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Bane (deity)

2022-12-18T20:10:24Z

162.158.34.68:

: ''For the spell, see [[Bane]].''
{{Deity|name=
|icon=Ig_hu_bane.png
|alias=The Black Lord, the Black Hand, the Lord of Darkness
|power=Dead
|pantheon=F
|domain name=Formerly Avalas/the Black Bastion
|symbol=An upright black hand, palm out and fingers together, usually on a red field
|alignment=LE
|cleric=LE, LN, NE
|portfolio=Strife, hatred, tyranny, fear
|worshippers=Conquerors, evil [[fighter]]s and [[monk]]s, tyrants, [[wizard]]s
|domain_destruct=1
|domain_evil=1
|domain_law=1
|domain_canon=Hatred and Tyranny
|weapon=[[Morningstar]]
|weapon_canon=
|allies=[[Bhaal]] (now dead), [[Loviatar]], [[Talona]], [[Myrkul]] (now dead), [[Malar]], [[Mask]]
|enemies= [[Chauntea]], [[Eldath]], [[Lathander]], [[Mystra]], [[Tyr]], [[Helm]], [[Deneir]], [[Torm]], [[Ilmater]], [[Tymora]], [[Lliira]], [[Oghma]]}}

Bane (BAIN), one of the Dark Gods, was the ultimate tyrant and a thoroughly evil and malicious being who reveled in hatred and strife and was worshiped by those who in turn enjoyed such wickedness. From his throne in the Black Bastion, he ruled over select parts of Faerûn through his clergy. In religious art, he was depicted as a looming, brooding black hand ready to crush the world in its palm, as an empty black throne, or as a shadowy, vaguely human-shaped figure garbed in garments of black streaked with red sitting on a throne of skulls. The one constant in these depictions was a jewel-encrusted gauntlet streaked with blood. While Bane hated most of the Faerûnian pantheon, in particular he hated Mystra and dreamed of torturing her and consuming her power. He devoted much research to trying to learn ways in which other gods have in the past subsumed the powers of rival gods whom they destroyed, for Bane desired above all to gain true supreme power by acquiring governance over all magic. The Black Lord was destroyed in conflict with Torm during the Time of Troubles, and his portfolio was given to the once-mortal Cyric by Ao, along with the portfolios of Myrkul and Bhaal. Loviatar and Talona served Bane indirectly by serving Bhaal.
Much of Bane’s power was absorbed by Cyric, the Prince of Lies, when the Black Lord was destroyed by Torm, the Lord of Duty. As is the case with Myrkul, a small fraction of Bane’s essence remains in the Realms. Fragments of his personality were scattered among his 25 or more surviving Baneliches (clerical liches of Bane). In centuries past, the Black Lord had transformed over 35 living High Imperceptors at the end of their tenure into undead “Mouths of Bane” — Baneliches. In the wake of the Godswar, each Banelich now believes itself to be the reincarnated form of Bane, with the expected corresponding megalomaniacal plans for conquering Faerûn. They are also the only known beings in the Realms to either still receive spells from Bane and/or grant themselves clerical spell-like abilities without a living divine patron.

Bane preferred never to be seen in person and hence almost never sent a pure avatar to the Realms. He did possess mortals from time to time to serve as his ersatz avatars, preferring young and good-looking men of slim build, cultured tastes, wealth, and power — often bored young noblemen. Any person Bane possessed quickly assumed the appearance of a handsome, black-haired man of oily looks and a derisive, even cruel, manner. Bane’s control over a body was complete, though the owner retained awareness of the body’s deeds and surroundings. Often the person whose body Bane inhabited went mad watching Bane ruin the lives of those around him and all he held dear.

Bane often manifested as eyes of red blazing flame surrounded by darkness, whether it was night or not. Another favored form was that of a black, taloned hand whose touch was like ice (and was, in fact, a chill touch) reaching out of a cloud of darkness. In either manifestation, Bane retained the mighty magical powers of his avatar form, including the ability to cause instant death by touch or glance at will. He delighted above all in manipulating mortals through their fear of him, and his every word and deed acted to further such influence. He lashed out without qualm when necessary — but only when absolutely necessary, preferring not to use brute force when he need not. Bane enforced his will, gave aid to his faithful, or showed his favor through a variety of servitor creatures as well, including baatezu (of all lesser and least varieties), beholders and their kin, black dragons, death tyrants (undead eye tyrants, the remains of, beholders who rebelled against Bane or failed him), imps, maelephants, banelar, simpathetics, and all manner of creature possessed by pride incarnates (a type of extraplanar creature). The Black Lord sometimes showed his presence through the imprint of a giant footprint from a mailed boot beneath which the very earth was charred. The discovery of a single black sapphire or the presence of red powder (often powdered carnelian) was said to indicate Bane's approval or disapproval, respectively.

