Jergal

The Final Scribe, the Pitiless One, the Bleak Seneschal

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. This story has been recorded as "The Legend of Knucklebones, Skull Bowling, and the Empty Throne".

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 Faith

Due to the constant work performed by the clergy, Jergali observe only a single calendar event that could be described as a holy day. On the last night of the year, the 30th of Nightal, the scribes are permitted to stop working for a single night. Upon the start of the new year, the Jergali declare “One year closer!” before burning the year’s work and starting again.

Temples and Shrines. Grim, stony crypts and mausoleum-like chapels are the only structures frequently occupied by followers of the Bleak Seneschal. The scribes who occupy these locations labor daily to record the death of all sentient beings, listing their cause of death and final destination in the afterlife. Some become Mummified Scriveners of Doom, entering a state of near-lichdom to work without pause until death finally claims them. Active adventuring among Jergali is rare and often frowned upon but accepted by some sects if the worshipper records the death of sentient creatures in rare and remote locations, providing these records at least once a year.

Symbol of Jergal

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Serves:

Kelemvor⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

Alignment:

Lawful neutral

Symbol

A skull biting a scroll

Portfolio

Records of the dead

Domains:

Knowledge, Death

Worshippers:

Undertakers

Worshipper Alias:

Jergali