Church of Ilmater RP

[CommanderKrieg]

Returning to the shrine, Nezkreal thanked each of the sisters and brothers around the shrine. Her robes were appeared a bit shabby, but her demeanor was in high spirits. Taking a few minutes to gather her things, she packs them away in a bag and moves on to the streets.

[Tantive]

A missive arrived for the Ilmatari Church. The scroll bore a red wax seal with the sigil of Doron Amar.

[TarnishedSoul]

A sealed missive addressed to "Brother Ameris Santraeger" arrives at the temple.
The point of origin shows as "Office of the Guide, Candlekeep."
The courier who brings the letter states that the Guide is aware of the transit delay.

[kleomenes]

The priest, Ameris Santraeger, is seen once more attending the Temple of Ilmater in Baldur's Gate. He is much as before, clad in his Ilmatari robes and . He has a warm reunion with old colleagues within, although he makes clear his stay will be short.

Once the greetings are out of the way, a parcel is handed to the priest. He opens it, taking out a handforged periapt dedicated to Torm and an accompanying letter. The words carry some bad news apparently, as a wave of sadness passes over Ameris that only slowly lifts as he goes to look at how the infirmary has been getting on.

When Ameris departs, he walks with purpose towards the Temple of the Loyal Fury.

[kleomenes]

It is some months since Ameris Santraeger has given a sermon from the pulpit in the Temple of Ilmater. Yet on this night, as the great and the good gather at the Duchal palace, a public service is announced at the Temple of Ilmater, the call to prayer issued. And while magnates and dignatries attend the Court for a public session, the faithful are called to hear the visiting priest give sermon praising the Broken God.

Ameris arrives with his wife Telia at his side. He is clad in the vestments of faith, his holy symbol on display. He does not wear an eyepatch and the glassy, milky left eye is open the to the world, the wound dealt to him by a most cruel servant of Bhaal. By his side is his wife, Telia, clad in grey, the red of her lips matching the crimson twine wrapped round her pale wrist. She takes a seat in the front pew as Ameris takes up his position at the lectern, waiting with a benevolent smile for the appointed time of his sermon.

[kleomenes]

Ameris smiles about at those who might have gathered, and then begins to speak, warmth in his voice.

“Brothers, Sisters, friends, welcome.”

He speaks in an even tone as he relates a parable of distant lands and times.

"I come from the south, a land called Tethyr, one some of you will know is wracked by war, famine, hate and suffering. It is not the Tethyr of today I wish to speak of, but rather the Tethyr of a thousand years ago, when my homeland was part of a great empire ruled from the vast city of Shoonach on the River Agis, false emperors who had driven the true kings of Tethyr into hiding."

"The Shoon Imperium it was called, a great power indeed, with mighty dark magic and ancient lore. From Shoonach there marched black armoured legions, superbly trained and equipped, their booted feet trampling down the green shoots of freedom in Calimsham, Tethyr, to the east to the Lake of Steam, to the north to Amn. Swift galleys brought the legions across the Shining Sea to what is now the Border Kingdoms and distant Lapaliiya. And everywhere they went, they brought fetters and the slaver's lash, taking freedom even as they took lives."

The priest's expression turns, a frown on his brow, troubled by the horrors he moves on to relate despite them being from long ago.

"So many millions bent their knee to the Emperors of the Shoon. Some lived in finery. Some lived in common drudgery, and some lived in chains, piteous slaves whose degradation would be horrific to you and I. The Emperors dabbled with binding demons, and used undead soldiers to crush resistance. They persecuted the faith of the Ilmatari for generations, as Ilmater is a breaker of chains. No horrors were beneath them, no atrocities too gross to contemplate."

Then, suddenly, Ameris smiles, looking over the congregation in a moment's silence before he continues.

"Yet try as they might, there was one foe they could not defeat. No agent could find it. No legion could crush it. It lived everywhere the Emperor's power could not reach. It lived in the hidden places and in the hearts of men just waiting for a sign."

His smile widens. A warmth in his voice.

"It was hope, the hope for freedom."

Ameris speaks triumphantly now, as if what he relates was inevitable, and glorious.

"So it was when the true kings of Tethyr returned and raised their banners, Tethyrians flocked to them in their thousands almost overnight. While their hope had been hidden deep inside it had never died. This hope was but a candle in each heart, yet it was a burning blaze when they all stood together and swept across Tethyr to Shoonach. There ended the rule of the false emperors in the pyre of their own follies and the hopes of their rebellious subjects."

