Hoar

Hoar: The Doombringer, Lord of Three Thunders, the Poet of Justice, Hurler of Thunders

Symbol: A black-gloved right hand holding a coin with a two-faced head or three lightning bolts or three deep rolls of thunder
Home Plane: Nirvana/Doomcourt
Alignment: LN
Portfolio: Revenge, retribution, poetic justice
Domains: Law, Travel, Fate, Retribution
Worshipers: Assassins, fighters, rogues, seekers of retribution
Aliases: Assuran
Cleric Alignments: LG, LN, LE
Favored Weapon: Javelin (shaft of lightning) - "Retribution's Sting"

History/Relationships: Hoar (HORE) the Doombringer is not often actively worshiped in set services, but his name is invoked by those seeking vengeance. When a guilty party falls prey to fate (such as when a murderer is killed accidentally just after the murder is committed, particularly if the accident—for example, slipping to his death—was initiated by the murderer himself), the hand of Hoar is given credit. Hoar has a more benign aspect in the North, where he is seen less as a god of vengeance and more as a god of poetic justice. Many bounty hunters and some assassins propitiate the Doombringer before commencing a hunt, the truly faithful among them seeking to capture their quarry in a suitably ironic style. Hoar is actually an ancient Untheric deity worshiped in the Inner Sea Lands as Assuran, Lord of Three Thunders. He and his worship were driven from that land in centuries past by priests of Ramman around the same time that Hoar battled and lost to that Untheric god of war, thunder, rains, and storms in a tumultuous conflict.

Although worship of the Lord of Three Thunders dropped off rapidly in Unther (to the point where Assuran) was no longer considered part of the Untheric pantheon), the cult of the Doombringer remained strong in Chessenta for many years, particularly in the cities of Akanax and Mourktar. In the past century, Assuran's worship again declined precipitously in size when Chessentan mercenaries returning from Mulhorand brought with them the faith of Anhur. Although the officers remained faithful to Assuran, many soldiers converted to the faith of the Mulhorandi god of war.

During the Time of Troubles, Hoar/Assuran took as his mortal avatar the body of King Hippartes of Akanax. After traveling to THay to obtain a cache of weapons he had hidden in the Thaymounts (and narrowly evading the plots of a Red Wizard known as the Masked One), Hoar commanded the army of Akanax and several hired mercenary companies into wars against the neighboring cities of Cimbar, Soorenar, and Luthcheq in revenge for ancient insults. The Doombringer incited several long-simmering conflicts between those cities as well, plunging most of Chessenta into war. After a string of victories against ancient foes of Akanax and himself, he forged an alliance between Chessenta's fractious cities. He then turned Akanax's armies against Unther and against the church of Ramman in particular.

Ramman's avatar met him face-to-face and toe-to-toe, and in an act of poetic justice, the Doombringer wove a powerful spell that slew Ramman by causing a bolt of lightning to rebound after the Untheric storm god's third thunderous lightning attack. However, once again Assuran lost out when, before he could seize Ramman's portfolio, the Untheric lord of war passed it on to Anhur, war god of Mulhorand, and left the Realms permanently. The revitalized Mulhorandi god of war led his troops to Unther's defense and routed the Chessentan mercenaries, many of whom defected to his side. The Doombringer was once again driven from Unther in defeat. (After the Godswar, the alliance of city-states quickly disintegrated, as most such alliances in Chessenta seem to do.)

Although his worship had been spreading slowly through the Heartlands prior to the Time of Troubles, Hoar's direct action in the Realms has not been felt since the Time of Troubles, and his sign (three deep rolls of thunder) has not been heard in the Inner Sea lands for a decade. Although some speculate that he died during the Time of Troubles, the truth is that he has retreated into himself and cut off many of his routine activities to plot his revenge against Anhur. Combined with the massive defection of worshipers from his faith in battered Chessenta, the Lord of Three Thunders has found himself reduced to demipower status throughout the Realms in the aftermath of the Godswar.

