примкнули к Латандеру или Селунэ, но некоторые выбрали Сьюни. К Эпохе Человечества Братство Солнца стало больше известно как Орден Души Солнца, а изначально объединенные с церковью Амонатора группы были забыты. В то время орден признавал и мужчин, и женщин, но сохранял свою природу странствий и традиционное направление служения народу Торила.
Братство Великолепного Солнца Этот орден был группой священников, которые считали, что Амонатор тайно воплотился в Латандера в Эпоху Потрясений. Божественные заклинатели в ордене, которые сумели обрести изначальный священный символ Амонатора, получили возможность стать солнечными мастерами, а также приобрели много полезных способностей, связанных с солнечным светом.


Астрономия
Пояс Амонатора - это созвездие, которые появляется в небе над Хребтом Мира в течение лета. Это упоминалось в древнем тексте Мистрил, описывающем расположение ворот времени.

The Known History of Amaunator, the Yellow God

Amaunator first appears in recorded history as one of the deities of the Netherese pantheon. Known as the Yellow God and the Keeper of Law, Amaunator was a powerful deity of law, order, and the sun, and his priests were important political figures in Netherese society. However, when Netheril fell after Karsus’s Folly, Amaunator’s surviving worshipers turned their backs on him, believing he did nothing to stop the disasters affecting their civilization. His followers were right, but contractually, his hands were tied. Magic in all forms was under exclusive control of Mystryl, and Amaunator had no lawful right to interfere in any way, even in the magical catastrophe that ensued after Karsus’s folly.
Over the centuries, many theories have been put forward by later scholars as to what fate Amaunator met. Some believe he was either absorbed into or became Lathander, others that he turned bitter and became At'ar, and yet others assert that he turned his back on Faerun and entered the pantheon of the lands of Kara-Tur or simply moved on to other crystal spheres. The truth is that with the loss of nearly all his followers in Netheril after its fall, Amaunator began the long, arduous, and painful process of dying of neglect.
During this time of Amaunator's decline, the first records of the faith of Lathander appear – a faith rising among the Netherese survivors that sought refuge in other lands. While Amaunator’s power declined, Lathander’s rose, and a sect of Amaunator’s followers began to believe that Lathander was the reincarnated form of Amaunator. This sect called themselves the Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun, and they eventually became recognized as one of Lathander’s main knightly orders.
Theory: As Amaunator declined, he turned bitter against his once faithful that abandoned him. He cursed the land his priests had once attended, and the sun directly over it began to glare with a hateful intensity. Already drained by the phaerimm’s magic, the southern part of Netheril became a searingly hot desert.
After about a millennium of decline, Amaunator eventually did not have enough power left to maintain the Keep of the Eternal Sun on Mechanus, and he was ruthlessly exiled to the Astral Plane. His corpse drifted there with the endless astral tides, awaiting a day when some ambitious spirit might help him regain his once-proud heritage.
Many centuries later, during the Era of Upheaval, the ambitious spirit Amaunator needed came in the form of Sunlord Daelegoth Orndeir, a Lathanderite priest and fire genasi of Elversult who could trace his lineage back to a Netherese priest of Amaunator. Daelegoth had come to be a member of the Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun, which had maintained that Lathander was the reborn Amaunator for centuries. By the early 1370s, Daelegoth had become one of the most powerful clerics in Faerûn (achieving 25th level), while also having become the archbishop of Lathander in the Dragon Coast. The cleric eventually came to the understanding that not only was Lathander the reborn Amaunator, but that the two guises existed in a cycle – a cycle soon about to culminate in the return of Amaunator. This belief in an imminent return led him to become the leader of a movement that was then known within Lathander’s clergy as the Risen Sun heresy.
In 1374 DR, Daelegoth successfully asked for divine help from what he claimed to be Amaunator/Lathander in diverting the floods of the High Ice from Elversult, and subsequently became known as a worker of miracles, winning his movement many new followers. Daelegoth began to preach that he had seen a vision of an eternal sun rising high above the land that would herald the rebirth of Amaunator, and ultimately he perfected a powerful spell that brought this vision to reality. His eternal sun still hangs over the city of Elversult today*. Word of “Amaunator’s eternal sun” spread quickly across Faerûn, and would-be converts began turning up at the doors of Lathanderite temples across the continent, seeking to convert to the faith of Amaunator. Throughout this entire period, the Lathanderite clergy never condemned Daelegoth, waiting for some sun from their god about the truth of the heresy – but Lathander never showed any sign of approval or disapproval of the new sect. It is unknown to this day if Amaunator had somehow managed to send a message and some power to Daelegoth, or if he achieved these deeds using only the divine power of Lathander. If the former, he may have been aided by his recovery of an ancient artifact of Amaunator known as the Shard of the Sun.

Only a little over a decade later, in 1385 DR, the Spellplague erupted through the cosmos with the death of Mystra at the hands of Cyric. Lathander, together with Tyr and Sune, acted to imprison Cyric within his home plane for a thousand years. Whether or not this act, together with the decline of Lathander’s faith on Toril, had resulted in Lathander becoming weakened and more vulnerable to attack is unknown. Whatever the case, soon afterwards Lathander disappeared. At the same time, Amaunator appeared in a new plane known as the Eternal Sun, taking Lathander’s place. Amaunator’s clergy continued preaching that he and Lathander were but different guises for the same deity, and with Lathander silent, his faith died away while Amaunator’s rose in power. Amaunator thus inherited Lathander’s position in the Faerûnian pantheon, becoming a greater power once more, just as he was in the days of ancient Netheril. Over the following century, many temples that once served Lathander were converted to temples of Amaunator, and his clergy rose dramatically in power. As far as most of Toril was concerned, what had once been called the Risen Sun heresy had been revealed to be the truth.
This new truth lasted for a hundred years. Then, during the Sundering, Lathander suddenly began to answer the prayers of his faithful once more. This was much to the surprise of Amaunator’s clergy, who had preached for over a century that the two deities were but one. By 1489 DR, the Era of Upheaval had come to an end, and both deities appeared to be active on Toril. However, the nature of the relationship between the two deities remains unclear, as does where they reside in the planes. Some suspect that Amaunator had bound Lathander away by force, and it was only Ao’s changing of the rules and the reshaping of the planes during the Sundering that freed him.

Theory

With both deities now present in the Faerûnian pantheon, many expect a confrontation between their clergies - especially as the faithful of Lathander are expected to try and reclaim their old temples from the Amaunatori. Amaunator’s attention may be divided however – some suspect he is behind the return of the searingly hot desert sands of the southern Anauroch.

A note on At'ar the Merciless

The Bedine tribesmen of Anauroch have no priests, but they respect and fear a version of Amaunator they call At’ar the Merciless, the Yellow Goddess. Chief amongst the deities of the Bedine and symbolizing the heat of the desert sun, At'ar is seen as a spiteful and faithless woman whose fury in the full day strikes fear into the bravest hearts. She is a harlot who betrays her lawful husband Kozah every day to steep with N'asr, god of night and the dead. However, At’ar does not exist – she is but a myth derived from tales that the migrant ancestors of the nomadic Bedine were told by the survivors of the fall of Netheril.
Sources Faiths and Avatars, Anauroch, 2e FRCS, Netheril: Empire of Magic, Grand History of the Realms, Lost Empires of Faerun, Player's Guide to Faerun, Power of Faerun, Races of Faerun, 4e FRCG, 4e FR Player's Guide, Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, the Crystal Mountain, Blackstaff Tower, The Companions, The Godborn, The Reaver, WotC "Lore You Should Know" podcast
*The "eternal sun" still being there is a theory - Elversult, as far as I'm aware, hasn't been detailed since 3e. Note that it is not the same as Elturel's "Companion", also known colloquially as "Amaunator's Gift", which appeared around the 1440s - no one actually knows how the Companion came to be, and which deity was involved, if any.

