Pilgrim

Pilgrims were pious individuals who traveled to destinations, often in groups, that were considered holy to their faith in order to receive inspiration or some form of blessing. Such ventures were referred to as pilgrimages.

Culture
The types of pious people that conducted pilgrimages spanned all alignments. Though humans were the race most known to make pilgrimages, there were others that also embarked upon them, such as dwarves, drow, and kuo-toa. For many cities, pilgrims tended to come from the lower or middle class. Depending upon how pious a pilgrim was, they were willing to travel great distances and even risk their life in order to reach a pilgrimage site.

Usually a pilgrimage was done by foot, though some traveled upon a mount. These groups almost always had clerics, druids, or monks traveling with them. Such individuals were either pilgrims themselves or acting as a pilgrimage band's leader or guards. Fighters and paladins, the knights of religious military orders, also tended to accompany groups of pilgrims in order to protect them from any would-be dangers. This duty of protection was also performed by divine champions.

Some religions had deities that were patrons specifically of pilgrims. One such example was the Padhran religion of the Hordelands, which had the Padhrasattva of Pilgrims.

Possessions
On occasion, pilgrim groups carried a religious relic. These were carefully hidden and heavily guarded by a variety of traps and/or magical devices, as well as by any accompanying knights.

History
In 1209 DR, a large train of pilgrims traveling to the Wa town of Aru's shrine to Bishamon were slaughtered in a mountain pass by a gang of bandits aided by supernatural monsters. The land's daimyo, Arata Matsumoto, was reprimanded by Wa's shogun over this event and thus the following year Arata sent a group of samurai to guard the annual train of pilgrims. However, just like last time, everyone was slaughtered by the bandits in 1210 DR. The bandit attacks on pilgrim trains in Wa would continue for many years.

In 1361 DR, a group of pilgrims and soldiers of the Church of Helm announced having discovered a rich land far to the west of the Moonshae Isles and Evermeet.

In the 1360s, many Mielikkian pilgrimages were made to the Green Door inn. Around that same time, The Belt often received pilgrims, likely there to see the shrines dedicated to Chauntea or Silvanus, who behaved in a similar manner to the lawless brigands that could be occasionally encountered in the area.

Some time prior to 1367 DR, on the Pilgrims' Route of Zakhara a man named Komar al-Anni sacrificed his life to save a band of pilgrims from some jann.

In 1368 DR, during Highharvestide, a wave of Tyrran pilgrims and warriors descended upon the Fortress Faithful in Tethyr to aid the cause of Zaranda Star in what came to be known as the First Siege of Myratma.

While touring the Dalelands in 1370 DR, the famous travel writer Volothamp Geddarm managed to obtain approval for entering the Shrine of Swords. However, he was ushered out by his escorts after asking about the iron golem that stood behind the shrine. He then later paid a pilgrim to query the Swordmaster Sakaria about it.

Trade
Businesses in areas that experienced high pilgrimage traffic would often try to capitalize on it. Such an area was the Sea Ward in Waterdeep&mdash;in particular, its inn called the Pilgrim’s Rest. In Ravens Bluff, Burnhardt's Outfitting carried religious goods for passing pilgrims to purchase.

In the People's Quarter of the Zakharan city of Huzuz, pilgrimages were so annually frequent that its temple district was called the Pilgrims' District and almost every business therein tried to cater to them.

Pilgrimage Sites
Throughout the Realms, there were a variety of landmarks, some even being churches, deemed religiously significant because of something that had occurred at the spot.

For those traveling to such sites, there were often sleeping quarters and aid provided by temples either nearby or along the route to it. These included the Temple of the Harvest Moon, the Mosque of the Thirsty Jann, and the cloisters that were scattered throughout Tethyr to ease the burden of Ilmatari pilgrims. Kuo-toan cities had apartment buildings reserved for pilgrims to stay in.

What inciting incident for a locale becoming a pilgrimage site was widely varied. It could be because of a famous battle, a miracle, being a hero's birthplace or the site of their death, the site of a great evil's defeat, or other fantastical events. Sometimes there were even holidays related to the event that made the location into a landmark.

Notable Pilgrimage Sites
The following are some of the many notable pilgrimage sites that could be found across the Forgotten Realms:
 * Darkmaiden's Leap, a pilgrimage site for drow worshipers of Eilistraee.
 * The Dancing Place, a pilgrimage site in the High Dale dedicated to a variety of elven and human deities.
 * Five Silvers was a frequent pilgrimage spot for worshipers of Waukeen.
 * Stone Bridge, a bridge and temple that was a pilgrimage site for the dwarven worshipers of Moradin.
 * In the High Forest, Harpers would sometimes make a pilgrimage to certain groves around the river known as the Unicorn Run because of a legend that claimed Mielikki inhabited the area of woodland surrounding it.
 * Harper's Hill in Shadowdale was a frequent pilgrimage site for members of the Harpers, who meditated there in order to receive training from the famous Storm Silverhand.
 * In the country of Ra-Khati, there were a number of pilgrimage sites frequented by followers of the Padhran faith. These included the river Gaya and its Thousand Sacred Sources, as well as a monastery near lake Cherrapunni Nor. The latter was dedicated to the Padhrasattva of Pilgrims.
 * The Shrine of Swords in Swordpoint was known and noted by Volo in one of his guidebooks to only allow Tempuran pilgrims inside. The shrine had sleeping quarters specifically for pilgrims to stay and rest.
 * Pilgrimages were quite common in the southern regions of the Storm Horns and Thunder Peaks.
 * The Stonelands were a common pilgrimage site for stone giants for reasons that were largely unknown to other races, though it was speculated to be connected to the megaliths scattered across the landscape.
 * Many shrines and temples in the small city of Teziir.
 * Pilgrimages to Waterdeep's Sea Ward were quite common as the area had large temples to many major deities. The gilded House of the Moon was particularly known for attracting Selûnite pilgrims, owing to it displaying the Wand of Four Moons.
 * Beyond the Prime Material plane, many creatures made pilgrimage to the Solania layer of Mount Celestia in hopes of finding answers to the many questions of life. The ruler of this layer, Pistis Sophia, enjoyed walking alongside such pilgrims.

Notable Pilgrims

 * Yaemon

Trivia

 * On the surface, wandering groups of huecuvas were sometimes mistaken for a band of pilgrims.
 * The clergy of Shar often disguised themselves as pilgrims when traveling around to spread their faith.
 * The shapechanging beasts known as wolfweres would sometimes disguise themselves as pilgrims in order to fool travelers into a false sense of security.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Ruined Kingdoms, "Pilgrimage"