Church of Amaunator

Priests of Amaunator were powerful political figures at the height of the Netherese empire. Many served as regional rulers and political advisors. Despite the clergy members' efforts to halt the creeping desert, Anauroch approached relentlessly after the magical catastrophe brought on by Karsus' pride. When the population rose up in revolt after seven years of bad harvests, the priests of Amaunator responded without mercy to suppress the uprising. This slide towards tyranny led to the overthrow of the political and religious authority of Amaunator's clergy.

Structure

Amaunator's clergy were extremely hierarchical and rulebound. Each Righteous Potentate (high priest of a temple, called a "Court") oversaw all aspects of church functions. No one could perform or be relieved of their duties without the consent of the Righteous Potentate or one of his seven Monastic Abbots. Under each of the seven Monastic Abbots, there were an additional seven High Jurists (priests) who served relentlessly, performing whatever duties were assigned to them. Lower ranks of clergy members served beneath the High Jurists, but their titles are lost in the mists of time. As the church builds itself again, it looks back and strives to recreate what was lost.
Priests of Amaunator are known as sunlords and sunladies. The Righteous Potentate was in charge of teaching the masses of people who flocked to the temple on a regular basis and overseeing the preparation of Court members (novices) to move into positions of power in the church.
The seven Monastic Abbots each tended to a different supplemental duty, including the upkeep of the grounds and temple farms, upkeep of the church interior, upkeep of the church exterior, procurement of the necessities of the spirit, procurement of the necessities of the flesh (food, supplies, etc.), upkeep and expansion of the law library, and cultivation and supervision of itinerant monk missionaries who walked the world, preaching the peace that could be found in the understanding of law. These monks of Amaunator were the only clergy members not tied intimately to temple duties at least part of the time, though they were required to report to the temple or shrine they were assigned to at least once a year.

Assets

Major Centers of Worship: Unity, a sizable Netherese enclave, was the home of the largest temple to Amaunator, the Forested Enclave of the Face on the Sun. The steeple of this monstrous three-story pentagonal, hemispherically roofed building thrust seventeen stories above the landscape, allowing the solar disk of Amaunator to be seen far above the surrounding trees.
Throughout the temple's history, the Righteous Potentates overseeing the temple had an affinity for casting continual flame on the cropped hair of their scalps. Like hair bleaching or coloring, though, this incantation had to be reapplied monthly to affect new hair growth. As side effect to this practice, gnolls from the enveloping Facile Forest made monthly pilgrimages to the temple of Amaunator to worship the "lightened one." This encouraged the gnolls to focus their raiding on other parts of the forest.
Most of Amauntor's temples are lost to time, and the church strives to rebuild.
Affiliated Orders: The church of Amaunator had several affiliated orders with representatives that could be found in most Netherese communities. The first was an association of bonded scribes called the Most Transcendent Affiliation of Paradisiacal Pens. These aloof and arrogant individuals traveled the world preaching the holiness of law and order. Their mission in life was to build amphitheater-sized buildings dedicated to the preservation of law. These huge, stone-walled monstrosities contained books and scrolls detailing the laws of every land and every city that the followers of Amaunator encountered.
The Syndicate of Celestial and Righteous Lawmakers was a group of seventy warriors and paladins (mainly paladins) who worshiped Amaunator because of his love of law. These women and men taught the lawful side of Amaunator, interpreting his somewhat nongood tendencies as deific recommendations that could be safely ignored or softened to a more humanitarian tone. These warriors branded the business side of their shields with extremely potent variants of continual light spells to blind the lawlessness they encountered. This gave them a lasting light source in darkness and a bonus in some strategic situations where they could nearly blind their foes with the intensity of light coming from their shields.
The monks of Amaunator belonged to the Brotherhood of the Sun, an association of itinerant monks who served the faithful in the field, bringing the comforting words of Amaunator to the peasants and common folk and preserving order throughout the land. Their symbol was a sunburst.

Type

Religious, Organised Religion