Bloodbeard Religions

Bane

* Symbol: Green rays squeezed forth from a black fist
* Home Plane: The Barrens of Doom and Despair
* Alignment: Lawful Evil
* Worshipers: Conquerors, evil fighters and monks, tyrants, wizards
* Cleric Alignments: LE, NE
* Domains: Evil, Destruction, Hatred, Law, Tyranny
* Favored Weapon: "The Black Hand of Bane" [a black gauntlet] (morningstar)

The twisted halls of Zhentil Keep echo with malign invocations chanted in shadowy temples though Faerûn. Bane (bain) the Lord of Darkness, has conquered death itself, returning to the world to give dark inspiration to a thousand intrigues, to foment fear and hatred in civilized lands, and to reassure the common mortal that tyranny, through it may suffer occasional defeat, will never die. Though Bane transcended mortality centuries ago, his primary goal remains notably human -- he seeks nothing short of the total domination of Faerûn. When his servants sit upon the throne of every land, when commoners serve their masters in fear for their very lives, and when altruism and hope have been erased from the world, only then will Bane rest. Until that dark day, however, the Black Hand has eternity to hatch demented plots and vile intrigues. Eventually, he will rule all Faerûn, but there's no hurry. Getting there will be half the fun.

Bane prefers to keep to the shadows, allowing his servants to carry out his intricate plans. On the rare occasion in which he appears, he takes the form of a shadowy humanoid figure -- often bare-chested, sometimes wearing dark armor and a stylish black cloak streaked with red. His right hand, invariably protected by a jeweled metal gauntlet, is all the weapon he needs to dispatch the few foes brave (or foolhardy) enough to attack him. He has no tolerance for failure and seldom thinks twice about submitting even a loyal servant to rigorous tortures to ensure complete obedience to his demanding, regimented doctrine. Though possessed of an unforgiving wrath when aroused, Bane is slow to anger, existing in a perpetual stat of controlled burn.

Bane's tyranny is known throughout the continent, and his is the image most seen as the face of evil. When news of Bane's destruction during the Time of Troubles made its way throughout Faerûn, no fewer then twenty-seven nations declared national festivals of celebration and thanksgiving. The commoner sees Bane's clerics as petty would-be dictators unafraid to use immoral tactics and unthinkable violence to spread their influence and agenda. The adventurer sees the clergy as constant interlopers and enemies, agents of rigid, evil philosophy who side with monsters, devils, and savage humanoids to further their wicked ends. Canny nobles glimpse the truest threat, that some of their peers pay homage to the Black Lord to gain through guile and subterfuge what soldiers cannot conquer by force.

Clerics of Bane pray for spells at midnight. Their religion recognizes no official holidays, though servants give thanks to the Black Hand before and after major battles or before a particularly important act of subterfuge. Senior clerics often declare holy days at a moment's notice, usually claiming to act upon divine inspiration granted to them in dreams. Rites include drumming, chanting, and the sacrifice of intelligent beings, usually upon an altar of blck basalt or obsidian. Of late, clerics of Cyric have become a preferred sacrifice, though old favorites such as paladins, unicorns, children, and celestials remain popular with traditionalists. Clerics of Bane most commonly multiclass in fighters, monks, blackguards, or dreadmasters. Those associated with the Cult of the Dragon often multiclass as wearers of Purple.

Bane orders his clerics and followers to achieve positions of power within their society, either through force or trickery, and to use that power to further the cause of hate, fear, destruction, and strife. The Black Hand much prefers that his clerics subvert governments and carry out their agendas under the cover of the rule of law, but he tolerates a limited amount of discord and debauchery. Torture, beatings, and calculated assassinations frequently come into play in such operations, and rare indeed is the initiate of the Lord of Darkness who does not possess at least rudimentary skill in such enterprises. The church operates under a strict hierarchy--questioning or disobeying the orders of a superior is an insult to Banes' supremacy, and is punishable by torture, disfigurement, or death.

