Bane

Bane is the Astoran god of tyrannical oppression, terror, and hate, known across Astora as the face of pure evil through malevolent despotism. From his dread plane of Banehold, The Black Hand acts indirectly through worshipers and other agents to achieve his ultimate plan to achieve total domination of all Astora.

Description

When summoned, Bane 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.

Unlike other deities Bane possessed no divine weapon, rather he favored his own gauntleted right hand.

Personality

Bane is a wholly malevolent and brutal deity that distances himself from mere mortals, preferring to reign over his followers from afar. He savors the terror he instills in others and the hatred that forms in mortals' hearts, utilizing this strife to gain greater control over the Realms.

He embodies the principles of ambition and control and believes that the strong have not only the right, but the duty, to rule over the weak. He favors those with drive and courage, often aiding those who seek to establish order or conquer new territories. While he is seen as a savior in some regions, his teachings also lead to dictatorships and the promotion of slavery.

Divine Realm

In the Great Wheel cosmology, Bane's divine realm, the Black Bastion, can be found in Avalas, the first layer of Acheron. In the World Axis model, Bane's home plane is Banehold, or as it is previously known, the Barrens of Doom and Despair.

Worshippers

Among the evil gods, Bane's church was 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[as of when?] 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 or Shar 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.

The church of Bane increased greatly in recent history due to his return. With this he gained nearly all the worshipers of Iyachtu Xvim, his half-demon son, as well as some of Cyric. Many of those among the god's worshipers were fighters, monks or blackguards, or wizards.

His clerics could be recognized by the black-enameled gauntlet worn on one fist. They were able to cast spells against undead, such as a flare of greenish phosphorescence which seared smaller undead or an even fiercer radiance that seared ghouls and phantoms.

Temples

Although Bane was worshiped all over Faerûn, his presence was strongest in the Moonsea region, where, as of 1479 DR, the Church of Bane had its headquarters: the House of the Black Lord in Mulmaster. During the same time, his Church was the only one allowed in Thay. Other known temples include:

Relationships

While Bane believed himself the rightful ruler of all the planes and could not tolerate subservience to anyone, the god was willing, unlike many evil deities, to work with others if it served his interests and the god formed multiple alliances. Most notable perhaps was his alliance with Myrkul, which stretched back to when both were mortals and which continued until both of their deaths during the Time of Troubles. Bane also had working relations with the gods Loviatar, Talona, and Mask; when Bane returned to life in 1372 DR, he quickly went about reforging these alliances, primarily by reasserting their fears of him.

Besides allies, Bane also had servants such as Bhaal and his own son Iyachtu Xvim during his first life as a god, along with Abbathor, Maglubiyet, Hruggek, and Tiamat during his second tenure. Malar was also known to work along with Bane at times.

Bane was the former lover of the goddess Kiputytto. He attempted to steal her divine power during their amorous encounters, but was ultimately unsuccessful.

But as numerable as his allies, Bane had many enemies as well. For a time, Bane's most hated foe was the goddess of magic, Mystra, whose power he coveted. Since his return, however, Bane's greatest foes were Cyric who stole from him many of his worshipers and the Zhentarim, and the Triad, particularly its formerly junior but now senior member Torm, who was the being responsible for Bane's first death. Bane was also enemies with the gods Amaunator and Oghma and called Helm and Midnight enemies as well when both gods lived.

History

Mortal Life Fighter Like many of the younger gods, Bane was once a mortal human. Little was known about the Black Hand's past, not even precisely when it was he lived, but the adventurer became known when he forged an alliance with two other mortal beings: Bhaal and Myrkul. Together, 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. They targeted specifically the powerful god of death, Jergal, who was among the most powerful of Toril's deities at the time.

Divine Ascension

The group, known as the Dead Three, soon became well-known to Jergal, surmounting every obstacle thrown their way. They obtained magical power and even destroyed a primordial in the Year of Sycophants, −357 DR. They served as generals to an army comprising forces from three human nations, savage gnolls, and other races from the Moonsea North, slaying Maram of the Great Spear at the Monument of the Ancients in the Frozen Forest, taking the fallen primordial's essence, and dividing it up equally amongst themselves. Unbeknown to them, this was all Jergal's doing, for the god had grown tired of his crown, even allowing powerful magic weapons such as the Jathiman Dagger, gifted to Bane, to fall into the hands of the party.

When the time came to confront Jergal, the god of death tricked the Dead Three into turning on one another, each desiring the others' power. Jergal then intervened and proposed to divide up his portfolio for them, based upon a game of knucklebones, which Bane promptly won. Bane claimed for his prize governance over the sphere of strife, believing he would be able to rule over all of Toril in this way. As it turned out, however, Bane would not only have to contend with Bhaal and Myrkul, who became powerful gods in of themselves, but with the rest of the divine, who would become his most hated foes. Time of Troubles

Although Bane had many foes, he did find allies in a few gods and in particular continued a working relationship with the other members of the Dead Three, with whom he plotted against his enemies, such as the goddess Mystra. It was during this time that Bane sired a son, Iyachtu Xvim, some say by a tanar'ri, others by a fallen paladin of good. Xvim resented his father but nonetheless served compliantly as his servant during this period, along with other servants of the Black Hand such as Bhaal. Iyachtu Xvim's true purpose, however, would not be revealed until many, many years later.

