Amaunator Worship
Divine Origins
Amaunator (pronounced: /ɑːˈmɔːnɑːtɔːr/ ah-MAWN-ah-tor) was the Netherese solar deity of order, the sun, law, and time. He was viewed as a harsh but fair deity, revered by many rulers, soldiers, and powerful wizards in ancient Netheril.
In 1371/1372 DR, high-ranked clerics and paladins of Lathander began to receive messages regarding a mysterious event called the "Deliverance", leading them to begin an aggressive recruitment campaign. It was not clear whether this had anything to do with Amaunator.
Amaunator's return was heralded by a fire genasi called Daelegoth Orndeir. The man was a believer in the aforementioned Risen Sun heresy and made it his goal to make it the mainstream branch of Lathander's church. He strengthened his base and power in intra-church politics, developed the Amaunator's eternal sun spell, and managed to get hold over the Shard of the Sun, a holy relic of Amaunator. He claimed he had seen visions that Amaunator's ascension was nigh and gathered his people to Elversult to witness the sign of the ascension in 1374 DR. The sign he referred to were the effects of the Amaunator's eternal sun spell, which he developed beforehand. This made people believe him and people flocked to the church of Lathander to join the church of Amaunator while the leaders of Lathander's church were not sure what to do.
Lathander was revealed to be Amaunator in the Year of Blue Fire, 1385 DR, just after the Spellplague. It was not clear whether it was the truth or he embraced a heresy and turned it into the effective truth.
Cosmological Views
Three Sun Heresy
Believers in this heresy claimed that Amaunator and Jergal were the aspects of highsun and dusk respectively during the days of Netheril. Later, these positions were fulfilled by Lathander, as the aspect of dawn, and the god of death, as the aspect of dusk. After the Time of Troubles, the Morninglord, according to this heresy, experienced a time of unchallenged authority. A substantial number of believers in this heresy claimed in 1374 DR that the Morninglord was close to transforming into the Yellow God. However, a minority believed that Lathander was about to take over the position as the highsun aspect, essentially handing over the dawn position to another deity, while another minority believed that a completely different god would ascend to take over the position as the highsun aspect. Since 1491 DR and the calamities that occurred in Baldur's Gate, the Underdark, and beyond, some worshipers of the Sun Gods began hearing whispers that someone else has taken Myrkul's place as the aspect of dusk...Tenets of Faith
The rule of law and the glory of the sun are both in Amaunator’s dominion. His priests help establish bureaucracies and lawful order in communities. They often witness contracts and signed agreements, stamping such documents with the sun-symbol of Amaunator to signify their validity.
Ethics
Amaunatori believed that law was the foundation on which any civilization was built without which any civilization would fall apart. They viewed the predictability with which the sun rose every day as an aspiration how securely the law would deal with wrongdoers and solve problems. They were also expected to take advantage of their legal knowledge by their deity.
This belief was lived out by teaching their novices to not just learn but also live in accordance with the law. The idea was that people who knew about law were the ones who could live a life without coming into conflict with it. The church of Amaunator was a very hierarchical organization. Those in the lower rung were told to keep tabs on their superiors. The goal of this policy was to increase the number of precedents that could be used to give rulings uniformity and with it their church influence.
After the Netherese church of Amaunator fell, an Amaunatori sect within Lathander's church was where the Yellow God was worshiped. They existed for fifteen centuries in the 14th century DR. The dogma of this sect, the Brotherhood of the Glorious Sun, believed that the god of dawn was Amaunator's reincarnation and would one day take over Lathander and return to be Amaunator. According to the Amaunatori during those days, Amaunator was not just a god of the sun, but the one of glory, light, and perfect order who could possibly take over the entire Faerûnian pantheon. Like their forebears, they promoted the aspect of law over good and viewed their god as a force that could bring order into the world.
Those who believed in the Risen Sun heresy followed the idea that Lathander was close to become Amaunator. Those who believed in the Three-Faced Sun heresy followed the idea that Amaunator was an aspect of an overgod who represented itself in the sun and Amaunator was merely an aspect of that overgod.
Worship
Farmers and travelers beseech him when they pray for rain or sun, as do any others looking for a favorable change in the weather. But the most common form of propitiation to Amaunator is the practice of swearing oaths, signing contracts, and declaring laws under the light of the sun. So ingrained in the common perception is the connection between a solemn oath and the sun that those engaged in closing deals or issuing edicts often pause and wait for a passing cloud to clear the sun before completing the transaction or pronouncement.
A ritual that was conducted to celebrate Amaunator in his sun-deity aspect was the Summer Solstice. Being the longest day in the year, Amaunatori sunbathed, relaxed, and thanked their god for sunlight. This ritual had also an appeasement factor to it. Amaunatori believed that not or improperly celebrating this day would make Amaunator cause the sun not to shine for an entire year.
Amauatori believed that other occasions to thank Amaunator were when they managed to legally pull someone over the barrel, won a debate, or passed a new law. Celebration was done by a priest burning magically preserved oak leaves and incenses.
Priesthood
His priests teach that Amaunator has died and been reborn time and again. Like the sun, he might pass into the realm of darkness, but inevitably his bright gaze will fall on the world once again. Amaunator is seen as a stern and unforgiving deity, not unlike Silvanus in comportment, but his concern isn’t for the balance of life — he cares that things proceed according to the celestial order, that promises are kept, and that the rule of law persists.
Amaunator's specialty priests were called sunlord or sunlady depending on gender. Collectively, the entire clergy was called the Amaunatori, a term that doubled as an adjective. In their hierarchy, titles included in descending order the Righteous Potentate, Monastic Abbot, and High Jurists. Even lower-ranking priests' titles fell to obscurity.
After the church fell apart, Lathaderian priests who believed that Lathander was the reborn form of Amaunator who would mature into his old form were called sunmasters.
During their days inside the church of Lathander, it was believed that a sunmaster who managed to form and head an army of Amauantor's believers could call him or herself a Righteous Potentate. The leader was called Sunlord. the name that was formerly used for Amaunator's specialty priests. The title Monastic Abbot survived among the Order of the Sun Soul, which traced its origin back to the Amaunatori Order of the Sun.
Type
Religious, Pantheon
Alternative Names
The Keeper of the Eternal Sun, the Light of Law, the Yellow God
Deities
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