AMAUNATOR

LAWFUL NEUTRAL
Other Names or Titles: The Keeper of Law, The Keeper of the Eternal Sun, The Keeper of the Yellow Sun, The Light of Law, The Yellow God, The Keeper of Time
Symbol: A golden Sun (optionally with a face on the solar disk)
Divine Portfolio: Bureaucracy, contracts, law, order, the Sun, time
Divine Residence:Tao d’Evorda, Mechanus
Divine Allies: Jergal, Horus-Re, Kossuth, Lathander, Labelas Enoreth, Mystra, Tyr
Divine Enemies: Cyric, Mask, Shar, Talos Exarchs: At’ar, Siamorphe
Amaunator is a god of bureaucracy, contracts, law, order, the Sun, and time. He is widely worshipped by various peoples wherever the sun can be seen, especially in societies with well developed political, judicial, and bureaucratic systems. The Keeper of Law is widely renowned for his fairness of judgement and harshness of punishment; those who seek justice will find no more impartial party than Amaunator, for he strictly abides by the rules, more so than most deities in existence.
Amaunator is a stoic deity with a grave sense of responsibility developed from millennia of service to his faithful; the Yellow God is also known for being extraordinarily meticulous when it comes to record-keeping and documentation. He approaches all of his decisions with diligent caution in appropriate consideration to the urgency of matters within his attention. Amaunator prides himself on his ability to examine situations unhindered by bias, and never makes promises lightly; the Light of Law must never waiver in holding himself accountable if his worshippers are to have faith in his sincerity and comfort in his consistency. It is the norm for Amaunator and his servitors to rigorously follow the letter of the law, with a few rare exceptions where the spirit of the law holds a great deal more significance to the case at hand.
Although long known as The Keeper of Time among his faithful (a result of misinterpreting the words of a contract made with another deity) Amaunator was not originally a deity in charge of time itself. It was the goddess of the Weave (currently Mystra) that was primarily responsible for protecting the integrity of the time stream from destructive meddling. After Mystra was slain in 1385 DR (resulting in the Spellplague), the responsibility eventually fell to Amaunator, who had mysteriously revived from a long silence. With the return of Mystra in the wake of the Sundering, Amaunator continues to guard against temporal anomalies and irresponsible travel through time, with cooperation from Mystra who has elected to share responsibility with the now justly titled Keeper of Time.
According to historians, Amaunator’s worship originates from the age of ancient Netheril, dating back centuries before the Netherese built their vast empire of floating island enclaves. When the Netherese Empire fell to its ruin in -339 DR (quite literally as their islands crashed to the ground in a tragic calamity), the survivors who had worshipped Amaunator turned away from him; they were disenfranchised by the lack of intervention on the Yellow God’s part. Amaunator’s living worshippers dwindled in numbers, weakening the deity and causing his very existence to wane.
Some unknown number of years after Netheril’s destruction, the Keeper of Law went completely silent, with no one in all the planes able to contact him or hear his voice. There were wild reports from explorers of the Astral Plane who claimed to have seen the floating corpse of Amaunator, in the very state by which dead gods can be found. Despite the god being seemingly dead, some of his remaining servants retained the ability to draw divine power from their lord, which would have been impossible for a truly dead god. The return of Amaunator during the era of Spellplague came as a great surprise to all, particularly to those of the church of Lathander. Amaunator seemingly replaced Lathander, taking possession of the Morninglord’s domain and responsibility over the souls of Lathander’s faithful. It became popularly believed that Amaunator and Lathander were one and the same, with either incarnation being part of a cycle of rebirth and renewal. To the further surprise of those few left among Amaunator’s faithful at the time, the Keeper of the Eternal Sun had also changed his policy of strict neutrality to a bias towards good; this may have been disturbing to the hardliners valuing neutrality in all things according to law.
Over a century after the return of Amaunator, yet another surprise awaited in the post-Sundering age: Lathander’s return, and the stunning revelation that Amaunator and Lathander were separate beings since the beginning. Lathander’s Chosen spread the news of his return, which caused great confusion among Amaunator’s faithful. The Keeper of Law returned ownership of Lathander’s domain in the Upper Planes to the Morninglord, and began the arduous process of sorting the faithful between the two deities. Amaunator also shifted his policies again to match the fairness of neutrality that he was known for in ancient times. It was not until very recently that any concrete explanation for this strange series of events could be provided, since the deities themselves kept too busy undoing the mess of their churches’ entanglement (some wonder if they are keeping the mystery alive for an important purpose).
A scholar, descendant of a priest of Lathander who once lived in the cube-shaped city of Haven (in the plane of Mechanus), discovered a set of accounts left behind by her ancestor; the accounts contain what appears to be testimony describing the happenings that led to the deities’ disappearances and reappearances. The scholar compiled her research into a controversial, hotly debated work titled “The Convergence of Suns Theory” [see pages 20-23].
For thousands of years since the ancient age of Netheril, Jergal has been an old friend of Amaunator. The Scribe of the Doomed was once tasked with judging the dead, and few other deities could be called upon to reliably arbitrate in complicated cases when Jergal was too troubled (or sometimes too uninterested) to do so himself. The two of them maintained a professional relationship as colleagues within the realm of laws and judgements. In the current era, with Jergal serving a limited role as the advising exarch of Kelemvor, god of the dead, the Scribe and the Keeper occasionally meet for conversation and a friendly game of chess or draughts (checkers). Jergal, while he will never violate the privacy of how a soul met its life’s end, will occasionally mention seeing certain souls awaiting judgement; such revelations have provided Amaunator with invaluable insight for some of his more difficult challenges of legal dilemma.
Horus-Re, the Mulhorandi god of the Sun, vengeance, rulership, kings, and life, believes in the Mulhorandi concept of “maat” (justice, honor, order, and righteousness), which is highly compatible with Amaunator’s points of view. The Pharaoh of the Gods shares with the Yellow God a love of efficient organization and strict adherence to rules, but they occasionally disagree on issues of necessary adaption since Horus-Re stubbornly opposes changes to tradition. As both of them share the Sun portfolio, they also work together in protecting and maintaining the Sun itself.
The aggressive temperament of Kossuth, god of elemental fire and purification through fire, is usually a source of frustration for Amaunator but the Keeper of the Eternal Sun needs to cooperate with Kossuth to keep the Sun eternal. The Lord of Flames enables the flow of fuel that keeps the Sun burning, because all of it comes directly from Kossuth’s domain in the Plane of Fire. As part of a primeval accord, Kossuth has authority over the territory of the Sun (his elemental servants have thus formed colonies within it) so long as he assists the deities of the Sun in their work to keep the Sun safe and in working condition.
With the churches of Amaunator and Lathander having been so inextricably linked for over a thousand years, the two deities have almost no choice except to work together closely for the sake of their worshippers. The common ground that they maintain (despite the differences of their tenets) is the comfort and hope of their faithful - Amaunator through the rule of law and Lathander through the philosophy of forward-thinking. As such, many of their respective temples and shrines have become either shared spaces or neighboring each other. Their servants are on friendly terms as well, since not long ago they were fellow comrades of the same faith.
Labelas Enoreth, the elven god of time, longevity, the moment of choice, and history, is more like a troublesome co-worker than an ally to Amaunator. Labelas also aids Mystra in protecting the flow of time but Amaunator finds some of the risks taken by the impulsive Lord of the Continuum distasteful and potentially dangerous. The Yellow God maintains a stern eye of vigilance upon the exploits of Labelas (as well as a heavily stacked record on file) so as to ensure that the troublemaker does not recklessly destabilize the time stream.
Mystra, goddess of magic, spells, and the Weave, is an important ally of Amaunator, because she herself is able to punish deities by denying their followers magic; this could only be allowed under unlikely circumstances, but the looming threat of punishment for crimes against the gods themselves helps to maintain the rule of law in the higher planes. Mystra and Amaunator also work together to protect the time stream and history of the realms that they preside over; there are few dangers more intense, if any, than the potentially apocalyptic consequences of meddling with the passage of time, therefore the cooperation of all deities associated with time is paramount for the stakes involved.
Tyr, god of paladins, judges, magistrates, lawyers, police, and the oppressed, is a powerful force for justice. As such, Amaunator welcomes the cooperation of the Maimed God in upholding the rule of law. Although Tyr’s penchant towards disregarding laws that he considers unjust will occasionally conflict with Amaunator’s harsher stance on legal compliance, such disagreements do not occur regularly enough to form a wedge in their working relationship. There is a mutual respect between their respective churches for promoting systems of law and justice, even if their faithful might find themselves advocating for opposing sides of legal cases.
Few deities are met by Amaunator with as much disdain as he holds for Cyric, god of murder, lies, intrigue, deception, and illusion. The Prince of Lies revels in chaos and bloodshed, and encourages his followers to erode the very foundations of society with their lawlessness, even going so far as to include within his tenets an imperative to actively seek out servants of law as targets for destruction. Amaunator considers Cyric an irredeemable foe whose plots must be thwarted lest the rule of law in the lands be trampled underfoot by the faithful of the Black Sun.
In the wake of the Sundering, the current incarnation of Mask has a far more benevolent disposition than his predecessor of the same name, but the god of shadows, thievery, and thieves remains a patron deity of lawbreakers and criminals. The Keeper of Law has no particular animosity for the Lord of Shadows, since Mask’s faithful normally do not go out of their way to impede or erode legal systems (in some cases they even support order in society, in their own ways). Even so, those who uphold rule of law and those who seek to break it are naturally at odds with each other, so the church of Amaunator treats the faithful of Mask as enemies to be defeated in the cat-and- mouse game that has formed between them.
The ever-nihilistic goddess of caverns, dark, dungeons, forgetfulness, loss, night, secrets, and the Underdark has been a long-time enemy of Amaunator. While the Light of Law seeks to preserve society by establishing tules to govern it, the Dark Goddess seeks to destroy society by unraveling all that exists. Amaunator considers Shar one of the most dangerous threats because the Lady of Loss pursues the annihilation of all things with a calm, collected mind bolstered by eons of experience. The faithful of Shar work to spread anarchy and topple governments, which makes them mortal enemies of those who serve Amaunator.
Talos, the god of storms, destruction, rebellion, conflagration, earthquakes, and vortices, has been an enemy of Amaunator since the days of ancient Netheril. The Storm Lord’s wanton destruction with no regard for rule of law is unacceptable to the Yellow God. In addition, the servants of Talos tend to bully the weak with violence as part of their doctrine to spread the dominion of Talos across the realms. The rule of law was made to end the primitive rule of strength that Talos encourages, so there can be no quarter given between the Keeper of Law and the Destroyer.

