Church of Tyr

The Church of Tyr, individually referred to as the holy justices, was the institution to further the worship and tenets of the god of justice, Tyr. It was a highly organized, formal denomination that adhered to strict rules within their fortified temples. They mostly attracted those who adhered to the lawfulness aspect of Tyr's portfolio, such as judges, bureaucrats and merchants.

Beliefs
The Tyrrans saw the world in black-and-white morality and wanted Faerûn to be cleansed of its lawlessness and chaos. They were devoted to justice and the deliverance of vengeance, but not in the manner that sought equality. Rather, they believed in illuminating the truth behind corruption and punishment of the guilty.

Attitude
Intolerance and humorlessness was a common trait found among the faithful within the church of Tyr. This stark perspective extended into their outlook on life in the Realms, that the contrast between right and wrong was evident, and the justice they delivered was no laughing matter.

Sayings

 * "Reveal the truth, punish the guilty, right the wrong, and be always true and just in your actions."

Activities
The clergy of Tyr would uphold the law wherever they traveled, taking thorough accounts of their judgments, rulings and actions. Through these accounts they corrected their errors and honed their understanding of the various laws of the lands throughout Faerûn. Their actions should always abide by the law and let none others break them. They were to be vigilant in their watch, swift to intercede and never fail to bring justice upon lawbreakers.

Within the more civilized areas of Toril, Tyrrans served as legal experts and lawyers. They would dispense legal advice and often advocate for those accused of guilt in trials. Although they would often lecture others who failed to completely adhere to a law and complained about extraneous formalities. However, they would often address these complaints to local authorities to ensure they would be better followed in the future. However these actions occured, the faithful of Tyr would never enforce an edict that was shown to be unjust or contradicted another law.

Within the wilderness, where law was seldom a concern, the Tyrran priests served as judge, jury and executioner. While they often equated vengeance for justice in their actions, they adhered to the philosophy of demonstrating "the mercy of ignorance." If someone was truly unknowing of local laws and customs, they were allowed a warning, albeit recorded for posterity in case of future transgressions.

Titles
As highly organized and regimented the hierarchy was within the church of Tyr, there were quite a number of ranks and titles available to his faithful. In descending order these were:

Keeper of the Balance • Defender of Justice • Hammer Lord • Knight Commander •High Avenger • High Lord Abbot • Abbot • Master Avenger • Avenger • Just Captain • Vigilant Watcher • Hammer of Tyr • Sword of Tyr • Lawkeeper • Solemn brother/sister • Acolyte of Laws

Priestly Orders

 * Justiciar of Tyr: This very elite order of primarily clerics and paladins was the mortal embodiment of Tyr's power within Faerûn. Some served as judges or magistrates, dispensing justice within large cities, while others traveled to chaotic lands, crusaders in the name of law and order. A few select within this order traveled to the chaotic planes to seek out and slay demons and other embodiment of evil.

Monastic Orders

 * Order of the Even-Handed: These monks of Tyr found home at a small chapter house within the city of Waterdeep. Every member of this order shared the goal of setting out on one grand adventure within their lifetime.

Knightly Orders

 * Just Knights of the House of Tyr's Hand: Heavy cavalry headquartered out of the House of Tyr's Hand in Milvarune.
 * Knights of Samular: Paladins of Tyr who fought for justice and brought order to the north.
 * Knights of Holy Judgment: This order attracted those who emphasized the "lawful" aspect of Tyr's faith. They specifically hunted devils, whom they viewed as perversions of true "lawfulness".
 * Knights of the Merciful Sword: These knights stressed the "good" facet of his teachings.
 * Hammers of Grimjaws: These most holy of Tyr's paladins, less than a dozen strong, were selected among knights of the Holy Judgement and Merciful Sword and granted membership after judgement from Tyr himself.

Triadic Orders
Along with the knights that fought for justice in Tyr's name, there were several organizations that upheld law in order in the name of The Triad as a whole. Among these were the Order of the Triad, holy Triadic warriors of Impiltur, and the Order of the Gauntlet.

Rituals
Clerics of Tyr prayed for spells at dawn. Within their temples and abbeys, the clergy of Tyr included sung invocations, recited responsive prayers led by the head priest, gave sermons, teachings and readings from the holy texts of the Sacred Judgements of Tyr, and recited an anthem to close their ceremony. These were held every two hours, and each was representative of an aspect of Tyr.

