Tiamat

Tiamat

Tiamat (pronounced: /ˈtiɑːmɑːt/ TEE-a-mat or: /ˈtiɑːmɑːt/ TEE-a-maht) is the lawful evil dragon goddess of greed, queen of evil dragons and was, for a time, a reluctant servant of the greater gods Bane and later Asmodeus. Before entering the Faerûnian pantheon, she was a member of the Draconic pantheon, and for some time she was also a member of the Untheric pantheon. Tiamat is also the eternal rival of her brother Bahamut, ruler of the good metallic dragons.

Description

Tiamat is a unique chromatic dragon, who has one head for each primary color of the most common species of chromatics (black, blue, green, red, white). Each head is able to operate entirely independently of each other and has the powers of a member of the respective race of dragonkind. Her body also has traits in common with a wyvern, including a long tail tipped with a poisonous stinger. She also has three main avatars. 

• The Dark Lady is a mulan woman with long dark hair and completely black eyes. She always wears dark robes and frequently has a seductive smile on her face.
• The Chromatic Dragon is a dragon with stubby legs and five heads that can be any combination of head belonging to a chromatic dragon, the skin of each merged into three stripes - blue-green, gray, and purple before they merge again into brown skin that covers her tail. Sometimes, The Chromatic Dragon appears in the form of Tchazzar when manifesting in Chessenta.
• The Undying Queen is a dracolich version of The Chromatic Dragon.

Tiamat had three manifestations in Avernus as well, one of which never left the gate to Dis. Her manifestation as Azharul is her other 'public' face used for when foes challenged her to combat, meanwhile her original body remained secluded in her lair.

Realm 

When she was part of the Untheric pantheon, Tiamat had a realm in Zigguraxus. She also had a lair in Avernus, on the Nine Hells, known as Tiamat's Lair. After the dissolution of the Untheric pantheon, her realm was the Dragonspawn Pits of Azharul, a realm she obtained after killing Azharul and renaming into the Cave of Greed. It was located in the Dragon Eyrie lowest region, and she somehow connected it to her lair in Avernus. She was reputed to have a realm in Heliopolis, but in fact that was a hoax Tiamat used in hopes of confusing her enemies.

Personality

Tiamat is arrogant, greedy, hateful, spiteful, and vain. She never forgives even the most minor slight and focuses on obtaining more power and wealth. She disdains mortals, regarding them as mere disposable tools in her schemes. When needed, she is charming and fey, but her self-serving and reptilian personality betrayed her sooner or later. After having experienced relative mortality as an archfiend, she became less reckless - but also more paranoid.
Tiamat enjoys the company of male dragons, and has many great wyrm consorts of the chromatic varieties. She has an insatiable greed for treasures, but prefers her followers bring them to her in the form of gifts instead of searching for riches on her own.

Activities

Tiamat wants to take control of the Realms, and even as she is thwarted again and again by her enemies, she hasn't give up. She has a particular interest in controlling Unther and Chessenta, and after the Spellplague, has also had interest in Murghôm, Tymanther, and the dragon empires of Laerakond. She doesn't like to leave her lair, however, and usually acts to advance her agenda by using members of her Church or her agents in the Cult of the Dragon. Tiamat keeps an active watch over evil dragonkind and always stirs them to further actions of avarice, pride, and wickedness.
As of 1491 DR, however, her primary goal is to break free from the Nine Hells.

Powers

As a unique type of chromatic dragon with the traits of the five most common chromatic varieties, Tiamat is a foe to be reckoned with in battle. Along with all the standard powers and godly senses of a deity of her rank, those who have seen her fight claim that her heads are able to cooperate in battle, and that those heads have the ability to use the breath weapons and spell-like abilities common to their species. Although her sheer size prevents claw and kick attacks while on the ground, she is adept at their use while flying. She also has a stinger on her tail that injects a powerful venom on her foes, killing them in agonizing pain.

