Sunmasters were divine spellcasters of Amaunator.[2]
Culture[]
Sunmasters were members of the Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun, a sect within the church of Lathander that believed that the Morninglord was a reincarnation of Amaunator and destined to transform into the Yellow God at some point in history.[3]
Sunmasters were mostly Lathanderite clerics who discarded Lathander in favor of Amaunator and received their spells from the dead power. While a minority, paladins and clerics with wizardly training also became sunmasters from time to time, doing so in the belief that the Morninglord would reward them for their service.[4]
Sunmasters believed that Lathander was an aspect of Amaunator, who would eventually ascend to sumpremacy among the Faerunian pantheon. They believed that Amauantor's re-emergence would be hastened through their actions.[4]
Sunmasters were often tasked with the organization of Lathanderite shrines and chapter houses that put Lathander's sun aspect to the forefront. A chapter house usually had up to five practicing sunmasters, up to five acolytes and clerics who were Amaunatori but not sunmasters yet and up to ten subservient warriors, fighters, and paladins.[5]
Abilities[]
Every sunmaster was versed in geographical, historical, and religious matters. They were all fluent in Loross. They could cast divine spells and had access to the Law and Sun domain. As mentioned above, the source of their magic came from Amaunator instead of Lathander through becoming a servant of the fallen.[4] Another avenue to gain this power was by embracing a heresy called the Risen Sun heresy, radicals among the Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun who did not just say that Lathander was Amaunator but his transformation was close.[6]
A sunmaster had a lot of freedom at casting Sun and Law domain spells and gained access to the Planning domain. They also became increasingly resistant to fire as their training progressed.[4]
Sumasters could eventually manifest two magical abilities; glaring eyes and sunform. Glaring eyes functioned up to three times a day, and allowed their eyes to glow with searing light, protecting them from magical blindness and dizziness. Sunform allowed them to become a glowing ball of light with the strength of daylight. In this form, they could fly, were completely immune to fire, light, and air, and their touch seared. They could take this form once a day for up to one minute.[4]
Sunmasters were very aggressive divine casters who made it a priority to destroy their enemies over healing their allies. As mentioned above, they had great freedom regarding the casting of Law and Sun domain spells. Order's wrath and searing light were favorites in their arsenal, and they would gather lawful allies to prevent harm from the former spell, and improved their skill at aiming rays for the latter. Sunform represented the pinnacle of a sunmaster's abilities, but had a severe downside; it made spellcasting impossible, unless the sunmaster learned the necessary metamagic to cast spells without somatic, verbal, or material components.[7]
Possessions[]
A sunmaster owned a holy symbol of Amaunator. This symbol needed to be either unearthed from a ruined temple to the dead god, or be given by a practicing sunmaster to the initiate.[4]
Sunmasters were also advised to learn crafting magic items by themselves, especially weapons and armor.[7]
Relationships[]
Church of Lathander[]
The sunmasters were a sect within the church of Lathander. They upheld lawfulness over goodness and referred to Lathander as Amaunator. The differing views between them and the rest of the Lathanderites caused sunmasters to have a rather rocky relationship with the orthodoxy. For example, sunmasters believed that Amaunator was destined to take over the entire Faerûnian pantheon, something orthodox Lathanderites considered an arrogant notion. Some sects of the church of Lathander actively opposed the sunmasters, but overall they were tolerated as their actions were viewed as more beneficial for Lathander's cause than open schisms. When a particular sunmaster made it a point to preach differing views to other Lathanderites, he or she could expect aid, including food and lodging, to be witheld.[8]
That said, they were considered elite combatants compared to the morninglords, and were an acknowledged clerical and knightly order within the church. Sunmasters reported to two masters; official superiors within the church of Lathander, and their superior in their sect, the two groups were not necessarily being in the same place.[9]
Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun[]
All sunmasters were members of the Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun. This sect was much more willing to help a sunmaster than other sects of the church of Lathander. This went from healing, to loaning magic items, and active assistance.[10]
The brotherhood was generally willing to accept new members and part of a sunmaster's job was to recruit new members for the brotherhood. The sect itself was mostly a meritocracy.[9]
Lathander[]
Lathander's policy of equal treatment was a major reason why the sunmasters' and orthodoxes' differing views never degenerated into open confrontation.[5]
Sunmasters who became such through becoming servants of the fallen were judged Faithless on death.[11]
Church of Horus-Re[]
Horus-Re was a god who believed that he was the only sun-deity and his followers and sunmasters had a hostile relationship.[4]
The relationship was so bad that sumasters were required to act undercover when they were in an area where the church of Horus-Re held power.[5]
Order of the Sun Soul[]
The Order of the Sun Soul was an order of monks whose forebears were an order dedicated to Amaunator. The organization was a source of allies for the sunmasters.[5]
General Public[]
Apart from Lathanderites, the differences between the sunmasters and other Lathanderites were not perceivable. Therefore, the general public treated sunmasters in the same way they would other members of the church of Lathander. However, the sunmasters needed to act under a layer of stealth when they operated within an area where evil held sway.[5]
History[]
By the 14th century DR, the sunmasters were within the church of Lathander for about fifteen centuries.[2]
Notable members[]
- Andar was a sunmaster who picked up orphans from the streets and gave them employment as torchbearers.[5]
- Daelegoth Orndeir was the Sunlord, the leader of the Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun.[12]
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Travis Stout (February 2005). Lost Empires of Faerûn. Edited by Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 25–28. ISBN 0-7869-3654-1.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Travis Stout (February 2005). Lost Empires of Faerûn. Edited by Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 25. ISBN 0-7869-3654-1.
- ↑ Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Travis Stout (February 2005). Lost Empires of Faerûn. Edited by Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 25, 28. ISBN 0-7869-3654-1.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Travis Stout (February 2005). Lost Empires of Faerûn. Edited by Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 26. ISBN 0-7869-3654-1.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Travis Stout (February 2005). Lost Empires of Faerûn. Edited by Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 28. ISBN 0-7869-3654-1.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood, Eric L. Boyd (March 2006). Power of Faerûn. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 47. ISBN 0-7869-3910-9.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Travis Stout (February 2005). Lost Empires of Faerûn. Edited by Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 27. ISBN 0-7869-3654-1.
- ↑ Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Travis Stout (February 2005). Lost Empires of Faerûn. Edited by Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 25–27. ISBN 0-7869-3654-1.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Travis Stout (February 2005). Lost Empires of Faerûn. Edited by Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 26–27. ISBN 0-7869-3654-1.
- ↑ Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Travis Stout (February 2005). Lost Empires of Faerûn. Edited by Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 27–28. ISBN 0-7869-3654-1.
- ↑ Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Travis Stout (February 2005). Lost Empires of Faerûn. Edited by Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 9, 26. ISBN 0-7869-3654-1.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood, Eric L. Boyd (March 2006). Power of Faerûn. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 58. ISBN 0-7869-3910-9.