Banes' temples tend to reflect the clergy's regimented doctrines. Tall, sharpened cornered stone structures featuring towers adorned with large spikes and thin windows, most Banite churches suggest the architecture of fortified keeps or small castles. Thin interior passageways lead from an austere foyer to barracks like common chambers for the lay clergy, each sparsely decorated with tapestries depicting the symbol of Bane or inscribed with embroidered passages from important religious texts. Temples frequently include an exposed central courtyard used for military drills and open air ceremonies, as well as a more traditional mass hall for the congregation at large. Most churches feature extensive subterranean dungeons replete with torture chambers, starvation wells, and monster pens.

Before the Time of Troubles, Bane's church was riven by internecine strife, divided into the Orthodox sect (commanded primarily by clerics) and the Transformed church (dominated by wizards). Bane himself encouraged this struggle, appreciating the value of dissention even when applied to his own servants. His long dormancy seems to have cleared his mind on this matter, however, as he has acted personally to eradicate these divisions, even going so far as to name Fzoul Chembryl, the ruler of Zhentil Keep, as his personal Chosen Tyrant and infallible mortal representative. The formerly fractious Banites have made common cause in vicious pogroms against those clerics who turned to Cyric after Bane's "death" and who have not returned to the fold; their increased cooperation can only lead to foul tidings for the rest of Faerûn.

Even as a human, Bane wanted nothing more than to become the most feared, respected tyrant the world had ever known. However, doing so would require an infusion of arcane power greater than that usually accorded to mortals. Hence, the calculating despot joined forces with the similarly driven humans Bhaal and Myrkul in a pact of mutual assistance that would end in the apotheosis of the entire trio. The three villains adventured across the breadth of Faerûn, defeated countless foes, slew one of the Seven Lost Gods, and traveled throughout the Lower Planes before achieving that goal. They benefited from the generosity (or, as some suggest, indifference) of the dispassionate Jergal, who had become bored with his role as patron of strife, death, and the dead. Each gained one-third of Jergal's portfolio and dominated their area of concern for centuries.

However, even complete control over strife was not enough for Bane, whose desire for supremacy led him, in 1358 DR, to once again team with Myrkul. The pair stole the Tablets of Fate, inscribed by Lord Ao to outline the roles of the deities of Toril. This precipitated the calamitous Time of Troubles, during which Bane was slain by Torm the True in a furious battle in the harbor of Tantras. It seemed the Black Lord's ceaseless ambition had at last led to his destruction. Bane's church fragmented, with most of the faithful defecting to the clergies of Cyric, who inherited Bane's portfolios, and Iyachtu Xvim, the progeny of Bane's coupling with a powerful demon. Agents of weal and freedom breathed easier in those days, knowing the Toril was rid of perhaps its greatest menace.

Those who let down their guard, however, did so rashly, and far too soon. On midwinter night of 1372 DR, Xvim burst in a conflagration of diabolical green light. From the smoking husk of his remains emerged a newly reinvigorated Bane, his right hand ablaze with green fire. Xvim, it appeared, had been little more than a sentient cocoon, a shell in which grew a festering larva that would, in time, become Bane. Within days, the Xvimlar clergy had converted to the worship of Bane, and a great evil once again cast its calculating stare over the lands of Faerûn.

Bane hates virtually the entire Faerûnian pantheon but holds special antipathy for Torm, Cyric, Mystra, Tempus, Helm, Lathander, Oghma, and Ilmater, in that order. He has established a working relationship with Loviatar, Mask, and Talona, but as these deities desperately fear him, the alliances are not strong.

Serve no one but Bane. Fear him always and make others fear him even more than you do. The Black Hand always strikes down those who stand against it in the end. Defy Bane and die -- or in death find loyalty to him, for he shall compel it. Submit to the word of Bane as uttered by his ranking clergy, since true power can only be gained through service to him. Spread the dark fear of Bane. It is the doom of those who do not follow him to let power slip through their hands. Those who cross the Black Hand meet their dooms earlier and more harshly than those who worship other deities.