History

For ages, sages have debated whether Tiamat is actually a deity or not. Many believe she is the archetype of evil dragonkind, a devil or demon, the avatar of another deity, or even a mortal dragon so powerful that chromatic dragons revere her as their queen and creator. Whatever she is, sages know for certain that she is powerful and worshiped by evil dragons as a goddess. The fact is that Tiamat is actually a goddess. She came into existence alongside the rest of the draconic pantheon when the first dragons were born. Her origins are highly conflicting, however, as there are many accounts about how she came into being.
In the more commonly accepted traditions, she is the daughter of Asgorath and sister of Bahamut and Null; while in the myths of the dragonborn of Abeir, Bahamut and Tiamat were born from the sundered corpse of Io (the name by which dragonborn know Asgorath) instead, when Io was killed in the Dawn War. 
Whatever the truth, her cult has grown rapidly in the communities of chromatic dragons, especially among blue, green, and red dragons.
Once dragons as a race had established themselves during the Time of Dragons, the various religious factions of dragons began to battle one another over their different ideologies. Over time, religious fervor waned and draconic philosophers came to the conclusion that gods who allow such behavior are not worthy of their worship. This started the draconic apathy toward their gods, which lasted for thousands of years. However, the hatred that had developed between Tiamat, Bahamut, and their followers is so intense that they refuse to stop fighting. Their conflict came to be known as the Dragonfall War. During the first years of the war, Tiamat bred horrific and aberrant draconic creatures known as the Spawn of Tiamat, in an attempt to wipe out the followers of Bahamut.
The war waxed and waned in intensity, with the last era of intense fighting occurring between -2087 DR and -1071 DR. It was during this time that the Untheric empire began and with it, their pantheon became prominent. Tiamat became one of their deities by using a three-headed aspect, and her purpose in the Untheric pantheon was to balance the "order" represented by the other Untheric gods with her "chaos". However, the plane of Zigguraxus increased the worst traits of her nature, making her something too powerful to be balanced by the other Untheric gods alone.
Now that both Bahamut (who had also become a member of the Untheric pantheon under the alias of Marduk) and Tiamat had humanoid worshipers, the Dragonfall War entered a new period of intensity. The two siblings fought each other personally, with neither being able to gain the upper hand. Tiamat also worked against the other Untheric gods, with the result of the church of Enlil naming her the "Nemesis of the Gods" and blaming her for every problem the nation had.
Then, in -1071 DR, in a fight of the Orcgate Wars known as the Battle of the Gods, Tiamat saw an opportunity to slay Gilgeam while he was battling Ilneval. However, Marduk intercepted her and in the ensuing battle they killed each other. With both of their Untheric aspects dead, Tiamat and Bahamut were stripped of their divine power. Tiamat was reduced to the status of an archfiend, her last few followers in Unther not enough to allow her to remain even as a lesser deity. However, as Gilgeam became a tyrannical God-King, the people of Unther never forgot the Nemesis of the Gods and they increasingly turned to her in secret for succor.
As an archfiend, she was given rulership of Avernus by Asmodeus. Her job was to prevent outcast devils on that layer of Hell from becoming a threat, but performed so poorly that Asmodeus demoted her. Knowing her failure was not deliberate (by reading her thoughts), Asmodeus deigned to allow Tiamat to remain in Avernus unpunished, and even gave her a chance to regain her position if she impressed him in her new role as the guardian of the main gate to Dis.
This state of affairs lasted until 1346 DR, when some Untherite cultists managed to summon another aspect of Tiamat to Toril. This aspect, known as the Dark Lady, fomented rebellion all over Unther against the church of Gilgeam. Gilgeam was so hated that the membership in her own church swelled, and Tiamat was elevated to status of demigoddess. She also took this opportunity to influence the lich Sammaster and his Cult of the Dragon into tracking down the Dracorage mythal. 
During the Time of Troubles, after Lord Ao banished the gods from the planes, the Dark Lady was transformed back into her three-headed Untheric avatar, which was promptly slain by Gilgeam's. Even so, her divine essence was somehow divided into three and came to inhabit Tchazzar, Gestaniius, and Skuthosiin, three powerful chromatic dragons. Tchazzar devoured the other two, combining the three essences and ushering in the reappearance of Tiamat's more powerful five-headed form, which she used to kill Gilgeam and therefore cause Ao to dissolve the Untheric pantheon completely.
Having attained the status of a lesser deity once again, she was able to manifest avatars once more, until one of them was destroyed in 1359 DR by King Gareth Dragonsbane, who had been tasked by Bahamut to destroy the Wand of Orcus in her heartsblood. Having done so, the king of Damara also brought the worship of Bahamut back to his people, elevating Bahamut to the status of lesser deity and rekindling the Dragonfall War once more. In response, Tiamat unleashed her aberrant dragonspawn and many of her followers to Vaasa to make trouble for the Church of Bahamut in Damara, while gaining some followers among disaffected members of the Cult of the Dragon in the process. This time, however, the Platinum Dragon countered them by reviving the ancient race known as the dragonborn of Bahamut.
