Church of the Lawgiver - Roleplay Resources

[DM Macabre]

The Church of the Lawgiver

INDEX

Overview of the Church of the Lawgiver
History of the Church of the Lawgiver
Organization of the Church of the Lawgiver
Doctrine of the Church of the Lawgiver
Tenets of the Church of the Lawgiver
Saints and Holy Figures
Relationship with other faiths

[EO]

Overview of the Lawgiver

This god is referred to by many titles, including the Iron Tyrant and the Black Lord. The Lawgiver's clerics claim that the revelation of their god's true name would strike a mortal dead. His religion rewards blind obedience and asserts the divine providence of kings. Those born into wealth and power deserve to rule; those born into poverty deserve only what they earn through dutiful service to their masters.

The Lawgiver is the state religion in Hazlan and Nova Vaasa. In the latter, Prince Othmar uses it to justify his own regime.

The Lawgiver's clerics attempt to enforce the rigid stratifications of Vaasi culture wherever they go. Clerics drawn from different social classes do not mix, and the Church forbids marriage between different ethnicities or races. All rites must be performed in Vaasi, and all sacred texts must use its script.

The Lawgiver fell silent during the Grand Conjunction. This troubling lapse has opened a minor schism among the clergy. On one side stand those who believe the lapse was meaningless, or a test; a minority opposition believes that the Lawgiver was somehow incapacitated. Although the Church of the Lawgiver ruthlessly purges them, a handful of heretics even whisper that the Lawgiver died in the cataclysm, that all his clerics now worship is a litany of empty titles.

The official position of the Hazlani Church is that the Lawgiver's silence during the Grand Conjunction was a test for the faithful. The conflicting belief that the Lawgiver was harmed or incapacitated is considered heresy.

Worshippers

Symbol: An iron spear bound in bronze coils.

Alignment: Lawful evil or lawful neutral. Those of authority in the Church’s hierarchy are almost uniformly lawful evil. Lawful neutral worshippers are often seen as “liberal” or “permissive” by their peers and are unlikely to climb high in the ranks of the Church.

Domains: Bindings, Curse, Death, Evil, Law, Scrutiny, War. The Bindings and Scrutiny domains are unique to clerics of the Lawgiver. Law and Bindings are the favored domains of the majority of the Church’s clerics. The Death domain is popular among the Kunduktørs, the War domain is highly favored by the Gudkædes, the Scrutiny domain is common among the Inquisitors, and the Evil domain is almost entirely the province of the Didakti.

Favored Weapon: Whip. Clerics who select the War domain, Divine Champions and Favored Souls can select the flail (light or heavy) instead.

Temples: The Lawgiver's temples are known as fanes. Fanes are built to reflect a dour and imposing grandeur. Most emphasize height and are fashioned of dark grey to black stone, with slab-like facades decorated with stern, even menacing statues depicting the Iron Tyrant. Fane roofs seem evenly split between narrow, high peaks and broad domes, both of which are adonred with spiky comices. Within, they feature a main worship hall with high, vaulted ceilings supported by large columns. The worship hall is filled with rows of uncomfortable pews made of darkly varnished wood. At the front of the hall is a raised dais where the pulpit and altar stand.

Dogma: The state of all things is mandated from above and is not to be questioned. The Lawgiver gives rulers their station; disobedience is a sin against divine will. The will of the Lawgiver is expressed through the laws of the land. Failing to uphold any law, no matter how minor, is sinful. Those who properly observe their station and follow the laws in this life will be rewarded in the next. Labor hard in service to your master, and you may receive temporal rewards. Those who live as rebels or lawbreakers will be damned to an eternity of torment. Consorting with those outside your station is discouraged; marriage outside your station is prohibited. Rulers are expected to keep order and enforce the laws. Anarchy is blasphemy. It is right and natural to use force to maintain order and spread the will of the Lawgiver.

Clerics of the Lawgiver pray for their spells at noon, when the light of day leaves them most fully exposed to the Lawgiver’s scrutiny. Worship services are held every evening at the Lawgiver’s fanes after the working day is ended. The faithful are required to attend at least twice a week. The Church observes many holy days. The two most important are the Day of Penance, held on New Year’s Day, in which the faithful lament their failings of the previous year and resolve to do better the next, and the Celebration of the Reemergence, observed on the first full moon in August. This holiday marks the end of the Grand Conjunction in 740 BC and, more importantly, the end of the Lawgiver’s period of silence and withdrawal during that disaster. Official church dogma credits the Lawgiver with the end of the Great Upheaval, and the holiday is spent in praise, thanksgiving and feasting. Clerics of the Lawgiver rarely multiclass. When they do, it is most often as fighters. Members of the Iron Inquisition occasionally multiclass as rogues, focusing on stealth and spycraft rather than on theft or disarming traps.