In ages past there was but one god of strife, death, and the dead, and he was known as Jergal, Lord of the End of Everything. Jergal fomented and fed on the discord among mortals and powers alike. When beings slew each other in their quest for power or in their hatred, he welcomed them into his shadowy Knucklebones, Skull Bowling, and the Empty Throne kingdom of eternal gloom. As all things died, everything came to him eventually, and over time he built his power into a kingdom unchallenged by any other god. But he grew tired of his duties for he knew them too well, and without challenge there is nothing, and in nothingness there is only gloom. In such a state, the difference between absolute power and absolute powerlessness is undetectable.
During this dark era, there arose three powerful mortals — Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul — who lusted after the power Jergal wielded. The trio forged an unholy pact that they would dare to seek such ultimate power or die in the attempt. Over the length and breadth of the Realms they strode, seeking powerful magic and spells and defying death at every turn. No matter what monster they confronted or what spells they braved, the three mortals emerged unscathed at
every turn. Eventually the trio destroyed one of the Seven Lost Gods, and they each seized a portion of his divine essence for themselves. The trio then journeyed into the Gray Waste and sought out the Castle of Bone. Through armies of skeletons, legions of zombies, hordes of non corporeal undead, and a gauntlet of liches they battled. Eventually they reached the object of their lifelong quest — the Bone Throne.
“I claim this throne of evil,” shouted Bane the tyrant.
“I’ll destroy you before you can raise a finger,” threatened Bhaal the assassin. “And I shall imprison your essence for eternity,” promised Myrkul the necromancer.
Jergal arose from his throne with a weary expression and said, “The Throne is yours. I have grown weary of this empty power. Take it if you wish — l promise to serve and guide you as your seneschal until you grow comfortable with the position.” But before the stunned trio could react, the Lord of the Dead continued, “Who among you shall rule?”
The trio immediately fell to fighting amongst themselves while Jergal looked on with indifference. When eventually it appeared that either they would all die of exhaustion or battle on for an eternity, the Lord of the End of Everything intervened.
“After all you have sacrificed, would you come away with nothing? Why don’t you divide the portfolios of the office and engage in a game of skill for them?” asked Jergal.
Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul considered the god’s offer and agreed. So Jergal took the skulls of his three most powerful liches and gave them to the trio so they could compete by skull bowling. Each mortal rolled a skull across the Gray Waste, having agreed that the winner would be he who bowled the farthest. Malar the Beastlord arrived to visit Jergal at this moment. After quickly ascertaining that the winner of the contest would get all of Jergal’s power, he chased off after the three skulls to make sure that the contest would be halted until he had a chance to participate for part of the prize. Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul again fell to fighting as it was obvious their sport was ruined, but again Jergal intervened. “Why don’t you allow Lady Luck to decide so you don’t have to share with the Beast?”
The trio agreed, and Jergal broke off his skeletal finger bones and gave them to the players. When Malar returned from chasing the skulls, he found that the trio had just finished a game of knucklebones.
Bane cried out triumphantly, “As winner, 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.”
Myrkul, who had won second place, declared, “But I choose the dead, and by doing so I truly win, because all you are lord over, Bane, will eventually be mine. All things must die — even gods.”
Bhaal, who finished third, demurred, “I choose death, and it is by my hand that all that you rule Lord Bane will eventually pass to Lord Myrkul. Both of you must pay honor to me and obey my wishes, since I can destroy your kingdom, Bane, by murdering your subjects, and I can starve your kingdom, Myrkul by staying my hand.”
Malar growled in frustration, but could do nothing, and yet again only the beasts were left for him. And Jergal merely smiled, for he had been delivered.

=The Church=

All clerics, specialty priests, and crusaders of Bane received religion (Faer unian) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency.
Bane was the most widely known and feared evil god of the Realms. Banites were generally cruel folk who enjoyed exercising power over others within the security of a rigid hierarchy and rules. While Bane is dead, his church lives on, though most of its members have now joined the churches of Cyric or even Gargauth, Talos, or Talona. The church of Bane was overrun with wizards, especially near Zhentil Keep. The presence of so many wizards as clergy members and the influence of the ambitious Fzoul Chembryl led to a schism in the church long before the Time of Troubles. This created a fierce internal rivalry within the church between the Orthodox (mostly clerical) and Transformed (more heavily wizardly) factions of the church. Bane's church underwent several rapid changes after the death of its deity during the Time of Troubles. In the immediate aftermath of the Time of Troubles, the rift between Orthodox and Transformed Banites worsened. Cyric assumed Bane's portfolio, continued to grant Banite priests spells, and tried to convert Bane's faithful to direct worship of him. Orthodox Banites held that Cyric was merely a new form of Bane, expanded to take in the powers of Myrkul and Bhaal to show the growing power of evil. Transformed Banites instead argued that Bane was dead and Cyric had taken his mantle and position as deity of strife. The office of Bane that Cyric held was the power they worshiped. Along with almost all former Bhaal-worshipers and the vast majority of former Myrkulytes, these Banite factions formed the strong base of Cyric's faith. There remained scattered sects of hardcore ultra-orthodox Bane worshipers, such as the Risen Cult of Bane in the Moonshaes, who believed that Bane was still alive and that Cyric, whom they referred to as the Pretender, was a usurper who would be punished in the future along with all his faithless followers. Little did these stubborn, misguided fools realize that the Prince of Lies was granting the spells and special abilities of all Banites, whether they recognized him as Bane or Cyric, because he could not resist the chance to prevaricate in such a broad way and because he hoped to eventually lure the stubborn holdouts to his cause.
The High Imperceptor was in theory the supreme living servant of Bane (numerous former High Imperceptors survive as Baneliches) and was formerly directly recognized as such by Bane, but in practice this declared leadership was often
not the actual case. Well before the Time of Troubles, Fzoul Chembryl of Zhentil Keep led a powerful faction of the church into schism. He then assumed complete authority of the splinter branch - an act whose temerity Bane rewarded by possessing Fzoul directly when the Fall of the Gods came down upon Faerun. There have been other rebel leaders in the church of Bane, such as the Risen Cult of Bane, the Orthodox Church of Bane, the True Church of Bane, the Old Church of Bane, and so on. Bane suffered such strife to continue down the years because it brought eager service beyond the call of duty and because he delighted in the strife itself.
Specialty priests of Bane were known as [[Dreadmaster]]s, a term used regardless of the gender of its owner. About 10% of the total priesthood of the church of Bane was comprised of [[Dreadmaster]]s and most were kept in low-level positions. Some specialty priests of Bane operated outside the rigid church hierarchy; they were mainly adventurers and hermits seeking to create their own power base to eventually destroy the others.
Novices of Bane's clergy were addressed as slave, but if named by Bane from a speaking altar or in a dream vision, they became full priests of the god and gained the title of Watchful Brother/Watchful Sister. From there, they ascended through the following rankings: Deadly Adept, Trusted Servant, Willing Whip, Hooded Menace, Black Fang, Striking Hand, Vigilant Talon, Masked Death, Dark Doom, Higher Doom, and Deep Mystery. This latter title was a general one held by all clergy members of 12th and greater level. A priest of this rank addressed fellow clergy members of higher ranks or levels as Deeper Mystery (not to do so was regarded as a deliberate insult). Known individual titles among the Banites of Deeper Mystery included Vigilator, Lord/Lady of Mysteries, Lord/Lady of the Hand, Imperceptor, Dark Imperceptor, Grand Bloodletter, High Inquisitor, and High Imperceptor. All except the last title were self-bestowed, but such self-given titles had to be confirmed and used upon the bestower by a higher ranking priest before they were formally recognized.
Banites addressed each other only by title unless the mix of individuals present would cause confusion without the addition of a surname. Banite clergy bowed, knelt to, or kissed the boots of superiors, depending on the difference in their ranks and what they were ordered to do. When in the presence of non worshipers of Bane, Banite clergy addressed each other as Brother/Sister Faithful unless speaking to a superior of considerably greater rank, whereupon Dread Brother/Sister would be used.
Priests of Bane prided themselves on cold, decisive thought, speech, and action. Sarcasm and cutting authority were valued over shouting, loss of temper, or uncontrolled behavior. Two priests arguing to the death may well have appeared as softly polite but insistent noblemen debating some minor point right up to the last moments of one (or both) of their lives.

