Sarshel's Triadic Church: Hierarchy, Function, and everything else?

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Silver Snow
Posts: 310
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2016 5:28 am

Sarshel's Triadic Church: Hierarchy, Function, and everything else?

Postby Silver Snow » Mon Feb 01, 2016 5:22 am

Hey all, I wanted to start this thread in the hopes that a DM or two can come in and help answer a few, I think, unexplored factors about the church that's at the center of a lot of the stuff that happens around Sarshel. More importantly, at the center of many players' RP.
I have come across very little information on how the church works (within each faith and between them, as they do all differ on principles here and there), what exactly it does in the area and how it does it, and general hierarchy/prominent NPCs.

I know for a fact that Tyr's and Torm's churches are VERY hierarchical, ordered, and strict. There's no ambiguity as to rank or who would be subordinate to whom, probably even less so than in a modern military. It's especially important for Tormtar, for whom Loyalty is written very specifically into the Codes. I see Torm as less represented by NPCs and PCs alike than the other faiths (The Abbot is Tyrran at least). Would it be possible to get a layout of major ranking NPCs of the three faiths, and where our characters might hope to sit among them? I imagine that with level 8 being on the table, it might get to be fairly high. It would also be neat to know how the churches interact among each other. While the church is not the faith, strictly speaking, Tyr's and Torm's divine faithful are very ingrained in it and act on its behalf, while Ilmater I know less off. Essentially I feel that this would at least help me with my RP immensely, as I at no point have considered Serace as an "adventurer," and much more so the arm of Torm's church (and Torm himself, clearly.) Knowing who would be directly above her in the order, who'd be below, would be great. I figure the half dozen Ilmateri we have would be helped by this too! I get that's it a big ask of anyone, as there's a lot of info here, but anything we can get will help.

Next comes the church's function. I get it's there, but what does it -do- there? How does the church, and what parts of it, work with the local Sarshel and larger scale government? There has to be some integration, I imagine. What do its members do, locally? Do they administer the city, or, like our characters, do they also range out and attack evil? How unique -are- the player characters of the Triadic faiths that work alongside adventurers and go to dungeons to kill monsters? Would it be reasonable for characters to both be very involved with the church's operations -and- be active in the region? For Torm, at least, hunting down evil in an active way abroad is sort of his thing more than anyone else's. In short, I'd like to understand the facets of the church and what they do, as I have before today heard no mention of Triadists actively alongside Warswords and doing patrols and the like. Naturally, we only see the NPCs inside the temple, it'd be great to know what the ones outside are doing.

Any other information that can be provided here would be wonderful and educational. Hopefully this will help a number of us understand better how our characters would fit in with the church, rather than just be adventurers with divine spells.

Loreweaver
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Re: Sarshel's Triadic Church: Hierarchy, Function, and everything else?

Postby Loreweaver » Mon Feb 01, 2016 3:38 pm

The main function of Sarshel's Temple of the Triad is providing guidance to the people. It spends a lot of time responding to peoples' uncertainties regarding both the mundane and the divine.
It should be understood that the three faiths are separate religions which share a temple; they conduct their own observances eight months out of the year and have four month-long periods of combined prayer, fasting and purification. As a result, the following on additional roles should not be interpreted as a strict separation of duties:
- Ilmater's priests are most concerned with the situation of the poor. They collect firewood, herbs and donations where they can and use these to support those in need. They also perform burial rites and comfort the dying and their relatives. They are also the first to treat injury and disease, at personal risk if necessary.
- Tyr's priests are primarily active as truthseekers in the Lord's Court and safeguard the legality of trials. Their legal expertise is also available to the common people, and often they will be asked to resolve a conflict before it gets serious. They also offer worshippers opportunity for confession and penance and offer education to the masses.
- Torm's priests primarily safeguard the sanctuary of the temple and take an active role in educating warriors on fighting unholy threats (as well as taking care of most paladin training). They investigate suspicions of corruption in people and organizations who claim authority or moral superiority, and can be asked to serve as bodyguard for high-risk interactions.

The temple has no role in government. It is true that many members of government are trained by the Triad and come to them for advice, and that those who are not still come from an environment where Triadic norms and values were ingrained in society. The temple also has political interests and will try to steer things in its favour. But as an organization, it is independant. That doesn't keep some from referring to Tyr's main servant as the "Hidden Lord," the thirteenth member of the Council of Lords.

