Malar
History
At some point in the 1350s DR, Pasha Abon Duum of Manshaka had fortuitously been granted guardianship of the kittenlord, heir to the power of the cat lord, a minor power of felines. However, Duum desired to corrupt and dominate the child, and therefore made a deal with the mightier power Malar to keep the vengeful old Catlord off his back. Duum wished to use the cat lord's power of planar travel to journey into the Outer Planes and, using the Claw of Malar, even challenge Tyr, god of justice, and gain awesome power. In exchange, when he was done with the boy, Duum would give him to the Beastlord. Learning of Duum's wicked intentions for the boy, the Catlord came and rescued him, but Malar pounced upon the Catlord as he fled. The Catlord handed over the boy to the rogue Conner (who'd been guided onto the scene by the goddess Selûne) and, to buy time for him to carry the child away and hide him, fought Malar. The Catlord and Malar battled for three days and three nights, before the Catlord escaped, and it was a year before his wounds even healed. The scars would not.However, in the Year of the Prince, 1357 DR, Duum was tricked and thwarted and Tyr seized the Claw of Malar instead.
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Worshippers |
Malarites believed that it was an honor to Malar to make one's killing bloody and long. His followers sometimes formed in bands, called "Hunts". While forbidden to slay the young or the pregnant, Hunts typically followed his dogma and evoked wanton slaughter in Malar's name. Malarites were generally frowned upon by civilization, as they tended to wreak havoc in their wake. One exception where the worship of Malar was allowed was in Cormyr.
One of the most respected servants of Malar was Garmos Saernclaws, who was responsible for the gospel of Saernclaws by which all priests of Malar were bound, ensuring that hunts remained clean and poison-free. Holy Days The High Hunt ritual was a vicious hunt in which a captured humanoid was released, and for the next day and night attempted to escape the prowling worshipers of the Beastlord. If they managed to survive, they won their freedom as well as, perhaps, other things. The Feast of Stags day made Malar's worship more tolerable in certain areas. During the harsh winters in the northern parts of Faerûn, Hunts chose a village in the wilderness, providing food for the people, with one or two Malarites pledging themselves to keeping the village fed through the snows. Things to Know! "Survival of the fittest and winnowing of the weak are the Beastlord's legacy. A brutal, bloody death be havi' great meaning. Being told may you die an old man be an insult. The hunt be the fulcrum o' life and the death, be the focal point of life, The challenge between the hunter and prey and the judgement of who living and dying in the hunt." "Everything that be important be the hunt, even tasks that no be killing, and you to be alert and alive. Savagery and emotion be the things that defeat reason and careful thought. The strong must be slaying as frequent as possible, taste the blood o' godz ta live, they be weak minded who let the weak live." |