She projected her wishes through the transformed primordial Entropy, and while in this guise, expanded her base of humanoid worshipers. She eventually joined the Faerûnian pantheon in 1371 DR after gaining the worship of a cult in Luthcheq. Tiamat's body had been suffering from aches and pains that had been growing worse over time, but her elevation back to deity-hood reinvigorated her. However, the relative mortality she had experienced as an archfiend made her less reckless and more paranoid. She misinformed her clergy that she no longer resided in Avernus, but instead maintained a grand divine realm in Heliopolis.
When members of the Twisted Rune discovered that her only asset in Heliopolis was a disturbed lichnee netherese archwizard, known as the Listener, they attempted to steal his magic. In retaliation, Tiamat manifested an aspect that defeated the intruders and forced them to kill the minor draconic deity Azharul in his home in Dragon Eyrie. With the Listener and the Twisted Rune's forced help, Tiamat subsumed Azharul, taking his body and divine realm, completely unbeknownst to anyone but herself. All the while, she had already begun creating her real divine realm in the mountains of Avernus.
In 1373 DR, Sammaster managed to alter the Dracorage mythal to cause permanent insanity in all dragons unless they allowed themselves to become dracoliches. In one of the worst dracorages ever seen on Toril, Tiamat resurrected Tchazzar, Gestaniius, and Skuthosiin to act as emissaries which she used to solidify and expand her power base in Chessenta, Mulhorand, Threskel, and Unther. After the destruction of Sammaster and the end of the High Magic that sustained the Dracorage mythal, she had to withstand an invasion launched by Bahamut on her demesne in Dragon Eyrie.
The destruction of the Dracorage mythal also heralded the prophesied "Turning of the Great Cycle" which sparked off the religious fervor lacking in dragons since the beginning of the Dragonfall War, and Tiamat gained new draconic converts. In 1374 DR, lightning and meteor showers pounded Faerûn, and Bahamut and Tiamat instructed their respective followers to seek out specific sites that would each contain some form of dragon egg. Unfortunately for Bahamut, Tiamat's followers were much more effective in retrieving the eggs than his own. Tiamat's followers brought the eggs they collected to Unthalass in preparation for a new battle of the Dragonfall War.
Tiamat spent her new forces mostly in her efforts to conquer the east, but that task proved more difficult than she envisioned. Only Tchazzar met with success, cementing his rule in Chessenta while Unther was conquered by Mulhorand. Her tentative ally Alasklerbanbastos also ruled Threskel and allowed Tiamat's church to establish a stronghold there. A short-lived but powerful cult of humanoid fanatics was also lost to her in the Wyrmbones.
Her losses outweighed her gains, however: during the Spellplague, Entropy ceased being a simple vessel for communication and spells, taking away her power base in Luthcheq. The dissolution of her subsumed realm in Dragon Eyrie during the Spellplague also saw the badly-wounded body of Azharul fall into the hands of Bane. Tymanchebar's transplantation from Abeir to Toril saw some of the strongest bastions of Tiamat's faith disappear overnight, only to be replaced with individuals who would become staunch enemies. In 1479, Tchazzar managed to conquer Threskel for himself, but this just drew him into a war with the Abeiran nation of Tymanther in which he was killed.
With her most powerful servant dead, her forces beginning to crumble, and Bahamut's power increasing after he became the subservient god of Torm, the Dragonfall War stalled. In Banehold, Bane discovered that Azharul was merely a vessel for Tiamat and enslaved it. Furious, but overwhelmed by other events, Tiamat did not immediately retaliate against her enemy, instead serving Bane loyally despite his harassment. During this period, Tiamat discovered Bane's secrets and passed them on to Asmodeus.
Some time in the next decade, Tiamat saw an opportunity and took it, wrenching Azharul out of Banehold along with much of Bane's divine energy. She used that energy to mend Azharul's broken body and increase her own divine power. Delighted, Asmodeus offered her the rulership of Avernus once more. However, to avoid disappointing Asmodeus again and to prevent a conflict with Bel, Tiamat refused, instead offering to be Asmodeus' champion and devouring all who opposed him (and offering covert aid to Zariel to prevent Bel from becoming too powerful).
Yet agreements in the Hells are binding, and Tiamat was subsequently placed under the direct compulsion of Bel. Her brief attempt at resistance allowed her to see into Bel's mind and learn of the directions Asmodeus had given him to imprison her in her divine realm to prevent her from becoming ambitious. Betrayed and enraged, Tiamat instructed her followers in the Cult of the Dragon to assemble the Mask of the Dragon Queen that would allow her to finally escape Avernus and enter Toril. Though the Cult's leader, Severin Silrajin, successfully assembled the Mask and used it to bring Tiamat's Temple from her realm in Avernus to the Well of Dragons, he and his forces were ultimately defeated and Tiamat was banished back to the Nine Hells.