==Dogma==
The clergy members of Bane's church believed that those who crossed the Dark One met their dooms earlier and more harshly than those who foolishly worshiped other deities than Bane and still inevitably fell before the church of Bane. All priests of Bane were ordered to submit to the word of Bane as uttered by Banite clergy members who outranked them and to spread the Dark Fear of Bane.
Bane whispered to initiates in their dreams: "Serve no one but me. Fear me always and make others fear me even more than you do. The Black Hand always strikes down those who stand against it in the end. Defy me and die or in your death find loyalty, for I shall compel it. Submit to my will, since true power can only be gained through service to me. It is the doom of those unguided by me to let power spill through their hands."

==Day-to-Day Activities==
Bane desired to rule the world so that all Faerun would know his tyranny. His clergy members were charged with the task of rising to power in every realm and if necessary leading a band, city-state, or kingdom to war to conquer its neighbors in order to bring ever more territory under the sway of the Black Hand of Bane. Hatred, strife, and destruction were to be spread but under clear duress and control, not unbridled chaos. Domination was preferred to debauchery, and carefully limited discord to stability. Cruelty, torture, and mayhem were tacitly encouraged, but those caught at such activities had to pay the price unless they had served Bane so well by spreading fear that none dared speak or act against them. Superior Banite clergy members had to be obeyed at all times and in all things. The faithful were to work subtly and patiently but tirelessly to bring members of the faith to power in every guild, village, town, court, war band, fellowship, realm, and society. All rules of the church had to be followed to the utmost, but the rules of others were no rules at all.

==Holy Days/Important Ceremonies==
No rituals of Bane corresponded to calendar dates, seasons, or lunar progressions. Rituals were held whenever clergy leading a congregation declared they would be, and these ceremonies were called by a wide variety of names. Personal prayers to Bane were to be uttered before going into battle and before eating or drinking anything to thank Bane for allowing his worshiper to live to taste the fare. Rituals were held in a place of darkness (often simply outdoors at night) lit only by dim magical radiances, moonlight, and flickering torches or braziers. Usually dark chambers, caverns, and ruins were used. The worshipers gathered around the Black Altar, which was a plain stone block draped with black cloth or painted black, a block of obsidian, or anything over which a large, floating, black stone Hand of Bane hovered (levitated there by a wizard clergy member or a magical item used by a priest or through magic of its own). If no Hand of Bane was present, an empty black throne was always placed facing the Black Altar. Services in such evil churches involved rolling drums, chanting, and sometimes singing and the sacrifice of intelligent life. Sacrifices had to be humiliated, tortured, and made to show fear before dying to be acceptable to Bane, and they usually met their deaths through slashing, flogging, or being crushed by the floating Hand of Bane.

