Myrkul

Lord of Bones, Old Lord Skull, the Reaper, Lord of the Dead (a.k.a. N'asr (Anauroch, among the Bedine))

Myrkul is an ancient god, one of three former mortals who were raised to deityhood when Jergal grew weary of his divine duties and distributed his influence between them. Myrkul became the god of death and the dead, and ruled over the City of the Dead for centuries until he, in turn, was slain. In time Myrkul returned, for can death itself truly ever die? Myrkul's faithful see him as the Reaper, who lays claim to souls and brings them to Kelemvor to be judged.
Myrkul is a deity of death, decay, old age, exhaustion, dusk, and autumn. He's the god of the ending of things and hopelessness, as much as Lathander is the god of beginnings and hope. Folk don't pray to Myrkul so much as dread him and blame him for aching bones and fading vision. Myrkul is thought to be passionless and uncaring even of his most devout worshipers. Those who take Myrkul as a patron tend to be morose, taciturn, and obsessed with the dead and the undead. Like many followers of Kelemvor and Jergal, priests of Myrkul serve as undertakers and typically keep their patron's identity secret.
Shrines to Myrkul or engravings of his holy symbol appear in many places where humans bury their dead, but full -fledged temples are rare. The few that exist are hallowed places where the dead from hundreds of miles around are brought for internment, even if they were not of Myrkul's faith. There is little space set aside for the living in such a location, usually a single modest shrine, but its catacombs and ossuaries are vast. In the deepest chamber of each temple rests a throne, and upon that throne sits the doomwarden- the preserved corpse of the most revered saint in the history of the temple (often its founder). Initiates to the faith are brought to kneel before a temple's doomwarden, where they must spend a night and a day fasting and meditating in complete darkness.

Divine Domains

Death

Divine Symbols & Sigils

A white human skull face-on against a black field or a reaching white skeletal hand in white on a black field, (in recent years, either symbol usually shown on an inverted black shield with a continuous border of white, stylized human fingerbones)

Tenets of Faith

The clergy of Myrkul are charged to make folk fear and respect death and the power of almighty Myrkul so that no one stands against the church or tries to thwart its activities. Myrkul's priests are expected to spread the word that touching a priest of Myrkul brings death. They are expected to tell all folk that those in the service of Myrkul have perfect patience and can be trusted utterly—and then conduct themselves accordingly.
Myrkulyte clergy are to teach the stories of past and future "doombringers"— mortals who roam the land avenging dead friends, masters, and blood kin to whom they have sworn oaths, and slaying those who scoff or who hold other gods supreme over the Lord of Bones.
Initiates to the faith first hear the word of Myrkul through a speak with dead spell cast upon a temple's most revered deceased former high priest. Such spells allow all within hearing range to comprehend the corpse's words. Myrkul speaks through such vessels to say: "Know me and fear me. My embrace is for all and is patient but sure. The dead can always find you. My hand is everywhere - there is no door I cannot pass, nor guardian who can withstand me."

Holidays

Myrkul is worshiped on a daily basis at dusk, and every devout follower also proffers a personal prayer at any time during the hours of darkness. The Dusking is a ritual involving bones, the ashes of cremated humans, and grave dust, and is a remembrance of how mortal all living beings are and how close death walks behind each creature. It is centered upon a floating, glowing (thanks to magic) skull that hovers above a black, bone-decorated block or table altar. Offerings are accepted at this time from folk who are not devout but who wish to appease the Lord of Bones. They typically kneel at the altar when presenting their offerings. Tolling bells (deep and echoing, never tinkling or high and metallic) mark the opening and ending of this ritual and are struck once whenever an offering was made.
There is only one calendar-related ritual observed by the Church of Myrkul. The Feast of the Moon is known to the faithful of Myrkul as the Day the Dead are Most With Us. Myrkulytes believe that on that day the essences of all dead folk rise and drift as unseen ghosts across Faerun and seek their living descendants to deliver messages or warnings (by silently writing in dust, sand, or ashes, or by moving objects about, not by speech), or just to observe. To those who worship the Lord of Bones, this is a day to celebrate the dead in chant, prayer, and hymns, culminating in the midnight ritual of the Flagons of the Fallen, wherein glasses of wine were set alight by spells so the spirits who drink of them can be warmed for a brief moments in their "eternal chill."
The only other major rituals practiced by Myrkulytes involved funeral related observances and the ceremonies some use to accompany their raising (or forcing down) undead. Since these activities are often done for hire, they are frequently dressed up with sinister, impressive rituals to make folk regard the work of the priests more highly.

Divine Goals & Aspirations

Day-to-Day Activities

Myrkulyte clergy members roam the Realms burying the dead and conducting funerals for fees. Their resistance to diseases make them popular hirelings for the disposal of plague victims and dealings with infected lycanthropes and the diseased. They do all they could to make the dying comfortable, but viewed death as natural, inevitable, and not something to be run from. They place great value on the influence dead folk can have (referring to it as "the sacred hand that reaches from the grave") and assist dying folk to draft decrees, wills, and cryptic verses that guide the living to search for their hidden treasure or otherwise dance to their bidding after they are dead.
In return for a "skull fee," a priest of Myrkul will even agree to act as an agent or avenger for the dead, administering the wishes of the departed or carrying out tasks they were unable to complete before death. (Myrkulyte clergy members never accept skull fees from a living person who recounted the wishes of a dead being, but only from deceased persons themselves in arrangements made before—sometimes years before—death.)
While Myrkul rarely allows his clergy to resurrect the dead, bringing a person to the temple of another faith for attempted resurrection and paying for this undertaking with money left by the dead was a procedure both commonplace and perfectly acceptable to Myrkulyte clergy members.

Priestly Vestments

All priests of Myrkul wear black robes with hooded cloaks, bound about the waist with a single sash of bone-white hue. Within temples they go barefoot and sometimes also bare their faces, but in public they are always masked, wearing half-masks (extending from the forehead to the upper cheeks) painted to resemble skulls. All exposed flesh is darkened with ash.

Adventuring Garb

When adventuring, priests of Myrkul wear the best armor available. They always wear a dark hooded cloak along with their skull half-masks, and even while in the field, they continue to darken all their exposed flesh with ash. Priests of the Lord of Death feel no need to hide their allegiance as death would come to all eventually—sooner, it was rumored, for those foolish enough to molest a Myrkulyte.

Symbol: A white human skull face-on against a black field or a reaching white skeletal hand in white on a black field, (in recent years, either symbol usually shown on an inverted black shield with a continuous border of white, stylized human fingerbones)
Home Plane: The Fugue Plane, Bone Castle
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Portfolio: The dead, wasting, decay, corruption, parasites, old age, exhaustion, dusk, autumn
Worshipers: Evil mages and cultists, necromancers, and powerful undead
Cleric Alignments: NE, CE, LE
Domain: Death
Favored Weapon: Scythe
ALIASES: N'asr (Anauroch, among the Bedine)
ALLIES: Bane, Bhaal, Jergal, Shar
FOES: Chauntea, Kelemvor, Lathander, Mielikki

Divine Classification

Power