The Church of the Lawgiver is generally of lawful evil alignment, although strong streaks of lawful neutral run through its teachings as well. Priests of the Lawgiver wear red and black robes.

[EO]

History of the Church of the Lawgiver

The true origins of the Church of the Lawgiver are lost in a fog of myth and dogma, and likely one of false history as well. Scholars can state with confidence only that the Church was already firmly entrenched in Nova Vaasa when the land first emerged from the Mists in 682 BC. Written proclamations and prohibitions from officials in the Church can be traced to this year, and records from neighboring lands first show references to the “Iron Faith” at this time. Prior to this, the only extant source for historical information on the Church is the Church itself, and it comes as no surprise that the Church offers a rosy view of its past actions and accomplishments.

The Church claims that it was the first faith and remains the only true faith. It traces its origins to a land known as Torverden (“Fair World”), the world from which Nova Vaasans claim their land originally came. According to the Church, Torverden was created by the Lawgiver over the course of three days. On the first day, the Lawgiver created the earth itself; on the second, He created the life upon it, including the first men and women; on the third, He created the Heavens, to provide Him a throne from which to oversee his creation. From this throne, the Lawgiver selected one man, who stood apart from the rest for his strength of purpose and sense of justice, to be His intermediary and the executor of His Divine Will. He named this man Førstregel (“First Ruler”), then whispered His own Holy Name into Førstregel’s ear. Upon hearing the Lawgiver’s Name, Førstregel became enlightened. Førstregel recorded his new understanding of the Lawgiver and His Will into two holy texts called The Truth of Iron and The Fetters of Bronze. The Lawgiver made Førstregel king over the First People and head of the Church, and Torverden was a paradise of unity and law.

Naturally, a fall from grace was imminent. After Førstregel’s death at the ripe age of 500, the Lawgiver’s Code, as set down in The Truth of Iron, dictated that his eldest son Tilbyde ascend to the vacated throne. Unfortunately, 36 of Førstregel’s other sons rebelled against this holy law. Because of their wicked selfishness, Torverden was torn by war and bloodshed, and the First People became deaf and blind to the Lawgiver’s Will. As is recorded in the third holy text of the Faith, The Black Trials, the people “polluted their minds with teachings of rebellion and disobedience. They polluted their souls with offerings to servile spirits and imaginary gods. They polluted their bodies with men, women and the beasts of the field. Thus was purity forever forsaken." The First People descended into degeneracy and iniquity, culminating in Tilbyde’s murder and sacrifice to the false god Mytteri. With this tragic crime, the Lawgiver passed the First Judgment, separating lands and nations, confounding speech, and cursing the First People with fallen forms to match their fallen souls. In doing so, He proclaimed, "I have passed Judgment for the first time. It shall happen twice more. Afterward shall come an end."

After the First Judgment, the First People were a people no more. They had been divided into numerous nations, cultures, and races. According to the Church, each race was given a form to match its crimes. Those who “reached above themselves” were cursed with stunted forms and became dwarves, gnomes and halflings. Those who “lent a ready ear to false doctrines and lacked the strength to resist” were cursed with pointed ears and delicate frames, becoming elves. The truly wicked were given the hideous forms of goblinkind. Those who became humans as we know them today were considered the closest to righteousness. They lost some of the beauty and strength of the First People, but were not cursed with obvious disfigurements.

The transformed world was henceforth known as Faldverden, the “Fallen World.” Faldverden persisted in strife for thousands of years, with the scattered pockets of the Church trying desperately to restore order, stability and adherence to the Lawgiver’s doctrines to the many nations. With the Church weakened and disunited, this struggle proved impossible. Save for a few isolated pockets, the world remained faithless and chaotic.

The rise of Højplads, broadly recorded in the history of Nova Vaasa, restored the Church of the Lawgiver to a position of power and prominence on Faldverden. It was a position the Church enjoyed for centuries, until the day of the Second Judgment when, according to Church authorities, the Lawgiver wrenched Nova Vaasa from Faldverden and cast it into Falskverden, the “False World,” better known as Ravenloft. Exactly what crime prompted the Second Judgment has never been determined - the Church simply points to a general descent into license and liberality. Why Nova Vaasa, alone of the nations of Faldverden, was chosen to suffer this fate also remains unexplained, but most within the Church believe that Nova Vaasa was the only nation worth saving. The other countries, they believe, were cast into the Hell of Slaves, a netherworld of ceaseless toil for those who flout their rightful position in life.

