Church of Shar The Church of Shar is an organization dedicated to spreading the dogma and carrying out the wishes of the deity Shar . Although the estimated one hundred thousand worshippers of Shar can loosely be deemed members , its true membership consists of the clergy of the church , who number around three and a half thousand . The faith is forbidden in many areas of Faerûn and this leads the church underground , practising in hiding much of the time . An element of fear is associated with the worship of Shar since many of her followers are willing to give their lives in her service . History . The worship of Shar has occurred ever since mortals first appeared on Toril . After Shar ' s acquisition of the cavern portfolio from slaying Ibrandul during the Time of Troubles , she gained the worship of subterranean beings such as goblin s , kobold s and troglodyte s . Present day . The clergy of the Church of Shar use corruption and subversion to spread Shar ' s faith , but they must do this in secret in many places due to the religion being forbidden . The atmosphere of the organization is one of unwavering faith to its leader , Shar herself . Disobeying an order usually results in death . Although devotees are perfectly willing to give their life for Shar , she often does not intend for this to happen because it will deplete the number of her dedicated followers . From time to time , Shar requests of her priests that a certain individual , usually a sorcerer or wizard who she deems to have misused the Shadow Weave , is killed . On the other hand , Shar can forbid such acts against specific individuals . It is not uncommon for the church to make use of the Shadow Weave itself , although Shar holds onto the deepest and most powerful secrets of the magical force . The clergy of the church will travel in small groups or individually throughout Faerûn , often disguised as merchants or pilgrims to avoid detection . Their missions usually involve either espionage or murder . Hierarchy . The church is split into individual cells that can operate independently from one another , often having a temple or shrine as their focal point . Cells are linked by the leadership of a priest , and one priest will typically control the cells in a geographic area . Priests communicate with one another , but rarely reveal truthful information to their inferiors . Intentions . The intent of the Church of Shar is to spread the faith of Shar . This is achieved by undermining and corrupting individuals , governments and even other religions . This enables the subject to be more likely to accept the views and dogma of Shar . Because the most valuable commodity to the clergy of Shar is a secret , information is closely guarded and is only revealed when it is essential to be known . The clergy of Shar will expect that a secret is traded for another similarly prized secret . By revealing secrets , Sharran clergy will attempt to incite bitterness and jealously within individual , such as telling a woman that her husband is having an affair . These emotions are strongly embraced by Shar and highly increase the likeliness of a successful conversion . Recruitment . In order to become clergy within the church ' s organization , one must undergo tests of faith and commitment which would be likely to vile any good - aligned being , and any potential recruit incapable of murder is not admitted , and is subject to being killed . A few months after displaying a willingness to join , the new recruit has often committed many murders . In order to become a worshipper of the Church of Shar , the tests are less strenuous , but nonetheless involve performing acts that would not be committed by any good - aligned individual . A later betrayal of the faith will result in the death of the worshipper . Factions . One faction of the Church of Shar is dedicated to eliminating any knowledge of the Shadow Weave that did not originate from the church itself . They believe that anyone outside the church with such knowledge is a threat to security . They have been known to recruit adventurers for the purposes of eliminating the individuals in possession of such knowledge . Relations . Allegiances . The Church of Shar occasionally works together with the Monks of the Dark Moon but Shar prefers that they work independently . The church will employ the services of undead , evil humanoid s and young evil dragon s if they can be bribed or coerced into service . Talona will ally with Shar , but only if the aim is causing harm to their common enemy Loviatar . There is the possibility of future cooperation between Shar and Cyric . Enemies . The Church of Shar is generally opposed to any good - aligned religious orders , but particularly despises the deity Selûne . Members are dedicated to hurting Selûne and her worshippers as much as possible and will even suspend other activities to pursue an opportunity to get at Selûne . Regions . Amn . The Dark Embrace is a relatively new but powerful temple full of priests dissatisfied with how the church is run further south . Anauroch . Thultanthar has been a centre for the worship of Shar since before Karsus ' Folly . Since the reappearance of the flying city in 1372 DR , Anauroch has become the single biggest focal point of sharran worship over the last century . Calimshan . The Temple of Old Night in Calimport has , for the longest time , been the main church of Shar in Faerûn . Hulburg . The Sisterhood of the Black Veil is a small Sharran cell that operates under the guidance of the priestess Sennifyr . Sembia . The shade Volumvax runs a secret temple under the cover identity of a lighthouse off the coast of Saerloon known to those aware of it as the Darkhouse . Using " portal " s and planar magic , Volumvax plots to kill Selûne herself ! The influence of Shar ' s clergy became much more pronounced when Sembia became a vassal - state of returned Netheril . Waterdeep . Vanrakdoom , one of the sublevels of Undermountain , is the location of a powerful temple of Shar headed by the death knight Vanrak Moonstar .