Greater Power of Mechanus LN
Amaunator (Ah-MAWN-ah-tor) was the god of law and the sun.
He was revered as the patron of law and (much less vigorously)
as the keeper of time. His justice was fair but harsh. He was honored by many rulers, soldiers, and powerful mages.
He was depicted as a lanky man with silver-white hair, a short,
tenday growth of white beard, and skin that glowed constantly
with a quiet golden radiance. He carried a scepter in one hand
and a large legal tome in the other, and wore the dress of a magistrate: a long, flowing, black or purple gown trimmed in silver or
gold. To be in his presence was to feel the awesome power of true
law. His scepter, the scepter of the eternal sun, was devastating
against chaotic creatures and golems. Amaunator’s very touch
was said to be able to destroy all undead creatures, and his visage
could light an area for miles when he wished.
A very careful god, Amaunator made certain that everything
was written down, contracted, signed, sealed, and notarized. An
extremely lawful god, he followed the letter of the law, not necessarily the spirit of it—unless the spirit was a great deal more to
his liking. He expected the same from his servitors.
Amaunator was also occasionally revered as the keeper of
time. This artificial “addition” to his portfolio was due to a mispunctuation in a contract between himself and another deity
which stated: “. . .Amaunator shall be responsible for all time.
any misrepresentation of his or his followers, If so deemed the
fault of Amaunator . . . .” This unnoticed punctuational snarl of
commas and periods led to Amaunator considering himself to be
in charge of “all time.” Fortunately, he never officially attempted
to take over the portfolio, since he wasn’t willing to step on the
toes of Mystryl, who was the practical and actual keeper of the
timestream.
Manifestations
Amaunator often appeared as a glowing woman dressed in a
flowing opalescent dress bearing a balance of the purest gold—
an almost translucent gold. It was said that if the scales tipped
toward the right, the one seeing the apparition had met with disfavor. The viewer could expect to lose all profits and to bear the
weight of seven years of poverty, debt, and servitude. If the balance tipped to the left, the viewer had met with favor. They could
expect rewards and contractual pledges to fill their pockets with
the profits of the world. Those who saw an apparition with perfectly balanced scales were believed to be met with the greatest
of favor: invited to join Amaunator’s priesthood. The clergy were
apparently notified by Amaunator himself of favored folk, since
they always approached such people within a tenday to take
them to Amaunator’s temple in Unity for rigorous study and instruction.
Amaunator brought revenge to those who deserved it, righted
wrongs, punished the wicked, and avenged those who couldn’t
avenge themselves. He did this by sending a group of 13 giant hyenas with maximum hit points and a Morale of 20 that appeared
from thin air to rip and tear at the flesh of the condemned until
the body was spread over an acre of land.
Finally, Amaunator sometimes acted or showed his favor or
disfavor through emerald dragons, sapphire dragons, steel dragons, golems, takos, birds of prey (especially sunfalcons), sunflowers, yellow-eyed daisies, golden lilies, topazes, fire-colored or
red gemstones of all sorts, tan dogs, cream-colored cats, pure
white wolves, and white stallions.
The Church
Priests of Amaunator were powerful political figures. Many
served as regional rulers and political advisors. Amaunator’s
clergy were extremely hierarchical and rulebound. Each
Righteous Potentate (high priest of a temple, called a “Court”)
oversaw all aspects of church functions. No one could perform
or be relieved of his duties without the consent of the Righteous
Potentate or one of his seven Monastic Abbots. Under each of
the seven Monastic Abbots, there was an additional seven High
Jurists (priests) who served relentlessly, performing whatever
duties were assigned to them. Lower ranks of clergy members
served beneath the High Jurists, and were known as (in descending order): Jurists, High Magistrates, Magistrates, Defenders of
the Law, Lions of Order, Radiant Servants, Clerks. Specialty
priests of Amaunator were known as sunlords and sunladies.
The Righteous Potentate was in charge of teaching the masses of people who flocked to the temple on a regular basis and
oversaw the preparation of Court members (novices) to move
into positions of power in the church. The seven Monastic Abbots each tended to a different supplemental duty, including
the upkeep of the grounds and temple farms, upkeep of the
church interior, upkeep of the church exterior, procurement of
the necessities of the spirit, procurement of the necessities of
the flesh (food, supplies, etc.), upkeep and expansion of the law
library, and cultivation and supervision of itinerant monk missionaries who walked the world, preaching the peace that could
be found in the understanding of law. These monks of
Amaunator were the only clergy members not tied intimately to
temple duties at least part of the time, though they were required
to report to the temple or shrine they were assigned to at least
once a year.
Dogma:
Amaunatori were taught that the law was the law.
The law kept order in society, and without it civilization would
unravel and chaos would reign. Amaunator represented the sure
function of the law, for just as certainly as the sun would rise in
the morning, the law could deal fairly with any dispute and any
crime.