The Church immediately attempted to spread its influence to other domains in Ravenloft, but met with no appreciable success until the appearance of Hazlan, which accepted the religion with astonishing swiftness. The Church has enjoyed no comparable success since and has a minimal following outside Hazlan and Nova Vaasa.

The faithful of the Church live in fear of the Lawgiver’s next Judgments. According to the Church’s holy texts, there will be a Third and then a Final Judgment, when the world will be destroyed and all unworthy souls will be doomed to an eternity of torture in the Hell of Slaves. Some within the Church believe that the Grand Conjunction was the Third Judgment. For this faction, only the Final Judgment awaits. This is not the official view of the Church, which claims instead that the Lawgiver intervened to save the world from Mytteri’s attempt to destroy it.

[EO]

Organization of the Church of the Lawgiver

The Iron Faith is organized along strict hierarchical lines. At the top of the hierarchy is the Himmelsk Naeve (“Divine Fist”), the ultimate authority over the entire Iron Faith, who resides in Kantora. The current Himmelsk Naeve is Pieter Jergaar. The Himmelsk Naeve is served by two Paves, one in Hazlan and one in Nova Vaasa, each of whom wields ultimate religious authority within his respective domain.

Currently Stavroz Vatsisk is the Pave of Hazlan, while Lod Ragnaar is the Pave of Nova Vaasa. Vatsisk enjoys a much greater degree of freedom and impunity than Ragnaar, thanks to his comparative distance from the Church’s central authority.

Below each Pave are the aerkebiskops, each of whom is given authority over a geographical region within a domain. Hazlan and Nova Vaasa each host four aerkebiskops. Each aerkebiskop is served by a group of biskops, who in turn have authority over numerous dommers, who perform most of the administrative duties within the church. Kontors preside over individual fanes and perform the actual worship ceremonies.

Existing parallel to the Church hierarchy are four recognized orders, each given a special duty within the Church and answerable only to the Himmelsk Naeve and Paves in performing of that duty.

The monastic Kunduktørs (“Guardians”) have the holy duty of watching over the deceased faithful, acting as caretakers of the fanes’ tombs and graveyards. Kunduktørs take vows of silence so as not to disturb their charges. When not directly watching over the dead, they study the nature of death itself, seeking to understand the hidden truths of this most final judgment and universal law. Hazlani Kunduktørs originated the heresy that the Lawgiver died in the Great Upheaval, leaving nothing but an empty shell of dictates and titles.

The Gudkædes (“God-chains”) are a military order, charged with the defense of the Church and the destruction of its enemies. Though they train constantly, thanks to disuse the Gudkædes have undeniably grown a bit softer and rustier than they were in the order’s prime.

The Jernspørgsmålers (“Iron Inquisitors”) are, as their name suggests, responsible for rooting out heretics and traitors within the Church body. The Jernspørgsmålers act as police, judges, and executioners. Even the guiltless cannot help but fear their attention, especially because most Inquisitors hide their membership in the order.

The Didakti (“Teachers”) are an odd organization that works closely with the Iron Inquisition; like the Inquisitors, the Didakti keep their affiliation secret. The duty of the Didakti is to weed out the weak and uncertain within the Church, those who have not yet strayed but are in danger of doing so. The Didakti study wickedness and evil as their holy duty, and seek to tempt their fellow faithful into apostasy and unrighteousness. Those who succumb are given over to the Inquisitors.

[EO]

Doctrine of the Church of the Lawgiver

The doctrine of the Lawgiver is explained in five holy texts: The Truth of Iron, The Fetters of Bronze, The Black Trials, Crimson Faith and The Book of Stone. The Truth of Iron lays out principles of government and moral behavior, while the complementary Fetters of Bronze details laws and punishments. The Black Trials delivers a mythic pseudo-history relating the creation and fall of humanity, while Crimson Faith discusses theology and cosmology. The Book of Stone is a collection of prophecies, proverbs and allegories. The Lawgiver himself has many titles, including the Iron Tyrant and the Divine Emperor, but he is never named; it is held that since the First Judgment mortals have been too impure to withstand the full might and glory of the Lawgiver’s true name. Church iconography depicts the Lawgiver as a powerful warrior fully clad in intimidating plate armor, revealing no hint of the being within. He wields an iron spear in one hand and a bronze whip in the other. Images that deviate from this standard are deemed heretical and destroyed.