==Major Centers of Worship==
The largest and most powerful temple of Bane was not located in Zhentil Keep, nor was it the court of the High Imperceptor at the Black Lord's Altar in Mulmaster (though that is usually considered the center of the faith). The largest temple of Bane in all Faerun is the Black Lord's Cloak in the city of Mourktar on the edge of the flat, sandy plains of Threskel. It has been said (accurately) that only the presence of this temple, which grew to rule the entire city following the death of King Theris and the subsequent assassination of his successor, prevented the more ambitious Red Wizards of Thay from abandoning all plans to assault Rashemen and instead establishing a beachhead in Threskel from which to attack decadent Unther and fractious Chessenta.
Imperceptor Kabarrath Telthaug styled himself Dread Imperceptor in the days before the Time of Troubles, asserting his own independence of the standard Banite hierarchy. It is not hard to understand why: He commands over 700 Banite priests of rank, another 1,000 lesser clergy members, and a well-equipped, harshly disciplined army of loyal troops armed with many items of minor magic, and well practiced in slaughter. This army has been force-marched west to ravage cities in Chessenta time and time again only to pull back when the exercises are over. The temple is named for its only relic, an animated black cloak once worn by Bane himself that became a sentient monster that envelops people from time to time and sucks them dry of all blood. The Black Lord's Cloak temple complex has grown into a vast palace where Kabarrath keeps the wealth of subject Threskel and its fleet of merchant and fishing vessels. The widely feared pirate fleet of Alkoth is said to have secretly served the priest sof the Cloak, and it is certain that the adventuring bands the Six Black Blades and the Crow Banners (active in Murghom, Mulhorand, and Var) and probably other tomb-robbing organizations as well were agents sent forth from Threskel to gather magic, wealth, and less glamorous supplies for Kabarrath's temple and the greater glory of Bane. With the destruction of the Untheric pantheon, Imperceptor Kabarrath perceives a power vacuum in which he can seize control of that ancient nation. It is unclear which deity supports this powerful temple that still maintains its nominal dedication to Bane in the aftermath of the Time of Troubles.

==Priestly Vestments==
Banite clergy members always went armed and were required to always wear something black. Ceremonial dress for Banite priests was black armor with blood-red capes, The more prosperous the priest, the finer the workmanship of the armor was. The ceremonial robes of wizards of the clergy were always black; wizard clergy members of the highest ranks enspelled these robes to swirl with ever-present illusions of glittering black stars and splashes of spilling blood. Facial tattoos were common among Banites. After the Time of Troubles, these unfortunately made them stand out among clear-faced new Cyricists within the ranks of Cyric's faithful. High-level Banites wore gems on their foreheads.
When adventuring, priests of Bane retained their black armor, though their battle armor usually sported cruel spurs, hooks, and horns. Wizardly clergy members preferred long, flowing, black-and-red robes. Neither group would wear such gear in public if it would expose them to persecution or hamper their service to their deity. Usually, the facial tattoos of Banites were enough to identify them.

=Server Lore=
During the Time of Troubles, hundreds of the clergy of the now dead god Bane were murdered overnight in Zhentarim controlled areas. A few managed to escape, fleeing far away. In Zhentil Keep, it is said Fzoul Chembryl himself has fled, but no one knows where.
In the morning, Manshoon leading a large group of Blackcloaks proclaimed to have liberated Zhentil Keep and all its holdings from Fzoul and his zealots, marking the end of the war with Cormyr. He immediately took control over the Black Network, having purged it of its Banite element.
To the west, in Darkhold, blackcloaks bearing Manshoon's seal captured and shackled Imperceptor Vyshasa before placing him in the dungeon.
Imperceptor Vyshasa was shortly after handed to the orcs of Uruk Lurra in payment for their aid in the war against the Lord's Alliance.

Auril

2022-12-16T20:10:34Z

162.158.34.68:

{{FRWiki article|Auril}}
{{Deity|alias=Frostmaiden, Icedawn, the Cold Goddess, Lady Frostkiss
|power=I
|pantheon=F
|domain name=Pandesmos/Winter's Hall
|symbol=A white snowflake on a gray diamond (a heraldic lozenge) with a white border
|alignment=NE
|cleric=LN, N, CN, LE, NE, CE
|portfolio=Cold, winter
|worshippers=[[Druids]], elemental archons (air or water), frost giants, inhabitant of cold climates, [[rangers]]
|domain_air=1
|domain_cold=1
|domain_evil=1
|domain_fury=1
|domain_water=1
|weapon=[[Battleaxe]] - "Icemaiden's Caress"
|allies=[[Talos]], [[Umberlee]], [[Malar]]
|enemies=Amaunator (now dead), [[Moander]] (now dead), [[Sune]], [[Chauntea]], [[Shiallia]], [[Uthgar]]}} icon = Ig_hu_auril.png}}
Auril (AWE-ril) is most powerful in those regions that are affected by deep winters or crouch at the edges of the Great Glacier. She is worshiped primarily out of fear. She serves Talos and is one of the Gods of Fury, and much of her ethos is similar to that of the god of nature’s destruction. She has seen much of her personal power eroded by Talos, and as a result, the winters have grown colder in the past decade to remind the northerners who still controls the power of cold. While she can call on the other Gods of Fury for aid, she only does so with Umberlee with any confidence; Talos usually responds but then directs all the glory and worship to himself, and Malar despises her. The feeling is mutual. When portrayed, Auril appears similar to her Frostmaiden avatar. She is a fickle, vain, and evil creature whose cold divine heart remains untouched by any hint of true love, noble feeling, or honor. She often toys with those who offend her, trapping them in snow storms and then driving them insane by tantalizing them with visions of warmth and the comforts of home before she freezes them to death. Her eternal beauty is cold and deadly, the flower of womanhood preserved forever in a slab of arctic ice - with sensibilities to match the ice.