Eventually, Bane's plots backfired against him and in one particularly overambitious gambit, he and Myrkul attempted to steal the Tablets of Fate from Ao the Overgod himself. For this, the two and every other god were banished from their astral dominions to traverse Toril's surface in an exercise of humility, precipitating the Time of Troubles. It was Ao's hope that through this, the gods would learn not only to be content with what power they had, but to respect the needs and wishes of their worshipers.

However, not all the gods were so willing to learn and all of them tried to regain their divine power as quickly as possible. Bane was among these deities, but unfortunately for him he was slain by the young god Torm on Eleasias 13, 1358 DR near Tantras. Subsequently the majority of Bane's power fell from him to the mortal Cyric, who temporarily claimed the powers of all the Dead Three - all of whom perished in the Time of Troubles. A smaller portion fell to his son, Iyachtu Xvim, an eventuality that Bane had anticipated should he himself perish.

When news of his destruction spread across the Realms, at least a score of Faerûnian nations marked the occasion with widespread festivals of thanks and celebration.

Resurrection and return to power

For Bane, it soon became apparent, death was but a temporary setback. Anticipating the possibility of his own death Bane, the god of tyranny had, like his companion Bhaal, created a scion for the purpose of his own regeneration. When the time was right Xvim, who was in fact little more than a cocoon to contain the essence of Bane, burst forth into the black and armored figure of Bane, destroying the younger god entirely. This event, which occurred on Midwinter in the Year of Wild Magic, appears to have been in part the work of the lich Szass Tam as well, who performed a summoning the same night. Overnight the Faithful of Xvim, led by the god's Chosen Fzoul Chembryl converted to the worship of their returned master, as did many of Cyric's own worshipers.

Since his miraculous resurrection, Bane has gone to the work of reestablishing his power base, a task in which he has been largely successful. Regaining nearly all of his followers from Xvim and Cyric, Bane then went about reforming his church hierarchy, forcibly eliminating its tendencies towards in-fighting, which he previously had encouraged in order to separate the weak from the strong; he now realized this leadership style to be self-defeating and destructive. Bane installed as the head of this new church Fzoul Chembryl, whom he took as his own Chosen. Bane also reestablished his old alliances with Loviatar, Mask, and Talona, who had previously worked alongside him before the Time of Troubles.

Bane escaped the Spellplague largely unscathed and, in fact, the cataclysm largely benefited him, removing two of his chief rivals, Mystra and Cyric all at once. In the century that followed Bane's power increased only further and the god conquered the goblinoid pantheon, bringing Maglubiyet and Hruggek to heel before him. By the end of the Era of Upheaval Bane was as powerful—and as dangerous—as he had ever been.

In the late 15th century DR, following the events of the Second Sundering when most deities withdrew their direct influence from Toril, Bane along with the returned Myrkul and Bhaal remained behind as quasi-deities. Though he was still able to influence events over Faerûn, Bane was essentially trapped in a mortal form.

Bane

Greater deity

Basic Information

Titles

Lord Bane
Lord of Darkness
The Dark One
The Black Lord
The Black Hand
Bane the Accursed

Adjectives

Banite

Pantheons

Astoran

Served By

Hoar, Loviatar

Attributes

Alignment

Lawful Evil

Symbol

Upright black right hand, thumb and fingers together
A three-toed claw
A black fist emanating green rays from between the fingers
Upright hand, palm out, fingers together, usually on a red field
An open black hand, thumb and fingers aligned, sometimes with red field

Realm

Infinite Battlefield of Acheron/Avalas/Black Bastion

Portfolio

Fear, Hatred, Tyranny

Favored Weapon

The Black Hand of Bane (gauntlet)

Following

Worshippers

Conquerors
Evil fighters and monks
Wizards
Tyrants

Alignments

LN, LE, NE

Domains

Destruction (-)
Evil (Fear)
Law (Slavery, Tyranny)
Nobility (Hubris, Leadership)
Protection (Fortifications)

Favored Aspects

Animals/Plants

Vultures
Green-eyed black cats
Bats
Black dogs

Monsters

Baatezu
Beholders
Black dragons
Death tyrants
Banelar nagas
Beasts of Bane
Fang dragons
Green dragons
Hell hounds

Minerals

Black sapphires (to show approval)
Powdered red carnelian (to show disapproval)
Hematite
Emeralds
Bloodstones

Colors

Black
Green
Red

Manifest- ations

Eyes of green or red flame surrounded by darkness

A black, taloned hand with an icy touch

Possession