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The Court of Death

All things which have a beginning must also have an end. In the natural world, death is an inevitability, and this trinity of Gods oversee it. Their due process determines where the souls of the dead will end up.

Culture

Within the church, there are two distinct schools of thought. Those that align with the ideals of Jergal see life as a transient state and see little value in differentiating one soul from another. After all, countless lives have come and gone, so what makes any singular life special?   The Kelemvor clergy believe that while death is a natural part of existence, its inevitability puts greater emphasis on the value of life.  They seek to minister to the common people, explain death and help the bereaved cope in times of loss. Most folk welcome them, thankful for their light touch and calming demeanors.

Public Agenda

To provide funerary services, comfort for the dying, counselling for the bereaved, and fight against the undead.

Tenets of Faith

Recognize that death is part of life. It is not an ending but a beginning, not a punishment but a necessity. Death is an orderly process without deceit, concealment, and randomness. Help others die with dignity at their appointed time and no sooner. Speak against those that would artificially prolong their life beyond natural limits. Do honor to the dead, for their strivings in life brought it to where it is now. Forgetting them is to forget where we are now, and why. Let no person die a natural death without one of Kelemvor's clerics at her side.

Ethics

Death is but part of life: fear it not, evade it not, and view it not as evil. To fear death delivers you into the hands of those who can bring death down upon you. Die with dignity, neither raging nor seeking to embrace undeath.

Worship

Priests comfort the dying and provide burials for those who die alone. They administer last rites to the dying and help the living left behind to better understand the natural and inevitable process of death and dying. When people die alone without a will, known heirs, or business partners, their goods are taken by the church to fund its ongoing ministry to the dying. This does not, by any means, mean that death clergy would ever take goods from a grave for their own benefit.   In cases of great pain, ravaging disease, or mutilation where death would be a mercy, it is the office of the priests to bring death, as swiftly and painlessly as possible.

Priesthood

The churches of the Gods of Death are usually small, but rigidly organized. They are known as Death or Grave Clerics, though many in the order don't have divine gifts. Within their ranks, the High Priest of each temple is known as a Scrivener of Doom, responsible for detailing the deaths of any whose passing they witness. They do this to aid Jergal in his unceasing task of recording the passing of every soul.   Internally, any member of the church with administrative or clerical duties is known as a Doomscribe. The fighting force of the church are known as Doomguides, responsible for maintaining discipline within the organization, eradicating the undead and travelling to spread the teachings of Kelemvor. This martial force acted as couriers between temples, providing aid to anyone they came across and demystifying death and the afterlife to ease the fears of it.

Sects

Clerics of the Gods of Death hold the title Mortarch's and specialized in the arts of funerals. Their main roles were to consecrate graves, maintain and pass on knowledge of burial customs and to provide comfort to the grieving. When called upon, they would take up arms against the undead.   Paladins of the order are called Necrobanes and their righteous fury against the undead spurs them to seek and destroy them. Their pious pity for trapped souls lingering in undeath makes the practice of dark necromancy abhorrent to them. This pity doesn't extend to Liches and Vampires. Their immense knowledge of the undead helps them in their task of hunting and destroying such monsters.

"All are Found Wanting"

Type
Religious, Pantheon
Alternative Names
The Scroll, The Scales, and The Scythe

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