Ameris is quiet for a few moments, now the parable is done. When he speaks, its with warmth, the fervour of the last passage a memory.

"Baldur's Gate's history is long and storied. Although many have tried, no invader has ever taken way this city's rights and freedoms, and so Baldurians have never been taught to kneel."

He speaks with affection.

"It shows."

The priest continues in praise.

"This is a city of free men and women, built on honest trade and hard work. Here you believe that anyone might be what they wish to be if they work hard enough. And yet when one stumbles here a helping hand is rarely far away."

He relates fond memory.

"Baldurians have open, trusting hearts that accept any and all that come to their gates. Including me. I came dusty booted to your doors, with little more than a skullcap and a quest for a purpose in serving the Broken God. I found such purpose in serving the good people of this city as priest, knight and a servant of liberty. Such a city as this has become my home for near four years, and it is only the blades of Bhaal's servants that have forced me away. I would never choose to leave."

His tone grows a more serious, more firm.

"Freedom is a precious thing, yet it has long been found in abundance here, especially when one compares Baldur's Gate with the nations of the south. It is a place worth fighting for."

A light shines in his eyes as he speaks now of blessed paladins and holy defenders.

"Many have risen to defend Baldur's Gate, and the people within, so that they might live free of fear. Most storied are Jonas Rokranon and the living Saint Merielle, but there have been others. Some walk amongst us still, like Grandmaster Arkaine Halforken, Lady Commander Elvina or Knight Commander Eldarian Al'maire. Others did their duty during the war and moved on, like Aelcar Lightbringer and Reine Arlynson."

"There have been many more heroes who have stood for this city, some sung, some unsung; some rewarded, some satisfied only with knowing they did what they could for the innocent. All of them rose to the threats that have threatened the city, and defeated them. The city has endured, and its people Endure and Persevere despite their trials. Long may it continue to be true, Ilmater willing."

Ameris pauses his sermon. Slowly his face sets into a grim resolve.

His voice, when it comes, is grim.

"And yet, now, the freedom this city enjoys is under attack. Not by force of arms, but by a more insidious foe, a subversion of ideals, a first step on a path towards teaching Baldurians to kneel, when they never have before."

The grimness is chill as he speaks with force.

"There is a castle in the north, named Darkhold. You all know it. Within, it houses men and women whose ethics and methods remind me much of the old Shoon Emperors, and are just as immoral in the eyes of Ilmater. They too dabble with dark magics, and send out disciplined soldiers and merciless agents to crush their foes. They too shackle free men and make them beasts of burden, or worse. They are hungry for power, wealth and dominion and no deed is too dark, no lie too great in order to achieve it."

And now the priest has a saddened tone, relating an unhappy truth.

"They fight by all means, including coin and lies, and false professions of benign friendship. And so it is that the banner of the Zhentarim will now be seen in the city, flying from well guarded caravans as trade begins with that castle in the north. Trade with the Zhentarim, whose soldiers have caused the death of many Flaming Fist and other defenders of the people."

The priest's hands grip on the lectern as an anger grows. Word by word his fury rises, and an angry fire burns in his one good eye

"The Zhentarim, who plotted to bring drow raiders to the surface as their allies and stood behind orcs in proxy wars. Whose manipulations let plague and suffering ravage the settlements north of here."

"The Zhentarim, who are ruled by a man declared priest to a god of hatred, strife and tyranny."

"The Zhentarim, who care nothing for the people of this city beyond how they can be manipulated, exploited, and controlled."

By the end Ameris is in high dudgeon, sweeping his hand out over the congregation.

"A shadow falls on the city, and over everyone in it, as those who use brutality and deceit to dominate all take a step closer to their goal of teaching you to serve."

The priest huffs, taking an angry breath. His grip on the lectern weakens. A smile comes to his lips. He speaks gently compared to before.

"Yet, I remember the Shoon Emperors of long ago, who for all their mighty legions and powerful magic could not break the desire of people to live free before it rose up and consumed them, and I smile."

Certainty enters his voice now.

"For try as hard as they might, the Zhentarim will not crush the freedom of this city. It will live on in the hearts of all those who know what it really is to be Baldurian, who will defy any attempts to cow, intimidate or manipulate them into acceptance of slave fetters and the tyrant's dogma."

