As one of the most powerful gods in the good camp of Faerûn, the Lord of the Dawn's beliefs in the mortal world can be said to be quite complicated.
In particular, there are a large number of heretical sects, covering almost all camps from order to chaos, from good to evil.
There are two most famous heretical sects.
One of them is the "Rising Sun Sect", also known as the "Rising Sun Heresy", which believes that Lathander is the ancient sun god Amaunator, and there is no essential difference between the two.
Although the doctrine is slightly different from the mainstream, it still does not deviate from the lawful and slightly good camp in essence.
But another sect known as the "Three-sided Sun" is even more outrageous.
Because this is a typical cult, advocating that Lathander, Amaunata and Cyric are the trinity of sun gods, representing the supreme true god that surpasses other gods.
Among them, Lathander represents the sunrise, birth, hope and goodness, while Amaunata represents the sun, prosperity, neutrality and order, and finally Cyric represents sunset, death, chaos and evil.
As for why a strange sect like the "Three-Faced Sun" was born, it is actually closely related to the series of confusing behaviors of the Lord of the Dawn since its birth.
He is even called the "Great Evil God" by some people.
Specifically, it includes pursuing Taiji, the goddess of fate, leading to her death, and then splitting into Taimora, the goddess of luck, and Benbasha, the goddess of misfortune;
Forcefully pursue the first Swan Daughter (a female secret organization sworn to protect wilderness areas from evil, characterized by the ability to change into a swan form), forcing the opponent to escape into the sky and become a Cygnus;
Before the bones of the old love were still cold, he immediately began to pursue Shantia, the mother of the earth;
The attempt to reunite Tymora and Benshaba into the goddess of destiny almost led to their death and the early resurrection of Bane, the god of tyranny;
Completely ignoring the powerful divine power, he descended into the battle avatar and hammered the mortal founder of the Dragon Cult, Sammaster, to death, and was also injured and bleeding in the process;
The attempt to establish a pantheon dominated by itself led to the outbreak of the terrible Dawn Catastrophe, with direct and collateral impacts including the demise of two empires and a pantheon, as well as the fall of Myth Drannor.
Therefore, in the eyes of some people, Lathander actually contains the dual sides of good and evil, hope and destruction.
Coupled with a number of lunatics who were influenced by the Cyric Sutra, this eventually led to the birth of the "Three-Faced Sun" heretical sect.
Of course, this does not rule out the possibility that some hostile gods may be working secretly.
It's like the "Dark Moon Heresy" sect that believes that Shar and Selun are the same god. In fact, it was secretly funded by Shar and established as a means to corrupt the church of the good sister Selun.
But later, after Su Lun came back to his senses, he quickly reversed the operation and used the sect as a window to plant spies within the Shar Church.
In the end, the entire Dark Moon Heresy even became a battlefield where the two goddesses and their followers competed with each other.
However, as the Church of the Lord of the Dawn released the heresy that had been imprisoned for a long time, many preaching priests emerged in towns and villages on the west coast of Faerûn, including Askatra.
They use a unique magical technique called [Rising Sun Technique] to create balls of light as dazzling as the sun out of thin air in underground caves and at night.
This spell can not only abolish the night vision ability of many monsters, but also damage undead creatures, mushrooms, and destroy fungi like real sunlight.
In the face of such a powerful supernatural force, even the people on earth living in the era of the information explosion would find it difficult to maintain reason and sobriety, let alone the civilians on the continent of Faerûn who want knowledge but not knowledge and experience.
As a result, a large number of devout believers who originally worshiped Lathander quickly began to believe that the Lord of the Dawn was the ancient sun god Amaunator.
After all, it is absolutely impossible to give this kind of magic to priests on a large scale without the Sun Priesthood or Sun Domain.
Even believers of many other gods feel that the doctrine preached by this heretical sect seems to make sense.
As we all know, the spiritual power of mortals in the material world will form a specific power projection on the outer plane.
Therefore, Lathander also began to gradually complete his sun priesthood with the rise of this heretical sect.
Even in some areas, heretical sects have completely absorbed and replaced the original mainstream sects, simply changing the name of Lathander to Amaunator, and requiring believers to pray in the name of Amaunator. pray.
It has to be said that this is a total act of death.
After all, although the ancient sun god Amaunata has been lying dead in the star world for many years, she has not completely cooled down yet.