Deep Duerra

Symbol Shattered skull (the exact race of which varies, but usually illithid, drow, or dwarven)

Titles Queen of the Invisible Art, Axe Princess of Conquest, Daul of Laduguer

Power Level Dwarven Demigod

Home Plane Hammergrim

Alignment Lawful Evil

Portfolio Psionics, conquest, expansion, duergar warriors, duergar psionicists

Worshipers Dwarves, fighters, psionicists, travelers in the Underdark

Cleric Alignments LE, LN, NE

Domains Dwarf, Evil, Law, Mentalism, War

Favored Weapon Mindshatter (Battleaxe)

Elderly gray dwarven mindwardens speak of an ancient time, when a great queen named Duerra (dwair-uh) ruled a dwarven empire of immense subterranean territory and dark, expansionist ambitions. The queen herself stood at the front of her armies, on one occasion dominating a huge illithid city. Duerra ordered her underlings to shackle the mind flayers, who once had enslaved the entire duergar race. Over the course of a century, Duerra ordered her surgeons wrested the power of the mind from the captive illithids, transferring it to her brood and hence into her clan's bloodline. Though mind flayers tell the story somewhat differently, casting Duerra as the leader of a slave rebellion and attributing the psionic powers of the gray dwarves as their own invention in order to create a more efficient slave stock, many duergar nonetheless honor their ancient queen as the progenitor of the psychic abilities that established the gray dwarves as a distinctive subrace and as a symbol of the dominance through enslavement and expansion that shall establish the duergar as the preeminent politcal force of the Underdark.

Few surface dwellers know of Deep Duerra or her clerics, known below the surface as norothor ("those who seize enemy land"). Their recent efforts in the Underdark, however, have made them the talk of underground waystations and trading communities. The norothor preach expansionism to such a strong degree that they have become a nuisance to the older, more staid duergar, who prefer to serve Laduguer. The norothor nonetheless serve an important role in society, training young gray dwarves in the development of their natural psionic abilities, attending to and controlling the slaves who form the underclass of duergar society, and scouting and clearing out nearby tunnel systems that the community might grow. Lastly, their focus on the mental disciplines makes them ideal ambassadors to psionic races such as the illithids and aboleths, though the inherent brashness of the faith means that many such missions end in utter disaster. Duerra's temples are constructed in visually appealing symmetric patterns, featuring an empty seat at the center of the centermost room. Called the Daul's Throne, the chair serves to remind the norothor that as queen of the Invisible Art, Deep Duerra is always present and watching.

Norothor pray for spells at night. On Midwinter eve, they celebrate a perverse festival known as the Rallying wherein clerics commemorate the triumphs of the past year and announce their expansionist intentions for the next. To the sound of hammering and war chants the norothor pass around the freshly severed head of an enemy whose territory will be taken before the next Rallying. On the 5th of Mirtul, Duerra's clerics gather in temples for the Melding, a psionic ceremony in which the norothor contact the Axe Princess herself. The resulting communal mind grants all clerics greater insight in their endless quest for power and territory. Norothor frequently multiclass as fighters or as psions.

History/Relationships
Moradin immediately exiled her upon her apotheosis; Deep Duerra has no friends among the Morndinsamman. Certain myths suggest Laduguer was her father, but the two share remarkably little compassion for one another. Nominally allies, they scheme against each other endlessly, with Duerra chafing at Laduguer's bitterness and resentment. After centuries of only middling success under his patronage, Duerra is a hair away from attempting to depose him as the prime deity of the gray dwarves. The illithid god-brain Ilsensine hates Duerra for the many thefts of psionic energy and information the Axe Princess has stolen from it.

