The Dead Three

The Dead Three, also known as the Dark Gods, was a collective of three, death-themed deities: Bane, the Lord of Darkness, Bhaal, the Lord of Murder and Myrkul the Lord of Bones. They earned their name of the Dead Three when they all perished during the Time of Troubles. Bane and Tormkilled each other in 1358 DR, Myrkul was killed by the mortal mage Midnight while Bhaal was slain by Cyric, using the sword Godsbane, an avatar of Mask.

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

Long ago there was but one god of strife, death, and the dead, and he was known as Jergal, Lord of the End of Everything. Jergal fomented and fed on the discord among mortals and deific entities alike. When beings slew each other in their quest for power or in their hatred, he welcomed them into his shadowy kingdom of eternal gloom. As all things died, everything came to him eventually, and over time he built a kingdom unchallenged by any other god. But he grew tired of his duties, for he knew them too well, and without challenge there is nothing—and in nothingness there is only gloom. In such a state, the difference between absolute power and absolute powerlessness is undetectable.
During this dark era arose three powerful mortals—Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul—who lusted after the power Jergal possessed. The trio forged an unholy pact that they would gain such ultimate power or die in the attempt. Over the length and breadth of the world they strode, seeking powerful magic and spells and defying death at every turn. No matter what monster they confronted or what spells they braved, the three mortals emerged unscathed at every turn. Eventually, the trio journeyed into the Gray Waste and sought out the Castle of Bone. Through armies of skeletons, legions of zombies, hordes of wraiths, and a gauntlet of liches they battled. Eventually they reached the object of their lifelong quest—the Bone Throne.
"I claim this throne of evil," Bane the tyrant shouted to Jergal.
"I'll destroy you before you can raise a finger," threatened Bhaal the assassin.
"And I shall imprison your essence for eternity," promised Myrkul the necromancer.
Jergal arose from his throne with a weary expression and said, "The throne is yours. I have grown weary of this empty power. Take it if you wish—l promise to serve and guide you as your seneschal until you grow comfortable with the position." Then, before the stunned trio could react, the Lord of the Dead asked, "Who among you shall rule?"
The trio immediately fell to fighting among themselves while Jergal looked on with indifference. When eventually it appeared that either they would all die of exhaustion or battle on for an eternity, the Lord of the End of Everything intervened.
"After all you have sacrificed, would you come away with nothing? Why don't you divide the portfolios of the office by engaging in a game of skill for them?" asked Jergal.
Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul considered the god's offer and agreed to it. So Jergal took the skulls of his three most powerful liches and gave them to the trio so they could compete in skull bowling. Each mortal rolled a skull across the Gray Waste, having agreed that the winner would be he who bowled the farthest.
Malar the Beastlord arrived to visit Jergal at this moment. After quickly ascertaining that the winner of the contest would receive all of Jergal's power, he chased off after the three skulls to make sure that the contest would be halted until he had a chance to participate for part of the prize. Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul again fell to fighting, as it was obvious their sport had been ruined, but again Jergal intervened. "Why don't you allow Lady Luck to decide, so you don't have to share with the Beast?"
The trio agreed to this alternative, and Jergal broke off his skeletal finger bones and gave them to the contestants. When Malar returned from chasing the skulls, he found that the trio had just finished a game of knucklebones.
Bane cried out triumphantly, "As winner, I choose to rule for all eternity as the ultimate tyrant. I can induce hatred and strife at my whim, and all will bow down before me while in my kingdom."
Myrkul, who had won second place, declared, "But I choose the dead, and by doing so I truly win, because all that you are lord over, Bane, will eventually be mine. All things must die—even gods."
Bhaal, who finished third, proclaimed, "I choose death, and it is by my hand that all that you rule, Lord Bane, will eventually pass to Lord Myrkul. Both of you must pay honor to me and obey my wishes, since I can destroy your kingdom, Bane, by murdering your subjects, and I can starve your kingdom, Myrkul, by staying my hand."
Malar growled in frustration, but could do nothing, and so yet again only the beasts were left for him.
And Jergal merely smiled, for he had been delivered.

