The Eyes of the Abyss
Once known as the Radiant Eye, the pantheon was twisted
and corrupted by its leader Tiamat. Once they sought to
contain the corruption, they now seek ways to release it upon
the material plane. The members of the pantheon remain
allies in the thinnest terms while continuing to serve Tiamat,
but only so long as it benefits them.
Bane is the evil and malicious greater deity of fear, hatred, tyranny, and ruler of Banehold. Preferring to plot and scheme, Bane rarely appears to act in a direct manner; instead acting through his worshipers and other various agents. His ultimate goal was to eventually control all of the Old World.
The Black Lord
Alignment: Lawful Evil • Domains: Order, WarBane is the evil and malicious greater deity of fear, hatred, tyranny, and ruler of Banehold. Preferring to plot and scheme, Bane rarely appears to act in a direct manner; instead acting through his worshipers and other various agents. His ultimate goal was to eventually control all of the Old World.
Like many of the younger gods, Bane was once a mortal
human that ascended during the War of the Ancients.
Originally part of the Radiant Eye, Bane succumbed to the
corruption and was twisted under the leadership of Tiamat.
Now part of the Eyes of the Abyss, he forged an alliance with
Bhaal and Myrkul. The three forged a pact of mutual aid and
ambition: together they would conquer not just the world, but
the heavens, becoming gods unto themselves.
Among the evil gods, Bane's church is among the most
stable and powerful. While there was a time when the god
encouraged sectarianism and violent disputes, that time has
long since passed and today the god's faithful are as likely to
solve their disputes through reasonable debate as through
show of force. That being said, Bane's church obeys a strict
hierarchy extending from the god's most powerful worshipers
to his weakest ones, with the god himself the lord of
everything they do. Though worshipers of Bane come from
every station in life, they all know to whom they owe their
blessings, ready to turn it over to the Black Lord at any time.
When summoned he has a dark and rather shadowy
appearance with a resemblance of dark armor and his telltale jeweled dark gauntlet. He emanates an aura of vast
power and cruel intelligence.
His symbol is an upright black right hand, thumb and
fingers together.
Once known as the god of love, Sune. She was worshiped by all, but Elves were the most common among her clergy. When Sune succumbed to the corruption of the Great Wheel she took on a new name, Lolth the Mother of Lust. Lolth is the goddess of the drow, a chaotic deity who revels in chaos, inspiring it in her followers along with the veneration of spiders. Using her newfound power and influence, Lolth corrupted and twisted the elves that worshipped her when she was known as Sune, creating the first drow.
Commandments of The Black Lord
- Serve no one but The Black Lord.
- Fear him always and make others fear him even more than you do.
- Spread the dark fear of Bane.
- Submit to the word of The Black Lord as uttered by his ranking clergy, since true power can only be gained through service to him.
Dark Mother
Alignment: Chaotic Evil • Domains: Trickery, WarOnce known as the god of love, Sune. She was worshiped by all, but Elves were the most common among her clergy. When Sune succumbed to the corruption of the Great Wheel she took on a new name, Lolth the Mother of Lust. Lolth is the goddess of the drow, a chaotic deity who revels in chaos, inspiring it in her followers along with the veneration of spiders. Using her newfound power and influence, Lolth corrupted and twisted the elves that worshipped her when she was known as Sune, creating the first drow.
Her love of chaos often makes her appear mad but the wise
see her as a calculating individual who is always several steps
ahead of those who believe that they can anticipate her. She
is cruel and domineering, forcing her will upon her followers
and her enemies, a will which instructed the strong to crush
the weak in the most torturous way imaginable.
The way that new-born spider broods tore each other apart
to survive especially appealed to her. She promoted this by
encouraging her worshipers to kill their rivals, thus ensuring
that they were the strongest of the brood. Her real goals were
to hold absolute control over the dark elves, prevent the rise
of alternative faiths or ideas, and avoid complacency (even
though she found amusement in the strife that plagued her
followers' communities). However, in the long run her
influence proved to be an obstacle to the growth and success
of the drow, preventing them from unifying against common
enemies or for a common cause.
Lolth's follower base was varied. It mainly consisted of
drow but also included aranea, chitine, draegloth and deep
dragons. She gained a few elven followers and tried to gain
more worshipers by assuming the aspect of a deity of rot.
Lolth's clerics are usually female, although there are rare
male clerics, but none of which are allowed to achieve the
rank of high priest. Her clerics wear red and black, and drow
tunics and helms. The Spider Queen's sacred animals are
(naturally) arachnids. She is worshipped on the full moon in
underground marble temples. Enemies and riches are
sacrificed to her monthly. Servants who fail Lolth (and there
are many ways to fail the capricious goddess) are usually
either slain or transformed into creatures called driders.
Lolth usually appears in two forms: drow and arachnid. In
drow form, the Spider Queen appears as an "exquisitely
beautiful" female dark elf, sometimes covered in clinging
spiders. In her arachnid form, Lolth takes the appearance of
a giant black widow spider with the head of a female drow or
human peering from between the eight spider-eyes.
Sometimes, the two foremost pairs of her spider-legs are
actually humanoid arms. On rare occasions her arachnid
form has taken more of a drider-like appearance.
After Tiamat's corruption, Myrkul became known as the Lord of Bones, the Lord of the Dead and the Reaper. He had become a god of the dead in the Old World. Myrkul has a cold, malignant intelligence. He is always alert, never sleeps, and is never surprised. He has never been known to lose his temper or be anything other than coldly amused when a mortal succeeds in avoiding his directives or chosen fates.
Commandments of the Dark Mother
- The strong should rule over the weak.