Dogma
The children of Laduguer shall conquer the earth and stone from which they sprang and the voids in which they dwell. The seizing of new lands, new wealth, and new servitors is the manifest destiny of those who mine the Night Below. Magic is weak, unreliable, and unsubtle when compared to the powers of the mind unless bequeathed and steadied by the will of the gods. By means of the Invisible Art, the duergar shall destroy or enslave all those reliant upon petty magics to survive.

Laduguer

The Exile, the Gray Protector, Master of Crafts

(Intermediate Dwarven Deity)

Symbol: Broken crossbow bolt on a shield
Home Plane: Hammergrim
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Worshipers: Dwarves, fighters, loremasters, soldiers
Cleric Alignments: LE, LN, NE
Domains: Craft, Dwarf, Evil, Law, Magic, Metal, Protection
Favored Weapon: "Grimhammer" (warhammer)
Ever since the duergar branched from their dwarven cousins, Laduguer (laa-duh-gwur) has harbored bitter resentment. The Gray Protector views his cousins in the Morndinsamman as indolent layabouts more concerned with maintaining outdated traditions than with progress and artifice. That's not to say Laduguer is a free thinker--he clings to his own brand of intolerant discipline, weaving a doctrine of obedience to one's leader, empowerment through the exploitation of slaves, enrichment through the creation of magical weapons, and protection through an unforgiving program of stern military preparedness. Strongly xenophobic, Laduguer urges his charges to avoid contact with other races except for limited trade and slave raids.

The duergar recognize no difference between religious and secular authority, making Laduguer's clerics (known as thuldor, a dwarven term meaning "those who endure") the nominal rulers of gray dwarf society. The duergar see their existence as a constant struggle against other Underdark races, and the thuldor form the single constant that has kept the race united and powerful ever since the days when Laduguer's clerics first led the gray dwarves away from their surface brethren. Many temples include sizeable stables used in the care and breeding of steeders, large monstrous hunting spiders used as transport by many Underdark races. The duergar, under the guidance of the thuldor, have cornered the market on these highly trainable, versatile beasts of burden, granting the race considerable financial clout in the Night Below. The clerics are expected to serve in the military.

Thuldor pray for spells in the morning, usually before dedicating at least an hour to concepting, creating or improving of a magical weapon. The duergar enjoy few religious ceremonies of note, as celebration offers a dangerous break to the toil upon which the duergar owe their protracted existence. Clerics of Laduguer seldom multiclass, occasionally becoming divine champions, fighters, or loremasters.

History/Relationships
No mortal knows the exact reasons behind Laduguer's exile from the Morndinsamman. The gold and shield dwarves claim that he commited unspeakable crimes against his brethren and was only saved from Moradin's great Soulhammer by the temperance and forgiveness of Berronar. The gray dwarves explain the story somewhat differently, painting the Gray Protector as an advocate of a righteous, innovative philosophy that nonetheless so offended the Dwarffather that Laduguer was cast from the pantheon forevermore. Regardless, the Exile is at best tolerated by Dugmaren and Sharindlar; the rest of the Morndinsamman hold him in deep scorn. Deep Duerra, thought of by many as Laduguer's daughter, is his only true ally (and even she hatches multiple schemes against him). His race's dominance of the steeder market has gained him enmity from Lolth, and an ancient dispute with the demon prince Orcus simmers healthily to this day.

Dogma
The children of Laduguer have rejected the feckless and feeble gods of the their forefathers and withdrawn from their lazy once-kin so as not to be tainted by their weaknesses. Strict obedience to superiors, dedication to one's craft, and endless toil are necessary to achieve wealth, security, and power. Nothing is ever easy, nor should it be. Suffer pain stoically and remain aloof, for to show or even feel emotion is to demonstrate weakness. Those who are weak are undeserving and will suffer an appropriate fate. Adversity is Laduguer's forge, and the harsh trials through which the duergar must pass are his hammer blows--endure all and become stronger than adamantine.

Portfolio
Magic weapon creation, artisans, magic, gray dwarves