History of the Forgotten Realms

Three religious groups who follow Amaunator-the Keeper of Time and the Eternal Sun-migrate to the region of Trinity to escape persecution from the devotees of Shar. They begin their first year here deciding to set their religious differences aside and concentrate on their similarities-creating a unique sect to serve their god. The bureaucracy and all other forces controlled by Amaunator are completely ignored here, making this a far more relaxed and socially conscious community than other Amaunator-controlled regions.

Ironically, Trinity existed at the vase of a shrine to Jannath, the Cede River. Throughout the Golden Age of Netheril, Trinity is inundated with the faithful of Jannath as they make their way up to the shrine. It is a profitable venture, however, and the nonstandard faithful of Amaunator welcomed their visitors. »

Gorothir, the "Dark Prophet of the Night" to Shar reputedly makes Gorothir's Girdle (an artifact to Shar). Some also speculate that Shar herself gave Gorothir his girdle. »

Eleint 11 Jurguth Goroth, the possessor of Gorothir's Girdle (an artifact to Shar) proves to be kind (and thus weak) in the eyes of Shar (whom Jurguth is high priest at one of her temples). Shar tempts Klaunauthe Draeyl, a more ambitious priest, to slay Jurgoth and take the Girdle. Klaunauthe does so in spectacular fashion, using spells to smash her superior on the domed ceiling of the temple during a ritual, using his fading life essence to raise herself to longer life and greater mastery of magic. Klaunauthe Draeyl becomes the possessor of Gorothir's Girdle. »

Hammer 3 The Fellowship of Athul's Sash assaults the House of Reverence to the Dark Lady (a temple to Shar) and slays all its priests and guards, along with its high priest, The "Dark Heart of the Faith", Klaunauthe Draeyl, possessor of Gorothir's Girdle (an artifact to Shar). Many of the Fellowship dies as well, including Athul, its nominal leader. Rulgond, a member of the Fellowship, takes possession of the Girdle, and makes sure that all the other members of the Fellowship also dies before he got back to the nearest city, a wagon full of temple booty with him. Rulgond forms a new band, the Black Star Band, and leads them into battle, always with wearing the Girdle. »

The possessor of Gorothir's Girdle, tries to ambush Orgloth, the leader of the Black Star Band. In the attempt, he leaps from the second floor with a rusty dagger, but snags his foot on a rail, and brings the entire section down on both of them, killing them both.

One of Orgloth's ladies takes the Girdle, and in the summer of this year, sells the Girdle to a Sharan underpriest in a distant city who promptly sends agents to her murdered (but they fail to find her). The ambitious underpriest puts the Girdle on a statue of Shar in his private shrine and worships it, hoping the goddess would manifest and reward him. The goddess does, and blasts the cleric to a staggering undead thing, and sets it to guard the shrine forever. He stood unable even to scream, as the goddess sends dream-vision to a young priestess, Lalondra Worul, to summon her to claim the Girdle. She builds a sisterhood of the cruel, the capable, and the careful. Thus is born The True Servants of Shar, each of them bound to her with spells so that her health governed their own, which extends her life. »

The Dark Mother of Shar, Lalondra Worul seeks and achieves lichdom. Many of Lalondra's servants die, due to the life linkage magic Lalondra had established with them. Many of the underpriests of Shar riot throughout the Sword Coast, sweeping away the power of the Dark Goddess overnight. Uncarring, Lalondra walks her way in dark places beneath the earth seeking to conquer a new realm for Shar. Displeased, Shar deserts her, stripping away her spells and leaving her only Gorothir's Girdle. Alone and defenseless, lost in the caverns infested with drow and alhoon, Lalondra does not last long. »

The Magister Meldryn Jalensifer, is instructed by Mystra to give the Scepter of Mystra (an artifact of Mystra) to a minor mage somehwere on Toril and then let it wander, reclaiming it only if a Red Wizard of Thay, a mage of Halruaa, or another powerful mage, linked by social ties to a group of archmages, took possession of it. The Magister gives the Scepter to a minor hedge-wizard by the name of Naerlus "Flamespell" Anarthandyer.

Naerlus promptly abandons his former kindly befuddlement and uses its magic to build himself into a petty tyrant in the coastlands north of Leilon. The Magister Meldryn judges it is better to remove the Scepter from Naerlus before he got embroiled in a major war and begins to call on the Scepter to return to him (Mystra, Azuth, the Mgaister and all of the Chosen of Mystra can trace the whereabouts of the Scepter and see its wielder and immediate surroundings merely by concentrating for a few moments. Mystra, Azuth, and the Magister can call on the Scepter to themselves by prolonged concentration). While the Magister was beginning to call the Scepter to himself, Naerlus accidentally discovers the fly away spell (a power of the Scepter to cause it to teleport to a random location on Faerun. The trigger was made to change, so that no one could learn how to keep the Scepter forever).

The Scepter found its way to a ruined abbey of Shar in northern Calimshan. It is found a season later by adventurers who were too afraid to experiment with it, and sells it to Amblaeryn Alaba, a rich Calishite satrap who hoped that with its aid his five hired mages could destroy a rival and his hireed guardian mages.