EXARCHS

Exarchs are deities and demigods that serve other (usually more powerful) deities that protect, rule over and/or provide them with support against their enemies.

AT’AR (LAWFUL NEUTRAL)

At’ar (often described as At’ar the Merciless) is a demigoddess worshipped by desert tribes (most notably the Bedine of Anauroch) as the Yellow Goddess of the desert sun. Her portfolio includes sunlight, rewards, and punishments, and her holy symbol is a golden circle divided equally into 12 parts. At’ar serves her master Amaunator as an agent of contractual enforcement, as well as a proxy messenger who is occasionally mistaken for the Keeper of Law himself when she appears to Amaunator’s servants; due to such misinterpretations, she was originally assumed by many to be Amaunator himself but she has been confirmed as an entirely separate entity in recent years. As to her origin, scholars continue to debate whether At’ar is a mortal that ascended to divinity with Amaunator’s aid, or an aspect of Amaunator that acquired an identity and consciousness of her own, or perhaps the daughter of Amaunator.
At’ar normally oversees maintenance and upgrades for the largest clock towers of Tao d’Evorda, Amaunator’s domain in Mechanus when she is not being sent out on missions. She is known for collecting knowledge and samples of time keeping devices, and from time to time travels to the libraries of Oghma, god of knowledge, and the workshops of Gond, god of artifice, for her personal indulgences. At’ar is rumored to also possess strange items that can control or manipulate the passage of time, which she may use on her more dangerous missions as an exarch.
During Amaunator’s long absence from the world, At’ar preserved the existence of Tao d’Evorda, seemingly waiting for her master’s return as if At’ar knew that Amaunator would. It is believed that At’ar somehow cloaked the realm during Amaunator’s absence, to hide it from his enemies; the disappearance of Tao d’Evorda gave further credence to the theory that Amaunator had perished due to a lack of worshippers, though the truth was that the city was simply hidden from discovery. When the Light of Law indeed revived from his silence, At’ar kept the domain hidden still, until after the events of the Second Sundering, at which point Amaunator left the Palace of the Four Suns in the Astral Plane (where he’d chosen to live after returning from silence) and transferred control of his territory there to the revived Lathander.

SIAMORPHE (LAWFUL NEUTRAL)

Siamorphe is a demigoddess whose portfolio includes nobles, rightful rule of nobles, and human royalty. She, like At’ar, is rumored to have some special connection to Amaunator, since her holy symbol is a silver chalice with a golden Sun on the side and Amaunator is a deity of the Sun. After Amaunator returned from silence in the wake of the Spellplague, Siamorphe became his exarch and set up her home in the Palace of the Four Suns. After Amaunator relocated to Tao d’Evorda, Siamorphe left together with him to work in the Keep of the Eternal Sun.
When not being sent out on missions, Siamorphe oversees the bureaucratic system in Tao d’Evorda that registers newly arrived petitioner souls. She pays special attention to recently deceased souls of nobility, adding their names and information to her personal project, the Codex of Nobility, a massive collection of family trees and histories for noble/royal families. It is also noted that the demigoddess often contacts the offices of Kelemvor’s servants for permission to examine their records of the dead, since they contain information about souls that have entered the other afterlife realms.
Another pastime for Siamorphe is to visit the coronations of kings and queens in the living world, disguised as a mortal.
Her fellow exarch At’ar has been rumored to travel together with Siamorphe on occasion to such events, disguised as Siamorphe’s sister (which has led some to wonder if they really are sisters). Should Siamorphe witness a truly illegitimate claimant being crowned at such an event, she will indirectly intervene to expose such fraud.

AFTERLIFE

MECHANUS

The plane of Mechanus, sometimes referred to as “The Clockwork Universe” appears to be an endless expanse of gears and cogs in every direction, turning endlessly for some unfathomable purpose. Entire cities can be built upon or between the gears and cogs, owing to the massive scale of the structures in this plane; some of the largest explored gears have been measured at hundreds of miles across. The undisputed lord of this plane is known as Primus, a god¬like being who rules from the domain of Regulus (a spawling city in Mechanus), where a race of sentient constructs called Modrons live and serve the will of Primus. It is speculated that Regulus is the core of the plane itself, and Primus’ duty in Regulus is to oversee the maintenance of the motion that keeps the gears of Mechanus moving, lest the very plane collapse in on itself. 
Primus allows beings other than its Modron servants to make homes and establish domains in Mechanus so long as they neither interfere with the work of the Modrons nor threaten the integrity and order of the plane itself.

