Church of Kelemvor

The Church of Kelemvor was the clergy dedicated to Kelemvor. "Death is but part of life: fear it not, evade it not, and view it not as evil. To fear death delivers you into the hands of those who can bring death down upon you. Die with dignity, neither raging nor seeking to embrace undeath. Do honor to the dead, for their strivings in life brought Faerun to where it is now, and to forget them is to forget also where we are now—and why."

- Kelemvor's charge to novitiates

Dogma
It was believed Kelemvor took the essences of the deceased and assigned them to their appropriate places in the eternal cycle of existence. He was the Great Guide, who led everyone into their next life. His clergy proclaimed that this was the case for all souls, regardless of their faith (though that was not true). Kelemvor had his faithful understand that death was part of life, that it was a beginning rather than an end and a necessity rather than a punishment. It was not the ultimate end; instead, it was a step in a continuing and wonderful journey. They viewed death as an orderly process, without deception or chaos. It was not to be rushed, prolonged, or evaded through undeath.

Kelemvorites were bidden to help people to meet their deaths with dignity at their proper time and not before. Unlike followers of some gods of death, they had no intent to wreak devastation and spread death. In word and deed, they opposed those who extended their lifespans beyond what was natural by using necromancy and other magic.

It was the will of Kelemvor that no sentient being, human or otherwise, should die of natural causes without one of his priests to attend them. Nor should they pass on without knowing that Kelemvor would meet them in the afterlife and that he was merciful and just and not to be feared. Thus the clergy believed their highest duty was to seek out folk close to death and aid them.

The church of Kelemvor considered the undead as an abomination and sought their destruction whenever possible. They also sought out and destroyed anyone who extended their lives well beyond the natural limit, such as liches.

Activities
Clerics of Kelemvor spent a significant amount of their time comforting those who were dying, performing last rites, assisting in the settling of affairs and making sure the wishes of the deceased are seen to and overseeing funerals and burials. They also marked areas that were diseased.

Doomguides
Doomguides maintained discipline in the clergy. They also oversaw fund-raising to raise funds for the church. Beyond this, doomguides were tasked with the eradication of necromantic practices, along with anyone who propagated the existence of the undead. To this end they often traveled with adventuring companies, aiding them when presented with the threat of the undead. While important, their roles as undead hunters was entirely secondary.

Doomguides served Kelemvor in a manner different that the clergy's other priests, acting as couriers between his temples and bringing aid to everyone across the lands. They were expected to travel far and wide, to spread Kelemvor's teachings regarding the afterlife share with mortals what they will face after death.

Mortarchs
Mortarchs were priests whose specialization lied in the arts of funerals. Their main duties were to consecrate graves, maintain and pass on knowledge regarding burial customs, and to provide comfort the grieving family members of the deceased.

Necrobanes
The duty of a necrobane was to seek out and destroy any undead creature. They halted the spread and destroyed animated corpses such as skeletons and zombies. They also sought out undead souls, such as ghouls and wights, so that they may be put to rest.

Others
Included among the churches members were white necromancers. Their main duties included guarding and maintaining temples, care taking of burial grounds, and occasionally acted as guards for priests.

Orders

 * Knights of the Eternal Order:
 * This order of paladins was dedicated to learning about, and destroying, the undead.


 * Most Solemn Order of the Silent Shroud:
 * An organization of gravediggers, embalmers, and other cemetery workers and crafters. Those of this order identified each other with a series of secret signs. Their task was to keep the church informed of undead sightings and gravesite desecrations.

Relationships
The church's zealous belief that the undead were abominations to be destroyed was frequently a source of conflict. Necromancers and clerics of gods who promote undeath such as Velsharoon were natural enemies of the church. The Twisted Rune, a highly secret cabal of liches and other powerful undead spellcasters, were another enemy to the church. Clerics of Cyric were sworn enemies to the church.

This belief also led to clerics of Kelemvor destroying any works about the creation of undead. This was a source of conflict with faiths whose beliefs centered on knowledge, such as Deneir and Oghma.

The church was not an ally of elves. Baelnorns, the elf equivalent of liches, were considered holy by elves. Despite this, the church viewed baelnorn as abominations like any other undead and sought their destruction.

Clerics of Jergal occasionally requested from the church that they officially sanctioned undeath in order to continue their archival work. Such requests were quickly rebuked.

