Cyric

Cyric

Cyric (pronounced: /ˈsɪərɪk/ SEER-ik), whose titles include The Lord of Three Crowns, The Mad God, and The Prince of Lies, is the monomaniacal deity of strife and lies. After he murdered Mystra and caused the Spellplague, his immense following diminished. Cyric's alignment is chaotic evil - he is petty, self-centered, and enjoys manipulating individuals into ruining or ending their own lives. He is closely associated with murder, conflict, lies, intrigue, and illusions. Cyric is recognized in Faerûn by his symbol: a white jawless skull on a black or purple sunburst. He is a greater power, who rules supreme in his divine realm, the Supreme Throne. Gugari worshipers knew Cyric as Sirhivatizangpo and he is called N'asr by the Bedine.

Relationships

Cyric hates most of the other deities of Toril, but he particularly loathes Mystra, Kelemvor, and Bane. Cyric has no divine allies, but has made himself a wide variety of enemies. These include gods such as Mystra, Kelemvor, Oghma, Azuth, Mask, Tyr, Torm, Deneir, Leira, Iyachtu Xvim (deceased 1372 DR), Bane, and many others.

History

Cyric the Mortal

Before the Gods War, Cyric was a mortal thief hailing from the streets of Zhentil Keep. He attempted to steal the Ring of Winter from a powerful tribe of frost giants, but was unsuccessful and became trapped in their cave. The opportunity to flee only came when a band of adventurers, including the mercenary Kelemvor Lyonsbane, attacked the frost giants' lair while also trying to find the Ring of Winter. Kelemvor's entire party, save himself, was slain and only he and Cyric managed to escape. Once back in Arabel the two eventually joined Adon, a young cleric of Sune, and they took work for the local city watch to uncover a traitor.
As the Time of Troubles began in 1358 DR, they met Caitlin, who beseeched the trio to help her on a quest to free the now-mortal Lady of Mysteries, who had been imprisoned in Castle Kilgrave north of Arabel by Bane. Along the way, they met Midnight, a beautiful wizardess. Once the goddess had been freed, she attempted to ascend the Celestial Stairway to confront Helm, the god of Guardians, with the information that Bane and Myrkul had stolen the Tablets of Fate. But Helm's orders were clear, and without the two Tablets he would not let Mystra pass, and thus the Lady of Mysteries attacked the God of Guardians in a bid to pass him and re-enter the planes. Helm, having retained his divine powers for just the purpose of guarding the stairways, easily slew Mystra. On Midsummer, her divine essence was spread over the nearby lands by a powerful explosion as her avatar was destroyed. Helm's mention of the tablets, as well as witnessing the destruction of a deity, did much to kindle the powerlust in the young Cyric, and when Midnight announced that the now-dead goddess of magic had instructed her to recover the tablets, Cyric was eager to help, planning to take the tablets for himself when chance came.

Cyric the God

On Marpenoth 15, 1358 DR, Cyric ascended to godhood. At some point after this, Cyric killed Leira, making himself the God of Deception, Murder, Strife, the Dead (a title he later lost to Kelemvor), and Intrigue (when he temporarily killed Mask). Cyric also released Kezef the Chaos Hound, and created a book called the Cyrinishad, a magical tome that proclaimed him the One True Deity. This last plot ultimately failed (though not before the book was written and read by both Mask and Cyric, which cost Mask most of his power and drove Cyric insane).
In 1385 DR, in retaliation for his murder of Mystra, which sparked the Spellplague, Lathander, Tyr, and Sune trapped Cyric in the Supreme Throne for 1000 years.

Divine Realms

When becoming a deity, Cyric took over the former realm of Myrkul, Bone Castle, in the Gray Waste of the Great Wheel cosmology (also known as the plane of Hades). When he lost dominion over the dead to Kelemvor, he relocated to Pandemonium and fashioned himself a warped and changable realm he named the Castle of the Supreme Throne, but was generally called Shattered Castle by others. Within the World Tree cosmology, Cyric took the batrachi realm of the Supreme Throne from Limbo and fashioned his own plane from it. The Supreme Throne survived the transition into the World Axis cosmology, though it became a prison for the Mad God.

Worshipers

The Church of Cyric is hated all over Toril, and for good reason: Cyric's church is pledged to spread strife and murder everywhere in order to make folk believe in and fear the Dark Sun. It supports cruel rulers and indulges in intrigue in such a way that the world won't be overrun by wars (thus falling under the sway of Tempus). His church is often beset by internal feuds and backstabbing, but this conflict has decreased in recent years as Cyric has gained better control of himself and consolidated the churches of the deities whose portfolios he took over. 
Cyric's clerics, who often train as rogues or assassins, pray for spells at night, after moonrise. Cyric's church has few holy days and does not even celebrate the date of his ascension to divinity (as this would also honor Mystra, called "the Harlot" by Cyricists). Whenever a temple acquires something, or someone, important enough to be sacrificed, its high priest declares a Day of the Dark Sun to signify the holiness of the event. Eclipses are  considered holy, being accompanied by feasts, fervent prayers, and bloody sacrifices. 
The religion of Cyric is widely and openly active in Amn. It fits in well with their culture of ambition, lack of reliance on others, and "buyer beware"–type contracts. 
Many outside the church view it as a twisted den of madness, trickery, and death. But its clergy condemn this outlook, preferring to see their religion as enlightened. It supposedly reveals that all societal bonds of friendship, family, and love are nothing but weak ties that always wither away, and therefore are useless, weak, and pitiful.