Lathander

Lathander whose title was The Morninglord, was a deity of creativity, dawn, renewal, birth, athletics, spring, self-perfection, vitality, and youth. He favored those who dispelled the undead and blessed those who planted new life. Lathander was also the god called upon to bless birth and fertility related ceremonies.[citation needed] Some saw him as the neutral good aspect of Amaunator but the two were considered separate deities again after the Second Sundering.

History

Lathander was the central figure in the Dawn Cataclysm, an ill-fated attempt by the Morninglord to reshape the Faerûnian pantheon in his own image. Several deities were killed in the events that followed, including the goddess Murdane, a death for which Helm never forgave Lathander. The Morninglord believed that his efforts went so wrong because of the interference of agents of Shar, and secretly began working on a second attempt at reforming the pantheon. In 916 DR, Lathander, enraged with the unchanging, tyrannical, undead-centric philosophy of the Cult of the Dragon, sent an avatar to Cormanthyr to personally do battle with Sammaster during a Harper raid. He destroyed Sammaster but was wounded in the battle.  

Worshipers

Novices in the Lathanderian faith were called the Awakened, while clerics were known as Dawnbringers. The full priests took a new name in his service when they were ready to signify that Lathander personally recognized and accepted them. This new name could either be used instead of their old name or simply used only when addressing other Dawnbringers and when in solitary prayer. Other titles included (in ascending order): Dawngreeter, Dawnlord, High Dawnlord, and Dawnmaster, while an elite cleric was referred to as a Morninglord. All followers were required to be of neutral to good alignment. All of Lathander's clergy respected art, liberty, nature, and culture; promoted betterment of oneself; and strove to bring hope to their followers and others. Many of these followers worked in various creative arts. They were intolerant of evil, especially undead and inaction that caused evil to prosper. Most ceremonies of Lathander were held at dawn and actions and contracts agreed to at sunrise were said to be blessed by him. Funerals, among his followers, were held at dusk, and followed by a wake that lasted until dawn. Some followers of Lathander insisted that he was in fact the reincarnation of Amaunator, the Netherese god of the sun. Others took this heresy further, claiming that he would take up the mantle of the lawful neutral Amaunator again, and that the transformation from deity of the morning to sun god was imminent.