You have spent your life in the service of Candlekeep. The keep is the home of the Avowed, a group of renowned scholars and people of learning, consisting of non-denominational, cloistered monks who tended to and protected the great library-fortress. They came from all walks of life; from clerics of the deities who personified the search for knowledge to wizards and even some warrior-monks. These monks were united in their scholarly pursuits and their duty to preserve the collected knowledge and lore of the Realms, in all its forms. First and foremost the Avowed protected the wisdom and information held within the Great Library. While many external threats were present, in the form of thieves or those who sought to destroy knowledge, the Avowed spent much of their time working against the effects of mold, deterioration, and natural decay. So as not to lose any knowledge to oversight, they often purchased, or other otherwise attained books by other means. The monks of Candlekeep periodically sponsored excursions to hunt down long-lost items of lore. While its order of monks was not spectacularly wealthy, they often traded some knowledge when eliciting the service of others. When they were required to call upon adventurers, they often enticed them with maps of treasure-filled ruins, documents that detailed the creation of magical items, or scrolls containing the specifications of certain rare spells.

Skill Proficiencies: Medicine

Tool Proficiencies: Calligraphy and Cartography.

Languages: Celestial, Draconic, Dwarvish, and Infernal.

Equipment: Explorer's pack, traveler's clothes and a pouch containing 20 gp.

Suggested Characteristics

Acolytes are shaped by their experience in temples or other religious communities. Their study of the history and tenets of their faith and their relationships to temples, shrines, or hierarchies affect their mannerisms and ideals. Their flaws might be some hidden hypocrisy or heretical idea, or an ideal or bond taken to an extreme.

d8	Personality Trait
1	I idolize a particular hero of my faith, and constantly refer to that person’s deeds and example.
2	I can find common ground between the fiercest enemies, empathizing with them and always working toward peace.
3	I see omens in every event and action. The gods try to speak to us, we just need to listen.
4	Nothing can shake my optimistic attitude.
5	I quote (or misquote) sacred texts and proverbs in almost every situation.
6	I am tolerant (or intolerant) of other faiths and respect (or condemn) the worship of other gods.
7	I’ve enjoyed fine food, drink, and high society among my temple’s elite. Rough living grates on me.
8	I’ve spent so long in the temple that I have little practical experience dealing with people in the outside world.

d6	Ideal
1	Tradition. The ancient traditions of worship and sacrifice must be preserved and upheld. (Lawful)
2	Charity. I always try to help those in need, no matter what the personal cost. (Good)
3	Change. We must help bring about the changes the gods are constantly working in the world. (Chaotic)
4	Power. I hope to one day rise to the top of my faith’s religious hierarchy. (Lawful)
5	Faith. I trust that my deity will guide my actions. I have faith that if I work hard, things will go well. (Lawful)
6	Aspiration. I seek to prove myself worthy of my god’s favor by matching my actions against his or her teachings. (Any)

d6	Bond
1	I would die to recover an ancient relic of my faith that was lost long ago.
2	I will someday get revenge on the corrupt temple hierarchy who branded me a heretic.
3	I owe my life to the priest who took me in when my parents died.
4	Everything I do is for the common people.
5	I will do anything to protect the temple where I served.
6	I seek to preserve a sacred text that my enemies consider heretical and seek to destroy.

d6	Flaw
1	I judge others harshly, and myself even more severely.
2	I put too much trust in those who wield power within my temple’s hierarchy.
3	My piety sometimes leads me to blindly trust those that profess faith in my god.
4	I am inflexible in my thinking.
5	I am suspicious of strangers and expect the worst of them.
6	Once I pick a goal, I become obsessed with it to the detriment of everything else in my life.