The ritual held at dawn, the Awakening was gentle and uplifting in nature. Later on at noon, the Hammer at Highsun was a stirring oration on their vigilance and martial prowess. High Justice, held at evenfeast was a stern and proud commemoration on Tyr's laws and commandments. Finally, at dusk, the Remembrance of the Just Fallen was a haunting, softly-chanted hymn that revered those who died for the cause of justice, regardless of whether or not they followed Tyr's dogma. It was known to bring many bystander to tears.

The church of Tyr followed a monthly routine of rituals. Seeing Justice occurred on the first day, the Maiming on the 13 and the Blinding on the 22 day of each month. All of these major observances involved chanted prayers, hymns and conjured displays of the god's holy symbol.

When in battle and facing overwhelming odds, Men of Tyr sang war chants of the the faith. These songs were often telltale signs that the paladins and clerics of Tyr were ready to perish or close to dying in battle. An excerpt from the chant: "...Freely offered aid from an able fighter; Gladly accepted, makes this knight's work lighter..."

Regions
The church of Tyr thrived in civilized world and his temples were found primarily in large cities. Within Waterdeep for example, the clergy had played an illustrious role in the city's governance, politics and religious life.

Temples and monasteries

 * Abbey of the Blinding Truth - Westgate
 * Fortress Faithful - Zazesspur
 * Hall of Justice - A temple of Tyr located on the north bank of the Neverwinter River in the city of the same name.
 * Halls of Justice - The headquarters for several orders of Tyrran who served the North from the city of Waterdeep.
 * Pantheist Temple of Tyr - The only temple of Tyr in Realmspace that was not located on Toril, it was instead found on the Rock of Bral within the Tears of Selûne.
 * House of Tyr's Hand - Home to a traditionalist sect of Tyrrans in Milvarune.
 * Mosque of Tyr - A smaller temple in the Delimbiyr Vale, just east of Daggerford.
 * The Waiting - The only temple within Phlan, was dedicated to the Just God.
 * Chapel of Resounding Justice: This chapel was a lesser-known pilgrimage site in Sembia that was home to the petrified remains of a planetar who died while defeating the blackguard Krysus Vaant.

Dress
Priests of Tyr wore blue and purple robes, with a white sash and left-handed glove. On their right hands, priests wore black gloves to symbolize the loss of Tyr's hand, to Kezef. They would also sometimes wear strips of silk-like fabric over their eyes as a reminder of his blindness. When traveling, priests of Tyr wore simple clothes, adorned with his holy symbol, and donned themselves in full armor during battle.


 * Book of lawgiving: A personal diary for all the clergy of Tyr, within which they kept track of all the judgments, rulings, warnings they issued in the pursuit of justice.

Magic items

 * Balance of Belaros: These magically floating brass scales would produce spell scrolls, upon receiving an offering of gold or other tithings.
 * Gong of Tyr: a powerful enchanted brass ring, imbued with Tyr's power to disintegrate its enemies.
 * Tyr's locket of justice: The item used by the Tyr's devotees during the Weeping War to control the undead from the Nightmare Gate.

Relics

 * Justicar: This longsword was the favored weapon of the maimed god.


 * Hammer of Tyr: A powerful relic of the Tyrran faith, this seemingly ordinary steel warhammer was capable of turning undead, emitting a sunray-like effect and could be recalled when thrown by its wielder.

Spells
The following spells were unique to the holy justices: wolfjaws &bull; hammer of justice &bull; sword and hammer &bull; greater sword and hammer &bull; resplendence of renewed youth

Relationships
The quick growth of the Tyrran church over a short time has garnered it many enemies. Among these were the churches of Bane, Cyric, Mask, Talona and Talos.

History
Tyr arrived to Toril in, via gate, in an event that came to be known as the Procession of Justice. During this crusade, he led 200 archons across the Vilhon Reach to finish off the remnants of the Jhaamdath empire, and slayed the lesser deity of anarchy, Valigan Thirdborn. In the following years, he would form The Triad with Ilmater, after aligning in, and Torm. The church of Tyr, and the Triad overall, spread swiftly to the majority of civilized lands on the surface of Faerûn after the end of the Procession.

Following the Time of Troubles, Tyr allowed for no practicing specialty priests within his clergy. On the Feast of the Moon in 1369 DR, he sent a vision to all priests who had remained true to even his most unpopular teachings, informing them that in return for their perseverance in maintaining his tenets in the face of strong adversity, he would give them new powers, making them Holy Justices.