Jergal (Jer-Gal)

The Cult of Jergal is a cult of death, they believe that Jergal is the deity responsible for the dispensation of the dead, and that it is their duty to serve as custodians of the dead.

Where the Cult Thrives

The Cult of Jergal is a cult of death, is present throughout the Yhess Kingdoms and Atarsid Isles.

Tenets of the Faith

The Cult of Jergal is as curious as it is ancient, it is rumoured that the Cult has been a presence since the Age of Contact and was a cult of death, murder, and strife. However, as time passed the Cult claims their deity grew bored with this bloodshed and death. It is said that the Cult was split in four, as the Cult claims Jergal abdicated his throne of bones to three ambitious celestials, each took on an aspect of Jergal’s portfolio, Bane became a deity of strife, Myrkul a deity of the dead, and Bhaal a deity of murder. And the Cult and its deity took on a new form as scribes of the dead.
The Cult of Jergal serve as custodians of the dead, the Cult are uncaring for, and unconcerned with the live, only concerning themselves with corpses. The Cult cleans and prepares the bodies for burial, records their date of death, profession, family connections, and what deities they favoured. The Cult claims that their deity rarely claims souls for himself, rather Jergal works to take souls to their rightful place within the afterlife.
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. Within the Yhess Kingdoms and Atarsid Isles are common, as all hamlets, villages, towns, and cities need those who tend to dead.

Temples

Temples to Jergal are typically grand and imposing structures, often built in a sombre and austere style. They are designed to reflect the seriousness and solemnity of the deity's role as the final scribe and guide of souls to the afterlife. The temples are typically built in or near graveyards or cemeteries, as the priests of Jergal are closely associated with the care and protection of the dead.
Some of the larger temples to Jergal also have crypts, mausoleums, or catacombs beneath them, where the remains of important figures or prominent members of the cult are interred.

Priests

The priests of Jergal act as undertakers and caretakers of gravesites, performing funerary rites and protecting graveyards from scavengers and graverobbers. They also act as weighers of hearts, determining the fate of souls in the afterlife by weighing the hearts of the dead against a feather. They are also known to protect the graveyards and pyramids from foul undead.

Depictions of the Deity

Jergal is commonly depicted as a gaunt or skeletal figure, and is shown holding a scale, representing his role as the weigher of hearts and determiner of the fate of souls in the afterlife. He is also shown holding a skull or other symbols of death and the afterlife.

Roles

Guardian of the grave

Jergal is a protector of the dead and the graves they rest within. The priests of Jergal protect their graveyards and the pyramids from scavengers, graverobbers, and foul undead.

Weigher of the heart

One of Jergal’s roles is Master of the Scales, when a creature passes into the afterlife Jergal weights their heart against a feather. By weighing the heart Jergal decides the fate of the creature's soul, and sends it to its rightful afterlife.

The dutiful deity

Jergal is often depicted as a cold and uncaring deity solely obsessed with judging and leading souls to the afterlife. He is dutiful in this business taking no pleasure in death and condemning souls. There are few occasions in which Jergal is depicted as being in any way emotional, and these are also negative; Jergal is believed to be driven to anger by great misuse of necromancy and desecration of rightful buried

Necromancy

Jergal has a strange relationship with true necromancy. As a deity of the dead one would expect Jergal’s priest and cult to be vehemently opposed to the animation of the dead, however this is not the case. It is true that in most cases Jergal’s faithful are opposed to the animation of the dead, but this is more a hatred towards those who break funeral rights and tamper with the corpses of those who are sent to rest with deities. Indeed the priests of Jergal are known to animate the corpses of those sent to the lower planes to perform tasks for them. The cult of Jergal has also been known to make almost any exception for necromancy when it is used against the focus of deities and other forces diametrically opposed to him like Myrkul, Kiaransalee, Yeenoghu, and Orcus.

Factions

The Bleak Obligation are an order dedicated to the deity Jergal and the dogma of their cult. The Obligation works to perform funeral rites for the dead and protect their interment, primarily within the Atarsid City-States. They make known to make use of necromancy, with a key qualifier, that only those who break the fundamental laws of society like murder. The Obligation also works to destroy and undermine the influence of those opposed to their beliefs, names those who rampantly spread undeath like Myrkul, Kiaransalee, Yeenoghu, and Orcus. Within the Atarsid City-States they are viewed with a degree of reverence, although being kept at a distance due to their duties, outside the Atarsid City-States the Obligation are reviled as necromancers.

Titles: The Final Scribe, the Pitiless One, the Bleak Seneschal
Alignment: Lawful Neutral, Neutral, Chaotic Neutral
Symbol: A skull biting a scroll
Domains: Death, Grave, Knowledge, Twilight

Type

Religious, Organised Religion