Church of Shar

The Church of Shar was the organization dedicated to spreading the dogma and carrying out the wishes of the deity Shar. Although the estimated one hundred thousand worshipers of Shar can loosely be deemed members, its true membership consisted of the clergy of the church, who numbered around 3,500. The faith was forbidden in many areas of Faerûn which led to the church going underground, practicing in hiding much of the time. An element of fear was associated with the worship of Shar since many of her followers were willing to give their lives in her service.

Etymology
Members of the church knew each other as Dark Followers, but were often referred to by others as Sharrans.

Dogma
Clergy of Shar were directed to "quench the light of the moon" by defeating the faithful of Selûne at every opportunity. They never hid from the light and always took action when protected by the darkness.

Because the most valuable commodity to the clergy of Shar was their secrecy, information was closely guarded and only revealed when it was absolutely essential. The clergy of Shar expected that secrets were traded for similarly confidential information.

Attitude
The atmosphere of the organization was one of unwavering faith to its leader, Shar herself. Disobeying an order usually resulted in death. Although devotees were perfectly willing to give their life for Shar, she did not want to deplete the number of her dedicated followers.

Organization
The church of Shar was entirely decentralized, split into individual cells that operated independently from one another, with a temple or shrine of Shar as their focal point. Cells were linked under the leadership of an overpriest, a single individual that coordinated the activities of numerous cells, and controlled the information held by the priests within.

Nearby cells often worked either in concert with or opposed against one another, ultimately fulfilling Shar's will in either circumstance. Two cells of competing ideologies that formed within a given region could each view the other as heretical while still both playing a crucial role in Shar's plans. Whenever one cell completed or failed in their goal, were discovered and driven from a city, or otherwise fall from Shar's grace, another would be poised to take its place.

Titles
The church of Shar utilized a number of different titles for its clergy. In descending order:
 * Flame of Darkness, an archpriest or direct servant of the Lady of Night.
 * Nightseer, the overpriest for the faithful within a given realm.
 * Darklord/lady, a senior priest that led a single cell.
 * Hand of Shar, an experienced priest that led Sharrans in battle or on quests for the church.
 * Watcher, the lowest-ranking order of the priesthood.
 * Adept of the Night, the title given to novice priests and priestesses.

Classes
The church of Shar comprised clerics, crusaders, mystics, and the order of specialty priests known as the nightcloaks. This group of Shar's "nightbringers" previously served a different role outside the clergy, but were brought within the church's embrace circa 1364 DR.

Initiation
In order to become clergy within the church's organization, one underwent tests of faith and commitment which would be likely vile to any good-aligned being. Potential recruits incapable of murder were not admitted, and would likely be killed. After a few months of displaying their willingness to join, new recruits have likely committed many murders.

In order to become a worshiper of Shar, the tests were less strenuous, but nonetheless involve performing acts that would be considered deplorable by kindhearted individuals. Any betrayal of the faith resulted in the swift death of the formerly-faithful.

Hierarchy
As of, the highest ranking mortal member of the Church was high priestess Irtemara el Eradsari of the Temple of One Night in Calimport.

Factions
One faction of the Church of Shar was dedicated to eliminating any knowledge of the shadow weave that did not originate from the church itself. They believed that anyone outside the church with such knowledge was a threat to their security. They have been known to recruit adventurers for the purposes of eliminating the individuals in possession of such knowledge.

Activities
With the intent of spreading the faith of Shar across the breadth of Toril, her clergy utilized corruption and subversion to undermine powerful individuals, governments and even other religions to the point of collapse. Shar's priests often revealed their closely held secrets, inciting bitterness, jealously, and desperation within others, emotions that were strongly embrace by the Lady of Secrets. In doing so they realigned the lives of the faithless so they were best prepared to embrace the comfort of the Lady of Loss, all but ensuring a successful conversion.

The Sharran faithful often embarked on missions of espionage or outright murder in order to fulfill the Lady's will. On some occasions Shar's priests were directed to murder spellcasters that she deemed were guilty of misusing the her own source of magic. Other times they were directly forbidden from dispensing this form of punishment, seemingly without reason or pattern.

Rituals
Every night priests of Shar performed the Nightfall, a ritual in which they received instructions from the goddess and one that held special meaning on nights of a new moon.

The Kiss of the Lady was considered the most important rite of the faith, one in which her priests reveled in ritualistic murder and other horrific deeds. It was not held regularly, only when decreed by the leaders of certain influential sects of the church.