Auril appears most often in one of two avatar forms: the Frostmaiden or Icedawn. The Frostmaiden is a lithe, furious figure of action and is the most often seen avatar of Auril in all regions of Faerûn except the south and east. Her skin is blue, her hair is long, free-flowing, and white, and a fine gown of white lawn thickly furred with frost swirls about her.
Auril usually manifests as icy breath accompanied by a cold, ruthless chuckling and a blue-white radiance that leaves a thin line of frost to mark its passage. She also appears as a blank-eyed face of frost with long, wind-whipped white hair that radiates intense cold. Auril uses this latter manifestation if she wants to speak, slay, or confer items of power upon worshipers. She slays with her life-chilling kiss and confers boons by breathing them out of the face’s mouth. Auril also indicates her favor or disfavor or sends aid through the presence or actions of water elementals, ice paraelementals, undead, winterwolves, frost giants, and other arctic creatures.

=The Church=
Auril is feared and worshiped in order to hold off the depredations of the harsh winters with which she threatens Faerûn. Trappers, miners, and settlers in the North, some barbarians and inhabitants of the Great Glacier, and residents of the lands crouching at any glacier’s edge revere her and honor her in attempts to placate her cold fury come winter time. In recent years, winters have been getting longer and colder, and more and more folk have been making the prayers to Auril that her clergy urge be done. A few clans of frost giants are led by shamans in her service. Priestesses of Auril roam the lands of Faerûn, especially in the North, though her clergy are now being seen more often in the Heartlands. Auril’s church has a few males within its ranks, but most clergy of the Frostmaiden are female.
Specialty priests of Auril, called icepriestesses and icepriests, make up one third Auril’s priesthood. The relationship between the specialty priests and the clerics of Auril is very good. The entire church is very loosely and informally organized, and clergy members wander and are largely independent. Most priests of Auril use only the honorific “Hand of Auril” or “Icebreath,” but at temples such as the House of Auril’s Breath at Glister the clergy use formal titles. In ascending order, these are: Postulant, Votre, Icewind, Storm Sister/Storm Brother (a title given to the great bulk of priests between 3rd level and 8th), Frosttouch, Lady/Lord Cold), Lady/Lord Deep Winter, Lady/Lord Cold Circle, and High Hand of Ice.
Priestesses of Auril are often seen scampering lightly through the snows in summer-weight clothing or bathing in frigid river waters in the depths of winter to no apparent ill effect. They need much less food than other beings because of this ability, and often roam the northlands energetically when blizzards have forced other folk to hole up against the weather. Many priestesses of Auril make some living delivering medicines, messages, and needed supplies throughout the northlands in winter.

==Dogma==
Auri charges her clergy to: “Cover all the lands with ice. Quench fire wherever it is found. Let in the winds and the cold; cut down windbreaks and chop holes in walls and roofs that my breath may come in. Work darknesses to hide the cursed sun so that the chill I brine may slay. Take the life of an arctic creature only in great need, but slay all others at will. Make all Faerûn fear me.”
Auril’s clergy are commanded to revere her and sing her praises into any chill breeze or winter wind. They are to make all creatures fear or worship her and to bring down her cold power against all so that all may know her and quake before her. They are not to raise their hands against any other priest of Auril.

==Day-to-Day Activities==
Clergy of Auril seek to make all folk fear their goddess and her clergy (to cut down on the attacks they face) through the fury of the winter weather. They also try to make themselves personally wealthy and influential by carrying out tasks that others cannot in the worst winter weather and by magically protecting those who pay or obey from the worst winter conditions. Clergy members make offerings to the goddess of some of the wealth they amass by scattering it in falling snow during a storm or throwing it through cracks in river ice or glacial crevasses during the winter.
In the cold months, Auril expects each of her priests to force or persuade someone to pray to her in the approved manner by beseeching Auril for mercy and praising her for the “cold cleansing” she brings. This prayer must last for the length of time it takes a piece of ice larger than the “supplicant’s” hand to melt against his or her bared flesh. It must be done out of doors and preferably at night. During the winter, Aurilian clergy are also expected to slay at least one creature by cold. This is often done so as to provide worshipers or potential worshipers of the goddess with food or to slay a personal foe of the priestess or priest.

==Holy Days/Important Ceremonies==
Midwinter Night is the most holy time of the year to clergy of Auril. It is a festival of icc-dancing that lasts the whole night through, during which the goddess desires her clergy both to enjoy themselves and to lure as many folk as
possible into her service. Postulants are instructed in the ways of the goddess, and must undergo the most sacred ritual of Auril to gain admittance into her clergy: the Embracing. This personal ritual may occur at any time of year, but if it is in summer, the postulant must journey to arctic or high mountain regions in order to find a blizzard. The Embracing consists of running through a blizzard all night long dressed in only boots (though they may be thigh-high), a thin shift, and body paint depicting symbols sacred to Auril. Celebrants either perish of exposure or are accepted by the goddess by being rescued from the pain and shivering by Her Embrace. Thereafter, clergy members usually pray in private, by lying out in the snow all night long in prayer vigil. In summer, her clergy usually immerse themselves (except for their heads) in the coldest water they can find, typically by lying down in a fast-flowing stream. Auril answers their queries and gives them directions and missions through mind visions. Two informal but enthusiastically celebrated rituals are the Coming Storm and the Last Storm — howling ice storms called up by clergy working en masse with all the cold magic they can muster. Together they bring fierce weather down upon a town or region to mark the onset of winter or its last gasp as spring begins.