Relationships

Deities

Tiamat is the antithesis of her brother Bahamut, as both of them represent opposing values. This enmity is reflected in the attitude of each deity's worshipers as well. She is also at odds with her brother Null for some slight that has been lost to history. The god of the kobolds, Kurtulmak, is also his servant. Being a member of certain pantheons has made her other enemies as well. She has conflicts with Iyachtu Xvim as he was the only significant opposition to her joining the Faerûnian pantheon, then later with his father, Bane. She also counts Ilmater among her enemies. Tiamat has some kind of contract with the githyanki race after their leader Gith treated with her.
Having once been an archfiend living on Avernus, Tiamat is loosely allied with Bel and lent him many Abishai to fight in the Blood War. She resents Mammon for converting some evil dragons away from her. She helped Asmodeus forge his Ruby Rod. She developed an enmity with Asmodeus and the archdevil Bel after they betrayed her. She maintains a male consort from each of the chromatic dragon races. She has children with each of them and they serve her as mortal agents.

Worshipers 

Tiamat has a reputation amongst the people of the state of Unther for battling with the other members of their pantheon and is blamed for every one of the many setbacks Unther experienced. This later became an advantage when Gilgeam's behavior served to foment rebellion against him and those rebels began to worship her, eventually creating an organized church. Tiamat has made inroads into the Cult of the Dragon and claims some members as her worshipers. Also, for fifteen years, the Karanok family of Luthcheq unwittingly served Tiamat while they were worshiping the primordial Entropy. Tiamat transformed Entropy into a conduit for her power and gained the Karanoks as pawns.
Many evil dragons have worshiped Tiamat since their species first appeared on Toril. Kobolds believe she is their creator, and although they don't worship her as god, they revere her as their creator. After the Spellplague, she also gained a few dragonborn followers.

Clergy

Tiamat accepts only evil clerics. They, like Tiamat herself, seek to place the world under the domination of evil dragons.

Church of Tiamat

The church of Tiamat is regimented by a strict hierarchy of ranks and titles. Her clerics are occupied by the twin tasks of acquiring an ever-increasing hoard of wealth for the faith and sabotaging the faiths of other deities. As a result, they occupy most of their time with an unending series of thefts, assassinations, acts of vandalism, and arson. In Unther and Chessenta, they are primarily concerned with seizing as much power as possible, while in western Faerûn, the cult's agents are focused on subverting the Cult of the Dragon.

Orders

The Serpent Guards

A fellowship of Untherite warriors and crusaders fanatically devoted to her. They are charged with guarding Tiamat's cult in Unther.

The Knights of the Five-Thorned Rose

Her elite five ranking crusaders, tasked with the destruction of the followers of Bahamut, especially metallic dragons.

Temples

Though most evil dragons honor Tiamat, few keep shrines dedicated to her in their lairs because they don't want her gazing at their treasure hoards. Instead, they dedicate vast, gloomy caverns to their deity and keep them stocked with treasure and sacrifices. Tiamat has more temples among her non-dragon followers. The two most prominent sites of her faith are the Altar of the Scales in Unther, and ruins of Castle Perilous.

Dogma 

To Tiamat, deities of all creeds and from every pantheon are inherently tyrannical, and therefore her rivals. She considers herself the only being powerful enough to defy these gods and overthrow their despotic rule, as demonstrated by her overthrowing the other Untheric deities. Her followers work tirelessly toward her agenda of world domination. When Tiamat finally assumes her throne as the only goddess of the Realms, her draconic children will serve as her dukes, or so they believe - and her clergy struggle to gain the position of vassal if and when that time ever comes.

Rites 

Clerics of Tiamat pray for their spells at dusk, in hopes she will return the sun the following morning, as part of a ritual known as Tithing. The Tithing requires a small tithe, typically several gold coins or a small gem, which are hidden in the cleric's cupped hands while praying, then buried.
Tiamat's clergy also performs various other daily ceremonies in homage to their mistress. The Rite of Respect is a complicated ritual of abasement and appeasement that is performed while approaching any chromatic dragon. This ceremony doesn't provide any special protection from the dragon's fury, but failure to perform it was a death sentence.
In Unther, a sect of her followers known as the Dark Scaly Ones proclaim the day of the first full moon after Midsummer a holy day dedicated to her. Known as the Festival of Vengeance, this day marks the defeat of Gilgeam at Tiamat hands. In Unthalass, the day is celebrated by general anarchy, rioting, and widespread mayhem incited by the clergy and the faithful. During that day, clerics of other gods try to contain the looting and destruction, and prominent officials are typically warned of assassination attempts in the works by Tiamat's worshipers.