Tir
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| Tir | ||
|---|---|---|
| Round, Iron-Rimmed Shield, or the Tir rune of the futhark | ||
| Aliases | Lord Justice | |
| Alignment | Lawful Neutral | |
| Divine Rank | Lesser God | |
| Pantheon | Anglo-Saxon | |
| Portfolio | Glory, Honor | |
| Domains | All, Combat, Divination, Law, Protection, War | |
| Home Plane | Prime Material | |
| Worshippers | Anglo-Saxons, Warriors | |
| Favoured Weapon | Spear | |
Tir, also known as Lord Justice, is the Anglo-Saxon God of Justice, Glory and Honor in Dungeons & Dragons. Like the rest of his pantheon, he was introduced to the D&D multiverse in the article "Hearth & Sword" in Dragon Magazine #263 for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition.
Whilst many Anglo-Saxon deities support war, and thusly he counts Mannus, Ing and Thunor as his staunch companions, Tir is the favored god of warriors, inspiring his followers to seek achievement on the battlefield. There is no greater death than that in honorable combat, at least in Tir's eyes. However, in his secondary role as god of justice, Anglo-Saxon kings also call upon his wisdom when making judgments. He is at odds with Nerthus and Eostre, who are opposed to war for any reason.
Tir takes the form of a tall, proud warrior-king, whose flowing hair and beard are dark blonde in color. He wears a finest quality chain hauberk, and often sports the full-faced helm of a king. His hazel eyes are circled with rings the color of steel. He has also been known to manifest when a trial is occuring in the form of a seax (shortsword) that appears from nowhere and then plunges through the air to embed itself in the wood of the bench before the guilty party.
Tir is believed to be a precursor of some kind to the Viking (by way of Scandinavian) god Tyr, who is known to have migrated to the Forgotten Realms.
The Priesthood[edit | edit source]
Tir's clergy is found amongst the thegns and eoldermen of Anglo-Saxon royal courts, where they tend to distinguish themselves by wearing round disks inscribed with the Tir rune as pendants. They act as advisors to the king and the rest of the witan (council of elders) on matters of war and justice... but, sometimes it behooves a king to ignore their advice.
Why? Well, take a look at Tir's dogma:
- The death of a man lies on the battlefield. Thus, the sickening and dying should be permitted to ride with the fyrd (army) to gain an honorable death. Paramount to the structure of society is the existence and upholding of law and justice. Those who make a mockery of these tenets are cursed in the view of Tir.
Now, this sounds harmless, but in practice, it means that advice from Tir's priesthood, whilst technically tactically sound, is always aimed more at reaping honor and glory than defeating the enemy effectively. So, sometimes, a king who wants to win a fight needs to ignore the Tir priests' council.
Tir is honored on Tir's day (Tuesday) each week, but his priests also engage in prayer vigils before any major battle in order to asks for the chance to gain glory and honor.
Specialty priests of Tir have the following traits:
- Requirements: Strength 9, Constitution 8, Wisdom 9
- Aligment: Lawful Neutral or Lawful Good
- Weapons: Spear, Seax (shortsword), Scramsax (dagger), Bow (long or short), Francisca/Sparte (hand axe), Framea (light/medium lance)
- Armor: Any
- Major Spheres: All, Combat, Divination, Law, Protection, War
- Minor Spheres: Guardian
- Magical Items: Any permitted to Warriors or Clerics
- Special Abilities:
- Priests of Tir can cast Detect Lie 1/day per 3 levels.
- From 2nd level, a Priest of Tir gains a +1 bonus to saving throws when disbelieving illusions.
- From 5th level, the priest does not need to attempt to disbelieve an illusion actively to gain a saving throw to do so.
- From 10th level, when sitting in a hall of judgment, a Priest of Tir can accurately determine the guilt of any brought before the hall.