At the heart of the Church’s beliefs is an unswerving dedication to order and law and to the rightness of the established order. The Church holds that all evil comes from Mytteri, or “Rebellion,” a malevolent force that is often personified as an evil anti-god. Mytteri is a seen as a nihilistic, solipsistic malignancy that drives individuals to destroy the natural order in the name of self-interest and self-gratification. The Church considers rebellion against established authority a deadly sin. Only if the Lawgiver’s Mandate is formerly withdrawn can a regime be lawfully toppled. Of course, the Church claims the sole capacity to recognize when the Mandate is withdrawn.

Church leaders in Hazlan and Nova Vaasa convene a Council of Imperial Divinity each time the Lawgiver's cleric encounter a new religion. The goal of such councils is to determine the newly discovered god's exact position in the divine hierarchy - over which the Lawgiver naturally reigns supreme. In practice, however, these councils invariably serve to denigrate rival faiths and reinforce the Lawgiver's superiority. Tellingly, the goddesses Ezra and Hala are both portrayed in church canon as the Lawgiver's concubines.
 
From the Church’s perspective, a good government is one of absolute centralized authority, for it is government’s duty to punish the wicked and encourage right behavior. The ideal government would be a theocracy controlled by the Church, but the Church’s own doctrine forbids the clergy from overthrowing existing regimes to place themselves in power.

The Church officially views arcane magic as the agent of Mytteri, and thus its practice is punishable by death in most cases. Lately, this tenet has caused a severe schism within the Church, as the Hazlani branch would prefer to see the prohibition on arcane magic removed entirely, and Pave Vatsisk has quietly ignored all commands to stamp out the practice of “witchcraft” within the Hazlani Church. His personal views aside, Vatsisk can hardly persecute arcane spellcasters in Hazlan without attracting the ire of Hazlik. Given the Red Wizard’s noted ruthlessness, Vatsisk cannot likely be convinced to toe the official line.

A second issue of contention within the Church relates to appearances. The First Judgment is believed to be a persistent one. Thus, the unrighteous can still be cursed with forms to match their deeds. Those who suffer from disfiguring diseases are shunned, while transformative curses such as vampirism or lycanthropy are believed to befall only the supremely wicked. Calibans are held to be evil from birth and are swiftly put to death. This viewpoint has made the Mulan practice of tattooing an uncomfortable one for the Nova Vaasan Church. From the Nova Vaasan perspective, tattooing or other bodily modifications are tantamount to proclaiming one’s degeneracy. This cultural difference further strains relations between the two halves of the Church.

Afterdeath

The Iron Paradise
The Iron Paradise is the destination of loyal souls who follow the Lawgiver's tenets in life and respect their station. After death, those souls who have earned a place in the Iron Paradise are filled with the holy truth of the Lawgiver under the tutelage of his divine servitors and ennobled as vassals of the Black Lord.

The Hell of Slaves
Those who fail to obey the Lawgiver's commandments (as well as unbelievers) are cast into the Hell of Slaves. In this burning land of red skies and black stone, the unfaithful are forced to toil under the whips of cruel demonic overseers, while biting, squealing packs of rats crawl everywhere.

Note about clerics of the Lawgiver invoking him by the name Bane.
The official stance of the church of the Lawgiver is "that the revelation of their god's true name would strike a mortal dead". This initially comes from 3rd edition Ravenloft setting because the publisher, Arthaus, could not legally use the name Bane. This is amended slightly on our server, though it remains the same in spirit. Clerics of the Lawgiver know their god is named Bane, but they consider it disrespectful and blasphemous to speak aloud their god's name rather than referring to his titles. Priests of the Lawgiver are his servants and decorum demands they address their master by its titles. Furthermore there's been sufficiently documented cases of blaspheming priests struck by harmful power surges after calling out to their god by name, thus lending credence to the notion "that the revelation of their god's true name may strike a mortal dead".

[EO]

Tenets of the Church of the Lawgiver

These are some tenets, they are not an exclusive list as there are likely plenty of other tenets, oaths and vows, but these three are clearcut.

The Church officially views arcane magic as the agent of Mytteri, and thus its practice is punishable by death in most cases.

One of the Lawgiver's Tenets states that no races, ethnicities, or social classes should intermingle except in their pre-ordained places.

By church law, all religious rites and holy scripts of the Church of the Lawgiver must be recited in Vaasi; all texts must use this script.