Novice Amaunatori were charged as follows: “Learn the law
and live it; obey its every letter and clause, for in knowledge of
the intricacies of law lies freedom to act with righteous impunity. Keep track of the decisions of your superiors so that the body
of precedent continues to grow and the unity of purpose of the
rulings of Amaunator is made manifest to all. Serve your superiors faithfully, and they will reward you faithfully; shirk your duty
and find the harsh hand of reproof.”
Day-to-Day Activities:
All clergy members had to learn‚
understand, and know how to reap the benefits from (exploit)
the laws of the land, the city, and the province they lived in. In
order to completely understand the nuances of law and legislature, the clergy constantly drilled each other, practiced law in
court whenever possible, and rehearsed law in practice courtrooms, They couldn’t resist investigating the scene of a crime
or taking part in the construction of new laws in their locale,
and did so with great intensity and fervor.
Amaunatori served often in court as judges, to present cases,
and to hear legal arguments and disputes. They were paid well
to settle merchant disputes over contracts, agreements, and
trade practices and made a comfortable living for themselves
and their church as arbitrators of all sorts of commercial and
personal claims not worthy of the attention of figures of power
in ultimate authority
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies:
The holiest of days in
the church of Amaunator was the celebration of the anniversary of the signing of the Pantheon Contour, an agreement
between the powers adjudicated by Amaunator. This anniversary was celebrated on the third full moon of the year. The festivities were marked by Amaunator’s followers donning magisterial regalia and parading the holy symbol of Amaunator
before every court and through the streets.
The longest day of the year, the summer solstice, was another important holiday. The followers of Amaunator spent the day
relaxing, sunbathing, and praying to their god, thanking him for
the gift of sunlight he sheds on the world. Amaunatori believed
that if this day was not properly celebrated, Amaunator could
withhold sunlight from the face of Toril for a year.
Every time a devout follower of Amaunator was able to take
advantage of someone in a contract, successfully debate his
case in court, or effectively pass a new law, the priest of
Amaunator gave thanks to the Keeper of the Sun by burning
magically preserved oak leaves and incense in his honor
Major Centers of Worship:
Unity, a sizable Netherese city,
was the home of the largest temple to Amaunator, the Forested
Enclave of the Face on the Sun. The steeple of this monstrous,
three-story, pentagonal, hemispherically-roofed building thrust
17 stories above the landscape, allowing the solar disk of
Amaunator to be seen far above the surrounding trees.
Throughout the temple’s history, the Righteous Potentates
overseeing the temple had an affinity for casting continual
light spells on the cropped hair of their scalps. Like hair
bleaching or coloring, though, this incantation had to be reapplied monthly to affect new hair growth. As a beneficial side
effect to this quirky practice, gnolls from the enveloping Facile
Forest made monthly pilgrimages to the temple of Amaunator
to worship the “lightened one.” The priest humored this practice since it encouraged the gnolls to respect the Forested
Enclave and to focus their raiding on other parts of the forest.
Affiliated Orders:
The church of Amaunator had several affiliated orders with representatives that could be found in most
Netherese communities. The first was an association of bonded
scribes called the Most Transcendent Affiliation of Paradisiacal
Pens. These aloof and arrogant individuals traveled the world
preaching the holiness of law and order. Their mission in life was
to build amphitheater-sized buildings dedicated to the preservation of law. These huge, stone-walled monstrosities contained
books and scrolls detailing the laws of every land and city that the
followers of Amaunator encountered.
The Syndicate of Celestial and Righteous Lawmakers was a
group of 70 paladins who worshipped Amaunator because of his
love of law. These holy warriors taught the lawful side of
Amaunator, interpreting his somewhat nongood tendencies as
deific recommendations that could be safely ignored or softened to a more humanitarian tone. These warriors branded the
business side of their shields with extremely potent variants of
continual light spells to blind the lawlessness they encountered. This gave them a lasting light source in darkness and a
bonus in some strategic situations where they could nearly
blind their foes with the intensity of light coming from their
shields.
The monks of Amaunator belonged to the Brotherhood of the
Sun, an association of itinerant monks who served the faithful
in the field, bringing the comforting words of Amaunator to the
peasants and common folk and preserving order throughout the
land. Their symbol was a sunburst.
Priestly Vestments:
Priests of Amaunator dressed in bright, long-sleeved, ornate robes of yellow, red, and orange that were
covered with sewn-on arcane symbols for the sun or that depicted the sun through embroidery, artful dying, or gold decorations and gemstone encrustations placed to form a sun face. Those
priests with their own temples had their robes worked of cloth-of-gold. A sunburst headpiece completed the ceremonial garb.
Holy symbols of Amaunator were always made of gold, gold-plated metal, or gold-painted wood.
Adventuring Garb:
Adventuring priests usually wore utilitarian garb, but preferred reds and oranges for cloaks, tabards,
and accessories that were not part of their armor. When possible, they wore armor that had been washed or plated with gold.