The Triad has a separate organization for monster hunting and the like, embodied in the Most Holy Order of the Sacred Shrike, also referred to as the Knights of Imphras II. Some temple priests are members, many are not. They are the only sanctioned holy Order in Impiltur, and can be considered an elite force dealing with foes which would cause too many casualties amongst the regular Warsword ranks.
This order comes with some unfortunate implications for TER, such as the fact that it contains glory heaped high-level adventuring NPCs considered more famous and certainly more popular than the queen-regent, the sort you'd get bedroom posters of and write fanfics about. We do our best to keep them out of your way, but background-wise they're there and waiting for the sort of trouble PCs alone can't handle. It's not really a role NPCs should have, most probably.

When it comes to Warsword integration, the Most Holy Order has warsword-equivalent ranks, which means they can take command of parts of the army if needed or be placed under a high ranking officer's command. But the main way the temple serves the army is through the Warmaces.
Warmaces are at the heart of the Triad's continued influence under the Heltharn dynasty, as they're the currency which pays for the temple's privileges. They are priests who have no rank in the army but are assigned to units at the command of Shieldlords and higher ranking officers.
These priests perform healing services, but more importantly are sword and shield against magical and supernatural perils. In later years, the Warwand was also added to the ranks to make Impiltur's standing army into quite possibly the most rounded and formidable one in east Faerûn.

Regarding internal politics, there are some major differences between the faiths and it would be wrong to assume that they are entirely harmonious in their cooperation. For example, since the Time of Troubles, both Ilmater and Torm have been on the rise, which undermines Tyr's supposed position as leader of the Triad. Tyrrans therefore place more importance on maintaining the temple's influence whereas Tormites have become more interested in supporting other religions due to their god's commands. Tyrrans (again) look to imposing projects to instill the glory of the three gods in the common man, whilst the Adorned would much prefer more humble surroundings and spending wealth on practical needs. Dead magic zones like the ones the prisons in Hlammach are built around would be something Tormtar seek to extinguish, whilst Ilmatari might argue it's a more humane way of imprisoning mages than straps and gags, and more reversible than cutting tongues and fingers off.
The three faiths will strive to present a unified front but there is plenty of negotiation going on behind the scenes. Their common interests far outweigh their differences so it is unlikely this leads to a schism, that does not mean they all like eachother or refuse opportunities for an advantage.

The major ranking NPCs of the three faiths would be stationed in Lyrabar's temple, the Blessed Tritower.
For Tyr: Defender of Justice Merlthaun Fornal, the 'Scarred Inquisitor', a tall, grim-visaged, older man with a scar from temple to chin who speaks as though each word costs the temple a fortune.
For Ilmater: Revered Mother Elmaera Dornmane, club-footed, rotund, and a serious individual of calm mien, iron self-control and concise speech.
For Torm: High Priest Aldomer Milyk, a square-jawed, middle-aged, excessively punctual man who gets restless in idleness, and tends to search rooms for assassins while maintaining conversation.
In the Sarshel area, Knight Commander Esach Starsunder, Revered Mother Aelanna Balgorn and Enforcer of the God Angha Turvil would be the main authorities.
Haron Aulenbtyn, Abbot of Tyr, would be the main overseer of daily affairs for Sarshel's temple and the one who leads the collective services of the Triad.

Where exactly a PC belongs within the ranks and whom their direct superiors are can only be explained by listing every NPC in the organization, and this we won't do.
Speaking for Serace in particular, there are three possibilities depending on how you play her.
1) She acts as a Sword of Torm. Her position is below that of the Tormtar, but above the lay worshippers.
2) She has joined Sarshel's temple and holds rank amongst the Tormtar. Please work with a DM to determine where she stands.
3) She is part of a different temple. She is either considered a guest in Sarshel's, or was given the name of a particular Tormtar to offer her services to while in the area. This can also be provided by a DM.
Note also that Tormtar (under 2 and 3) are expected to tithe 60% of their income to the temple if their duties require them to operate semi-independantly as opposed to following direct orders, which seems to be the case with her lifestyle.

Silver Snow
Posts: 310
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2016 5:28 am

Re: Sarshel's Triadic Church: Hierarchy, Function, and everything else?

Postby Silver Snow » Mon Feb 01, 2016 4:33 pm

Lore, thank you! This is a great post and thanks for the quick turnaround, I think it answered a lot of my own questions and helped clear up some gaps in understanding I had. Great resources. I'll be shooting a PM shortly to discuss things.


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