==Major Centers of Worship==
The House of Auril’s Breath in Glister, north of the Moonsea, is the largest and most influential temple to the cold goddess, boasting a congregation of over 1,600 gathering around the fires for nightly Fire and Ice rituals (all of them miners and fur trappers too afraid not to venerate Auril). High Hand of Ice (high priest) Malakhar Rhenta leads the Storm Circle of 14 or so senior priestesses in running the temple and planning the weather magic they work. The House of Auril is known more commonly to those not of the faith as the Cold House or, more bitterly, Cold Comfort Towers.

==Affiliated Orders==
Auril's church has no affiliated military or knightly orders. She is just not of a mind to sponsor prolonged martial actions; she would rather send a blizzard down on those who offend her than troops. An odd assortment of cults and fellowships have grown up around or become attached to her worship, though. These groups include the Cult of Frost, whose driving goal is the acquisition of the artifact known as the Ring of Winter; a group of wizards known as the Frost Witches, who have recorded at least one tome of frost and cold magic in Auril's name and are reputed to know the location of the Codicil of White, a priestly book describing Aurilian rituals and containing some wizard spells also; and the Sisters of Istishia, who worship Istishia as a herald of cold and servant of Auril. The Sisters of Istishia's worship seems to benefit Istishia, not Auril, as a few Aurilian priestesses have been given a divine mandate to seek out the Sisters and <i>correct</i> their theology.

==Priestly Vestments==
Priests of Auril wear ice-white ceremonial robes with blue piping. The robes are cinched at the waist by a very wide silver belt, which also holds the requisite ceremonial ice axe. The ice axe bears the snowflake-in-lozenge symbol of the faith. A silver circlet on the head is the final touch.
When adventuring, most priests of Auril wear at least the circlet, the belt, and the ice axe with their normal day-to-day clothes. Since they are immune to the effects of cold, they usually wear only what clothing they think enhances their appearance, not necessarily what others are wearing for the weather. They never encumber themselves with excessive clothing or large sleeping bundles, preferring to travel light for maximum mobility.

==Speciality Priests==

NAME: Icepriestess/Icepriest (Not implemented in game)
ALIGNMENT: NE
WEAPONS: All bludgeoning weapons and the ice axe.
ARMOR: All armor types up to and including chain mail and shield.
MAGICAL ITEMS: same as cleric.

- Icepriestesses and icepriests have an immunity to cold similar to a permanent resist cold spell. They are immune to natural cold and have a +3 bonus when making saving throws vs. any cold- or ice-based attacks.

- Icepriestesses and icepriests can cast frost fingers once per day.

- At 3rd level, icepriestesses and icepriests are able to cast frost whip once per day.

- At 5th level, icepriestesses and icepriests are able to cast ice blade once per day.

- At 8th level, icepriestesses and icepriests are able to cast ice storm or wall of ice twice per tenday.

- At 10th level, icepriestesses and icepriests are able to cast cone of cold once per day.

- At 12th level, icepriestesses and icepriests have the ability to summon an ice para-elemental once per tenday. They may do so an additional time per tenday for every level over 12.

=Server Lore=
It is rumored that during the Time of Troubles Auril's avatar manifested in her temple in the Cloudpeaks.

==[[DnD 3.5]] comparison==
*In 3.5 (Player's Guide to Faerun), the Cold domain replaced the Water domain in Auril's selection, but both are displayed here as some may find one more fitting than the other.
*The Fury domain is not canon in the Forgotten Realms, but has been included as Auril is one of the [[Deities of Fury]].
[[Category:Nature_deities]]

Akadi

2022-12-16T20:05:35Z

162.158.34.68:

{{Deity|name=Akadi
|icon=Ig_hu_akadi.png
|alias=Queen of Air, the Lady of Air, Lady of the Winds, Queen of Air Elementals
|power=G
|pantheon=F
|domain name=Elemental Plane of Air/The Great Funnel
|symbol=A billowing white cloud on a dark blue sky
|alignment=N
|cleric=LN, N, CN, NE
|portfolio=Elemental air, air elementalists, movement, speed, flying creatures
|worshippers=Animal breeders, elemental archons (air), rangers, rogues, sailors
|domain_air=1
|domain_travel=1
|domain_trickery=1
|domain_chaos=1
|domain_magic=1
|domain_illusion=1
|weapon=[[Flail]]
|weapon_canon=A whirlwind (heavy flail)
|allies=[[Aerdrie Faenya]], [[Shaundakul]]
|enemies=[[Grumbar]]}}
'''Akadi''' ''(pronounced: ah-kah-dee)'' is the whispering wind and the blinding gale storm, her form changing from season to season. Her kiss might be moist and sweet or bitter and cold. Uncaring, she carries sounds and scents along on her journey, but she never pauses to impress upon a traveler the importance of her travels.

