Bane (Bain)
...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.Bane, The Strife Emperor is the evil deity of war and conquest. His followers accept his call to conflict, seeking lesser people to break and subjugate. Warmongering nations and many goblinoid tribes worship him as they conquer the world. The Strife Emperor twists all living things to his iron will, even forcing nature itself to bow to his whims. Bane is also known as the creator of The Strife Curse.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Clergy, Temples and Worshippers
Among the evil gods, Bane's church is among the most stable and powerful. While there is a time when the god encouraged sectarianism and violent disputes, that time has long since passed and since the The Bafigron Empire Rising the god's Faithful were as likely to solve their disputes through reasonable debate as through show of force. That being said, Bane's church is no less ruthless than that of Khaziba or Nyx or Cain or Ella'li and it obeys a strict hierarchy extending from the god's most powerful worshipers to his weakest ones, with the god himself the lord of everything they did and, though worshipers of Bane come from every station in life, they all klnow to whom they owed their blessings, ready to turn it over to the Black Lord at any time. Banite customs are often quite spartan in nature and the god's followers celebrat no holidays in honor of their god, instead showing their gratitude to him through service and the ritual torture and sacrifice of sentient beings offensive to the god. Priests of Bane pray for their spells at midnight, pledging their eternal loyalty and service to the Black Hand, knowing full well that the penalty for failure or disloyalty is death. His clerics are recognized by the black-enameled gauntlet worn on one fist.Organization
The church of Bane attracts a great number of wizards as well as the typical clerics and it operates under a strick hierachry – questioning or disoberying the orders of a superior is an insult to Bane's supremacy and is punishable by torture, disfigurement, or even death.Titles
High Imperceptor: Serving as the apex in the hierarchy of Bane's church, this leader was the supreme servant of the Black Lord.Deep Mystery: A general rank for the higher-tier clergy members including (in descending order) High Inquisitor, Grand Bloodletter, Dark Imperceptor, Imperceptor, Lord/Lady of the Hand, Lord/Lady of Mysteries and Vigilator.
Dreadmaster: A title granted to certain priests of Bane that mostly kept low-level positions within the church.
Lower tiered ranks within the church of Bane were:
Higher Doom; Dark Doom; Masked Death; Vigilant Talon; Striking Hand; Black Fang; Hooded Menace; Willing Whip; Trusted Servant; Deadly Adept; Watchful brother/sister; Slave;Temples
Banite templars tend to reflect the clergy's regimented doctrines: Tall, sharp-cornered stone structures featuring towers adorned with large spikes and thin windows, resembling fortified keep or small castle. Thin interior passageways lead from an austere foyers to barrackslike common chambers for the lay clergy, each sparsely decorated with tapestries depicting the symbol of bane or inscribed with embroidered passages from important religious texts. Temples frequently include an exposesd central courtyard used for military drills and open-air ceremonies, as well as more traditional mass hall for the congregation at large. Most churches freature extensive subterranean dungeons replete with torture chambers, starvation wells and monster pens.Day-to-Day Activities
Bane's clergy aims to infiltrate and control all nations, city-states, and freeholds worldwide by employing manipulative tactics like fear, hatred, and greed to sow conflict and chaos. The Black Hand seeks to maintain dominance in unstable regions through acts such as torture, political infiltration, and subtle incitement of mayhem, promoting an atmosphere of fear and cruelty.Priestly Vestments
Banite clergy members are always armed and mandated to wear black attire. Ceremonial dress include black armor with blood-red capes, with finer craftsmanship for wealthier priests. Wizard clergy wear enchanted black robes with illusions of stars and blood. Many Banites have facial tattoos, and high-ranking members adorned gems on their foreheads. When adventuring, priests retain black armor with cruel embellishments, while wizardly clergy preferred flowing black-and-red robes. Such attire is avoided in public to prevent persecution or hinder their service to Bane, with facial tattoos often serving as sufficient identification.Rituals