[EO]

Saints, Martyrs and Holy Figures of the Church of the Lawgiver

Saint Gorkyn
The rise of the Church of the Lawgiver stands as the most significant event of the Bridling. Prior to the conquests of the Old Vaasans, the Church of the Lawgiver struggled as a marginal religion in Tygaam, dwarfed in power and prestige by worship of such gods as the horse god Tygaa, the cat gods Sehkmaa and Bubahkaa, and the heroes cult of Fjodor and Fyldor. The Old Vaasans, beginning of course with Højplads, had encouraged the Lawgiver's church, for its message of submission to those in power suited the conquerors well. The Church thus began a period of steady growth, but it was not until the reign of Prince Gorkyn Vistin began that it truly came into its full influence. Prince Gorkyn was a devout follower of the Lawgiver and made furthering the Church's cause his personal mission. Gorkyn brutally stamped out other religions, turning their lands, properties and incomes over to the Church of the Lawgiver. Highranking members of the Lawgiver clergy received military and civil offices, and the Church was freed from all taxes. When his reign was ending, Prince Gorkyn then did what no previous Prince had done: he refused to give up power, claiming that his divine mission was not yet fulfilled. With the Church and his family backing him, the other patriarchs were forced to fall in line.

A "short time" later, Prince Gorkyn declared that as the Prince of the Realm, he was also by right Head of the Church. The church leaders, after monetary persuasion, confirmed Gorkyn's theological arguments as divine will, and Gorkyn assumed control of the Church of the Lawgiver. Calling himself the Himmelsk Naeve ("Divine Fist"), he then led Nova Vaasa in a series of holy wars with her neighbors, remembered today as the Wars of Conversion. Unfortunately, Prince Gorkyn was overly ambitious, and his Wars of Conversion did little more than drain the kingdom's resources. The Wars had clearly failed, and Prince Gorkyn died of illness exacerbated by his sorrow. With his death, the Cycle of Stewardship resumed, and the Church of the Lawgiver continued with its strength only marginally diminished.

Despite his draconian methods and failures as a general, Prince Gorkyn is remembered today as Saint Gorkyn, Beloved of the Lawgiver, and indeed his cultural impact on Nova Vaasa is noteworthy, even beyond establishing the Church of the Lawgiver as the state religion.

Saint Jokum the Pacifier
Prince Jokum Rivtoff, also known as Saint Jokum the Pacifier, began the Riding Epoch. Jokum brutally crushed all resistance to his reign in a brilliant series of campaigns against his rivals. He had the heads of the other four families executed and went down the line killing their heirs until he reached one in each family he felt he could control. In all four instances, these "chosen" heirs ended up being children, two of them nursing infants. Jokum then allowed the Cycle of Stewardship to resume, naturally declaring himself Regent on behalf of all four of the child lords. Officially, Jokum served two terms as Prince, but he actually held the reins of power for an unrivalled 35 years, as several of his regencies were sadly extended after a few of his wards suffered from unexplained and fatal illnesses. Jokum himself died of a mysterious and sudden illness, but he left Nova Vaasa a stronger, unified realm at the height of its military and economic power.

Saint Højplads - The Eternal King
The great conqueror-king Højplads, whom the Church of the Lawgiver has elevated to sainted status has left a legacy. Højplads is seen as the realm's Eternal King under the Lawgiver's mandate, with the princes being merely the realm's stewards in his material absence. Højplads was canonized as the first saint of the Lawgiver by Saint Gorkyn's decree, thereby strengthening the Nova Vaasans' pride in their past and reverence for their history.

The Holy Princes
On the eastern edge of the city is the Mausoleum of the Elect, a walled tomb where those princes who have died while in office are interred. The Church of the Lawgiver holds that princes who die or are killed during their terms are chosen by the Lawgiver, elected to reign beside him in the Iron Paradise, and those so "blessed" are laid to rest in the Mausoleum, a high honor. Of course, the Church has reversed itself on this point when politically convenient, declaring that specific princes, the unpopular or liberal, were actually struck down by the Lawgiver to remove them from office and barring them from the Mausoleum. Princes who commit suicide, such as the late Prince Romir Hiregaard, are also denied honored rest.

The Three Sisters
The first three daughters of the first man and woman created by the Lawgiver. Nielsine, the oldest of the sisters, the first woman to tame and ride a horse. Jensine, the middle sister, the first woman to successfully grow crops in the soil. Vibeke, the youngest sister, the first woman killed and devoured by a plains cat.

