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This is yet another advertized change to the Realms as 4e FRCS looms on the horizon. I don't know how to respond.
Okay. In part, I can accept Kir-Lanan allying with Shar, Lady of Loss . . . particularly to serve their own ends. I could even rationalize that the Kir-Lanan could be lured into her service in time - her goal for the end of days meshing perhaps with their own want for oblivion.
Nonetheless, this isn't the Kir-Lanan I've known and loved. God-haters. Born of the Time of Troubles with an antipathy toward the Gods of Faerun - including Shar - blaming and despising the deities for their tortured existence. In my mind, even allying with a Goddess such as Shar would seem to go against the core of what makes the Kir-Lanan who they are. I could see them use her perhaps to their own ends, but not to serve her. Still, I don't think an alliance would fare so well, given how much they would despise her and all who follow her.
Thoughts?
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Yeah, they were already loosely allied with the church of Shar in 3rd Edition. I belive the basic idea was that they agreed to work with Shar's clergy to tear down the other religions, then hoped on being able to take down Shar in the end. I think it was in Lords of Darkness or whatever that book was (too lazy to go to my bookshelf).
The alliance, as it stands, is pretty shaky to begin with and doomed to failure (even if Shar and her church really do kill/drive off all the other gods, Shar's only going to be that much more powerful). But I guess you make do with what you can.
After all, it's tough being some of the only athiests in a world as tied to the gods as FR. :)
Yeah, they were already loosely allied with the church of Shar in 3rd Edition. I belive the basic idea was that they agreed to work with Shar's clergy to tear down the other religions, then hoped on being able to take down Shar in the end. I think it was in Lords of Darkness or whatever that book was (too lazy to go to my bookshelf).
The alliance, as it stands, is pretty shaky to begin with and doomed to failure (even if Shar and her church really do kill/drive off all the other gods, Shar's only going to be that much more powerful). But I guess you make do with what you can.
After all, it's tough being some of the only athiests in a world as tied to the gods as FR. :)
But if they were allied with shar in the 3.0 books and still are more than 100 years in the future, that's not what I would call a shaky alliance.
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Okay. I did a little more research. LoD provides that alliances are conceivable, at least for the Kivar, which is one caste of the Kir-Lanan:
"The Kivar hope that when the kir-lanans see how effective such alliances can truly be, they are more accepting of the idea. They have hopes that, in the near future, some wings might even permit (very) temporary alliances with those who worship certain deities, such as Cyric. The Kivar cannot help but be in complete agreement with Shar's desire to war on the other deities, and they are not opposed to working alongside her clergy for that very purpose. And when that happens, the Kivar know that the deities themselves are going to tremble at the havoc that kir-lanans shall wreak. If the Kivar are successful in this plan, only Shar would eventually be left, and by then the kir-lanans' power should be too great for her to do anything other than submit meekly to her death at the hands of her one-time ally."
Lords of Darkness, pp. 147-148.
Of course, this reinforces my concern that the Kir-Lanan might ally with Shar, but not serve her. WotC appears to shift the Kir-Lanan around to actually devote them to her, unless I'm missing something. If I'm right, then WotC has shifted the Kivar's principles to be that of all Kir-Lanan. 100 years. Okay. But to then have the Kivar shift their principles? Maybe they were too dim-witted and Shar smirks at how she's twisted them to her ends? Not too far-fetched, I suppose. They may have underestimated her power. And any opposing castes of Kir-Lanan may have been driven off or exterminated.
Okay. I did a little more research. LoD provides that alliances are conceivable, at least for the Kivar, which is one caste of the Kir-Lanan:
[info from Lords of Darkness snipped for space]
Of course, this reinforces my concern that the Kir-Lanan might ally with Shar, but not serve her. WotC appears to shift the Kir-Lanan around to actually devote them to her, unless I'm missing something. If I'm right, then WotC has shifted the Kivar's principles to be that of all Kir-Lanan. 100 years. Okay. But to then have the Kivar shift their principles? Maybe they were too dim-witted and Shar smirks at how she's twisted them to her ends? Not too far-fetched, I suppose. They may have underestimated her power. And any opposing castes of Kir-Lanan may have been driven off or exterminated.
Also, you should consider that so much time has past that the generation shift of the Kir-Lanan followers woudl change their oputlook.
Because the Kir-Lanan were born out of a specific tragedy, the Time of Troubles, the beleifs and devotion of the people in their ranks is going to change over time as the Time of Troubles moves farther and farther into the past.
As the generation of people who remember the ToT clearly dies, the new generations will base their devotion to the destruction of the gods on other reasons, most likely personal reasons that match up with the overall goal of the movement or a hereditary grudge handed down from their forebearers.
As you put it, the Kir-Lanan are blaming and despising the deities for their tortured existence. Over time, and with Shar's corrupting influence thru their alliance, that anger at the gods could be twisted into a begrudging belief or even full acceptance of Shar's tenets regarding loss and revenge after a few generations.
Shar is the most likely god to subvert a group like this, since her beleifs promise vengance for what happened, justification for the evil they do making because of the loss they have suffered, and she and her clergy is already seeking to destroy the other gods.
You are right, even allying with a Goddess such as Shar would go against the core of what makes the Kir-Lanan who they were 100 years ago. But over time the group would change, simply because the people in charge would die and new leaders woudl take their place over time, and Shar coudl easily become the one goddess they exempt from their destructive goals because of who she is as a goddess.