In Baldur's Gate

The plots of patriars and the schemes of Guild operatives fill the gossip and whispers of Baldur's Gate. Yet, throughout the city, no names are as synonymous with dastardly acts as those of Dead Three. The demigods Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul walk among mortals, personally seeking followers to their cause. More than once, it's rumored, the trio has even trod the streets of Baldur's Gate.
Nefarious patriars whisper prayers to Bane when they seek to gain power through coercion, intimidation, and forceful exaction of the law. Gang leaders, evil mercenaries, and others who rely on fear and control, also pay homage to Bane. Those who want to evoke dominance and ruthlessness favor wearing black gloves—a nod to Bane's holy symbol.
Myrkul claims a following among those who wish to learn from or command the dead. Those who plunder tombs for lost knowledge, grim entrepreneurs who see business sense in undead servants, even pragmatic necromancers seeking to conjure secrets from the wealthy dead of Cliffside Cemetery all whisper prayers to Myrkul. Of the Dead Three, Myrkul's base of power is the smallest. Residents of Baldur's Gate rarely fear death by old age—a grim fact of living in such a dangerous city. As a result, few desperate elders seek the blessing of the Lord of Bones. Those who do, though, tend to be both cagey and wealthy, which means that although Myrkul's worshipers are small in number, their resources have hidden depths.
Since the time when the Bhaalspawn Sarevok plotted to start a war between Baldur's Gate and Amn as a path to claiming Bhaal's power, awareness of the Lord of Murder's children has grown. Baldur's Gate maintains a grim draw for Bhaalspawn, whether due to some foul influence in the city itself, or merely because of Sarevok's lingering reputation.
At the same time, worship of Bhaal proves darkly popular in Baldur's Gate. Few openly admit to worshiping the Lord of Murder, but there is an unspoken assumption that anyone who benefits from violent death has some respect for Bhaal. Assassination and murder underpin many of the plots in the city, from the business of highly-paid killers on patriar payrolls to slayings of opportunity committed by Outer City fanatics. Such bloodthirsty faithful rarely gather in numbers, but they typically mark themselves by carving a fresh gouge on their thumbs—spilling their blood in Bhaal's name while creating a subtle mark identifying that identifies them among allies. Despite the Lord of Murder's decentralized worship, some believe a temple to Bhaal exists near or under the city, possibly in an ancient chamber beneath the sewers or carved into Dusthawk Hill. Rumor holds that eleven red crystals on the wall of the temple grow brighter with every murder committed, gathering power for either Bhaal or one of his future chosen. Some claim that Bhaal himself regularly visits the temple, his presence contributing to the city's high murder rate.
While the Dead Three occupy a prominent place in Baldurians' fears, their faiths currently have only the shallowest roots in the city. Followers of the Dead Three have done more to incite dread than faith. As a result, their numbers remain relatively small. Their sinister reputations outstrip their actual influence, though, with gossip spreading quickly whenever the deities' ominous symbols appear in graffiti or the The Flaming Fist cracks down on overzealous fanatics. Despite public fears and resistance from law enforcement, the cults of the Dead Three persist, causing many to darkly wonder why the servants of Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul hold such interest in Baldur's Gate.

Events of the Time of Troubles

Consumed by greed for even more power, Bane and Myrkul conspired together to steal the Tablets of Fate from Lord Ao. Frustrated with the deities' growing apathy and abdication of their duties, Ao struck down all the gods to weakened forms of their respective avatars, sending the Tablets to the world of Toril and ushering in the Time of Troubles as well as the dawn of the Era of Upheaval.The reign of each of the three Dark Gods came to an end during this time, at least temporarily.
After the avatar of Bane appeared on Toril, he rallied his clergy and agents of the Zhentarim and began to hunt down the Tablets of Fate. He was joined in this endeavour by his fellow former allies, Myrkul and Bhaal. While the tyrant originally assaulted the town of Shadowdale, which ended in a battle with Elminster and Mystra, he eventually discovered the location of one of these artifacts, guarded by the avatar of Torm in the Temple of Torm's Coming in the city of Tantras.
Myrkul appeared in West Faerûn and he proceeded to travel to the Chauntean temple of Goldenfields in the Sword Coast North. The avatar of the God of Death was defeated in battle by the High Priest Tolgar Anuvien, a feat which nearly killed the former Crazed Venturer. Sometime after this battle, Myrkul learned of the location of one of tablets, reclaimed the artifact and brought it to his realm of the Gray Waste of Hades.

