Jergal (dʒɛrgʊl/ JER-gul)

Jergal , Scribe of the Dead

So he has spoken and so thou standest before me. Right as always...Now I have a question for thee: what is the worth of a single mortal's life.
-Withers

Legend has it that Jergal is an ancient deity. The story goes that in the time of Netheril he was worshiped as the god of death, murder, and strife. Yet with the passing of time, he became bored with his position. Then one day three mortals, each a powerful adventurer, met Jergal in the lands of the dead, determined to destroy him and take his power. Instead, Jergal calmly abdicated his throne of bones and allowed each of the three mortals to take part of his divinity. Thus it was that Bane assumed the portfolio of strife, Myrkul the rulership of the dead, and Bhaal the portfolio of murder. Jergal lost his former stature and became a scribe of the dead.
Jergal is now seen as an uncaring custodian of the dead. He is thought to record the passing of the living and to aid Kelemvor in seeing that souls are properly bound to their appropriate afterlife. He is rarely acknowledged directly, except for being mentioned at funerals and among those who practice the custom of writing the name of the deceased on a sheet of parchment and placing it in the corpse's mouth. This rite is common in places where an individual's grave or tomb isn't marked with the person's name.
Few people favor Jergal as a deity, and most who do are concerned with the dispensation of the dead in some way. Priests of Jergal serve communities as undertakers and caretakers of gravesites. Jergal has no temples dedicated to him aside from abandoned places devoted to his old, darker incarnation, but his priests are welcome in the temples of Kelemvor, Deneir, and Myrkul. His faithful send their annual recordings of mortality to holy sites where records of that sort are kept.

The throne is yours. I have grown weary of this empty power. Take it if you wish—I promise to serve and guide you as your seneschal until you grow comfortable with the position. Who among you shall rule? — Jergal conceding his divinity and throne to the Dead Three.

Divine Domains

Portfolio: Records of the dead
Death Domain
Knowledge Domain

Divine Symbols & Sigils

Alignment

Lawful Neutral

Honorary & Occupational Titles

The Final Scribe
The Pitiless One
The Bleak Seneschal

Gender

Male

Related Myths

• The Legend of Knucklebones, Skull Bowling, and the Empty Throne