HELMThe Watcher, The Vigilant One
Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Staring eye with blue pupil on an upright war gauntlet
Home Plane: House of the Triad
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Portfolio: Guardians, protectors, protection
Worshipers: Explorers, fighters, guards, mercenaries, paladins
Cleric Alignments: LE, LG, LN
Domains: Law, Planning, Protection, Strength
Favored Weapon: "Ever Watchful" (bastard sword)
Helm (
helm) is the ultimate guardian, the ever-vigilant sentry who allows nothing to compromise his duty. Often seen as cold and emotionless, he appears as a giant man in full plate armor. In truth, Helm is simply a stern disciplinarian dedicated to his appointed task. He is fond of children and more tolerant of their minor infractions than of anyone else's. Many believe that Helm would give his own life to guard something entrusted to him. He is silent on the matter.
The church of Helm was once seen as a bastion of stability and safety in the oft-dangerous North. Its members were highly respected for their pledge to defend civilization against the dangers of the wild and the monsters of the depths. However, during the past fourteen years it has shrunk greatly in numbers and influence. Helm served his duty faithfully and faultlessly during the Time of Troubles, but he played a role in confining the other deities of Faerun. The death and destruction that resulted from the Avatar Crisis earned the Vigilant One and his followers a great deal of enmity from members of other faiths, particularly those of Mystra, Bane, and Torm. In the South, Helm's role during the Time of Troubles was not viewed as unfavorably as it was in the North, but recent events have further sullied the name of the deity and his clergy. Word has begun to trickle back to Faerun of the church's activities in far-off Maztica: the brutal and unflinching subjugation of the native populace and the rape of the verdant land's riches. The Church is only just starting to recover, thanks in large part to the need for skilled guardians to defend against the waxing power of evil.
Clerics of Helm pray for their spells in the morning promptly after rising or just before retiring in the evening. Their one holy day is the Ceremony of Honor to Helm, which takes place on Shieldmeet. The most holy major Helmite ceremonies are the Consecration of a Postulant, which confirms a seeker as one of the clergy, and the Consecration of a Glymtul, which dedicates a special item to Helm's service (
glumtul is an ancient word for "favored thing"). Other ceremonies of note are the Purification and the Holy Vigil. The Purification is a renewal of faith undergone by beings returning to the faith or atoning for a shortcoming in vigilance, loyalty, or worship. The Holy Vigil marks the ascension of a cleric to a higher rank. It is a nightlong ceremony that tests the willpower of the candidate, whose weapon is enspelled to
levitate by a senior cleric through ritual magic; the candidate's concentration keeps it hovering. Clerics of Helm never command undead, although evil clerics may rebuke undead. They most commonly multiclass as fighters or paladins.
History/Relationships: Helm has always borne a heavy load, symbolized by his omnipresent suit of armor. As the eternal sentry, he knows that the end of the world will inevitably come on his watch. Nevertheless, he serves without complaint, willing to make any sacrifice to protect his charge. Thus, Helm is implacably opposed to the machinations of Bane, Cyric, and Shar, whose insidious plots eternally threaten Faerun. He also fights the unbridled fury and destructive impulses of Garagos and Talos at every turn. Helm is not amused by Mask's thievery or his jests, viewing the Lord of Shadows as simply another threat to be defeated. Of the good-aligned deities, only Torm truly understands Helm's unbending commitment to his charge. Relations between the Loyal Fury and the Vigilant One are strong, enough so that the Churches have grudgingly begun to heal the rift between them, at the command of their respective deities.
Dogma: Never betray your trust. Be vigilant. Stand, wait, and watch carefully. Be fair and diligent in the conduct of your orders. Protect the weak, poor, injured, and young, and do not sacrifice them for others or yourself. Anticipate attacks and be ready. Know your foes. Care for your weapons so they may perform their duties when called upon. Careful planning always defeats rushed actions in the end. Always obey orders, providing those orders follow the dictates of Helm. Demonstrate excellence and purity of loyalty in your role as a guardian and protector.
Clergy and Temples: Helmite clergy believe they can win back the rightful power of Helm only through demonstrating excellence of vigilance and purity of loyalty. In their roles as guardians and protectors, they have set about training bodyguards everywhere and spread the word that only Helm-tested worshipers of the Vigilant One are truly reliable. The Church of Torm greets such claims coolly, though, ensuring that the rapprochement between the faiths will be long in coming.
Temples of Helm are always imposing edifices built solely for defense. Many are fortified abbeys located near dangerous and evil areas, where they form a line of defense against the encroachement of powerful enemies. Major cities usually have a temple or shrine to Helm, for his clerics make excellent guards or leaders of guards. Wherever they are located, Helm's faithful watch their houses of worship with unceasing vigilance. Frequent guards are spectators, a race of smaller beholderkin, which infuriates the Church of Bane and its allied beholders. At the heart of the endless barracks, armories, and training chapels is the central altar, which is always a massive suit of full plate mail. All such suits of armor are holy relics of the faith, having once been worn by one of Helm's most esteemed champions. All who seek sanctuary are welcome within a temple of Helm, but if they are accused of a crime, they must willingly submit to the local laws of the land and its justice, if lawfully executed. Despite its risks, many accept this condition, for Helm's followers always ensure that the accused receives a fair trial.
Clerics of Helm wear spotless, shining, full plate armor (often with the
everbright property) and open-faced helms, often topped with plumes. They may drape this armor with red cloaks and tabards of steely gray, and such garments -- or the armor itself -- may be adorned with the Unsleeping Eye, in the center of both back and breast. In southern regions, Helmite clergy often wear fine full plate set with gems and worked with gold filigree, accentuating great golden eyes set in the centers of both breastplate and back. In areas where heavily armored clerics are frowned on, the armor is reduced to a set of heavy shoulder plates, but the helm always remains.
The Church of Helm is organized into a strict military hierarchy, and every member of the faith can easily determine his or her rank relative to the others. In centuries past all members of the faith ultimately reported to a single Supreme Watcher, but there has been no pontiff of the faith since the Year of the Watching Helm (992 DR). It is whispered, always out of range of known Helmites, that the taint of corruption had spread among the seniormost clergy of the Watcher in that era, and that the diety himself came to smite those who would betray their sacred trust. In the centuries since that purging of the faith, the Church of Helm has been ruled by the Council of Helms, an assembly of elder members of the faith. Chief among its duties is to be ever vigilant against the taint of corruption spreading in its own ranks, a practice that has proved effective in rooting out insidious threats to the faith.
Many Helmite abbeys maintain powerful church armies or sponsor orders of guardians. The Companions of the One True Vision is an order of crusading Helmite clerics and fighters, whose members were known for unswerving loyalty. Their shock troops followed orders to engage the most difficult objectives without breaking and held the most trying positions against overwhelming odds. Recently, however, members of this order, many of whom served in Helmited actions in Maztica, have taken a beating in popular reputation. Other orders include a small fellowship of battlefield healers known as the Watchers Over the Fallen, a group of dedicated bodyguards called the Everwatch Knights whom Helmite temples hire out to generate revenue, and an order of paladins called the Vigilant Eyes of the Deity.
[
Source:
Faiths and Pantheon, 28-29. ]
[
Notes: Because the Time of Troubles has yet to occur in our storyline, the Church of Helm is probably still respected and untainted. ]