Rituals of Bane are to be performed whenever ordered by senior clergy members and hold no correlation to any seasonal shifts, marks on the calendar or specific holy days. They are held either outdoors at night, or in a space of darkness, such as darkened chambers, caves or ruins with only dim lighting. A Black Alter is prepared; consisting of a plain stone block which, if obsidian is unavailable, would be painted black or draped in black fabric. To accompany the altar is either a floating, stone Hand of Bane or, failing that, an empty black throne facing its direction. Services include rhythmic chanting, the rolling beating of drums and the sacrifice of an intelligent creature's life. To prepare for this life to be given to Bane, the oblatory life is to be demeaned and tortured until they showed him due fear.Tenets of Faith
Serve no one but Bane. Fear him always and make others fear him even more than you do. The Black Hand always strikes down those who stand against it in the end. Defy Bane and die -- or in death find loyalty to him, for he shall compel it. Submit to the word of Bane as uttered by his ranking clergy, since true power can only be gained through service to him. Spread the dark fear of Bane. It is the doom of those who do not follow him to let power slip through their hands. Those who cross the Black Hand meet their dooms earlier and more harshly than those who worship other deities.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
A dark reflection of the honorable warrior, the Strife Emperor is often depicted as a brutish ogre-like man clad in jagged black armor. Heads dangle from his belt and unblinking, piercing yellow eyes peer through the shadow that obscures his helmeted face. His followers usually depict him as belonging to their own race, out of a sense of superiority.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Bane was a Human in the Menedynn Empire and had been expelled by most of the society after his acts in thane name of the Empire. He even become an Idol and had many powers. Tiamat saw this general and watched his every move until she battled him after she helped him achieve the status of demi-power. Then, used his influence to help the dragons. Once Bane saw he was being used, he went to convince the inhabitants of Acheron to fight Tiamat and rid of the dragon goddess. However, with the help of the Dark Seldarine, Tiamat manipulated and fought his loyalists and the people that betrayed him – granting him a final request, which is said to be to be ever remembered.
Tiamat took this chance and took his divine essence and absorbed it, eating his body and then creating the Aspect of Bane. The Banite received many powers since then and they saw this as his victory over the evil dragon of Tyranny - a secret kept close.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Being one of the main triad deities of Strategies, Lendys, Bane and Solonor Thelandira. Bane, though though he is the god of conquest, has a unique perspective in the triad;
Bane is in charge of creating in-depth defenses, offering vassalage on thgose who need it.
Social
Titles:
The Strife Emperor;Lord Bane;
The Black Lord;
Lord of Darkness;
The Dark One;
The Black Hand;
Divine Classification
Alignment
Lawful Evil
Realm
Children
Aligned Organization
Other Affiliations
Ruled Locations
| LG | NG | CG |
| LN | N | CN |
| LE | NE | CE |
Worshipper Relations
Bane orders his clerics and followers to achieve positions of power within their society, either through force or trickery and to use that power to further the cause of hate, fear, destruction and strife. The Black Hand much prefers that his clerics subvert governments and carry out their agendas under cover of the rule of law, but he tolerates a limited amount of discord and debauchery. Torture, beatings and caculated assassinations, frequently come into play in such operations and rare indeed is the initate of the Lord of Darkness who does not possess at least rudimentary skill in such enterprises.Orders
The Hell Knights of Bane The Hellknights are different from the perspective of Bane. They are a collection of knightly orders who focus on the promulgation of law. They are interested less in the social goodness and charity typical of paladins, but rather in the foundation and stringent maintenance of order at all costs. In their iron-handed exaction of law—specifically, the laws of their various orders and their home country of the vales of Ameros—Hellknights emulate the organized and effective armies of Hell. They are not concerned with morality or methods, only results. If people cannot be trusted to obey the law out of their own senses of civility and social righteousness, Hellknights provide the need to obey out of fear of a master's stern hand.Knights of the Black Gauntlet An Order, which are more like crusading warriors devoted to helping many regimes and other purposes for the taking of law and order, in whatever means necessary.
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