Celebrations
To maintain secrecy, the Sharran church only held one holy day on the Calendar of Harptos, the Rising of the Dark held on the night of Uktar 30 and early morning of Nightal 1. While others were distracted themselves by paying tribute to the dead, clergy members used the time to perform their darkest rituals and receive instructions of the faith for the upcoming winter.

Tactics
Because the Sharran faith was banned in many cities throughout the Realms, clergy were forced to act in secret under the cloaks of secrecy and darkness. They often traveled in small groups or individually throughout Faerûn, often disguised as merchants or pilgrims to avoid detection.

Priests of Shar readily communicated with one another, but often withheld crucial information and rarely revealed truthful information to their inferiors. Each member of the clergy had their own role to play in Shar's all-embracing plans for existence, and they were only given the minimum necessary information to fulfill their role.

Magic
It was not uncommon for priests of Shar to utilize the power of her Shadow Weave for spellcasting. Despite this, Shar held onto the deepest and most powerful secrets of the magical force as her own.

Learning from their Shadovar allies of Thultanthar, clergy of Shar employed simulacra made from the shadows of their victims. These shadowy constructs were then used in infiltration missions to ______.

Regions
As the ancient faith of Shar dated as back back as the empire of Netheril, it spread across Faerûn and Sharran cells appeared in cities far and wide. Calimshan emerged the preeminent place for Sharran worship throughout the Lands of Intrigue. The presence of the powerful Old Night sect allowed the faithful to gather, share information, and coordinate with one another with relative ease and security.

Influential cells appeared throughout the cities and realms of the Western and Eastern Heartlands, such as Iriaebor, Daggerford, Wheloon in Cormyr, Shadowdale in the Dalelands, and many cities across Sembia.

Places of Worship
Within her temples the Lady of Loss was often represented as a black sphere halo'd in purple flames or a beautiful, black-haired woman with an unnerving smile.

Notable Temples

 * Dark Embrace, a powerful Amnian temple founded by dissatisfied Calishite priests during the early 14 century.
 * The Darkhouse, a secret temple built a lighthouse off the coast of Saerloon by the shade Kesson Rel.
 * Fane of Shar, the Lady's temple in the returned enclave of Thultanthar. The flying city was considered the center for Sharran worship throughout the 15 century DR.
 * House of Night, a secluded temple found deep beneath the Grinding Gulf cavern in Shadowdale.
 * Temple of Old Night, the oldest and most influential of Shar's temples—found in Calimport— was a destination for Sharran pilgrims from all across the Realms.
 * Vanrakdoom, one of the sublevels of the dungeon complex of Undermountain, founded by the death knight Vanrak Moonstar.

Other holy site no longer in used included:
 * Reign of Night, the most important holy site and center of faith for the church of Shar during the time of ancient Netheril, found in the town of Sepulcher.

Dress
Priests and priestesses of Shar preferred garments of black highlighted with purple. Ceremonial dress included long-sleeved, deep purple robes worn over black clothing, with a black skullcap worn atop the head. Priestesses with black hair abstained from wearing the cap, as their natural tresses were seen as a natural blessing by the Lady of the Night. They often adorned themselves with jewelry made of obsidian, onyx, purple jade, or amethysts.

Clerical Orders

 * Beguilers of Shar, an order tasked with keeping the existence of the Shadow Weave secret. When Shar publicly revealed the existence of the Shadow Weave, the order was dissolved and its members were ejected from the church.
 * Darkcloaks, unusual among other orders in the Church, the darkcloaks were actually a compassionate group of oracles and care-givers who tended to those troubled souls who were emotionally damaged, often bringing the bliss of forgetfulness to soothe their pain. Their work did much to present the church in a positive light to the populace, though quite often the reaction was still negative. This order included the few non-evil, and even morally good, clerics of the Church.
 * Nightcloak, Formerly known as Nightbringers, this group of particularly debased followers of Shar who were separated from the church, until the Time of Troubles when they were absorbed into the clergy as specialty priests.
 * Sisterhood of the Black Veil, is a small Sharran cell that operated under the guidance of the priestess Sennifyr in Hulburg.

Monastic Orders

 * Order of the Dark Moon, Shar's secretive monastic order tapped into the shadow weave through their powers of sorcery.

Military Orders

 * Dark Justiciars, an secret order of Sharran champions that gained admittance with the slaying Selûnite priest or priestess.

Allegiances
Sharran cells occasionally worked together with the Monks of the Dark Moon but Shar preferred that they work independently. The church employed the services of undead, evil humanoids and young evil dragons if they could be bribed or coerced into service. Talona would ally with Shar, but only if the aim was causing harm to their common enemy Loviatar. Shar and Cyric remained on cooperative terms.

