Bane, god of tyranny
Bane is the evil and malicious greater deity of fear, hatred and tyranny and ruler of Banehold. Preferring to plot and scheme, Bane rarely appeared to act in a direct manner; instead acting through his worshipers and other various agents. When summoned he had a dark and rather shadowy appearance with a resemblance of dark armor and his tell-tale jeweled dark gauntlet. He emanated an aura of vast power and cruel intelligence. 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 were as likely to solve their disputes through reasonable debate as through show of force. That being said, Bane's church was no less ruthless than that of Cyric – God of Lies and it obeyed a strict hierarchy extending from the god's most powerful worshipers to his weakest ones, with the god himself the lord of everything they did and, though worshipers of Bane came from every station in life, they all knew to whom they owed their blessings, ready to turn it over to the Black Lord at any time. Banite customs were often quite spartan in nature and the god's followers celebrated no holidays in honor of their god, instead showing their gratitude to him through service and the ritual torture and sacrifice of sentient beings offensive to the god. Priests of Bane prayed for their spells at midnight, pledging their eternal loyalty and service to the Black Hand, knowing full well that the penalty for failure or disloyalty was death. His clerics could be recognized by the black-enameled gauntlet worn on one fist.
