The Dark Justiciars were an honorary order or secret society within the priesthood of Shar.[2][3] They were the elite among the faithful of the Mistress of the Night.[1]
Membership[]
It was rumored that in order to gain admittance to the order of the Dark Justiciars, a Sharran supplicant had to have killed a priest or priestess of Selûne.[2][3] This was in fact quite true,[1] but the process was a little more involved than that.[4]
For those Dark Justiciars at the Gauntlet of Shar temple in the Underdark, when a Sharran supplicant wanted to become a Dark Justiciar, they would require approval from their superior in the church. With this granted, they would travel to the Gauntlet of Shar and undergo trials to test their stealth, strength, and wisdom. After all trials were passed, they were permitted to go into the inner sanctum to spill the blood of a Selûnite as the ultimate sacrifice, and so become a Dark Justiciar. However, with the fall of Thorm's Dark Justiciars and the shadow curse, the Gauntlet of Shar fell into ruin in the late 14th century and this path of becoming a Dark Justiciar was gone with it.[4]
Powers[]
They were thought to be especially proficient in illusion and phantasm magic, even more so than other Sharran priests like nightbringers.[3]
Possessions[]
Dark Justiciars wore a unique set of chainmail, with accompanying helm and face-covering mask. This armor appeared shrouded in night itself, inspired terror in the innocent, and imbued the wearer's attacks with deathly necrotic energy.[4]
History[]
These executors of Shar's will served the Dark Lady over a millennium before the Era of Upheaval, dating as far back as the ancient empire of Netheril.[3]
A force of Dark Justiciars including Tidus Craft, Lauden Ebon, and Moren Marr battled a band of druids and Selûnites around Reithwin in the Western Heartlands in the Year of the Dusken Ride, 986 DR. Their bodies were collected by a Sharran associate, Malus Thorm, who recorded names, roles, and causes of death in a scroll titled "Reithwin Necrology".[4]
In Procampur's Port District on Uktar 17, the Year of the Unstrung Harp, 1371 DR, the Sharran priestess Inosencia Cielian murdered Justina Palfry, a Selûnite priestess visiting from Ravens Bluff, solely to become a Dark Justicar.[5]
At some point, a former Selûnite paladin named Ketheric Thorm turned to the worship of Shar and became her chosen. At Shar's command, Ketheric built the Gauntlet of Shar for training and initiating faithful Sharrans as Dark Justiciars.[4]
Some time around 1373 DR,[note 1] Ketheric Thorm raised an army of Dark Justiciars beneath the Thorm family mausoleum. He and his followers managed to release the shadow curse across the lands surrounding Moonrise Towers, before they were turned away by an allied force of Harpers, Selûnites, and druids of the Emerald Grove, including the hero Jaheira and Master Halsin.[4]
Following Thorm's turn to Shar, Raphael was contacted by the architect of Moonrise Towers to destroy the Dark Justiciars. The devil Yurgir slaughtered all but one Dark Justiciar. He was bound by a contract from Raphael, represented as a song, to "spill all the blood sworn to the night" and "leave no Justiciar alive to obey." Though he believed he fulfilled the contract, somehow it still stood, and he remained trapped in the Grand Mausoleum. In fact, the last remaining Justiciar, Lyrthindor, guarded Lady Shar's temple and kept the faith alive even after the other Dark Justiciars were exterminated. Uniquely, Lyrthindor performed a ritual, also from Raphael, that transformed him into a swarm of rats. Each rat retained fragments of Lyrthindor's memories and identity, and together they shared who he once was. Despite their fragmented state, they continued to exist, offering a treacherous bargain to those who encountered them.[4]
Notable Dark Justiciars[]
- Ketheric Thorm, a half-elf commander of the order who led an army of Dark Justiciars from the depths beneath Grymforge in the late 1400s DR.[4]
- Lyrthindor, the elven last survivor of Yurgir's purge of the order.[4]
- Inosencia Cielian, a half-elf employee of the Gilded Cage geisha house and Sharran priestess in Procampur in the late 1300s DR.[5]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ In Baldur's Gate III, the timeline of Ketheric Thorm's story and Ketheric Thorm's war is unclear; however, it can be narrowed down through other canon sources. 986 DR is stated (Reithwin Necrology) as the year when a battle took place between Dark Justiciars and druids & Selûnites. The note only mentions Malus Thorm, not Ketheric. This suggests that the date could be an editorial oversight or simply mean that Reithwin had a cult of Shar active as early as 986 DR with Malus Thorm, an elf, as one of its members. The presence of the cult and a family member being a part of it would help explain Ketheric's quick fall from grace. Ketheric's family's deaths and his subsequent conversion to Shar would have taken place sometime around 1367 DR, as the Moonrise Towers was used by the High Heralds and Naernythra Thaloudyn as late as that year. With the High Heralds present, Ketheric's enforcement of Sharran religion and inquisition would not be possible, so this must happen after the Heralds leave; presumably, Ketheric ordered them out first. The destruction of Moonhaven is dated to 1371 DR (or possibly the following year)—this means Ketheric's fall and leading an army took place between these two dates. Lastly, Ketheric Thorm's war and its conclusion involved Khelben Arunsun, meaning the war took place before 1374 DR (the date of Khelben's death in Blackstaff (novel)). Notably, Khelben left the Harpers in 1370 DR, but his presence could be explained by the war's severity, forcing his involvement. All of these points indicate that Ketheric Thorm's war, his death, and the creation of the shadow-cursed lands took place circa 1372-1373 DR.
Appearances[]
External Links[]
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Dark Justiciar article at the Baldur's Gate 3 Community Wiki, a community wiki for Baldur's Gate 3.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Daniel Cooper (April 1998). A Friendly Suggestion. Living City (RPGA), p. 21.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Julia Martin, Eric L. Boyd (March 1996). Faiths & Avatars. (TSR, Inc.), p. 141. ISBN 978-0786903849.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 slade, Jim Butler (October 1996). “The Winds of Netheril”. In Jim Butler ed. Netheril: Empire of Magic (TSR, Inc.), p. 57. ISBN 0-7869-0437-2.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 Larian Studios (October 2020). Designed by Swen Vincke, et al. Baldur's Gate III. Larian Studios.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Daniel Cooper (April 1998). A Friendly Suggestion. Living City (RPGA), pp. 36, 40.