And the Ilmatari speaks the next words with fervour, with force.

"And I vow to you this."

He preaches and promises in one.

"Your freedoms are worth fighting for, both by you and by those who love this city for what it is and should be. Knights, priests, poets, soldiers, mages and mystics, golden-hearted scoundrels and free men and women, all will fight tirelessly, ceaselessly, relentlessly against what Hearts of Steel seek to turn this city into."

He pauses, then nods, and speaks the last few words as if they are an afterthought.

"And our words will speak the truth against the selfish pragmatism of those who turn a blind eye to Bane's menace."


He raises his hand to bless those gathered.

"In the name of Ilmater, the wise, the merciful, the enduring."

///delivered ICly during the Duchal Court session last night!

[kleomenes]

The priest Ameris Santraeger is seen bidding his warm farewells to his fellow clergy in the Temple. And perhaps a more austere one to Brother Khalso. He makes clear that while he might be back at some point, his visits are likely to be fleeting.

Before he leaves, he pins up the text of an open letter near the painting of the Living Saint. He requests that the Adorned see it stand for a time, so that petitioners to the temple can read it if they wish. The open letter reads as follows:

---

Lady Elvina,

I recall your kind words about the speech I gave before the gathered goodly factions of the Sword Coast and dignitaries of the Lord's Alliance, when we all met at the behest of the High Rider, Lord Dhelt. Indeed, you have asked me since to publish that speech as the ideals therein are worth repeating. I gave some thought to this and have decided to do so. It will be placed up in the Temple of Ilmater.

I look over the words now and dwell on my own periodic failure to meet the challenge these words set to others. My time on the Coast has been marked with a multiplicity of betrayals at the hands of those I called comrade and friend, many of which you have had the misfortune to witness. I recall as well frequent censure I have met for standing for my ideals, or for falling short of those ideals. Likewise, I recall my own criticisms of others, sometimes justified, sometimes driven by the wounds that I have carried in service here on the Coast.

I have often erred, and I ask you to bear witness to that, and forgive.

Its a truth though that none of us are not perfect. It is the human condition to err, for the divine spark within us is just that, a spark. I write human condition, but I do imagine that elves, dwarves and halflings are not perfect either! We will all make mistakes, though. We all will fall short of the high ideals I spoke of, and we will all take actions that our own hindsight will view as incorrect.

It is in understanding this, and forgiving it, and persevering in reaching for these ideals that we will keep hope alive, together. It can be the hardest battle to overlook differences, I think. Yet it is holy to forgive.

Your words in the past tenday have done much to lift my spirits. Your indefatigable commitment to the people of this great city, and to safeguarding their lives and freedom, reminds me that there are those that will not give up this struggle, as hard as it is, and as inconvenient as those cold hearts that think only of profit and pragmatism find our shared ideals. As I write to you now on the eve of my departure, I wish you to remind you, as I have been saying to many others recently: you are not alone in your struggle.

I crave your indulgence for my musings, Lady Elvina. Writing to you has become the carriage of my own bittersweet reflection on the trials ahead for those I leave behind (at least for now). I see repetition from my speech. Yet the truth is, I am hopeful now, more than I was when I spoke my words to Lord Dhelt and his invitees. The enemies of tyranny face a challenge, that is a truth. Yet I see they are not idle.

I believe I shall attach this letter to the speech when I put it up. Of course, if you prefer, the letter can be taken down.

You know, of course, how to reach me.

Mercy bless you,

Brother Ameris


High Hall in Elturel, 21 Hammer 1353

Lord Dhelt, Lord Piergeiron, Lord Arunsun and other dignitaries of Elturel and the Sword Coast, I am grateful to be allowed to speak. I apologise in advance if my words are lengthy.

I have been absent in the city of Baldur's Gate for some months now, and am soon to be away, perhaps permanently, and so I can only offer words of advice, as my own conduct towards any goal will be limited in the extreme.

I spent three and a half years calling Baldur's Gate my home. In that time I served first among the Adorned and as a knight of the Radiant Heart, holding fealty to the Dukes of Baldur's Gate by my oaths.

It was there that I first fought the Zhentarim, not in blades, but with the traitor that nestled within the Order, my direct superior Eliphas Valkarian, although I did not know him false at the time, even as his machinations had him controlling both sides of every conflict.

