Bhaal

Lord of Murder

Bhaal (Bahl), one of the Dark Gods, is the god of death, particularly of slaying, assassination, and violent death. His was a powerful faith in Faerun at one time, and the Lord of Murder was venerated by numerous assassins, violent mercenaries, and other brutal and fiendish killers. While he lived, Loviatar and Talona served him (though the two were rivals to each other), and he in turn served Bane.
Bhaal was violent, cruel, and hateful at all times, and lived only to hunt and murder. He could be alternately cold, calculating, and ruthless or filled with a savage bloodlust. The presence of living creatures instilled a deadly hunger in the Lord of Murder and an overpowering need to kill and destroy. His minions, such as Kazgoroth the Beast in the Moonshae Islands, wrought devastation and violent death wherever they roamed.
Bhaal suffered a series of reverses prior to the Time of Troubles, the most vital being his banishment from the Moonshaes. Bhaal tried to destroy the Earthmother (Chauntea) and seize the Moonshae Islands as his personal domain. The Ravager, imbued with a greater fraction of Bhaal's essence than is normally contained in an avatar, was slain by Tristan, High King of the Ffolk, who wielded the Sword of Cymrych Hugh. As a result, Bhaal was severely weakened and exiled from the Realms for a time.
Before Bhaal could rebuild much of his power, he was returned to Faerun in avatar form by the will of Ao during the Fall of the Gods. Bhaal, reduced to a killing force able only to possess humans, then went on a spree of murder and destruction the like of which had never before been seen. When Lord Bane sought the power needed to challenge Torm, he slew all of the assassins in the Realms who made up the bulk of the Lord of Murder's faithful, further reducing Bhaal's power. After the Lord of Strife's destruction, Bhaal forged an alliance with Myrkul. The two gods sought the Tablets of Fate so that they could return to the Outer Planes. After pursuing her across the Heartlands, Bhaal kidnapped Midnight and seized one Tablet of Fate, but was murdered soon after by Cyric with the sword Godsbane (later revealed to have been the avatar form of Mask). What remained of Bhaal's essence was absorbed by the Winding Water, and that river has subsequently been poisonous from the Boareskyr Bridge downstream to the Trollclaw Ford.
However, much like Myrkul - who invested his divine essence in the artifact known as the Crown of Horns - Bhaal was not utterly removed from Faerûn. Part of his divinity remained in the Winding Water, around Boareskyr Bridge where he was slain, his blood having flowed into the river. More importantly, Bhaal foresaw his death and impregnated many mortal women - creating his heirs, the Bhaalspawn. The Bhaalspawn were involved in a series of conflicts along the Sword Coast, with one standing above the others and ultimately foiling Bhaal's plan to return through his children.
For a time it was believed that Bhaal's resurrection had been ended. The last known Bhaalspawn, Abdel Adrian, resisted the murderous impulses caused by his lineage and became a famed and beloved figure in the city of Baldur's Gate. Near the beginning of the era known as "The Sundering" another Bhaalspawn, Viekang, who was thought dead, attacked Adrian as he spoke to a crowd in the portion of town known as The Wide. The ultimate winner of the duel is unknown, although it matters not as the victor transformed into Bhaal a massive, blood soaked creature and began a rampage which was only stopped when a group of adventurers new to Baldur's Gate defeated and killed the monstrosity.
The defeat of the monstrosity released Bhaal's essence, which reformed as the god in the Barrens of Doom and Despair. Bhaal now works to reform his church.

Divine Domains

Death, Trickery

Divine Symbols & Sigils

A white, face-on human skull surrounded by a counterclockwise orbit of many streaming teardrops

Tenets of Faith

Bhaalists believe (in their sick and twisted way) that every murder committed strengthened holy Bhaal. As a result, they view murder as both a pastime and a duty. Bhaalists are required to deal death once in every tenday during the darkest period at the heart of the night. If imprisonment or other constraining circumstances make this impossible, they must murder twice for each death missed. In accordance with the Lord of Murder's teachings, Bhaalists strive to ensure that before they died, murder victims knew who is killing them and that their death is in the name of Bhaal.
Novices of Bhaal are charged as follows: "Make all folk fear Bhaal. Let your killings be especially elegant, or grisly, or seem easy so that those observing them are awed or terrified. Tell folk that gold proffered to the church can make the Lord of Murder overlook them for today."

