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 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 warrior 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 multiclass as divine champions, divine disciples, or paladins.
History/Relationships: Torm servers 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 proactive 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 ever 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.
Clergy and Temples: Clerics and paladins of Torm swear themselves to the Penance of Duty, a guide of responsibilities and obligations outlined by the Loyal Fury himself after discovering the rife corruption within the church during the Time of Troubles. To repay their persecution of other goodly religions, the clergy must aid the establishment of other good faiths as part of the Debt of Persecution. The Debt of Dereliction states that Torm's agents must expend every resource possible to eliminate cults of Cyric and Bane, and tow work against the insidious Zhentarim. The Debt of Destruction stipulates that clergy record the locations of dead and wild magic areas and do what they can to heal these wounds to the Weave. Additionally, clerics and paladins of Torm stand vigilant against corruption within goodly organizations, knowing that what could infect their stalwart order is doubly likely to writhe into the affairs of less watchful bodies. Many travel the world righting wrongs and spreading the good works of Torm.
High Cleric Barriltar Bhandraddon serves as Torm's pontiff in Faerun, ruling from the impressive Temple of Torm's Coming in Tantras. Bhandraddon's reach extends far, and in the last decade he has sponsored several continentwide knightly orders, including the prestigious Order of the Golden Lion, members of which guard temples and wander Faerun in service to the Penance of Duty. The order is currently led by the affable Tantran paladin lord Garethian the Infallible (a humble man whose title is more an exercise in ironic self-deprecation than braggadocio). Since Bane's return, many important leaders and field agents of the church have been assassinated, and many of Torm's knights urge more decisive action against the Black Hand's honorless followers.
Temples of Torm frequently double as citadels. Often constructed high on mountains to offer their residents a clear view of the surrounding area, such structures feature drilling grounds, high towers, austere quarters for resident and visiting knights, and plainly adorned, simple worship halls. White granite walls and statues of lions and armored figures predominate, with badges of knights who fell in duty lining the high-ceilinged hallways.
In order to gain the power necessary to destroy Bane's avatar during the Time of Troubles, Torm absorbed the souls of all his worshipers in Tantras. The voluntary soul-transference killed the mortals, ending thousands of lives in a matter of moments. As the city had been for centuries the center of his religion, with members of the faithful flocking to it since word spread of his arrival early in the Avatar Crisis, entire neighborhoods were left barren of life. Even though Torm required every ounce of devotional power to destroy his enemy, he could not bring himself to ask children to sacrifice themselves, especially as he knew many of them couldn't understand the importance of what was happening. He assured their faithful parents that the children would be cared for, and to this day those children, ranging in age from 14 to 28, are known as the Martyr's Progeny. Many have gone on to enter Torm's clergy, and some have even exhibited strange powers related to bravery and strength in the years since their parents heeded Torm's desperate call.