Akadi has only been seen twice in written record in avatar form on Toril. The Queen of Air normally appears as a huge column of swirling winds resembling an immense tornado that towers from the earth into the clouds above. Her voice can range from the whisper of the slightest breeze through the trees to an insistent roar that can be heard for miles in every direction.
In religious art she is often portrayed as a huge, translucent blue woman with gigantic feathery wings that trail away into clouds. Her wings are said to toss the winds about the surface of Faerûn. Like all the elemental lords, Akadi is relatively uncaring of her followers on Toril. Her reactions are difficult to gauge, and she seems almost an alien being in her responses to most mortals not native to the Elemental Plane of Air. The relative inaction of Akadi and the other elemental lords has led to their being viewed as only lesser powers in the Realms and their followers being classed as cultists. Akadi is known as Teylas in the Hordelands, a god of the Elemental Plane of Air. The distinction between a female and male form of the Lady of the Winds makes no difference to the faith. Akadi does seem to have some small affection for her followers, but most often displays that affection when they make large offerings to her by burning precious incenses that waft to her on the winds — so it could be argued that she only cares when she is bribed to do so. While appeals to Akadi to change or still the winds, provide good flying currents, or bring gentle rains meet with her approval, she grants no prayers to raise or quell harsh storms, as storms lie within the purview of Talos and Umberlee (though she occasionally manages a whirlwind of brief duration but stunning force).

=The Church=

Akadian priests are strongly encouraged to learn weather sense and to acquire skill in playing a musical instrument that involves blowing air through it to produce sound (such as woodwind instruments, brass instruments, organs, and bagpipes) in addition to their required proficiencies.
Before the Time of Troubles, all of the elemental cults had clerics in their ranks. Now, only specialty priests remain. Why Akadi decided to gradually convert her clerics to specialty priests is unknown. Since the Godswar, the Akadian church has added a small order of mystics and an order of crusaders to the church to round out the capabilities of the priesthood. In primitive or nomadic societies (such as those of the Tuigan), Akadi is served by shamans.
Few priests of Akadi ever settle down in one place, so few communities feel threatened or benefited by the appearance of an Akadian priest. Akadian priests blow into a town or village upon the morning breeze and are typically gone by the time the sun sets. A philosophy of incessant movement and wanderlust has ingrained itself into the church of Akadi, and few temples exist to the Lady of the Winds. Those that do are most often open-air circles of wooden poles adorned with feathers and streamers that flutter in the slightest breeze. Priests of the faith travel across Faerûn, spreading the word of Akadi at each opportunity. They often lecture on the joys that the freedom of Akadi brings, but seldom stop to argue semantics or principles with those who would them, choosing instead to sew the seeds of the Queen of Air and then continue along to “wherever the winds take them.” This tendency to spout high-sounding verbiage has led to more than one Akadian priest being called a “windbag” in several senses of the word. The priests of Akadi are divided up between the Whisper and the Roar. These are not rankings within the church or even a division between those clergy members with parish territories and those of an adventuring bent. Rather, these are distinctions in philosophy of action. Those who follow the Whisper typically work behind the scenes, seldom showing themselves to be a member of the church of Akadi. Members of the Roar are much more direct about their involvement in the affairs of Faerûn. The disparate and unfocused nature of the activities of the church of Akadi as a whole has left few in Faerûn viewing it as any sort of threat, although personally ambitious members of the church can sometimes wreak havoc in a particular region. Akadi’s priests are organized mostly into “churches” formed of small cliques who follow a particularly charismatic Akadian. These cliques shift and flow over tune as the group politics lead to some members rising in status, others falling, and others leaving in disgust or empowered by the inspiring message of their leader to begin a new church in a far-off land. This sort of organization is very fluid and often very confusing to those outside the faith, as such folk are never sure who will be in charge in a tenday and therefore who to hold responsible for living up to agreements and contracts. Most Akadians have a reputation for being untrustworthy because of this very problem in their faith’s organization. When tune comes due for an Akadian to live up to a promise, frequently the answer received is: “I’m so sorry, that’snot my job anymore”—if one can find the Akadian the deal was struck with in the first place! Novice Akadians are referred to as Fledglings. Upon undergoing a personally designed rite of empowerment supervised by at least two senior clergy (and usually involving flying), they become full priests. In ascending order of rank, the titles in general use by the priesthood are: Winged One (full priest), Air of the Goddess, Breeze of Light, Zephyr (senior priest), Mistral, Sirocco(leader of a large “church”), and Whirlwind (leader of a very large church or priest of great experience). A priest who has slain or soundly defeated an enemy of the church (usually a high-ranking priest of [[Grumbar]] or an earth-based creature of power) may add the honorific “High” to the beginning of his or her title.

==Dogma==

The teachings of the Akadian church amount to a doctrine of finding one’s own enlightenment. The church feels that one can only find truth in what one is interested in and as soon as interest fails, all chance of finding further spiritual growth has left an activity or place. Therefore, the faithful must move from activity to activity, from place to place, pursuing a personal dream or series of interests and growing through the changing experiences each new day brings. The church pays little attention to resistance to its doctrine; such obstacles will be worn down over time. Few matters are ever deemed so important that the church feels the need to commit itself to a particular cause. The only stance that the Akadian faith takes adamantly is that its members and its priests should not be fettered or imprisoned; such a condition rapidly leads to the onset of depression among the faithful and a languishing death. Novices in the Akadian faith are charged as follows: “The eternal Akadi is change personified. Each new day reveals to us a new side of her. Strive to be as flexible as she is. Pursue everything that interests you in turn. Look at problems from as many viewpoints as possible to achieve the most creative answer. View life as an art form to create anew around you each day to your benefit and that of Akadi. The freedom to move about and to soar on the breeze of life is one of the inherent rights of every living thing. Fly forth and spread the word of Akadi and show through your works the fresh new life she brings.”

