A few questions for you, Ed!
1.) Was Myrkul a mortal, lich, or other form of intelligent undead before his ascent to godhood,
2.) If mortal, why did he not give himself over to undeath, and 3.)
Why did he possess four arms, or…..was this just the case for his avatar?
Matthew Dawkins @clackclickbang
Hi there, Ed! Any thoughts on this subject?— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 1, 2020
1)
Sure. Sorry for the delay; due to a video game, there’s actually an NDA attached to Myrkul that I’ve been (slowly) unearthing and examining to see what I can say. Which, it turns out, is a lot, so here we go…
As recounted in… 2)
…the 2e sourcebook FAITHS & AVATARS, Myrkul Bey al-Kursi was Crown Prince of Murghôm, and an adventuring necromancer of some accomplishment. Although he made all but the last few preparations for his own lichdom, and…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 1, 2020
3)
…experimented with cloning magic to create spare organs for himself, and even spare arms (having seized notes on magically-assisted grafting and sinew and tendon creation from Haask of Ironfang Keep), he never became undead… 4)
…nor augmented his own body (beyond personal protective magics) ere ascending into godhood.
Instead, he (and the mortal Bane and Bhaal) went adventuring in hopes of slaying gods and seizing their divine power, and so achieve…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 1, 2020
5)
…immortality by becoming gods themselves, all of them seeing divine power being preferable to fighting off slow decay as undead (a view reinforced, in Myrkul’s case, by the relative ease with which he and his adventuring… 6)
…companions destroyed great numbers of undead). In the infamous game of knucklebones, the three decided their fates before the deity Jergal, who willingly surrendered his rule of the underworld. Myrkul came second (to Bane)…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 1, 2020
7)
…in the game, and became Lord of the Dead, ruler of the underworld.
As a living man, Myrkul looked normal (and only ever had the usual two arms). His divine avatar has four skeletal arms and a skeletal chest, with a scaly face… 8)
…(of skin stretched over an almost-visible skull), and from the waist down he’s wasted flesh and sinew over bone.
Deities can appear as they wish, except in moments of great weakness or overextension of their power, so Myrkul’s…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 1, 2020
9)
…avatar is how he wants to seem to others. The skeletal, scaly, and wasted elements are to maximize mortal human fear of him, and the four arms are his preferred number of limbs to carry and wield all sorts of things (all four… 10)
…arms are fully articulated at all joints, as is his neck, so they can all “bend backwards” at the elbows, shoulders, and wrists, and his arms can ‘face’ behind his back, as can his head, if he wishes). This allows Myrkul to… #Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 1, 2020
11)
…wield or flourish an oversized scythe and at the same time cast spells or gesture, without awkwardness or loss of style. (And Myrkul is a proud, vain being; style is important to him.)#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 1, 2020
So, if a deity willingly surrenders rule of their realm to someone else…what then happens to that deity? Possibly nothing much, possibly a lot. The power of a deity depends on the strength of mortal worship, which is partly a matter of influence/fear/respect/love…but not of territory.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 4, 2020