TAO D’EVORDA

Tao d’Evorda (“City of Clocks” in an ancient Netherese dialect) rests upon an enormous cog surrounded by twelve smaller (yet still enormous) cogs. Upon each of the twelve smaller cogs rests residential areas where petitioner souls arriving in the city make their homes. The main district on the center wheel is where Amaunator’s personal abode is located, as well as workshops, libraries, schools, museums, parks, and other institutions of civilization.
The most prominent feature of Tao d’Evorda are the many clock towers dotting the landscape of the city. The designs of the towers are updated periodically, but they always all keep the same time, perfectly synchronized to a daily schedule.
Architecture in the City of Clocks contains far more mechanical components than what can normally be seen in the cities of the living realm; elevating platforms that take passengers across vertical distances and mechanized bridges that lift/rotate are common sights to behold here. Buildings are also placed and constructed in a way that preserves a high level of symmetry from one end of the city to the opposite end.
Upon arriving in Tao d’Evorda, a petitioner is directed to a registration facility where they are given a new home address, documentation, and suitable attire. Petitioners in the city appear as they did in life, at their prime; children however develop their personal images as if growing up in life.
Bureaucratic offices are the busiest institutions of the city, since all important requests and acquisitions must be registered and accounted for. It is speculated that the amount of documentation on file in the City of Clocks would take more than a hundred thousand years for a single person to read.
Tao d’Evorda is illuminated by a massive globe of light (effectively an artificial Sun) that hovers high above the center; the Sun fades in and out on a regular 24-hour schedule that simulates day and evening, with equal hours given to all levels of brightness. When the Sun fades to its lowest level of intensity (it never fades completely), one might notice a faint amount of light also being produced by the gears surrounding the city. There are also thousands of artificial light sources positioned around the streets and buildings.

QUELLAC DA RUU KASTA

Quellac Da Ruu Kasta (“Keep of the Eternal Sun” in an ancient Netherese dialect) is the personal abode of Amaunator, located at the center of Tao d’Evorda. It is a massive fortress¬like structure made of stone bricks, glass windows, and adamantine supports. The largest clock tower in the domain (known as the Master Clock) is located at the center of the Keep, and all other clocks in Tao d’Evorda are designed or adjusted to follow the time kept by the Master Clock.
Much of the building is used to host courts of law where petitioners can receive hearings on possible grievances and contest the terms of contracts. Amaunator is said to occasionally disguise himself as a regular petitioner to observe some of the more entertaining court cases brought before the honorable judges of the Keep.
The most heavily guarded chamber in Quellac Da Ruu Kasta is the Gate Room of the Four Suns, where the Keeper of Law has installed a portal leading directly to his former residence at the Palace of the Four Suns. After absorbing Lathander’s faithful into his church, Amaunator had chosen not to live in Lathander’s domain of Morning Glory (originally located in Eronia, second layer of Elysium, but later moved to a plane called The House of Nature) for reasons he would not reveal. The Keeper of Law constructed a new divine realm floating in the Astral Plane, naming it Eternal Sun. The Palace of the Four Suns was built within the new realm as a headquarters for the Yellow God, from where he could send out orders to his servants without being disturbed. Now with Lathander revived and Amaunator living in Tao d’Evorda again, the Palace of the Four Suns has become a special place of meeting for Amaunator, Lathander, Horus-Re, and Kossuth, where they discuss important matters that others aside from their exarchs are not privy to know about.

DOGMA

These are the tenets that worshippers of Amaunator are given to live by. • Obey the law to the letter, for without law, civilization would unravel and chaos would reign. • Always strive to meet commitments and promised times, for it is only when one is consistently reliable that one can earn trust and respect for one’s work. • Pursue all endeavors in an orderly, organized manner, for it is when one has purged one’s own work of irrelevancies that the highest levels of success can be achieved. • Maintain proper records of preceding decisions, so that you may avoid repeating mistakes, or determine the source of problems that arise from orders given. • Serve your superiors obediently to reap your just rewards.

PORTFOLIO

The rule of law and the glory of the sun are both in Amaunator's dominion[5]. His priests help establish bureaucracies and lawful order in communities®. They often witness contracts and signed agreements, stamping such documents with the sun-symbol of Amaunator to signify their validity®. To Amaunator, the sun is a revealing light[8]. Dealings and activities should be obvious to all, according to the Keeper of the Yellow Sun[8]. Those who carry out their business in the light of day fulfil Amaunator's desire for order and consistency®. In his church, the letter of law of emphasized, not necessarily the spirit of it—unless the spirit is a great deal more to Amaunator's liking®. A very careful god, Amaunator made certain that everything was written down, contracted, signed, sealed, and notarized—much like the Celestial Bureaucracy of Kara-Tur[1]. He is also favoured by those mortals who respect the law and find comfort in predictability®.
His priests teach that Amaunator has died and been reborn time and again®. Like the sun, he might pass into the realm of darkness, but inevitably his bright gaze will fall on the world once again®. Amaunator is seen as a stern and unforgiving deity, not unlike Silvanus in comportment, but his concern isn't for the balance of life - he cares that things proceed according to the celestial order, that promises are kept, and that the rule of law persists®. As such, Amaunator's justice is often harsh but fair®. The sunlords and sunladies of his church are staunch foes of the undead[9].
Farmers and travellers beseech him when they pray for rain or sun, as do any others looking for a favourable change in the weather®. But the most common form of propitiation to Amaunator is the practice of swearing oaths, signing contracts, and declaring laws under the light of the sun[5]. So ingrained in the common perception is the connection between a solemn oath and the sun that those engaged in closing deals or issuing edicts often pause and wait for a passing cloud to clear the sun before completing the transaction or pronouncement®. His clergy also support the growth of cities so that they can develop and enforce regimented laws, as the predictability of orderly cities appeals to Amaunator®. Rulers and soldiers often revere him to show their commitment to their oaths®.
Amaunator is also occasionally revered as the keeper of time®. This artificial "addition" to his portfolio was due to a mispunctuation in a contract between himself and another deity which stated: "...Amaunator shall be responsible for all time, any misrepresentation of his or his followers, if so deemed the fault of Amaunator..." This unnoticed punctuational snarl of commas and periods led to Amaunator considering himself to be in charge of "all time"®. Fortunately, he never officially acted to take over took the portfolio, since he was not willing to step upon the toes of Mystryl (now Mystra), who is the unofficial keeper of the timestream®. He is still considered the timekeeper of the gods, as he causes the sun to burn and sets its course across the sky, giving rise to the celestial clock by which all time is measured®. All who benefit from the accurate keeping of clocks and calendars - such as those who rely heavily on the seasons - revere Amaunator[4].

