Shaarat

Sovereign of Strength and Steel.

Shaarat is met in the drill-yard, and at the edge of one’s physical limits. He makes soldiers, and he abides no shortcuts. The drill is run until it is reflex, the marcher never shirks his load, and slicing blow is practiced a hundredfold. His acolytes drill past the point of flinching and know the secrets of turning aside blades. His diligence and preparation keep steel sharp and striking true. Where his banner stands, men do not break.

To Shaarat, strength is the virtue that defends all virtue. Steel keeps no secrets, and Shaarat asks his followers to be the same: to meet life’s challenges head on, claim only the victory they have earned, and keep faith in arms even with one’s foes.

Traditions that teach him: the Archaist and the Dwarven Forgepriest alike.

His worship day is Mol, the day the forges fall silent and the drill-yards fill, when a follower proves against others what he has spent the week proving alone. He shares Mol with Ontaar: Ontaar forges the blade and Shaarat is the arm that swings it. A sword in the rack is only metal. On Mol the forge is cold and the ring is loud.

Strictures

Archaist and Dwarven Forgepriest

• A follower of Shaarat must openly bear a holy symbol of Shaarat (a weapon crossed over a shield) when in public.
• A follower of Shaarat must maintain military discipline and fitness, engaging in calisthenics and personal drill at dawn each day. The training takes one hour (6 turns).
• A follower of Shaarat must take up arms in the common defense. When danger falls on his community, he faces it promptly and with courage. While he may seek a fair wage for fair service, he does not haggle in the face of peril.
• A follower of Shaarat must not cut down a foe who has yielded, nor strike a blow under truce.
• A follower of Shaarat may not claim a victory won by another, nor wear a rank he has not earned.

Faith in arms

Retreat is not cowardice. The oath of common defense binds a follower to fight when peril approaches, and not to hold his sword hostage for a fee. It does not bind him to his death. Shaarat wants his strength spent, not wasted.

Quarter given is quarter honored. In victory, Shaarat grants quarter to the foe who yields; in defeat he asks it of the victor. It is never offered falsely, nor withdrawn from a foe who honors it. To Shaarat, this is plain honesty: a man who strikes after surrender has told a lie with steel.