The five mages then betrayed Amblaeryn. When his rival, Imtherl, refused to pay what he had promised for their betrayal, the five mages killed Imtherl and all his mages as well.

The five wizards eventually fought over the Scepter, which left one dead and another turned into a stone, lost among thousands of similar stones on a beach north of Ormpur. The wizard Earndus Orthorm claimed the Scepter, which caused the other two to attack him. In haste, Earndus accidentally triggers the fly away spell, and is slain by the other two wizards.

This time the Scepter lands into the hands of an orc shaman. Unable to activate any of its powers, the orc tosses the Scepter into a deep gorge, which again activated the fly away spell (whenever the Scepter falls more than a 100 feet, it spontaneously activates the fly away spell.)

Appearing in a tavern in Telflamm, it demonstrates another ability. Whenever an offensive arcane spell is cast near it and the Scepter is not held by anyone, it floats in the air to about a man's height and glows a faint blue light. This ability is triggered by two minor mages in a spellduel, and a full blown tavern brawl erupts to claim the Scepter. Eventually a doppleganger in the guise of a serving wench claims and flees with the Scepter. One of the dueling wizards gives chase, but the doppleganger overpowers and slays the wizard. A passing priest of Tymora and his mage companion slays the doppleganger. The mage, Taluth of Telflamm, claims and carefully studies the Scepter. In time, he triggers the fly away spell. The Scepter appears in a drowned tomb in a deserted suburb of Calimport that had crumbled into the sea. »

The Helm of Helm is offered for sale in Westgate. A Helmite priest tried to buy it and is refused by the Chessentan merchant whose shop held it. The priest returns with twice the asking price - only to be slaughtered by the Lawless, a sect of Shar, who had obviously set the shop up as a lure for clergy they opposed. (They killed a priest of Torm a day later, and sorely wounded several clergy of Ilmater).

Clergy of several faiths hurried meet and hire an adventuring band, the South Shore Serpents, to hunt down the Lawless. It soon becomes clear, as the city erupts into battle, that someone high in authority was shielding or backing the Lawless, and the Helm had become just one more piece in the ongoing struggle for rule of Westgate. The Serpents fell one by one, taking the Lawless with them, but thieving bands and street mercenaries entered the fray, and the strife continued.

A young Helmite priest, Carath of Selgaunt, hires the Wild Blade Adventurers of Teziir to slay the Chessentan and bring back all the contents of his shop they could salvage. The Blades are led by two sisters whose magecraft was growing speedily, and they use spells to summon monster after monster. They then loot the ruins only to find themselves under attack by agents of Thay, who had been waiting for a good chance to seize the Helm.

In the struggle that follows, the senior Thayan mage is forced to flee, and the Blades reduced to one warrior and one of the sisters, Tayana, who is trapped in a curse laid by her Red Wizard opposite that forces her to shape change into a giant hissing serpent several times each day. Fearing she would be slain by fearful citizens, she flees into the wilderlands with the Helm and with her surviving companion, who soon dies of her wounds. Embittered, Tayana hides in the Giant's Run Mountains. »

Carath, priest of Helm and possessor of the Helm of Helm reputation has grown due to the hundreds of priests of Helm who had begun their careers under his wise tutelage at the Guardtower of the God. Priests of Talos and Shar attack the temple to destroy it and him.

They fell the walls and crush Carath in his courtyard. A grief-crazed Tayana flies up out of the ruins and defeats the invading priests with mighty spells. When she is done, Tayana embraces her beloved Carath and willingly burns to death. It is from this event that the Helm of Helm emits a burnt smell whenever magical fire is active within a half-mile of it.

Some years later, a Helmite priest by the name of Rolor, who saw himself as the new Sword of Helm, visits the ruins of the Guardtower of the God, and the Helm rises out of the fire-scarred rubble to hover in front of him. Rolor takes it and marches off into the Tunland to found a new realm dedicated to Helm. He is known to have routed a Zhentarim patrol out of Darkhold, then walked into the Tunland. He and the Helm have not been seen since. »

Azuth reconsideres Savras' long imprisonment and chooses to free him from the Scepter of Savras for a vow of loyalty. After his release, during which the scepter disappeared, Savras served Azuth and oversaw divinations and divination magic, and the deities improved their relationship.

Savras joins Azuth and Mystra in Dweomerheart, in caverns called "The Eye", which contained all his knowledge. Savras becomes the patron deity of many diviners and works against Cyric, the god of lies, and the night goddess Shar, who works to disrupt his divinations using the Shadow Weave. »

Uktar A handful of sects, including followers of Ilmater, Shar, and Talona, have dispatched small bands of priests to minister to the people of Skullport and combat the epidemic suffered by those who had ingested spoiled food. Although Skulkers are glad for the presence of the additional healers, some grouse that the various religious factions are simply intent on gaining a foothold in the Port of Shadows. Curiously, the Skulls seem strangely tolerant of the open display of faith, although long-time residents predict that the Skulls will enforce their traditional prohibition on public displays of religious activity once the epidemic is contained. »