Church of Hoar

The Church of Hoar was a collection of clerics, crusaders, and specialty priests called doombringers devoted to Hoar, the Lord of Three Thunders. The church rarely held sermons and organized worship.

Clergy
Hoar's church was divided into roughly equal numbers of clerics, crusaders, and doombringers. The Hurler of Thunders had scant temples scattered across various nations in the Heartlands. Most, if not all were humble yet intimidating-looking stone structures, often found atop secluded hills or mountains, were the clergy could contemplate acts of vengeance and poetic justice.

Most of Hoar's faithful spent their time wandering the Heartlands, aiding those who suffered grave injustices, and praying for those in need of vengeance. The church's clergy actively sought victims of injustice out to take in their stories and investigate the crimes. When Hoarites evaluated the voracity of victims' accounts, they sought the criminals and dispensed the "essential justice." The fitting justice delivered by Hoar's clergy could be as small or as grand as the crime demanded. Tyrists and town watches often branded Hoar's clerics as vigilantes. This disapproval from the Church of Tyr rose the reputation of the Church of Hoar to prominence among commoners as the patrons of downtrodden. Imposters who collected tithes in the guise of Hoarites were entitled to receive a fitting punishment from Hoar's ghostly hand.

Dueling among the clergy of Hoar was quite widespread, similarly to the churches of Bhaal, Myrkul, and Shar, while other faiths disallowed the activity. Duels among worshipers of Hoar were usually done one-on-one and it took only one round to determine the victor.

Ranks
Forty percent of Hoar's clergy were clerics, with crusaders and specialty priests–doombringers, evenly sharing the other sixty percent. There were many split factions within the church that squabbled over ancient disagreements. Titles among Hoar's faithful in ascending order included 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. The senior priests within the church were known as Lords of Thunderous Vengeance.

Holy Objects

 * The Black Bow, an enchanted longbow that was used as an instrument of vengeance in Cormyr. Many speculated that the bow was blessed by the Doombringer himself.

Equipment
The ceremonial attire of the priests of Hoar consisted of a black tunic over a long gray robe, with gloves of soft black leather. When on an official "hunt", they donned masks of surreal design that concealed their faces. Around their waists they wore dark-red sashes with silver borders; priests often kept trophies or tokens of past victories attached to this. They also wore an item of jewelry that displayed the holy symbol of Hoar and served as one for a cleric's powers. Finally, they wielded curved daggers. The priests wore these vestments whenever they could, unless they needed to hide their identity or occupation while pursuing a wrong-doer.

Dogma
The tenants of the Hoarite faith dictated that his worshipers were to upload the spirit of the law, but not the letter of the law. True and fitting justice was more important than lawful procedure and prosecution. Eye for an eye, violence bred violence, and evil paid back evil, and good always returned to those of good intentions. The Church of Hoar was strict at saying down the rules that encouraged its members to carefully walk the thin line of pay back evil and not do evil acts that were uncalled for. Poetic justice was encouraged, while evil led only yo one's downfall. Hoarite dogma demanded justice for all wrongdoings and injustices and requited punishment to fit the crime, served with irony.

Holy Days and Rituals
Few major official holidays and celebrations existed within the church. Instead, individual priests were required to celebrate anniversaries of their own personal acts of vengeance. The clergy members were also expected to observe anniversaries of crimes, insults, and injuries that were yet to be avenged. This was done in prayer and quiet contemplation, while those from outside the Hoarite faith often considered it to be nothing more than brooding. In reality, this time of contemplation was used to form plans and strategies of delivering appropriate punishments to the perpetrators. When non-Hoarites landed aid to the members of the clergy, they were rewarded lavishly and practically. The church did not waste time on empty honorary titles and praise, instead rewards were personal and significant. Each member of the Hoar's clergy was ought to praise the deity inwardly or loudly, when appropriate, as revenge was delivered.

One of the two official celebrations was the Penultimate Thunder, a festival recognizing Hoar's eventual triumph over Ramman, on Eleint 11. The Thunder was celebrated with grand feasts that served dishes of game, bread, fruits, and mead. The Impending Doom, a ceremony honoring future justice, was celebrated on Marpenoth 11. The observance of the holiday lasted for an entire day. The Impending Doom festival was filled with ceremonies of oaths, exhausting acts of purification, all performed to music of rumbling drums.

Regions
There were few permanent structures dedicated to Hoar. Two prominent temples of Hoar were the Amphitheater of the First Thunder in Mourktar and the Hidden Hand of Fate in the Arch Wood.

History
The Church of Hoar originated in the ancient land of Unther, in the Sea of Fallen Stars, where he was worshiped as Assuran. The church and worshipers were banished from Unther following a battle between Hoar and Ramman, the god of war. After banishment, Hoar lost place in the pantheon and his church was reduced to being the cult of the Doombringer in Unther. With time, even the cult suffered loss of worshipers to Anhur, the Mulhorandi god of war, introduced to Unther by Chessentan mercenaries.

During the Time of Troubles, Hoar manifested himself in his avatar – King Hippartes of Akanax. Under his leadership, devote Hoar-worhiping mercenaries were taken to taw against Chessentan cities of Cimbar, Soorenar, and Luthcheq, and later, attacked the god's ancient enemies in the Church of Ramman. Hoar briefly triumphed over Ramman, but lost once again when the Church of Anhur and Mulhorandi armies defeated King Hippartes and banished Hoar from Unther once again. This defeat cost Hoar dearly, many of the mercenaries in his army started venerating Anhur.

Following the Time of Troubles, Hoar's almost completely retreated from the Realms, making some doubt him being alive as of a decade past the days of gods walking the earth. His church continued to grow, albeit slowly, throughout the Heartlands.

Associated Orders

 * Fellowship of Poetic Justices
 * Hunters of Vengeance, a small order of bounty hunters, part of a hidden cult of Hoar in the depths of the Arch Wood.
 * Order of the Gauntlet, a 15 century DR order that included paladins and clerics of Tyr, Helm, Torm and Hoar.
 * Sons of Hoar, a clandestine organization of nobles dedicated to Hoar and opposed to the Simbul in Aglarond.

Notable Members of the Church of Hoar

 * Gural of Chessenta, a priest of Hoar to brought poetic justice to Redani, who murdered of her many loves after growing bored with them. Gural sent an army of reanimated lovers to slay her, and claimed the magical mace – The Love of Black Bess.
 * Hrusse of Assuran, a human cleric of Hoar and a member of the Force Grey in the mid-to-late 14 century DR.

Appearances

 * Video Games
 * Neverwinter
 * Icewind Dale
 * Icewind Dale