Order of the Dark Moon

In Faerûn, the Church of Shar refers an organization dedicated to spreading the dogma and carrying out the wishes of the deity Shar, the Mistress of Night. Shar's secretive monastic order was referred to as the Order of the Dark Moon, and one of its factions is owned by Netherese in Vellosk. served as the main antagonistic faction of the upcoming LOTM: Witnesses of Sleepy Hollow Spin-off - Nethereese Darkness.

Origin
Within the Neverwinter Woods, Netherese agents began recruiting the Uthgardt barbarians back into their empire for the purpose of making war against their Thayan enemies. While much of the Gray Wolf tribe accepted, some did not wish to be under Netheril's heel once more; these barbarians were exiled and became known as the Forsworn. As a result, their former brethren, who had turned to the worship of Shar, began hunting them down under Netherese orders. In addition, the Netherese sought to raise the ruins of the floating city of Xin'kar.

Worshipping of Shar
Shar (pronounced SHAHR), the Mistress of the Night, was the goddess of darkness and the caverns of Faerûn, as well as a neutral evil greater deity. Counterpart to her twin Selûne, she presided over caverns, darkness, dungeons, forgetfulness, loss, night, secrets, and the Underdark. Among her array of twisted powers was the ability to see everything that lay or happened in the dark. Shar's symbol was a black disk with a deep purple border. Shar was also the creator of the Shadow Weave, which was a counterpart and attack upon the Weave, controlled by Mystryl and her successors, before both of the Weaves fell into ruin during the Spellplague.

Although the estimated one hundred thousand worshippers of Shar can loosely be deemed members, its true membership consists of the clergy of the church, who number around three and a half thousand. The faith is forbidden in many areas of Faerûn and this leads the church underground, practising in hiding much of the time. An element of fear is associated with the worship of Shar since many of her followers are willing to give their lives in her service.

Trivia

 * It is loosely based on the Church of Shar and its monastic faction from Forgotten Realms (a part of D&D universe).
 * Those who believed in the Dark Moon heresy believed that Shar and Selûne were two faces of the same goddess, and the Order of the Dark Moon cultists are among them.