When I learned that there was as traitor in the Radiant Heart, that is when I accepted the offer of the Harpers to stand with them so I might have aid to root him out. I was fighting a poisonous snake, but I was a mouse, not a mongoose. For there was a traitor amidst the Harp too, and so when the Zhentarim came to disrupt the attempts to heal cursed Triel I was captured not just as a member of the Order, rather a servant of freedom. And then tortured and worse for the same reason.

My sister in Faith, Cecilia Lafayette, suffered much as I. Worse, in fact, for she was left alone in the Order of the Radiant Heart to fight that snake Eliphas, and did what others could not, exposing him and ending his corruption of that virtuous order. It has never recovered.

Both my sister and I have fought the Zhentarim openly and in the shadows, and bear the marks of that, and of the betrayal of false friends wearing masks over their wicked intentions. A lesson several of the Dukes of Baldur's Gate have seemingly yet to learn.

I fought on as a Harper, and Ilmatari. Many know how I have reacted in the end to the most bitter of the betrayals I met. My wife once served the Zhentarim, and knows them and their ways well. There is nothing good about them. There is nothing true about them. I suspect there are none here that need to be told that, or what a threat they are.

I speak of the former Lord Magus Telia Navra because of the lessons her defection has taught me. I am an idealist. I freely admit that, although I struggle to remain so at times. I do not look away from the lesson that the only success I have ever had of note against the Zhentarim was based on that idealism and a belief that I need not become hard and violent in order to fight evil. I need not become iron or steel.

We oppose the Zhentarim because they believe the world is a cold, cruel, bitter place and they hold themselves the most cold, the most cruel, the most bitter. The most pragmatic. We oppose them because we see a better world and would fight for it.

I am not going to say anything about this plan regarding Triel, or any other plans, as I cannot be here to help with them, as I said. I am instead going to make an appeal to all of us here who attend on the invitation of these great dignitaries.

In the past when many here have come together, our common goals have been shrouded in disagreements, mistrust, pride and judgement. I include myself in those sins, and speak not with rebuke, just with sad memory.

Clearly, we are all mortal and all individuals, and disagreement is normal. But I urge all to think on the need for unity and harmony in such a time as this. We are faced with a Zhentarim victory, happened upon with barely any warning. We might question if we had all stood together, worked together, that we might have prevented it.

It is hard to work together. One has to actively work for harmony, forgive slights, agree to disagree. Trust and cooperate.

I ask the impossible, perhaps, but we can but try. I thank you for your patience to my words.

[sweetlikesplenda]

A Knight is seen quietly entering the temple. The young man stands reverently near the entrance, while waiting for one of the clergy to finish administering to the sick. Once the clergywoman approaches and after some pleasantries are exchanged, the knight leans in and quietly speaks to her and soon hands over a package. After the exchange the knight is seen exiting the temple as quietly as he had arrived.

//// PM sent to the intended recipient

[kleomenes]

It is announced that the often absent Priest of Ilmater Ameris Santraeger will be giving a public sermon in the East Gate district in a few days.

///Planned sermon at 20:00 GMT on Sunday 19th February

[Ariella]

A blue haired elf delivers a letter to the temple of Ilmater for Brother Ameris.

[Wyatt]

A junior member of the clergy of Lathander enters the temple quietly. He looks about, a bit forlorn, before approaching one of the sisters working in the common room. Speaking softly he passes a rolled parchment addressed to the temple clergy. In his satchel can be seen many such rolled missives. With a reticent smile he turns back toward the door, his lean, youthful frame moving quickly toward his next stop.

[kleomenes]

It is announced that the often absent Priest of Ilmater Ameris Santraeger will be giving a public sermon in the East Gate district in a few days.

///Planned sermon at 20:00 GMT on Sunday 19th February

///reminder!

[kleomenes]

It is announced that the often absent Priest of Ilmater Ameris Santraeger will be giving a public sermon in the East Gate district in a few days.

///Planned sermon at 20:00 GMT on Sunday 19th February

///reminder!

///I'm trying to get in - full server !

[kleomenes]

No doubt the faithful hear of the sermon given in the East Gate district. The text of the sermon is put up on display in the temple.

[kleomenes]

It is announced once more that the often absent Priest of Ilmater Ameris Santraeger will be giving a public sermon in the East Gate district in a few days.

///Planned sermon at 20:00 GMT on Sunday 26th February