Battle of Tantras

On Eleasis 13 1358 DR, As the forces of Zhentil Keep prepared to invade the city on the coast of The Dragon Reach, Myrkul had his clergy work on a mass-scale death spell. Having gained the true names of all the assassins of Faerûn, his worshipers killed scores of followers of Bhaal in a single moment. Meanwhile the priests of Bane performed a ceremony known as the Stealing of Souls, which allowed them to harness the great amount of life force that had been released at once.
As a result, Bane's essence was transferred from his avatar to the colossal, massively-armored statue of black glass that was known as the Black Brother. The gargantuan aspect of the Black Lord marched over the Dragon Reach towards the city of Tantras, to claim the found Tablet of Fate, it was met by a titan-sized, lion-headed Torm. The True Deity had himself been empowered by thousands of lives, offered in sacrifice by the faithful of the city, given upon their god's request. As the two gods battled over the the coastal city on the Reach, chain lightning shot from their massive blows upon one another and the earth beneath them shook as if the Toril was being torn asunder. Just as the Bell of Aylen was rung in the southern end of the city Bane and Torm destroyed one another in a blast of silver radiance, followed by a massive explosion.

Cyric and his Companions

Having just betrayed his friends Kelemvor, Adon and Midnight in the events proceeding the deaths of Bane and Torm, the mortal thief Cyric rallied his Zhentilar soldiers in search of his former friends and the Tablet of Fate they had recovered. The adventurers meanwhile began their voyage across the Sea of Fallen Stars to the city of Waterdeep. Bhaal, as well as Myrkul, learned of the artifact in their possession and the Lord of the Dead dispatched his night riders to intercept them in the Hermit's Wood in Cormyr. The adventurers managed to escape and continued westward to the city of Eveningstar. After a brief reunion between Midnight and Cyric, who was armed with the sword Godsbane, the thief revealed the fact that Bhaal and Myrkul knew of the tablet's location. With the avatars of two of the Dead Three in pursuit of Midnight, Cyric tried to convince to join him in recovering the other tablet and ascending to godhood. He signaled Zhentarim to swarm the tavern and flush the adventurers out. They escaped in the ensuing chaos and continued through Cormyr.
The avatar of Bhaal managed to track down Midnight and her companions in High Horn. As they battled through the Cormyrian keep, he revealed the location of a gate beneath Dragonspear Castle, transversable only by mortals, that would grant access to the Gray Wastes, where Myrkul held the second tablet. Bhaal was temporarily halted by Midnight, and trapped in a large rock of amber.

Boareskyr Bridge

In short time, the Lord of Murder escaped and continued his hunt for Midnight. After Cyric and his former companions came to a truce, they traveled with the remaining Zhent soldiers through the High Moor and came across a camp of tents on the southern end of the Boareskyr Bridge. Bhaal descended upon the group and began to rend the soldiers and their horses. After the death of Cyric's lieutenant Dalzhel, Midnight blasted the avatar of murder with an arcing lightning bolt. His smoldering, scarred body continued advancing towards the young mage, having killed and possessed the last of the Zhent soldiers. Cyric plunged Godsbane into the back of the Lord of Murder, permanently destroying his avatar. As Bhaal's tormented body writhed in agony, screaming and pulsating with energy, Midnight teleported her allies, including Cyric, away to safety.

Waterdeep

Midnight and her companions regrouped in the city of Waterdeep. After some time the Myrkul appeared in cloud of black fog pouring out of the Pool of Loss beneath The Yawning Portal inn. Using the Tablet to hold open the portal, and maintain the connection between Hades and Toril, a legion of fiends and undead poured into the city. Midnight and her companions were accompanied by Elminster and Khelben Arunsun as they holed up in Blackstaff Tower, having hidden the tablet within the spire's library. In the chaos that followed the assault of his malevolent army, the Reaper easily found the recovered artifact, reunited the twin tablets and ascended to the roof of the tower. Before he could reach the Celestial Stairway, Midnight managed to steal one of the tablets, by means of her growing arcane power. Myrkul and his minions battled with Midnight and her allies. As a griffon rider flew to the tower and temporarily distracted the Dead God, Midnight managed to disintegrate the avatar of Myrkul, even in the middle of a zone of silence. A cloud of brown pestilence fell from the roof of the tower and drifted over two city blocks, withering plants and choking people and animals alike.

Aftermath

The Time of Troubles saw the deaths of the Dead Three but their influence over Toril was not stopped for good.
Bane was revived in 1372 and Bhaal and Myrkul after The Second Sundering.