A Short Biography of Bishop Tornean Boarman

Bishop Tornean Boarman 

(Born 1457 DR – Died 1512 DR) 

Cleric of Kelemvor (1460-1512 DR) 

Born to a family of carpet merchants, the third of eight children, Tornean (Tory) Boarman entered the monastery at the young age of 11. He excelled greatly in his studies and his fervent faith coupled with an emphasis on evangelism enabled him to rise quickly in the church. By the age of thirty, he achieved the rank of Bishop and was established in the Western Heartlands. His early years are marked by profound growth in the Kelemvor faith as his fiery and emotional sermons drew large crowds of devotees. He was well-regarded by nobleman and commoner alike as of man of impeccable moral character if somewhat legalist in his interpretation of moral law. 

Towards his later years, Bishop Boarman became obsessed with expunging all wickedness from himself and his parish. He commissioned several mages to create rather unusual arcane amulets. In a complicated ritual, the Bishop removed all evil thoughts and desires from himself and bound them to the amulets. Bishop Boarman sent away the Amulets of the Damned, as they were now called, and scattered them across the land. 

While the Bishop maintained that this event allowed him to become truly free, others contend that he ceased to be human. Family and friends reported that the Bishop lost the ability to understand and empathize with others and no longer possessed any sense of compassion. It is at this point that Bishop Boarman began a very violent campaign to excise all evil from his domain with extreme prejudice and no mercy. Thousands were flogged, whipped, tortured and executed for minor transgressions. Boarman soon earned the title “The Bloody Bishop” and became the most feared man in the region. However, Boarman’s violent reign of terror lasted only eight months before his own people turned against him and had him burned at the stake. As to the Amulets of the Damned, little else is known about them or their current whereabouts. 

– Sir Kelleck Thames – Excerpt from the History of Religion in the Western Heartlands