Uri Grislev
A martyr of the Lawgiver, Uri Grislev was slain when he tried to convert the natives of the island of Blaustein. His teeth were on display in the Musee Guignol of the University of Dementlieu for years, but disappeared before reappearing some time later in the reliquary of Nordenvall Fane in Hazlan, where they are safely guarded by the faithful of the Lawgiver.

Blessed Fezima Kyrillian
One of the first Mulan to convert to the faith of the Lawgiver when it first arrived in Hazlan, Fezima Kyrillian would then help spread the Church’s message throughout Hazlan with fire and spear. As her name indicates, she was an ancestral member of House Kyrillian. Her tomb is located on a small island on the River Saniset in Nordhazlan. A monastery was erected above her tomb to protect her grave and the spear with which she vanquished her foes, which has become a holy relic of the Lawgiver. Mulan faithful from all over Hazlan make the pilgrimage to receive her blessings. A small order of monks and nuns, the Order of the Iron Path, takes care of her patronage and of the site.

[EO]

Relationship with Other Faiths

Church leaders in Hazlan and Nova Vaasa convene a Council of Imperial Divinity each time the Lawgiver's clerics encounter a new religion. The goal of such councils is to determine the newly discovered god's exact position in the divine hierarchy - over which the Lawgiver naturally reigns supreme. In practice, however, these councils invariable serve to denigrate rival faiths and reinforce the Lawgiver's superiority. Tellingly, the goddesses Ezra and Ha la are both portrayed in church canon as the Lawgiver's concubines.

When the Church of the Lawgiver deigns to admit the existence of other gods, it places them in subordinate roles, labeling them as servants of the Lawgiver and essentially powerless in their own right. Both Ezra and Hala, for example, are officially codified as the Lawgiver's concubines. Therefore, according to Church dogma, any cleric performing miracles in the name of a god other than the Lawgiver must be a liar and a heretic, drawing his magic from arcane or even demonic sources. Imprisonment is the kindest fate a "heretic" can hope for, so servants of other gods would be wise not to call attention to themselves with flashy displays of divine power.

Relationship with the Church of Ezra

Clerics of the Iron Faith, perhaps rightfully, view the Church of Ezra as their primary rival for spiritual control of the Core. Thus, the Church of the Lawgiver is bitterly unforgiving toward the Church of Ezra's efforts to spread its message into the Vaasi Plateau. Ezra's anchorites face withering oppression, and their presence in Hazlan is accordingly limited to one or two wardens, or traveling anchorites.

Relationship with the Church of Hala

The importance of confirming that a target is not innocent applies strongly to dealings with priests of the Lawgiver, or even that church's hierarchy. The Church of the Lawgiver is the most outspoken critic of the Church of Hala, and the former actively persecutes the latter's clergy and worshipers. Priests of the Lawgiver have always believed Hala's ranks to contain many warlocks and witches. Priests of the Lawgiver believe all witches and warlocks are engaged in a grand conspiracy devoted to undermining the authority of the legitimate rulers of our land's domains. As such, the Church of the Lawgiver and its priests view the Church Of Hala as actively working against them and the goals of their god, one of which is the strengthening rightful rulers of our lands. There are virtually no hospices operated by the Church of Hala in regions where the Church of the Lawgiver is strong. However, that does not mean that witches, warlocks, and covens of Hala are not active in such areas. A number of covens operate secretly in the countryside of Hazlan, where the Lawgiver's worship is strongest, opposing that domain's tyrannical wizard-lord at every turn.

Relationship with the Cult of the Morninglord

The Cult of the Morninglord is seen as particularly pernicious; its message of temporal hope for the downtrodden is as opposite to the dogma of the Lawgiver as anything could be.

Relationship with the Tepestani Inquisition

The Lawgiver's priests scoff at the ignorant peasants and their foolish superstitions.

[HellsPanda]

http://fraternityofshadows.com/wiki/Iron_Faith

[EO]

Fanes of the Lawgiver

Near the western edge of Toyalis in Hazlan stands the Iron Citadel-Fane, seat of the Iron Faith in Hazlan. Within its walls is a self-contained community, populated by clerics of the Lawgiver and the Pave of Hazlan. Though impressive, the great Black Citadel-Fane, located in Kentora in Nova Vaasa, is said to be far more extensive.

Places of interest in Bergovitsa in Nova Vaasa include the Crimson Citadel Fane, a walled religious community on the northern edge of the city and the seat of Pave Lod Ragnaar.

Sources: Ravenloft Gazetteer I, Ravenloft Gazetteer V