| Malar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Vital statistics | |
| Titles | The Beastlord, the Black-Blooded Pard |
| Deity Power | Lesser Deity |
| Home Plane | Fury’s Heart |
| Symbol | Clawed hand |
| Alignment | Chaotic Evil |
| Portfolio | Bloodlust, evil lycanthropes, hunters, marauding beasts and monsters, stalking |
| Domains | Animal, Chaos[1], Evil, Moon[1], Strength |
| Favored Weapon | A beast’s claw (claw bracer) |
| Cleric Alignments | CE, CN, NE |
| Worshipers | Hunters,evil lycanthropes, sentient carnivores, rangers, and druids |
Character and Reputation[]
Malar (mahl-arr) is a primordial, savage deity who revels in the hunt and the blood of the kill. Appearing as a sleek and supple catlike beast with blood-spattered ebony fur, Malar delights in instilling fear in his victims, for he can literally smell and taste the essences of their terror. The Beastlord is known by many names in many lands, including the Stalker along the shores of the Vilhon Reach, the Render across the Endless Ice and the Great Glacier, the Blue Bear among the Uthgardt, and Herne among the orcs of the High Forest.
Clergy and Temples[]
In civilized settings, the church of Malar is widely loathed, for its members--often evil lycanthropes--are some of the most dangerous threats to the safety of the local populace. Along the frontier and in wilderness settings, however, those who must hunt for food reluctantly pay homage to the Beastlord, even as they fear his cruelty. Outsiders sometimes differentiate between “Hunts,” as Malarite bands are known, that operate openly and those that stalk the night. Some realms, such as Cormyr, legally recognize the former as having dominion over hunting while considering the latter to be little more than dangerous predators to be driven off or slain.
Clerics of Malar pray for spells at night, preferably under a full moon. They also offer prayers to the Beastlord before the chase, during pursuit, and while drinking a toast over the slain quarry (sometimes with its blood). The droning Bloodsong is intoned over the bodies of all creatures slain during a hunt, and specific ritual prayers and chants accompany feasting on any prey. Two great rituals are the Feast of the Stags and the High Hunt. In the former, clerics and worshipers of Malar hunt plenty of game before Highharvestide and then invite all (especially those not of the faith) to join them at a feast, where they pledge to hunt in the coming winter to provide for the needy. (This is one of the few things the church does that pleases the common folk.) During the High Hunt, held each season, worshipers adorned in kill trophies hunt a humanoid, who can win his or her life and a boon by escaping or surviving a day and a night. Malar’s clerics often multiclass as barbarians, rangers, or druids. Many are evil lycanthropes such as werewolves.
Clerics of Malar indulge in hunting as often as possible. They drive the hunt to make it as dangerous as possible to prey and predator alike, and try to ensure that its bloody finale takes place in a settled area. Common folk do not appreciate having desperate wolves, displacer beasts, and the like chased through town, and they tend to hate and fear Malar’s faithful--which is the whole idea. Malarite clergy also preach the joy and bounty of the hunt and work to thwart the expansion of civilization to preserve as much wilderness as possible. To this end, they stage raids and acts of vandalism that are popular with outlaws and bored young nobles. Malarites oppose druidic circles dedicated to Eldath, Mielikki, Silvanus, and similar deities and their allies, such as the Harpers. Such groups promote and maintain natural balance, which Malarties see as interfering with the rightful triumph of the strong over the weak.
Temples of Malar are rare, as most Hunts eschew formal buildings for shadowed wilderness glades. Unlike most druidic circles, those of Malar’s worship consist of inwardly curving, fang-shaped stones arranged in a ring. In more civilized settings, where the activities of Malarites are viewed with loathing, the sacred area may be hidden within extensive limestone caverns accessible via a sinkhole above the center of the stone circle. The twisting subterranean passages serve as hunting grounds through ruthless Malarties stalk sentient prey (particularly humanoids) captured from the surrounding region.
Ceremonial headgear is made from the pelt and head of the most impressive beast the cleric has killed with bare hands (usually a bear or great cat, but sometimes an owl bear, displacer beast, or a stranger creature). Malarties carry hunting horns at their belts and are never without several daggers sheathed in boots and belts, strapped to either forearm, or hidden in a stealth at the nape of the neck under the hair or in an armpit. Woodland garb of red or brown is the favored dress for hunts, often concealed by day under a wood cloak of mottled black, gray, and green. Clerics looking to make an impression may also wear necklaces of animal bones, fangs, and claws and a variety of pelts.
The church of Malar is loosely bound and without a central hierarchy. It is organized around the concept of the Hunt and consists of local, independent cells. This makes it all the more difficult to counter or remove, for as soon as one den of Malarties is contained, another arises. Huntmasters are the informal religious leaders of the church and may be clerics, druids, rangers, or shape changing predators. They decide the locale, time, and prey of the ceremonial hunts of the faithful. The office of Huntmaster is won by challenge--a fight to the death if the incumbent does not resign.
History and Relations with other deities[]
Malar is an ancient deity who dates back to the days when the first beasts stalked the land. He has always hated the Fair Folk and maintains a long-standing alliance with Lolth against the Seldarine. Over the centuries, he has tried to usurp power from other deities with varying degrees of success. He is one of the Deities of Fury, along with Talos (his superior), Auril, and Umberlee, and he is allied against the deities of peace, civilization, and nature, but harbors a particular loathing for Nobanion since that deity defeated him in a fierce conflict, known as the Roar of Shadows, during the Time of Troubles.
Dogma[]
Survival of the fittest and the winnowing of the weak are Malar’s legacy. A brutal, bloody death or kill has great meaning. The crux of life is the challenge between the hunter and the prey, the determination of who lives or dies. View every important task as a hunt. Remain ever alert and alive. Walk the wilderness without trepidation, and show no fear in the hunt. Savagery and strong emotions defeat reason and careful thought in all things. Taste the blood of those you slay, and never kill from a distance. Work against those who cut back the forest and who kill beasts solely because they are dangerous. Slay not the young, the pregnant, or deepspawn so that prey will remain plentiful.
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