==Day-to-Day Activities==

Listening to the wind, traveling beneath the stars of Faerûn, pursuing personal interests of the moment, and speaking to others of the glories of Akadi dominate most priests’ lives. Some priests become almost obsessively involved in “life experiments” of a practical or esoteric nature. For instance, some may become deeply involved in breeding faster and sleeker hawks or running hounds, others may decide to see how orcs adapt to fierce and freakish windstorms, and yet others may spend endless hours trying to develop artificial wings for cats. Yet, once any project is no longer fun or interesting, Akadian priests drop it like a lead weight and move on to something new no matter how much time they have already invested in the activity.

==Holy Days/Important Ceremonies==

Each day is an important event in the eyes of an Akadian. The faithful typically rise before the sun emerges to whisper their prayers on the morning breeze and stay up to watch the moon rise over Faerûn or glide the dying thermals of the waning day and joyfully speak their evening prayers.

The Fellowship of Flight is the ceremony that Akadian specialty priests undergo that celebrates their ability, upon reaching a certain level of skill, to summon an air elemental from the Elemental Plane of Air. The ceremony is preceded by an hour of solemn prayer, after which the elemental is summoned. When it answers, it is wafted with sweet-smelling incense, sung songs, sprinkled with flower petals, and given poems praising Akadi to carry back to her realm.

On Midsummer, the church holds its only calendar festival. To attend this festival, all of the faithful who are able to travel do so for tendays before Midsummer. They gather in the Shaar at the rums of Blaskaltar, which contain the site of the first known shrine to Akadi in Faerûn, now obliterated by the hand of time and seasons of wind and rain. Here the chant of the heroes of the faith is recited by all present and new names are added to the roll commemorating those who have passed on during the past year.

==Major Centers of Worship==

Few permanent temples to Akadi have been erected. Many of her shrines are tended by a rotating cycle of priests as they travel the countryside, leaving the shrine when their replacement arrives. The holiest site of the Akadian faith is the mound of the First Shrine of the Queen of Air in the ruins of Blaskaltar in the Shaar. The structure is long gone through ages of neglect; however, the faithful gather here yearly to remember the history of their church and its great members so that they do not lose their past and thus become doomed to repeat it.

==Affiliated Orders==

The order of Akadian crusaders is known as the Knights of the Wind’s Four Quarters. Its members tend to pursue personal quests and errands for church elders or carry out the ongoing vendetta against the church of [[Grumbar]]. Mystics of the faith belong to the Companions of the Summer Wind, who tend to be good-aligned, the Disciples of Spring’s Breeze, who are mainly neutral, or the Alliance of Midwinter’s Teeth, who are evil.

==Priestly Vestments==

Priests of Akadi dress for rituals in robes of white, light gray, and light blue, representing the many faces of their goddess. Silk is a preferred material in vestments, as its flowing nature pleases the goddess, and rare silks dyed in flowing or rippling patterns of blue or white are highly prized. Many priests wear jewelry of milky opal, crystal quartz, augelite, turquoise, beryllonite, blue spinel, or sapphire, and these are the stones from which Akadian holy symbols are constructed. Air elementals blow fine grit over one of these gemstones, thereby inscribing Akadi’s symbol; the stone is set into a piece of jewelry, forming a holy symbol.

==Adventuring Garb==

Adventuring priests and Akadian clergy members on the road dress practically, though they favor clothes or accessories of white, light gray, and light blue. They recognize that traveling through the countryside on the enemy element of earth requires heavier clothing to shield oneself from that harsh element. They typically confine their use of silk to a scarf or decorative vest and pack their ceremonial vestments carefully to protect them.

==Specialty Priests==

NAME: Airwalkers (not implemented in game)
ALIGNMENT: CN, CG, N, CN, CE
WEAPONS: Any one melee weapon; all other weapons must be missile or thrown weapons.
ARMOR: All armor types up to and including chain mail and shield.
MAGICAL ITEMS: Same as clerics, except forbidden from using magical items with earth-based effects.

- Karsus and aaracokra may be airwalkers.
- Airwalkers may cast wizard spells from the elemental air school in addition to priest spells. These spells are cast as if the airwalker were a mage of the same level. Airwalkers pray for their wizard spells instead of studying to memorize them, and chosen wizard spells replace priest spells potentially available for use that day. Airwalkers are always able to read elemental air spells on scrolls or in wizard spellbooks as if they knew read magic.
- All airwalkers gain a +2 bonus to saving throws vs. the harmful effects of air- or wind-related spells or cloud-like or gaseous breath weapons.
- Airwalkers are never injured from a fall so long as the distance of the fall does not exceed 10 feet per level of the airwalker.
- At 5th level, airwalkers gain the ability assume a wraithform once per day.
- At 5th level, airwalkers can summon one 8-HD air elemental once a day. It is important to note that the elemental summoned is not a servant of the airwalker, but rather is looked upon as an agent of Akadi that is to be respected. The ability to summon an elemental is granted once each day when airwalkers receive their normal complement of spells.
- At 7th level, airwalkers gain the ability to fly once per day.
- At 9th level, airwalkers gain the ability to cast cloudkill once per day.
- At 9th level, airwalkers can summon one 12-HD air elemental once a tenday. All the same conditions apply as for summoning an 8-HD air elemental.
- At 13th level, airwalkers can summon one 16-HD air elemental once a tenday. All the same conditions apply as for summoning an 8-HD air elemental.
- At 15th level, airwalkers can move through the Elemental Plane of Air without need for food or water.
- Airwalkers who work together can summon an elemental of greater HitDice than they would otherwise be able to alone. As long as both summoners remain alive, the elemental remains under their control for one full hour.