Some members of the Cult of the Dragon worshiped Kelemvor. The Church of Kelemvor has a tenuous relationship with the Order of the Long Death, in that the only reason why the Order were not considered true enemies was that they did not promote undeath. Kelemvor directed his clergy to either convince the monks to refrain from practicing their skills on innocents and hunt and destroy the undead instead and failing that, destroy them.

Dress
Servants of Kelemvor were usually clad in somber smoky gray vestments and brandished hand-and-a-half swords, or bastard swords. Doomguides wore a silver headband which was rarely removed, as a well as the symbol of Kelemvor prominently displayed on their breast. Their robe were a muted blue, green or grey.

Clerical ranks were denoted by scales on the badge of Kelemvor, iron for low ranking clerics, silver for full priests and gold for the highest ranking priests.

When traveling, the clerics wore practical clothing and armor. But at all times the badge of Kelemvor was proudly displayed.

Magic Items
When required, clerics were entrusted to a magical domino mask. This grey mask allowed the wearer to detect undead as well as to see in infravision up to in darkness.

Spells
Several divine spells, prayers, and other forms of magic were closely linked to priests of Kelemvor:


 * chilling scythe
 * dead march
 * ''death dragon
 * deny death
 * ghost knight
 * Kelemvor's grace
 * Kelemvor's judgment
 * undead bane weapon
 * undeath to death

Holy days and rituals
Most rituals of the church of Kelemvor were private and personal, performed with individuals who were passing into the next life. The Passing was a simple ceremony of last rites. The cleric chanted comforting words and it acted as a signal to Kelemvor to remain on alert for the essence of the passing individual.

A larger ceremony, the Lament for the Fallen, was sung over a field of battle, a recently destroyed location or any site where many individuals were killed recently.

Every morning, the clerics performed the Remembrance. It was a dignified ritual performed in cemeteries and was usually attended by the relatives of the deceased and was comprised of prayers and songs.

In the evening, the clerics performed the Daeum, also know as Thanks to the Guide. It was a ritual celebrating the courage, purpose and strength of Kelemvor and the goals of his church. It was attended only by members of the church. At the end of this ceremony, the possessions of the dead were distributed to the clergy. Additionally, favors from Kelemvor and holy missions were dispensed by the senior clergy.

Kelemvorites used special potions of dragon's blood to consecrate the shrines to the God of Death. The ritual was often performed on the shrines of Myrkul, turning them to Kelemvor's holy places.

The two most holy days for the church of Kelemvor were Feast of the Moon and Shieldmeet. On both these high holy days, clerics of Kelemvor performed Deeds of the Dead, which extolled the greatness and importance of the ancestors to those still living so they were never forgotten. On both these days, clerics could cast speak with dead for as long as required, so long conversations with the dead could be held.

Temples
There were two major centers of worship devoted to Kelemvor: the Tower of Skulls in Ormath and a huge monastery in Ormpetarr constructed in 1479 DR.

Other temples were:
 * Skullspire, located in Tulmon
 * The Darkness Passing, located in Calimport.
 * True Temple of the Dead, located in Ravens Bluff.
 * Temple of Kelemvor in the Lower City of Baldur's Gate during the late 15 century DR.

Regions
The mining village of Skull Crag was home to a massive shrine dedicated to Kelemvor. The miners of the village all worshiped him. In Anauroch and the Western Heartlands, worship to Kelemvor was very popular.

The small village of Halfcrag in Tassledale formally employed undead guards to protect their underground vaults. This practice was ended by Kelemvorite priests. The villagers now purchased helmed horrors to act as guards. The city of Tulmon once had a serious infestation of undead, but thanks to the actions of the clergy, by  the population of undead was minimal.

In, clerics had an informal presence in Zhentil Keep. They were often encountered in the South Cemetery, working to eliminate the undead who plagued the graveyard.

The church also had a presence in Lapaliiya. They worked to rid the Dun Hills of undead. The church ruled the city of Sheirlantar, also known as the Tomb City. The leader of the city was titled the Keeper of Crypts, and was traditionally a high-ranked priest of the god of the dead and appointing by the Overking of Lapaliiya.

In Phlan, acolytes tended the grounds of Valhingen Graveyard. They also interned the dead.