HISTORY

Amaunator first appears in recorded history as one of the deities of the Netherese pantheon[6]. Known as the Yellow God and the Keeper of Law, Amaunator was a powerful deity of law, order, and the sun, and his priests were important political figures in Netherese society161. However, when Netheril fell after Karsus's Folly in -339 DR, Amaunator's surviving worshipers turned their backs on him, believing he did nothing to stop the disasters affecting their civilization111. His followers were right, but contractually, his hands were tied. Magic in all forms was under exclusive control of Mystryl, and Amaunator had no lawful right to interfere in any way, even in the magical catastrophe that ensued after Karsus's Folly111.
Over the centuries, many theories have been put forward by later scholars as to what fate Amaunator met111. Some believe he was either absorbed into or became Lathander, others that he turned bitter and became At'ar, and yet others assert that he turned his back on Faerun and entered the pantheon of the lands of Kara-Tur or simply moved on to other crystal spheres111. The truth is that with the loss of nearly all his followers in Netheril after its fall, Amaunator began the long, arduous, and painful process of dying of neglect111.
In -137 DR, the first record of the faith of Lathander appears in a group of paladins riding out of the Vilhon Reach110, 111 - only about a hundred years after Jhaamdath is destroyed by elven high magic1111. Unfortunately, little is known of this group of paladins. As Amaunator's power continued to decline, Lathander's power rose, and some Netherese survivors came to believe that Lathander was the reincarnated form of Amaunator121. These faithful of Lathander called themselves the Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun, and they eventually became recognized as one of Lathander's main knightly orders131. Netherese refugees took this faith with them to other lands such as Tethyr1121, and the word of Lathander spread across the continent. However, in truth Lathander was a separate deity151.
There is a theory that holds that as Amaunator continued to decline, he turned bitter against his once faithful that abandoned him111. He cursed the land his priests had once attended, and the sun directly over it began to glare with a hateful intensity. Already drained by the phaerimm's magic, the southern part of Netheril became a searingly hot desert.
After about a millennium of decline, Amaunator eventually did not have enough power left to maintain the Keep of the Eternal Sun on Mechanus, and he was ruthlessly exiled to the Astral Plane111. His corpse drifted there with the endless astral tides, awaiting a day when some ambitious spirit might help him regain his once-proud heritage111.
Many centuries later, during the Era of Upheaval, the ambitious spirit Amaunator needed came in the form of Sunlord Daelegoth Orndeir, a Lathanderian priest and fire genasi of Elversult who could trace his lineage back to a Netherese priest of Amaunator121. Daelegoth had come to be a member of the Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun, which had maintained that Lathander was the reborn Amaunator for centuries121. By the early 1370s, Daelegoth had become one of the most powerful clerics in Faerun (achieving 25th level), while also having become the archbishop of Lathander in the Dragon Coast and the leader of the Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun121. The cleric eventually came to believe that not only was Lathander the reborn Amaunator, but that the two guises existed in a cycle - a cycle that he could help turn over, and bring about the return of Amaunator121. This belief in an imminent return led him to become the leader of a movement that was then known within Lathander's clergy as the Risen Sun heresy121.
In 1374 DR, Daelegoth successfully asked for divine help from what he claimed to be Amaunator/Lathander in diverting the floods of the High Ice from Elversult, and subsequently became known as a worker of miracles, winning his movement many new followers121. Daelegoth began to preach that he had seen a vision of an eternal sun rising high above the land that would herald the rebirth of Amaunator, and ultimately he perfected a powerful spell that brought this vision to reality121. His eternal sun still hangs over the city of Elversult today. Word of "Amaunator's eternal sun" spread quickly across Faerun, and would-be converts began turning up at the doors of Lathanderian temples across the continent, seeking to convert to the faith of Amaunator121. Throughout this entire period, the Lathanderian clergy never condemned Daelegoth, waiting for some sign from their god about the truth of the heresy - but Lathander never showed any sign of approval or disapproval of the new sect[2]. It is unknown to this day if Amaunator had somehow managed to send a message and some power to Daelegoth, or if he achieved these deeds using only the divine power of Lathander. If the former, he may have been aided by his recovery of an ancient artifact of Amaunator known as the Shard of the Sun[2].
Only a little over a decade later, in 1385 DR, the Spellplague erupted through the cosmos with the death of Mystra at the hands of Cyric[11]. Lathander, together with Tyr and Sune, acted to imprison Cyric within his home plane for a thousand years[11]. Whether or not this act, together with the decline of Lathander's faith on Toril, had resulted in Lathander becoming weakened and more vulnerable to attack is unknown. Whatever the case, soon afterwards Lathander disappeared141. At the same time, Amaunator appeared in a new plane known as the Eternal Sun, taking Lathander's place141. Amaunator's clergy continued preaching that he and Lathander were but different guises for the same deity191, and with Lathander silent, his faith died away while Amaunator's rose in power. Amaunator thus inherited Lathander's position in the Faerunian pantheon, becoming a greater power once more, just as he was in the days of ancient Netheril141. Over the following century, many temples that once served Lathander were converted to temples of Amaunator1131, and his clergy rose dramatically in power. As far as most of Toril was concerned, the views once espoused only by the followers of the Risen Sun heresy had been revealed to be the truth141.
This new truth lasted for a hundred years191. Then, during the Sundering, Lathander suddenly began to answer the prayers of his faithful once more191. This was much to the surprise of Amaunator's clergy, who had preached for over a century that the two deities were but one191. By 1489 DR, the Era of Upheaval had come to an end, and both deities appeared to be active on Toril151. However, the nature of the relationship between the two deities remains unclear, as does where they reside in the planes. Some suspect that Amaunator had bound Lathander away by force, and it was only Ao's changing of the rules and the reshaping of the planes during the Sundering that freed him.
With both deities now present in the Faerunian pantheon, some expect a confrontation between their clergies - especially as the faithful of Lathander are expected to try and reclaim their old temples from the Amaunatori. Others see the faiths as allies that will sort out their differences in short order. Amaunator's attention may be divided in either case - some suspect he is behind the return of the searingly hot desert sands of the southern Anauroch1141.

AT'AR THE MERCILESS

The Bedine tribesmen of Anauroch have no priests, but they respect and fear a version of Amaunator they call At'ar the Merciless, the Yellow Goddess111. Chief amongst the deities of the Bedine and symbolizing the heat of the desert sun, At'ar is seen as a spiteful and faithless woman whose fury in the full day strikes fear into the bravest hearts111. She is a harlot who betrays her lawful husband Kozah every day to steep with N'asr, god of night and the dead111. However, At'ar does not exist - she is but a myth derived from tales that the migrant ancestors of the nomadic Bedine were told by the survivors of the fall of Netheril111. There has been some speculation that since Amaunator's return he would answer prayers to At'ar the Merciless, but as there are no priests among the Bedine, this has not yet been put to the test. However, some say that Amaunator has cast his gaze upon the Anauroch once more, as its southern part has become a searingly hot desert once more1141.

MANIFESTATIONS

Amaunator's avatar is said to appear as a lanky man with silver-white hair, a short, tenday growth of white beard, and skin that glows constantly with a quiet golden radiance111. His expression is often severe1151. He carries a scepter in one hand and a large legal tome in the other, and wears the dress of a magistrate: a long, flowing, black or purple gown trimmed in silver or gold111. To be in his presence is to feel the awesome power of true law111.
Amaunator also often appeared as a glowing woman dressed in a flowing opalescent dress bearing a balance of the purest gold—an almost translucent gold111. It was said that if the scales tipped toward the right, the one seeing the apparition had met with disfavour111. She or he could expect to lose of all profits and to bear the weight of seven years of poverty, debt, and servitude. If the balance tipped to the left, the viewer had met with favour111. She or he could expect rewards and contractual pledges to fill his or her pockets with the profits of the world[1]. Those who saw an apparition with perfectly balanced scales were said to be met with the greatest of favour: to be invited to join Amaunator's priesthood111. The clergy in the days of Netheril were probably notified by Amaunator himself of such favoured folk since they always approached such people within a tenday to take them to Amaunator's temple in Unity (now long dust) for rigorous study and instruction111.
Amaunator brought revenge to those who deserved it, righted wrongs, punished the wicked, and avenged those who could not avenge themselves111. He did this by sending a group of thirteen powerful giant hyenas that appeared from thin air to rip and tear at the flesh of the condemned until his or her body was spread over an acre of land111.
Finally, Amaunator sometimes acted or showed his favour or disfavour through emerald dragons, sapphire dragons, steel dragons, golems, takos, birds of prey (especially sunfalcons), sunflowers, yellow-eyed daisies, golden lilies, topazes, fire-colored or red gemstones of all sorts, tan dogs, cream-colored cats, pure white wolves, and white stallions111.

RELATIONSHIPS

Amaunator has a cordial relationship with Jergal, as they both served in the Netherese pantheon and had similar views on the importance of law and order161. Kossuth is another ancient ally111, possibly as both deities are staunch foes of the undead191. Since his arrival in the Faerunian pantheon, Amaunator has also been on good terms with Torm over the last century1161, though there is some suspicion that since the return of Tyr he is more likely to favour the older deity.
Talos, known as Kozah in the days of Netheril, is one of Amaunator's most ancient foes, Talos representing chaos, Amaunator order161. Shar is another ancient enemy antithetical to the sun god - her want for darkness being diametrically opposed to Amaunator's desire for light161. Eldath, goddess of peace, has also considered Amaunator to be one of her enemies historically111. None can say as to the nature of their disagreement, though it likely dates back millennia.