Enemies
The Sharran church was generally opposed to any good-aligned religious orders, but particularly despised members of the Selûnite clergy. The two faiths fought an ongoing war with one another—in both ideological and literal terms—and Sharran clergy always took opportunities to inflict pain upon the Selûnites, even in lieu of their other duties to the church.

History
The worship of Shar dated back to when mortals first appeared on Toril. After Shar's acquisition of the cavern portfolio from slaying Ibrandul during the Time of Troubles, she gained the worship of subterranean beings such as goblins, kobolds and troglodytes.

Some time after the, thieves working for the church stole a copy of the Book of Black and the original Leaves of One Night from the Dark Diviners of Windsong Tower, the latter of which reportedly included a great weakness of the Lady of Loss.

During the early 1370s DR, nearly every Sharran cell across the Western Heartlands came under the influence of an especially persuasive, and increasingly powerful priest of the faith.

War and the Weave
To further the Lady's goal of replacing the Weave of Mystra with Shar's own Shadow Weave, her clergy attempted to create dead-magic zones all across Faerûn.

In fall of the, clergy led working from a false temple of Mystra in Wheloon took over the Lost Refuge in the Vast Swamp, and reopened an ancient portal linking Faerûn to the Shadowfell. Operating from within the Shadowfell's Black Rift, Esvele Greycastle and the black dragon Despayr, led a group of Sharrans in a ritual tear apart the Weave itself using practitioners of the Art afflicted by the shadow shard. They were ultimately unsuccessful. Shar's dragon was defeated, but Greycastle continued on the Lady's work.

In the month of Marpenoth, Shar's Nightseer Rivalen Tanthul orchestrated the Sembian Civil War by assassinating the Overmaster Kendrick Selkirk of Sembia, and using the ensuing power vacuum to ignite conflict between Ordulin and Selgaunt. He installed Thamalon Uskevren II as the new Overmaster of Sembia, and eventually transformed the nation into vassal-state of returned Netheril—an empire reborn in the honor of Shar.

Rivalen Tanthul was not the only prominent Sharran priests to spark spur and take advantage of war in the Heartlands. Months later in the, Esvele Greycastle of Sembia forged an alliance with the drow of House Dhuurniv along with Fzoul Chembryl and the Army of Darkhope. She supported the Zhentarim during their army clashed with the forces of Myth Drannor during the Cormanthor War, and aided the church's new allies during their attempted takeover of Shadowdale.

As drow raided Shadowdale and the Zhentilar occupied the realm under the guise of providing military aid, Esvele Greycastle worked with the lich Alokkair and the Shadovar emissary Irphiina of Thultanthar to complete the Rite of Unwinding with in her underground temple. They attempted to nullify the Weave in an ever-growing expanse—without actually destroying it—thus allowing the Shadow Weave to become the dominant source of arcane power in the Realms. Just as in the Vast Swamp however, Shar's servants were thwarted by a band of meddling adventurers.

The church's attempts to control, manipulate, or even destroy the Weave would not be thwarted. Later that year clerics of Shar and their Thulanthan allies broke into the Windsong Tower and stole the Quess'Ar'Teranthvar, an elven artifact that was in fact one copy of the fabled Nether Scrolls, and stashed it in close proximity to a Shadow Weave node in Anauroch for safekeeping. Unfortunately for the clergy, the Heroes of Shadowdale dissolved the Quess'Ar'Teranthvar and Shar's faithful were dealt another defeat.

By that time however the Sharran church had shared their secret of dampening the Weave with their allies in Thultanthar. The Shadovar arcnaists utilized Thultanthar's mythallar to nullify the Weave over much of the Anauroch desert. This granted the Sharran arcanaists a tremendous edge over other powers in the region, including dragons, djinn, and otherwise powerful beings native to the desert.

Members
The veneration of Shar often appealed to those that were compelled in life to conduct business under the blanket of darkness, perform grim deeds in their line of work, and those that yearned to play a role of power and influence in the world. Individuals suffering from intense feelings of grief, resentment, or loss were often targeted by the clergy, and brought into the Sharran faith for succor and comfort. While they were not always true believes, petitioners that had their minds altered or memories taken from them also appealed to Shar in the hopes of mental recovery.

Shar was also worshipped by subterranean humanoid species or more monstrous creatures that hated the light, such as goblins.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Mistress of the Night • The Twilight War (Shadowbred, Shadowstorm, Shadowrealm) • The Godborn
 * Video Games
 * Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate