The Death Clergy

Continent: Tapa

Kelemvor urges his clerics to act as stewards of the afterlife and to teach the people of the land that death is a natural part of life. There is nothing to be feared in the transition, for only the truly wicked, the Faithless, or the False must fear the world beyond the Fugue Plane. Kelemvor views all undead as abominations, ordering his servants to destroy them at every turn.
Kelemvor's clerics make every attempt to minister to the common people, to demystify the process of death and help the bereaved cope in times of loss. Most folk welcome the appearance of clerics of Kelemvor, thankful for their light touch and calming demeanors – a welcome change from the days when unsettling clerics of Myrkul demanded funerary fees that seemed all too close to extortion.
Priests of Kelemvor comfort the dying and provide burials for those who die alone. They administer last rites to the dying and help the living left behind to better understand the natural and inevitable process of death and dying. When people die alone without a will, known heirs, or business partners, their goods are taken by the church to fund its ongoing ministry to the dying. This does not, by any means, mean that death clergy would ever take goods from a grave for their own benefit. In cases of great pain, ravaging disease, or mutilation where death would be a mercy, it is the office of the priests of Kelemvor—and only the priests of Kelemvor—to bring death, as swiftly and painlessly as possible.
When plagues, hordes, or great monsters run amok, they must be fought by the death clergy, for it is not right that many die before their due time. When marauding dragons or other monstrous predators become problems, the death clergy should try to interest adventuring bands in slaying the problems—failing that, they must deal with the problems themselves. Children (particularly those growing up near evil kingdoms) hold militant clerics and paladins of Kelemvor in awe as undead hunters, and communities beset by the attentions of necromancers or tomb robbers often come to his clergy for aid.
All priests of Kelemvor may be called to a holy mission by their god or their senior clergy and pursue a more active and adventurous life. Such priests defend death clergy members and holdings when need be and bring death to others when it is necessary. For example, a Kelemvorite specialty priest assigned to a holy mission may be sent to lead an adventuring party to stop the spread of disease or kill beings seeking to disrupt natural cycles—such as mages who seek to create huge armies of undead or develop necromancy spells that can slay others and transform them inescapably into undead creatures under their control. Death clergy sent to slay predators or to go into dangerous country to comfort the dying are often issued scrolls of offensive spells or magical items of battle power gleaned from the goods of those who died alone.
Orders Thus far the church of Kelemvor has no affiliated military or knightly orders. All gravediggers, embalmers, and other cemetery workers and crafters who work for the church of Kelemvor and are not themselves clergy belong to the Most Solemn Order of the Silent Shroud. Those of this order identify each other with a series of secret signs. Their task is to keep the church informed of undead sightings and gravesite desecrations.
The Knights of Eternal Order is a recently established order whose purpose is to hunt and destroy powerful undead. They are said to develop powerful undead-fighting powers by sacrificing other paladin abilities.
Vestments Clerics of Kelemvor usually wear smoky gray robes and cowled cloaks. Specialty priests can readily be identified by their silver headbands, which are normally never removed, and by the symbol of Kelemvor displayed prominently in a badge on the chests of their somber, elegant robes. Their robes are always of a single hue without trim or ostentation and of dark, muted hues of green, blue, or gray, in ascending order of rank; they can be worn over armor if need be. The scales in the badge of Kelemvor worn by a priest also denote rank: They are iron-colored for lower clergy, silver for full priests, and gold for higher-ranking priests.
Adventuring clergy members are often given a gray domino mask by the church (sometimes enchanted with detect undead). Adventuring priests dress functionally, wearing whatever armor and clothing is practical. They are required to display the symbol of their deity prominently. Often it is worn on the left breast over the heart or is woven into a cloak.
Kelemvor's elite clerics, called Doomguides, sometimes multiclass as necromancers or rangers using their knowledge to hunt down and destroy undead.