RELICS OF AMAUNATOR

The Shard of the Sun: 

This is the powerful holy symbol of Amaunator that was recovered by Daelegoth Orndeir in 1374 DR which helped him in his battles against the forces of Shade121. It is a holy symbol that continually emits light and can blast out damaging beams of intensely focused light1171. However, only the powerful and truly devoted can use its power. Daelegoth obtained it from the lair of Balagos while the red dragon was away - Balagos himself had taken it from the now long dead dragon Hulrundrar121. The Chalice of Amaunator: This ancient Netherese artifact, when filled with holy water, imbues the liquid with the power of the sun - creating what is known as liquid sun171. Around 1375 DR, the bejeweled cup was used by adventurers to destroy the Shadovar's corruption of the Quess Ar Teranthvar171. Prior to this it had been in the possession of the thaalud, who had obtained it during their search for the Source of All Magic171.

Amaunator's Fury:

 The shield called Amaunator's Fury has the sun god's visage etched into its face1181. When its power is invoked, a blast of holy light from the shield forces an enemy in front of it back1181. Amaunator's Fury was one of a few holy relics of different gods that was used by adventurers to help dispel Lolth's Darkening in 1485 DR1181. Prior to this it had been in the possession of Alystin, daughter of the drow Tsabrak Xorlarrin1181.

MISCELLANY

"Amaunator's belt" is a constellation that can be seen in the summer months over the Spine of the World161.

---

Amaunator, At'arthe Merciless (Lathander?)
Power: Lesser (formerly Greater
Plane: Nirvana;
AoC: Sun, law and order, time;
Align: LN(E
WAL: L;
Symbol: Sun with male face; 
Sex: Male (or Female)
Amaunator was a male sun god of ancient Netheril, whose worship has declined precipitously since the destruc¬tion of that nation of wizards and magic, not unlike Karse. Amaunator was revered as the patron of law and the keeper of time. His justice was supposed to be fair but harsh. He was revered by many rulers, soldiers, and powerful mages.

The people of dying Netheril blamed Amaunator for the encroachment of Anauroch, which destroyed their nation. He was officially reviled, his priests scattered and slain. Today, worship of Amaunator is confined to several extremely secretive cults of human mages and priests located in the Fallen Lands. Amaunator has faded in power since Netheril’s destruction, and has since turned bitter and cruel.
Amaunator is revered today as At’ar, goddess of the sun, by the Bedine nomads who roam Anauroch. The Bedine have no priests and view At’ar as a harlot who betrays her lawful husband Kozah (Talos) every day to sleep with N’asr (either Myrkul, Cyric, or Kelemvor, depending on the year).
Some sages speculate Amaunator no longer exists, but has been reborn as Lathander, greater god of dawn. These same sages speculate that Lathander will eventually reclaim the sun as his sphere of influence and then eventually decay, in an endless cycle of rebirth.

Amaunator's Priests

Priests of Amaunator were powerful political figures at the height of the Netherese nation. Many served as regional rulers and political advisors. Despite the clergy’s efforts to halt the creeping desert, Anauroch approached relentlessly. When the population rose up in revolt after seven years of bad harvests, the priests responded without mercy to suppress the uprising. This slide toward tyranny led to the over¬throw of the political and religious authority of Amaunator’s clergy.
Amaunator’s only remaining hierar¬chies of priests survive as cults in secret fortresses scattered throughout the Fallen Lands. Most of these cults prac¬tice evil rituals and plot the eventual enslavement of Faerûn. With the demise of Bane, many of Amaunator’s remain¬ing priests have declared the Sun God to be “Lord of Strife and Tyranny.”
Needless to say, Cyric is less than amused at their impudence. (DMs may wish to chronicle a réintroduction of Amaunator’s worship into the main¬stream pantheon of the Realms to fill the current void of a lawful evil greater power.) If Amaunator truly has been reborn as Lathander, then it is likely that some other deity, such as the god of destruction, Talos, is supplying the sun god’s priests with spells and powers.
Requirements: AB Wis 15*, Chr 12*, Con 11, Int 12; AL LN or LE; WP as clerics; AR any; RA as priest of Lath¬ander (see FORGOTTEN REALMS Adven¬tures, with orange substituted for pink; SP All, Elemental (Fire), Healing*, Law, Numbers*, Sun, Thought*, Time; SPL as priest of Lathander (see FRX1 Ruins of Myth Drannor boxed set PW all priest spells in the spheres of Sun and Elemental (Fire) are cast at priest level +3; TU nil; QS circle of sunmotes, (fire) elemental swarm.
Three-Faced Sun heretics Race(s) Netherese
Relationships
Allegiances Church of Kossuth Church of Lathander Enemies Church of Shar

Members of the Church of Amaunator

The church of Amaunator was the primary religious organization dedicated to Amaunator. Their deity died of neglect after about thousand years after the fall of Netheril,[7] but survived as a sect in the church of Lathander.[9]

Organization

Initiation

During the days of Netheril, or to be more precise during those days, the city Unity still stood, it was possible for a person to be invited by Amaunator himself to enter the clergy. He sent a miscellaneous manifestation of a woman in a dress with a scale sign on it. If the scale sign was even, the recipient of the omen was invited to join the clergy. The Yellow God personally informed his clergy about the new would-be comrade and priests appeared within a tenday to pick up the recipient to the city of Unity to start training.[7]

Titles

Amaunator's specialty priests were called sunlord or sunlady depending on gender. Collectively, the entire clergy was called the Amaunatori, a term that doubled as an adjective. In their hierarchy, titles included in descending order the Righteous Potentate, Monastic Abbot, and High Jurists. Even lower-ranking priests' titles fell to obscurity.[10] After the church fell apart, Lathaderian priests who believed that Lathander was the reborn form of Amaunator who would mature into his old form were called sunmasters.[11] During their days inside the church of Lathander, it was believed that a sunmaster who managed to form and head an army of Amaunator's believers could call him or herself a Righteous Potentate.[12] The leader was called Sunlord.[13] the name that was formerly used for Amaunator's specialty priests.[10] The title Monastic Abbot survived among the Order of the Sun Soul, which traced its origin back to the Amaunatori Order of the Sun.[14]

Hierarchy

Titles in Amaunator's faith were organized in a hierarchic structure. The hierarchy in the church of Amaunator was very strict and binding. During the age of Netheril, the top of a given temple of Amaunator was called a Righteous Potentate. Any activity including relieving people of duty was done at that one's discretion. His own duties included the oversight over the members' advancement in the intra-church hierarchy and teaching lay-worshipers.[10] The seconds-in-command, of which seven were assigned to each Righteous Potentate, were called the Monastic Abbots. Each of them could assign or relieve lower-ranking people of their duties. Each of the seven had different other jobs distributed to them. For example, tending to the temple farms, tending to the exteriors of a temple, acquisitions to fulfil spiritual needs, acquisitions to fulfil physical needs, maintenance of the library, oversight over the monks, and preaching the benefits of following laws were all jobs that were each distributed among the seven Monastic Abbots.[10] Under a Monastic Abbot were again seven so-called High Jurists assigned. The titles of even lower ranking clergy were lost.[10] A group of priests that stood outsider of the hierarchy, but were obliged to at least annually report to the temple they were assigned to, were the monks, a type of divine spellcaster. They were relieved of temple duties from time to time.[15] After the church fell and the Amaunatori were a part of the church of Lathander. There, the Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun was an acknowledged order and part of the elite when it came to combat abilities. They still reported to superiors of the church of Lathander, but also to their own intra-sect superiors. The sect itself was mostly a meritocracy.[16]