- There are no other rules.
Lord of Bones
Alignment: Neutral Evil • Domains: Death, Decay, Old age, Exhaustion, Dusk, AutumnAfter Tiamat's corruption, Myrkul became known as the Lord of Bones, the Lord of the Dead and the Reaper. He had become a god of the dead in the Old World. Myrkul has a cold, malignant intelligence. He is always alert, never sleeps, and is never surprised. He has never been known to lose his temper or be anything other than coldly amused when a mortal succeeds in avoiding his directives or chosen fates.
The worship of Myrkul is not popular in the Old World. His
worshipers, who are often undertakers in one form or
another, are a morose, secretive lot, reticent to share their
faith with those outside his meager and unorganized church.
These Myrkulytes are tasked with ensuring the people of
Toril both feared and respected death. To aggrandize
Myrkul's power they would propagate rumors that merely
touching one of his priests would bring certain death.
The avatar of Myrkul appears as a skeleton of a man
hidden in flowing black robes. His wrinkled, lesioned skin
and blackened, cracked lips gives the appearance he was just
on the verge of death. He speaks in a rather high whisper,
though his words never show enough inflection to convey
feeling or concern.
The holy symbol of Myrkul is a white skull inset into a
black triangle.
After the Radiant Eye became the Eye of the Abyss, Bhaal became a god of death who favored murders that were carried out through violent or ritualistic means.
Commandments of the Lord of Bones
- Know me and fear me.
- My embrace is for all and is patient but sure.
- The dead can always find you.
- My hand is everywhere - there is no door I cannot pass, nor guardian who can withstand me.
Lord of Murder
Alignment: Neutral Evil • Domains: Death, Decay, Old age, Exhaustion, Dusk, AutumnAfter the Radiant Eye became the Eye of the Abyss, Bhaal became a god of death who favored murders that were carried out through violent or ritualistic means.
The Lord of Murder is feared throughout all of the Old
World especially on the island Aya. Despite this shared dread
throughout the Realms, the exact nature of what the Lord of
Murder has power over is contested among sages and
scholars. In his best incarnation he might have taken strength
in violently punishing murderers and warmongers.
Challengers of this notion insisted that he judged whether a
murder was righteous or not.
The clergy of Bhaal in the Old World are known as
Bhaalists or Bhaalyn, the latter being used more commonly
in the lands east of the Terosu Jungle. Together they were a
disorderly network of local hierarchies, with the urban and
rural branches maintaining distant relations from one
another. Collectively, they believed that murder was both a
duty to their god and a game for their enjoyment. Each cleric
of Bhaal was expected to perform at least one murder every
tenday, in the darkest moment in the dead of night.
Bhaal has three avatar forms; a shape-shifting one called
Kazgoroth, a human-sized one called the Slayer, and a giant
called the Ravager. The Slayer appears as a corpse-like male
humanoid, whereas the Ravager is large and bestial.
The holy symbol of Bhaal is a skull surrounded by a ring of
bloody droplets.
Vecna is considered the most powerful and the most evil lich in history. He rose to power during the Great Dragon War as a lieutenant of Fatalis but was eventually destroyed, and his left hand and left eye were the only parts of his body to survive. Seeing Vecna's value after his death, Fatalis rewarded Vecna by ascending him to godhood
Commandments of the Lord of Murder
- Commit murder once every ten days. If imprisonment or other constraining circumstances make this impossible, murder twice for each death missed.
- Make all folk fear Bhaal.
- Let your killings be especially elegant, or grisly, or seem asy so that those observing them are awed or terrified.
- Tell folk that gold proffered can make the Lord of Murder overlook them for today.
The Undying King
Alignment: Neutral Evil • Domains: Evil, Knowledge, MagicVecna is considered the most powerful and the most evil lich in history. He rose to power during the Great Dragon War as a lieutenant of Fatalis but was eventually destroyed, and his left hand and left eye were the only parts of his body to survive. Seeing Vecna's value after his death, Fatalis rewarded Vecna by ascending him to godhood
With his new found power Vecna joined the Eyes of the
Abyss, but not before creating many secret strongholds in faroff regions of the Material Plane. There, the souls of those
who worshipped the Undying King in life continue to serve
him in death.
Vecna and his faithful believe in the power of secrets and
their ultimate ability to destroy anyone, no matter how
powerful. Vecna hopes one day to destroy every other deity in
existence, leaving himself the sole ruler of creation, but until
his power grows beyond contention, the Eyes of the Abyss
provide him safety and powerful allies.
Vecna's cult is very secretive, and cells have been
uncovered, at various points in history. Clerics of Vecna often
don't realize which god they're serving when they're first
initiated. Many are deluded into believing they belong to an
obscure sect of Torm or Shilallia. The truth is not revealed to
them until they show their willingness to do anything in the
pursuit of knowledge and power.
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Each position in Vecna's cult is named for a certain body
part. At the top is Vecna himself, followed by the Voice of
Vecna, which can only be filled by Vecna's manifestation.
Next is the Heart of Vecna, the high priest of the cult.
Individual congregations are known as Organs. Each Organ
is led by a Thought of Vecna. Lesser priests are known as
Memories of Vecna.
Vecna is usually depicted as a powerful magician
resembling a desiccated corpse missing his left hand and eye.
A constant theme in the adventures in which Vecna appears
is his never-ending quest for power, ending, should he
succeed, with Vecna as the only deity in existence.
Commandments of The Undying King
- Secrets are power.
- Never reveal all you know.
- There is a secret evil within every being, no matter how virtuous. This seed of evil can and should be exploited by those able to identify it.
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