At least now that this name is mentioned, many people still know his deeds, as well as the ideas and teachings he advocated when he was active.
For a god, as long as he is not completely forgotten, he will not really die.
Therefore, what the Rising Sun Heresy did was equivalent to re-gathering faith in the dead ancient sun god.
It's just that before the latter is fully resurrected, Lathander can draw power in the other's name.
This operation is a bit like a race against time.
If he can obtain the complete Sun Priesthood before Amaunata is resurrected, then he will make a lot of money.
But if Amaunata is resurrected in the middle of the process, the Lord of the Dawn will be faced with a difficult situation.
But this is obviously nothing to him.
Anyway, this is not the first time such a failure has occurred.
In terms of impulsiveness and recklessness, the only one who can rival Lathander is Cyric.
No wonder the Three-Faced Sun Sect believes that these two are the two sides of good and evil.
When Zuo Si finished what he was doing and returned to Faerûn to hear that the Rising Sun Heresy was replacing the original Orthodox Church as the actual controller of the entire Faerûn continent, he was stunned on the spot and could not think about it for several seconds. Come.
He was completely shocked by this series of saucy operations, and even couldn't help but sigh: "As expected of you, Lord of the Dawn, you even dare to play this kind of gambling, I really don't know how to write the word death."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Master, are you not going to intervene and just let these heretical sects do whatever they want? You must know that their main scope of activities is within the territory of the West Coast Empire."
Davian warned carefully.
Because in the continent of Faerûn, when it comes to religion and belief, there is no small matter.
The rise and decline of any powerful god is often accompanied by the destruction of one or several countries, as well as large-scale war, destruction and population death.
Especially for mortal believers who fall into madness, once they are incited by someone with ulterior motives, it will be absolutely disastrous.
After all, those false religions on earth that have no real support from gods behind them can make people extremely crazy, not to mention the church in this world that has the support of gods and can also grant real magic.
The massive invasion of Zhentil Keep by Cyric followers that happened not long ago is the best example.
Zuo Si smiled and asked: "Why should I interfere?
Now that the game has begun, let us enjoy the performance of the great Lord of the Morning.
Believe me, this process will be very exciting.
And the ending will be far beyond everyone’s expectations.”
"You...seem to be a little gloating about your misfortune?"
Davian obviously noticed something.
There was no way, he knew too well that his master would often turn into a "fun man" when his own interests were not involved.
"Oh? Is it that obvious?"
Zuo Si subconsciously touched the corner of his mouth and found that it was not raised very much.
Davian couldn't help but smile and replied: "Every time you prepare to see the other person's misfortune, your voice will involuntarily raise a little bit. Although it is very slight, I can still hear it."
"Okay, I admit that I was just gloating. Because this incident is really, really interesting, and fully reflects the most essential part of Lathander as a god." Zuo Si explained with a playful look.
"The essence of being a god?"
Davian looked very confused.
Zuo Si nodded slightly: "Yes. What do you think is the greatest characteristic of the Lord of the Dawn as a god?"
"Does it represent new life and hope like the rising sun?"
There was strong uncertainty in Davian's tone.
Because Lathander is too complex as a god, people's evaluation of him is even more polarized.
"No, what you are talking about is just the priesthood, doctrines and tendencies. It is not the biggest characteristic, nor is it the essence of being a god. The real answer is that good intentions do not necessarily lead to good results. It may also be a
disaster."
Zuo Si expressed his evaluation of the Lord of the Dawn very simply.
From the moment of his birth, this god has been trying his best to help those suffering mortals, eager to give them hope and happiness. He himself is also a representative of the pursuit of happiness. There is a long list on the list. The new and old loves that I have pursued are the best proof.
But the problem is that almost none of his plans have been successful, and they are all examples of good intentions leading to bad things.
And every time, the damage caused is more serious than the conspiracy of most evil gods.
That's why many people who don't like Lathander often sarcastically say in a half-joking tone that in fact, those evil gods don't need to bother so much. As long as they try their best to help the Lord of the Dawn realize those so-called "great plans", then Naturally, they can get results far beyond expectations.
"You mean...the Lord of the Dawn who wants to use these rising sun heretics to obtain the priesthood of the sun will eventually fail miserably?"
The dazzling light of the sun shined from Davian's pupils, and he obviously heard the subtext.
To be continued...