Activities

Amaunator represented the idea that law and order should be followed. During the days of Netheril, the church's base consisted of rulers, soldiers, and powerful mages. His priesthood also were regional rulers or advisors to politicians.[10]
During those days, the priests dedicated themselves at obtaining a thorough understanding of law including how to use it for their benefits, something their god wanted them to do. To obtain such understanding and certainty in applying them, priests trained each other in court rooms both in real and mock cases.[1] Their expertise was used to create new laws in a given community, to fulfill roles in court rooms as judges, and to settle disputes. A profitable income source of the Amaunatori was the usage of their legal understanding to settle disputes between merchants that were too low-level to be presented to the real authorities.[10]
During their days inside the church of Lathander, their duties included finding new converts to their sect for it was otherwise in danger of simply dying out, promoting those aspects of Lathander that were most compatible with Amaunator, and tending to shrines and chapter houses that promoted Lathander's sun aspect. The latter were often entrusted to the Amaunatori by the mainstream Lathanderites.[17] They believed their faith to be superior to others and tried to back this claim up with through their actions. Among others, they opposed and killed rival clerics.[16]
Their other jobs included forming and protecting groups following Lathander. When they were active in regions where evil gods or Horus-Re were strong, all their activities were done under a layer of secrecy. Otherwise, they acted in an open fashion.[18]
The Amaunatori helped the establishment of bureaucratic and other kinds of order within communities. They also were the ones who served as witnesses when contracts were forged.[19]

Rituals

During the days of Netheril, the church of Amaunator yearly celebrated the signing of the Pantheon Contour, an agreement between deities of the Netherese pantheon, which Amaunator oversaw. It was their holiest day.[10] A ritual that was conducted to celebrate Amaunator in his sun-deity aspect was the Summer Solstice. Being the longest day in the year, Amaunatori sunbathed, relaxed, and thanked their god for sunlight. This ritual had also an appeasement factor to it. Amaunatori believed that not or improperly celebrating this day would make Amaunator cause the sun not to shine for an entire year.[10] Amaunatori believed that other occasions to thank Amaunator were when they managed to legally pull someone over the barrel, won a debate, or passed a new law. Celebration was done by a priest burning magically preserved oak leaves and incenses.[10]

Tactics

Magical Abilities

Priests of Amaunator could turn undead rather than rebuking them. Their specialty priests could do so too,[7] which was not something every faiths' specialty priests could do.[20] Their favored weapon was the light mace[2] as did the Risen Sun and Three-Faced Sun heretics. The latter group also used the scythe as their favored weapon.[6] Amaunatori had access to the Law, Nobility, Planning, Sun, and Time domains.[2] the Risen Sun heretics had the Fire, Law, Nobility, Renewal, Sun, and Time domains as their options, while the Three-Faced Sun heretics had Death, Law, Renewal, Sun, and Time domains as their options.[6] After the Spellplague, the Amaunatori had access to the Civilization, Justice, Sun domain.[4] After the Second Sundering, Amaunatori had access to the Life and Light domain.[5] Those people who were introduced to their church's secrets gained the ability to cast augury, haste, order's wrath, sunburst, and time stop on preparation and the ability to convert their spell energy into any fire spell.[13] The church of Amaunator developed a number of spells that were unique to them.

Advanced sunshine

Advanced sunshine was a spell that shortened the daylight hours by one minute for various immediate effects.[10]

Amaunator's eternal sun

Amaunator's eternal sun was epic magic. It created a second false sun.[21]

Amaunator's uncertainty

Amaunator's uncertainty was a spell that instilled a sense of uncertainty in the affected creature that made it pause before taking action.[10]

Illumination

Illumination was a spell that allowed the caster to spend in a state of accelerated time to request a form of physical aid or answers for questions from the deity.[10]

Sun scepter

Sun scepter was a spell that enchanted a golden scepter with the ability to imbue the caster with authority that made others comply with it.[1]

Weapon of the deity

The Amaunatori version of the weapon of the deity spell was usable by the members of the two heresies. The Risen Sun heretics used same as Lathander's followers and turned their light maces[6] into flaming ones[22] as did the Three-Faced Sun heretics who could also change scythes into flaming scythes.[6]

Base of Operations

During the days of Netheril, the enclave of Unity held the biggest temple to Amaunator called the Forested Enclave of the Face on the Sun. Their temples were called Courts.[10]
During the days within the church of Lathander, Lathanderite chapter houses and shrines that primarily represented the Morninglord's sun aspect were often guarded by Amaunator's followers. It caused them to have two sides to answer to, their Lathanderite superiors and their Amaunatori superiors who were not necessarily found in the same place. Such a chapter house usually had up to five sunmasters, up to five acolytes and clerics who were not yet sunmasters and two to ten fighters, paladins, and warriors who also followed Amaunator.[18]

Temple beneath Athkatla

A group of Amaunator's followers existed in the catacombs beneath the city of Athkatla. This group of followers had been bound by divine contract to forever guard half of the planar rift device, an artifact so powerful the gods cursed it and split it in two. Millennia of guarding took its toll, and gradually the people grew weary of spending their entire lives in this catacomb, dying, and having their souls recycled to the next generation. Amaunator had not spoken to them in many years, and the people lost faith. Their bodies became sick and diseased as a symbol of their despair, and the hatred they focused towards the temple resulted in the formation of a Hate Incarnation, which repeatedly destroyed Amaunator's avatar.[23] Shrine in Bryn Shander This remote place of worship catered to Amaunator's faithful in the trade city of Icewind Dale.[24]

Possessions

Dress

Amaunatori priests wore bright yellow, red, or orange clothes for ceremonial purposes. These were generally long-sleeved and had a lot of decorations starting with sun depictions through in various ways including the use of gems and gold to form a sun. When a priest wore clothes made of cloth-of-gold, it was a sign that the given priest owned a temple. Another part of their regalia was a headpiece in the form of a sunburst.[10] The Amaunatori holy symbols were made of either gold, gold-plated metal, or gold-painted wood.[10] To become a sunmaster, a cleric after the days of Netheril needed to retrieve such a holy symbol or obtain one from a practicing sunmaster.[25] When venturing out as adventurers, Amaunatori priests wore clothes that put usefulness to the front. They were still fond of ornamentation and had a tendency to use bright red or orange cloaks, tabards, and other accessories. They had a tendency to wear armor with gold-plating or -washing.[10]

Magic Items

Shard of the sun

The shard of the sun was a relic holy to Amaunator. It was found by Daelegoth Orndeir in 1374 DR.[26]

Dogma

Amaunatori believed that law was the foundation on which any civilization was built without which any civilization would fall apart. They viewed the predictability with which the sun rose every day as an aspiration how securely the law would deal with wrongdoers and solve problems. They were also expected to take advantage of their legal knowledge by their deity.[1]
This belief was lived out by teaching their novices to not just learn but also live in accordance with the law. The idea was that people who knew about law were the ones who could live a life without coming into conflict with it. The church of Amaunator was a very hierarchical organization. Those in the lower rung were told to keep tabs on their superiors. The goal of this policy was to increase the number of precedents that could be used to give rulings uniformity and with it their church influence.[10]
After the Netherese church of Amaunator fell, an Amaunatori sect within Lathander's church was where the Yellow God was worshiped. They existed for fifteen centuries in the 14th century DR. The dogma of this sect, the Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun, believed that the god of dawn was Amaunator's reincarnation and would one day take over Lathander and return to be Amaunator. According to the Amaunatori during those days, Amaunator was not just a god of the sun, but the one of glory, light, and perfect order who could possibly take over the entire Faerûnian pantheon. Like their forebears, they promoted the aspect of law over good and viewed their god as a force that could bring order into the world.[8]
Those who believed in the Risen Sun heresy followed the idea that Lathander was close to become Amaunator. Those who believed in the Three-Faced Sun heresy followed the idea that Amaunator was an aspect of an overgod who represented itself in the sun and Amaunator was merely an aspect of that overgod.[6]

Orders

During the age of Netheril, the church of Amaunator had a lot of orders with representation in most cities of that nation.[10]

Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun

The Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun was a sect within the church of Lathander that believed that the Morning Lord was reincarnation of Amaunator and would one day re-emerge as the Yellow God.[8]