Hoar is a moody power, prone to violence and with a penchant toward bitter humor. He alternately curses Tymora for his fate and attempts to unctuously wheedle her for better luck, treating her at times as an enemy and at others as a friend. He seeks to aid the Maiden of Misfortune in unleashing bad luck on the deserving. He has a dry, hollow chuckle, a haunted appearance, and a morbid fascination in the plight of doomed mortals. It is said that both Tyr and Shar contest for Hoar's tormented soul. Shar seeks to twist the Doombringer into a servant of blind vengeance and bitterness, while Tyr seeks to unlock his bittersweet humor and shift his portfolio towards irony and poetic justice, but to this date he serves no one's interests but his own.

Dogma: Hoar charges his clergy to uphold true and fitting justice and to maintain the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law. Fitting recompense will always accrue for one's actions. Violence will meet violence and evil pay back evil, but good will also come to those who do good. One must be careful to walk the line of Hoar's teachings, to seek retribution, but to fall not into pursuing evil acts for evil's sake, for that way is seductive and leads only to one's downfall. Vengeance must be sought for all injustices, and all punishments must fit the crime. Revenge is sweetest when it is sharpened with irony. All attacks must be avenged. Those who do not respond to attacks against their person or that which they hold dead only invite future attacks.

Avatar/Manifestations: Hoar commonly manifests as three deep rolls of thunder when a guilty party falls prety to a suitable, often ironic, fate. Occasionally the Doombringer manifests as a ghostly hand seen only by the one being punished (and possibly that one's victim's loved ones). Such manifestations are only seen in the process of delivering an appropriate punishment. For example, the spouse of a murdered man might see the hand of Hoar push her husband's murderer—who is afraid of heights—of a cliff.

Agents/Petitioners: Hoar's favor is seen occasionally through the discovery of red tear-shaped gems; his displeasure is indicated by the discovery of a powdered Laeral's tear gem. The Doombringer works through aerial servants, cursts, feyrs, harrlas, haunts, invisible stalkers, justice incarnates, keres, living steels, revenants, lhiannan shee, and maruts.

The Church of Hoar: Hoar is propitiated more than he is worshiped. Inhabitants of the Realms commonly attribute fitting acts of justice to the Lord of Three Thunders, and some beings (particularly the helpless and the weak) go so far as to entreat the Doombringer to deliver their vengeance, but few actually worship him on a regular basis in set services held in shrines or temples. The few temples of Hoar found scattered throughout the Realms are plain, even severe, stone edifices. Most are built in high, hidden places where their inhabitants can secretly brood and plot vengeance against all who have slighted them.

Approximately 40% of the clergy of Hoar are clerics, 30% are crusaders, and 40% are specialty priests (doombringers). As could be expected, the clergy is splintered into a multitude of backstabbing factions with centuries-old hatreds and constantly shifting alliances. Commonly used titles vary from faction to faction, but in the Heartlands, priests of Hoar are known as (in ascending order): Eye of Irony, Hand of Doom, Fist of Vengeance, Claw of Revenge, Fateful Eye of Irony, Fateful Hand of Doom, Fateful Fist of Vengeance, and Fateful Claw of Revenge. Senior priests are known as Lords of Thunderous Vengeance.

Day-to-Day Activities: There are few actual temples of Hoar in the western Realms. Instead the Doombringer's priesthood is composed primarily of itinerant wanderers who travel from town to town agreeing to pray for Hoar's intercession on behalf of one who seeks or fears vengeance for some attack in exchange for a small fee. Charlatans masquerading as members of Hoar's clergy or priests who neglect the prayers they have promised to make receive a fitting punishment by Hoar's hand. In addition, Hoar's clergy seek out victims of injustice, hear their stories, evaluate the veracity of their accounts, and track down the perpetrators in order to inflict a fitting punishment meted out. Actions of this type have caused most town watches and Tyrists to brand priests of the Doombringer as vigilantes and raised the stature of the priesthood to that of champion of the downtroddon and underdogs in the eyes of the common folk.

Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: The clergy of the Doombringer celebrate few major holy days. Instead, each priest is encouraged to celebrate the anniversaries of his most fitting and sweetest acts of revenge. Each priest is also expected to mark the anniversary of each injury, insult, or slight as yet not avenged with quiet contemplation (many persons not of the faith would call it brooding) upon strategies for appropriately enacting that revenge. However, true members of Hoar's clergy are also to remember those who have helped them unselfishly, protected them from harm, or otherwise provided them aid and contemplate ways to reward them personally and lastingly, rather than with meaningless titles, shallow items of wealth, or faint and passing praise. Silent or thunderous praises (as appropriate) must be given to Hoar each and every time some vengeance is exacted by a priest of the Doombringer.

