Torm: The True, the True Deity, the Loyal Fury (Lesser Deity)

Symbol: Right-hand gauntlet held upright with palm forward Home Plane: House of the Triad Alignment: Lawful Good

Portfolio: Duty, loyalty, obedience, paladins Worshipers: Paladins, heroes, good fighters and warriors, guardians, knights, loyal courtiers

Cleric Alignments: LG, LN, NG

Domains: Good, Healing, Law, Protection, Strength

Favored Weapon: "Duty's Bond" (greatsword)

Torm (torm) the True, patron of paladins and unswerving enemy of corruption and evil, serves the people of Faerun by exemplifying the chivalric ideal. An ascended hero who lived his mortal life in service to a just sovereign, Torm eschews the pretense of his fellow deities, instead adopting a humble position that he exists to serve the common good and the rule of law as established by honorable mortal rulers. Though a true deity with awesome power at his disposal, the Loyal Fury is all too familiar with the failings of mortal men, having fallen victim to hubris, gullibility and ignorance when confined to a mortal shell during the Time of Troubles. During that seminal event, Torm allowed himself to be controlled by his own corrupt, oppressive clerics for a short time, an occurrence that gave him perspective on his own flaws and enhanced his sense of humility. Stern, righteous, and unyielding in the face of evil, Torm's spirit lifts when dealing with his friends, the weak, the defenseless, and the young.

Torm battled Bane in the harbor of the city of Tantras during the Time of Troubles, destroying the Black Lord in personal combat (he too died in the conflict, but was later returned to life by Ao). As such, he became a hero to good-hearted people throughout the continent, a savior who in slaying Bane delivered Faerun from the machinations of the deity of strife and tyranny. Torm's destruction of Bane broke the back of Zhentil Keep by eradicating that nation's divine support, allowing the Dalesfolk, for a short while, to breathe a sigh of relief. In nations across the continent, Torm became a symbol of heroism and bravery, the ideal knight serving his followers with a transforming act of self-sacrifice appreciated even by great Ao himself. This adoration extended to Torm's church, which experienced a renaissance and philosophical blooming as its numbers swelled and new thinkers and adherents joined the congregation. In the fourteen years following that time clerics of Torm have enjoyed popularity unparalleled in Faerun.

Now that Bane has returned the people look to the Loyal Fury and his mortal agents for salvation once again. They eagerly hope that the menace of the Black Hand can be dealt with after another great battle, that the revived church of Bane can be crushed by an army of paladins with holy hearts and sanctified swords. Such has happened within the lifetime of every adult in Faerun, and many expect it to happen again. Torm and his followers take a more realistic view, knowing that the current day is far different from the Time of Troubles, when the two deities met as essentially equal mortals. They know that the secrecy of Bane's cult prevents open warfare, and that the menace of the Black Hand returned will not be quenched easily or without great loss of life. Both Torm and his holy warriors know the costs, and both are more than willing to pay them to deliver the good people of Faerun from a world dominated by the Lord of Darkness.

Clerics of Torm pray for their spells at dawn on the 13th of Eleasias, they celebrate a somber ceremony known as the Divine Death to commemorate Torm's sacrificial destruction of Bane. The 15th of Marpenoth sees a more jovial ritual in the form of the True Resurrection, which celebrates the anniversary of Torm's return to Toril at the behest of Ao. Shieldmeet, traditionally a time when Faerunians enter new agreements and compacts, is a time of great religious significance to followers of the deity of duty, who take their oaths very, very seriously. In addition to the daily morning prayer, clerics are expected to give thanks and honor to Torm through quiet prayers at noon, dusk, and midnight. Torm's clerics often multiclasss as divine champions, divine disciples, or paladins.

HISTORY/RELATIONSHIPS: Torm serves Tyr as war leader and champion, as he once did for a mortal monarch in the days immediately following the Fall of Netheril. Scholars disagree on where Torm's kingdom was located, or even what it was called, but the most believable theories place it somewhere south of the Lake of Steam, in the area now known as the Border Kingdoms. Whole knightly orders in service to Torm's church seek the location of this kingdom, which the clerics refer to as the High Seat, or Chalsembyr. They hope that discovering the location might give them more insight into Torm's life as a mortal, one of the few subjects about which he absolutely refuses to enlighten his followers. Some interpret his reticence as a game, as if Torm keeps Chalsembyr's location a secret in order to test his faithful, who routinely go on quests to locate it. Lore of the faith holds that he who discovers the whereabouts of the Loyal Fury's mortal home will be raised up to the celestial planes as Torm's divine servant.

Prior to the Time of Troubles, Torm served Tyr as a loyal demipower. After his resurrection at the hands of Ao, the maimed deity elevated him to lesser deity status, and greatly enhanced his duties, granting him control of several armies of celestial warriors to use in outer planar conflicts. Torm, Tyr and Ilmater work together frequently, and are known as the Triad. At Tyr's insistence, Torm has of late befriended the Red Knight in an attempt to temper her lust for war with an appreciation for justice. His kinship for Helm dates back several centuries, though the clergies of the Loyal Fury and the Watcher currently find themselves at odds on several important ideological and political issues. As a pro-active enemy of evil, Torm finds that his ideals and philosophies often square with those of Lathander, whom he greatly respects.

After destroying Bane, Torm turned most of his attentions to Cyric, working with Mystra, Oghma, and Mask in dethroning the Black Sun from his position as Lord of the Dead. He deeply regrets not destroying Cyric in that instance, and has vowed to remedy that regret should the two deities meet again. Torm found the alliance with Mask distasteful, and hopes to force the Lord of Shadows to reform himself by thwarting his plans as often as possible. Since the return of the Black Hand, however, the bulk of Torm's ambition and planning has gone toward defeating the dark intrigues of Bane.

DOGMA: Salvation may be found through service. Every failure of duty diminishes Torm and every success adds to his luster. Strive to maintain law and order. Obey your masters with alert judgment and anticipation. Stand every alert against corruption. Strike quickly and forcefully against rot in the hearts of mortals. Bring painful, quick death to traitors. Question unjust laws by suggesting improvement or alternatives, not additional laws. Your fourfold duties are to faith, family, masters, and all good beings of Faerun.