Brotherhood of the Sun

The Brotherhood of the Sun was a group of monks. They did the fieldwork and were relieved of their duty at their temple from time to time, but had a duty to report to the temple they belonged to.[10] They were the forebears of the Order of the Sun Soul and maintained good relationships with both the church of Lathander and the Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun.[13]

Most Transcendent Affiliation of Paradisiacal Pens

The Most Transcendent Affiliation of Paradisiacal Pens was a group of Amaunatori scribes who made it their goal to build centers of Netherese legal knowledge of every city and land in which Amaunantor's faith had a presence.[10]

Syndicate of Celestial and Righteous Lawmakers

The Syndicate of Celestial and Righteous Lawmakers was an order of warriors, especially paladins. They consciously ignored or softened up Amaunator's tendency of non-good behavior and put his lawfulness to the forefront.[10]

Classes

The church of Amaunator had a total of three kinds of divine spellcasters, clerics, monk, and specialty priests called sunlords or sunladies depending on gender. The monks were members of the aforementioned Brotherhood of the Sun and [1]
During the days within the church of Lathander, the Amaunatori had acolytes, clerics, fighters, paladins, and warriors dedicated to the Yellow God who were led by sunmasters.[18]
When the church was reborn, the church had cleric, called sunlords,[27] paladins, and morninglords who believed in Lathander, Amaunator's youthful aspect.[28]

Relationships

With other Churches

The church of Amaunator was allied with the church of Kossuth and was at odds with the church of Shar. Amaunatori worshiped their god as the god of time from time to time. Amaunator prevented to on this for fear to get on Mystryl's bad side during the days of Netheril.[7]
Horus-Re believed that he was the only sun-god on Toril and took therefore a very dim view on the Amaunatori. It went to the point that Amaunatori who were active in regions where Horus-Re's church held secular power needed to hide their allegiances.[18]

Lathander

After their god died, the Amaunatori, called the Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun, were a part of the church of Lathander and an acknowledged clerical and knightly order. Their differing views on Lathander caused them to collide with the main branch of the church. However, due to Lathander's claim that he viewed all of people who worked as true believers, the differences never degenerated into open violence.[11] However, the Morninglord accepted these extra worshiper at the cost of undermining his own authority within his own church.[29] His policy of equal treatment did not extend to all members of the sect. Those who actually switched their allegiance to Amaunator and gained spells from the dead power were judged Faithless on dying,[30] while the radical members of the brotherhood, who believed that Amaunator's re-emergence was nigh, were deemed False on dying, unless Lathander actively pleaded his case to Kelemvor, something no god did without the use of a wish or miracle spell or Lathander embracing the heresy.[31]

Church of Lathander

As mentioned above, the Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun and the mainstream branch of the church of Lathander did not have violent confrontations because of Lathander's claim to accept everyone. Instead, the brotherhood was an acknowledged clerical and knightly order that was tasked with organizing chapter houses and shrines where the sun aspect of their god was the primary one. However, they still had their differences, which they were willing to accept for the brotherhood's benefits in combating for their faiths was viewed as more beneficial than cutting them off. Still, when a member of the brotherhood was vocal about his or her belief, that person could not expect to be provided with food, lodging, or other forms of help. Furthermore, Lathanderites were fragmented into a lot of sects. At least some of these Lathanderite sects were so hostile towards the Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun that they would actively disrupt a sunmaster's work.[32]

General Public

During the days of Netheril, the church of Amaunator was widespread and powerful, but after Karsus's Folly, the church became increasingly tyrannical and with it less and less influential to the point of powerlessness.[1]
During the days within the church of Lathander, the general public could not distinguish between a follower of Amaunator and Lathander and treated them equally when they were not followers of the Morninglord. That said, evil people did not like the Amaunatori, for Lathander's followers attempted to stamp out evil. Even good people found the Amaunatori's zealotry off-putting.[18]

History

Before Karsus's Folly

During the days of Netheril, the church of Amaunator was a popular church with a presence of their orders in the majority of the nation's cities. During those days, rulers, soldiers, and powerful mages made up the worshiper-base of the church.[1]

After Karsus's Folly

Two factors caused the influence of the church of Amaunator to dwindle. First, when Karsus's Folly happened, their god was correctly accused of having done nothing to stop the catastrophe. The Yellow God could do nothing because he had had no legal right to do so and this lack of action made people abandon him and with it the church. Second, the following seven years after Karsus's Folly were marked by bad harvest and the Anauroch was expanding. While the Amaunatori did their best but insufficient efforts to stop the desert's expansion, their people revolted. The decision of the church's priesthood was to mercilessly quell these uprisings. It ultimately led to the church losing its influence and authority. Over the next millennium, their god died.[1] Given that the fall of Netheril was in –339 DR, the breakdown of the church was about 661 DR.[33]

Inside the church of Lathander

Amaunator ultimately died of neglect and his corpse was shunted into the Astral Plane after his divine realm collapsed. This fact was unknown to the people on Toril and scholars had a discussion about what happened to him. One of these theories was that he was absorbed or became the god Lathander.[7] One group that did not just believe in the latter idea but turned it into a religious organization was the Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun, not just one of many sects within the church of Lathander, but an acknowledged clerical and knightly order. By the 14th century DR, they existed for fifteen centuries.[8][note 1]

Amaunator's Return

Around 1374 DR, Daelegoth Orndeir, the leader of the Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun, embraced the Risen Sun heresy, a radical group among the sect that did not just believe Amaunator was Lathander but the Yellow God's return was nigh. He came up with the idea to create a second sun to make Lathanderites believe the same thing as him thus turning his heresy into the mainstream. Towards that end, he developed the epic spell Amaunator's eternal sun. He put his subordinates into important positions and managed various deeds that increased his renown, influence, and base. In the end, he told his people that a sign of Amaunator's return was nigh, meaning him casting Amaunator's eternal sun, and after he cast it in Elversult, people believed him and flocked to the "church of Amaunator". The entire course of action was under scrutiny of the mainstream and Daelegoth risked excommunication.[34]

Post-Spellplague Era

After the Spellplague, unlike during the days of Netheril,[7] Amaunator was prayed to as a god of time.[27] his worshiper-base consisted of farmers, merchants, and nomads. Put simply, people who benefited from having a good knowledge about an accurate grasp of time and seasons.[35] The church took over the church of Lathander. All of their priests were called sunlords and the church was very uniform.[27] One exception was the worship of Lathander as a youthful aspect of Amaunator and the morninglords that practiced it and destroyed Amaunator's enemies.[36]

Post-Second Sundering Era

After the Second Sundering, Lathander re-appeared. The two deities were worshiped and it was not clear how the resources were divided. Amaunator was worshiped as both the god of sun and law.[37]
In the Post-Second Sundering era, farmers prayed to Amaunator both for sunlight and rain. It became also normal to invoke him when making promises and swear oaths. The church managed to make Amaunator associated so well with contracts that it became common for people to wait for the clouds to pass through for the sun to shine before sealing transactions or pronouncements.[19]

Members

Andar

Andar was a sunmaster who picked up orphans from the street and gave them employment as torchbearers, a service he personally organized.[18]

Cera Eurthos

Cera was a cleric of Amaunator from Chessenta.[38] She was also the lover of Aoth Fezim.[39]

Daelegoth Orndeir

Daelegoth was the Sunlord of the Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun and the caster of Amaunator's eternal sun.[14]

Божественные домены

Sun, Time

---

Если вы хотите что то добавить или присоединится к команде редакторов - пишите комментарии

---

Внимание! Имеется скрытый контент, доступный только подписчикам. Подписка - бесплатна. Детальнее - читай здесь.

---

Вы можете присвоить себе следующие роли, чтобы расширить видимый контент:
Silver Marches
Daggerford
Baldur's Gate
Neverwinter
Waterdeep
Deadsnows

---

RSS канал данного сайта
Подпишитесь на Boosty или Patreon

Классификация божеств

Deity

Religions

• Church of Amaunator

Вера/Культ

Church of Amaunator