Holidays

The main ritual to Bhaal is, of course, an act of slaying, during which the priest intoned: "Bhaal awaits thee, Bhaal embraces thee, none escape Bhaal" (if necessary, repeatedly). After each murder, a priest of Bhaal draws Bhaal's symbol beside the corpse in the blood of the victim and smears the blood on his or her own hands, from where it promptly vanishes if the ceremony was done fitly.
Priests also pray to Bhaal upon retiring for slumber (in a temple, this was done enmasse, in a formal ceremony known as Day's Farewell) and whenever they set out to slay. Moreover, every increase in priestly rank is marked by a solemn private ritual in which the ascending priest goes out from the temple to return only after slaying another with nothing save his or her bare hands. The events of the killing are related privately to a senior priest, and if the signs are deemed favorable, the new rank is conveyed in a church ritual held in full ceremonial regalia by all temple clergy member during which a living sacrifice to Bhaal is made. Senior priests are said have an uncanny ability to ferret out lies about this private ritual and be harsh in their punishment of those bearing false report.
Lay worshipers of Bhaal (but not priests) are to pray to Bhaal for the limited safety of "his overlook" when setting forth on journeys or into known danger. They are also to pray when giving gold to Bhaalists (to ensure that the Lord of Murder accepts their gift) and whenever a violent death occurrs nearby or to someone related to them.
The only calendar ritual of the church of Bhaal occurrs on the Feast of the Moon, when the dead of the faith are remembered and Bhaalists celebrate especially important or impressive slayings by retelling stories of these deeds. One of the most "splendid" tales of gore told often is of one of the exploits of the famous priest-mage Uthaedeol the Blood-drenched. It is of his killing of the warned and guarded King Samyte of Tethyr. Uthaedeol teleported to appear in midair in front of a pegasus-riding palace guard, slew the man, and rode his steed forcibly down to its death, smashing through a skylight into the throne room. Uthaedeol leapt clear of the pegasus as the king's archers peppered it with shafts, and rode a prepared flight magic down to plunge into one eye of the king's guardian black dragon. He slew the great drake with his own still-secret destroying fist spell (known to be a small, localized disintegrate effect) and rode its involuntary dying breath across the throne room, gliding along the stream of acid it breathed protected by his enchanted armor.
As the armor blackened, crumbled, and fell away, Uthaedeol cast a spell that flung all arrows in the room, even those not yet fired, into swarming flight. He then sprang to meet the king in single combat with his lone dagger against Samyte's broad sword. It is recorded that Uthaedeol slew every guard who came against him as he slashed the unfortunate monarch's skin in hundreds of places; he then cast a spell that forced the king into a veritable dance of death so that he fell lifeless from exsanguination.
The priest-mage then cast two entrapping spells and teleported away. The first trap was a meteor swarm activated whenever any spell was next cast in the throne room. It slew four court wizards of note. The second was a blade barrier set to erupt into being when someone who was blood kin to the king next entered the room. It slew the king's two eldest sons.

Divine Goals & Aspirations

Day-to-Day Activities

While Bhaal also encourage the pursuit of personal wealth and hobbies, in the main, Bhaalists spend their nights performing murders and their days preparing for murder (procuring or caring for weapons, journeying to the appropriate site, praying to Bhaal for success, sleeping under guard so as to be fully awake for the hours of darkness, eating, training, praying for spells, and the like). Many serve as assassins, bounty hunters, and mercenaries or in organized brotherhoods of men and women in such professions.
Priests of Bhaal enjoy killing for its own sake but try not to murder indiscriminately. Much time and thought goes into the planning of not just the dark deeds, but the implications of killing this or that individual. The church tries to eliminate all rivals and those who stand against it, to be sure, but also strives to enrich itself by frightening common folk into placing offerings of coinage and valuables before Bhaalists and by taking care to let economically and socially important individuals live unharmed. High Primates spend much of their time planning the proper strategies of manipulating nearby rulers, inhabitants, and organizations into the deeds and behavior that the Bhaalyn desires.

Priestly Vestments

Regardless of rank or gender, all Bhaalyn wear full ceremonial robes and cowls of deep purple or of black with violet streaks of random size, shape, and placement. The interior linings of the cowl and garments are always deep black, and a black veil is worn over the face to make the cowl seem empty to an observer. High-ranking priests sometimes add a scarlet sash to this costume for easy recognition when ill-lit rituals were taking place. Curve-bladed ceremonial daggers (treat them as normal daggers except for their shape) are worn at the belt, but only High Primates, Primates, or members of the Brethren of the Keen Strike employ them in combat or slayings; all other Bhaalists use them only in rituals.

Adventuring Garb

When adventures are undertaken or guard duty performed, Bhaalyn wear full armor of the best type they could obtain or were allowed to wear. Black capes and black leggings usually accompany the serviceable armor.

SYMBOL: A white, face-on human skull surrounded by a counterclockwise orbit of many streaming teardrops
Home Plane: The Barrens of Doom and Despair, Khalas (The Throne of Blood)
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Portfolio: Death, especially violent or ritual death
Worshipers: Assassins, violent mercenaries, rogues, sadists
Cleric Alignments: CE, CN, NE
Domains: Death, Trickery
Favored Weapon: Touch of Death (Bone Dagger)
ALLIES: Bane, Hoar, Loviatar, Myrkul, Talona, Mask
FOES: Chauntea, Helm, Lathander, Torm, Tyr, Ilmater, Llira

Divine Classification

Power