Justicars

Ristarianism teaches that there are spiritual beings in the service to Krandahl who are tasked with keeping the balance of the universe by maintaining some aspect of it. Most justicars were originally worshiped by the people surrounding the Black Forest as local nature spirits until Ristarianism challenged their autonomy and declared them subject to their one god. While worship of the justicars is officially forbidden by all branches of Ristarianism, their role as protectors and enforcers of some aspect of reality means that they are occasionally petitioned for aid in situations in which Ristarians believe their purview is being threatened. While many of the religions subdued by Ristarianism also practiced ancestor worship, human spirits are not considered capable of becoming justicars and are thus excluded from reverence by Ristarians, though this has produced a very high respect for the dead and elaborate funeral rites for most communities of Ristarians.

## Nature of Justicars

Every justicar is believed to serve one side of the balance, making justicars of order and justicars of chaos. These two forces are in constant conflict, but no side is ever given more power than the other, and they therefore maintain a constant, even tension. However, there is also a third group, referred to as corrupted justicars, who oppose the balance and war directly against Krandahl and his worshipers. This group is led by the Nameless One, who is said to have been a justicar of chaos who determined that he could not advance his cause as long as he was restrained by the balance and turned his ire to Krandahl himself. There are a number of official names for many justicars, but both the Monastery and the temple of Milfarn admit that there are likely many more than they have identified and allow stubborn regions to continue using the names of their nature spirits to describe them, believing that all nature religions were referring to the same beings all along, anyway. They extend this belief even to other religions, believing that the pantheons of polytheistic religions are actually referring to justicars. Ristarians therefore believe that these religions must be subdued and Krandahl placed above them, as he was in all other local nature religions. This mode of outreach has produced some interesting blends in southern Veşti, where Ristarianism comes into direct contact with Reformed Phaelism and Neophaelism, and the Cult of Shast. On Prindern, however, both Orthodox Phaelism and Agnar view them as heretics and will occasionally put traveling Ristarian monks to death, depending on the current shift within their respective leaderships.

### Justicars of Order

In general, nature spirits associated with concrete forms are considered justicars of order. These include general spirits of substances like stone, wood, and air; spirits associated with set places like rivers, forests, and clearings; and concepts which give rise to order, like time, tradition, and civilization. Because there are thousands of names recognized for these beings, an exhaustive list is beyond the scope of this article.

### Justicars of Chaos

In general, nature spirits associated with shifting forms are considered justicars of chaos. These include general spirits of substances like fire, water, and the moon; spirits associated with shifting forces like vulcanism, storms, and life; and concepts which give rise to chaos like rebellion, trickery, and theft. Because there are thousands of names recognized for these beings, an exhaustive list is beyond the scope of this article.

### Corrupted Justicars

There are significantly fewer corrupted justicars than either justicars of chaos or order. There are some general ones, like spirits associated with warfare, murder, and magic. However, most of them are singular beings believed to have been misled by the Nameless One. Because many of these have various regional names, it is still beyond the scope of this article to list them, but the Nameless One remains the same throughout all of Ristarianism, being one of the few identified specifically by Ristara during her lifetime. In areas where Ristarianism directly encounters Phaelism, the Nameless One is directly associated with Ngv.

## Witches

The Witches are of direct concern to Ristarians, who mostly live in and near the Black Forest. There is some debate about what they actually are, based on the varying stories relating to them. Some claim them as either corrupted justicars or justicars of chaos, others claim they were once humans granted power by the Nameless One or another justicar, while some simply believe that they don't exist. The Monastery has no official stance on them, while the temple of Milfarn condemns them without making any specific claim to their nature.