Gauntlet of Shar

The Gauntlet of Shar was an enormous underground temple dedicated to the dark goddess Shar and a training ground for the Sharran faithful. It was the birthplace of the elite Sharran force, the Dark Justiciars.
==Location==
The Gauntlet of Shar lay in an Underdark cave beneath the Thorm Mausoleum, which was located in northwest corner of the town of Reithwin. The entrance was hidden behind a mural describing the tragic life and loss of Ketheric Thorm. A platform elevator in the shape of a Sharran disk would take the visitors from the surface world to the dark depths.
An alternative entrance to Gauntlet of Shar was using the platform elevator in the Grymforge. However, this passage was sealed and destroyed when orthon Yurgir came to slaughter the dark justiciars.
==Function==
The Gauntlet of Shar was the sacred crucible for determining the most faithful Sharrans, those who wanted to fully dedicate themselves to Shar and become her implements in inflicting the goddess's wrath upon enemies and in restoring her eternal darkness.
The initiates would undergo several trials to test their strength, wisdom, and flexibility. With each success, they would be granted an umbral orb to unlock the path forward. When they were deemed worthy in every trial, the initiate would use the orb to unlock the way to the inner chamber of the temple. In there, they would make their final preparations and make the most glorious sacrifice in Shar's name to ultimately become a Dark Justiciar.
==History==
The temple was built at Ketheric Thorm's command when he served as Shar's Chosen during the 14 century DR. After Ketheric turned his faith from Selûne to Shar, he and his advisor Balthazar deceived Ketheric's former colleague Aylin, the immortal daughter of Selûne, into going into the Shadowfell. They trapped Aylin with infernal chains and a soul cage. Aylin became a ritual sacrifice to Shar for the completion of faithful Sharran transformation into Dark Justiciars. The Gauntlet of Shar was built up around Aylin's prison and Aylin was killed and revived to be killed again for years.
While the Dark Justiciars were fighting an alliance of Harpers and Emerald Grove druids on the surface world in the later 14 century DR, an orthon mercenary Yurgir came to the temple to kill the remaining Dark Justiciars by the terms of a contract. All the inhabitants of the Gauntlet of Shar were slaughtered except a Dark Justiciar named Lyrthindor, who escaped with help from Raphael. Yurgir couldn't find the last Dark Justiciar, nor could he leave the temple without breaking the contract. So Yurgir made his lair within the empty temple. After that, the temple was abandoned and fell into ruin for the next century with the later coming of the shadow curse .
In the , Balthazar was tasked by Ketheric Thorm with retrieving the Nightsong to secure Ketheric's immortality while Ketheric served as the general of the Cult of the Absolute. Balthazar and his undead servants managed to get into the long-abandoned temple, but they were prevented from venturing forward by Dark Justiciar ghosts manifested from the Shadowfell.
==Inhabitants==
* Yurgir, an orthon who was contracted by Raphael to slaughter every Dark Justiciar, but was trapped within the temple by the terms of the unfinished contract.
* Nessa, Yurgir's displacer beast.
* Balthazar, the necromancer advisor of Ketheric Thorm who came to retrieve the Nightsong.
* Flesh, Balthazar's meat golem. 
* Lyrthindor, the last Dark Justiciar who escaped from Yurgir by turning into a swarm of rats.
* Nightsong, the immortal daughter of Selûne who was trapped in shadowfell and made as a sacriface for dark justiciars.
==Appendix==
===Appearances===
===External Links===
* 
===Gallery===
Tim-coddens-tim-coddens-theshartemple-01.jpg|The entrance to the Gauntlet of Shar upon arriving from the surface.
Tim-coddens-tim-coddens-theshartemple-02.jpg|A broken statue of Shar within the temple.
Tim-coddens-tim-coddens-theshartemple-04.jpg|A ruined stairway.
Tim-coddens-tim-coddens-theshartemple-05.jpg|A grand corridor.
Tim-coddens-tim-coddens-theshartemple-06.jpg|An altar of Shar silently waiting for a blood offering.
===References===
Category:Temples
Category:Locations in the Underdark
Category:Locations in the shadow-cursed lands
Category:Locations in the Western Heartlands
Category:Locations in West Faerûn
Category:Locations in Faerûn
Category:Locations on Toril