The Penultimate Thunder is celebrated on the 11th of Eleint with great feasts of game, bread, fruits, and mead. It marks the long-anticipated victory over Ramman by the Lord of Three Thunders. The Impending Doom is observed on the 11th of Marpenoth with daylong ceremonies of rumbling drums, vigorous oaths, and exhausting acts of purification. It celebrates justices yet to be meted out, revenges yet to be carried through with, and good deeds that call to the celebrants to be remembered.

Major Centers of Worship: In the South, two temples of the Lord of Three Thunders contest for leadership of the faith. The Thunderous Hand of Vengeance in Akanax is strictly loyal to the king of that city, and its priests run the city watch and the city courts with an iron fist. Priests of the Thunder Hand, as they are commonly known, make up a large percentage of the high-ranking officers in Akanax's armies. The Amphitheater of the First Thunder in the independent city of Mourktar is a large, open arena where numerous gladiatorial combats takes place between accusers and the accused instead of the more common court trials found elsewhere in the Realms. It is believed that Hoar intervenes directly in each bout, ensuring that fitting justice is always enacted. The actual temple is located in the bowels of the arena. Since the Time of Troubles and the death of King Theris, the most prominent member of the faith, the influence of this temple has rapidly shrunk throughout the nearby regions of Threskel and Chessenta. Priests of the Doombringer have been shunted from most positions of power by the Banite clergy of the Black Lord's Cloak.

With Assuran's declining influence in Chessenta, the Hidden Hand of Fate temple in the depths of the Arch Wood has risen to some prominence in the North. The inhabitants of Archendale have always been known for their short temples, grudges, arrogance, and love of intrigue. In this environment, Hoar's worship has begun to take hold, and quite a few of Archendale's inhabitants clandestinely worship the Doombringer. The priests of the Hidden Hand of Fate sponsor a number of bards, bounty hunters, and assassins active throughout the Heartlands and coordinate a loose network of vigilantes dealing rough justice throughout the wilder stretches of the Dales.

Affiliated Orders: The Hunters of Vengeance are an informal order of bounty hunters and vigilantes active throughout the Heartlands and the North. Few in number, their actions are spoken of with admiration and dread long after they have moved on. The Fellowship of Poetic Justices is an order of bards and crusaders founded in the aftermath of the Time of Troubles. Dedicated to both Hoar and Tyr and supported by clergy from both faiths, members of the fellowship seek to spread tales of ironic justice throughout the Realms and achieve through words and deeds what violence often fails to accomplish.

Priestly Vestments: The clergy of Hoar wear their ceremonial garb whenever possible except when they wish to conceal their identity while stalking a perpetrator of some injustice. Their ceremonial raiment always includes a black tunic over a long gray robe, soft, black leather gloves, and a surreal mask that covers their faces when they are officially on a "hunt" for vengeance. Priests typically keep small tokens of their successes on silver-bordered, dark red sashes slung from their waists. They carry curved daggers, and sport the symbol of Hoar worked into a piece of jewelry as a holy symbol.

Adventuring Garb: When adventuring, priests of the Doombringer wear whatever garb is best suited for the mission. Typically they garb themselves in leather armor when stealth is required, and the heaviest armor available when a frontal attack is anticipated. While they can wield any weapon, Hoarite priests must carry at least one blunt, one piercing, and one slashing weapon at all times. When injured (or anticipating injury) by an opponent, Hoarite priests are expected to use a weapon of the same type or at least the same damage type in response, as such attacks are more fitting in their impact. Those who deserve death should be finished off with their own weapons.

Notes: The god of vengeance is vengeful. Go figure. He's moody and violent, with a dark sense of humor. Hoar's following is composed of wanderers with a penchant for sticking up for the little guy, with little regard for local law or authority. No transgression is too slight to exact terrible, terrible vengeance upon the perpetrator. The spirit of the law trumps the letter of the law completely, and those who use technicalities and rules as a shield are worthy of immediate retribution. To leave those who violated you to walk free is to invite further attack. Those who wrong yourself or others are to be dealt with swiftly and in no uncertain terms. The greatest revenge is sweetened with bitter irony.