@TheEdVerseHi Ed! I have a question for you regarding death worship in the Realms. How would you characterise the difference in behaviour and practice between Myrkulytes, Cyricists, and Bhaalites, when their respective deities held dominion over death / the dead? And.. .. would you have found temples to these "evil" deities in goodly governed cities and realms, when their purview is so inescapable for the vast majority? If so, how does a Myrkulyte / Cyricist / Bhaalite function in such a hostile (to them) land?
— Matthew Dawkins (@clackclickbang) September 7, 2019
1)
This one got lost in all of the prep for my surgery. Sorry!
Here we go…
BHAALISTS tend to operate “undercover,” having a daytime identity (often a shopkeeper or delivery carter in a large city), with a private cellar (o 2)
…sometimes attic or city catacombs) shrine where they pray to the god before and after a murder expedition. (So, no public temples! A few remote monasteries, yes, but temples, no.)
Few neighbours or city authorities will know…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 2, 2019
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…a priest of the Lord of Murder is a cleric of Bhaal. The Bhaalist/Bhaalyn observes unfolding life in the city and picks targets to be murdered, often troublemakers, individuals rising in power or wealth, or even clergy of 4)
…rival deities.
Then, in the darkest dead of night, at least once a tenday, properly clad as a Bhaalist, they murder their target, and “take home” some token or trophy (from a finger or heart of their victim, to personal…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 2, 2019
5)
…jewelry), plus wealth from the victim if available. The token or trophy is offered to Bhaal on a simple altar anointed with the Bhaalist’s own blood, with prayers, and the wealth used by the Bhaalist to fund their ongoing… 6)
…life and continue their holy work.
MYRKULYTES keep to themselves, speaking to few (remember the silent Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-Come/Ghost of Christmas Future in A CHRISTMAS CAROL?) but appearing hooded and cowled in public, …#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 2, 2019
7)
…to spread fear of the Lord of Bones. Most folk of Faerûn believe that touching a priest of the Lord of Bones will bring death, and Myrkulytes hunt down and slay anyone who throws stones or casts other missiles at them, to 8)
…enhance their personal protection; as a result, they’re silently shunned in most places, and can walk untouched, not even spoken to (people melt away from their path, turn their backs, and so on). They dwell in small, …#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 2, 2019
9)
…fortified stone (with tile roofs; the idea is to make the structures difficult to burn by a mob or someone hurling the equivalent of Molotov cocktails) temples known as mausoleums. Myrkulytes grow their own food, including… 10)
…mushrooms in cellars, and are supplied with food, tools and other goods, consecrated ‘black wine,’ and information by traveling Myrkulytes who constantly travel from mausoleum to mausoleum (from remote valley, ravine, or…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 2, 2019
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…cavern bases).
CYRICISTS are hated across the Realms, because they foment strife and do many murders to spread fear of Cyric. They also work against friendships, love matches, and familial ties, and spread chaos, making them 12)
…detested by most. Who would rise up and slay them if they dared.
Most urban Cyricist temples are former Myrkulyte mausoleums, and so hard-to-burn stone fortresses, from which Cyricists usually emerge by night, with spells at…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 2, 2019
13)
…the ready to defeat and chase away mobs. They then go about murdering, spreading (often false) gossip that will set folk against each other, and bribing or even sponsoring (the church seizes as much as it can from its 14)
…murder victims, and so is never short of funds) dissatisfied individuals to increase active intrigue (often emboldening opponents of local rulers, rebellious nobles, and strife within royalty, nobility, or wealthy families).#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 2, 2019
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… Cyricists don’t want to start wars (and so benefit Tempus), they want to sew seething mistrust. They are dangerous to any local society because their behaviour is often boldly mad or erratic, in reverence to the madness 16)
…of the Dark Sun himself. Part of their intrigue is to build very good (well paid) intelligence networks, so they often knew when a king or local ruler was fed up and intending to exterminate them—and they’d simply flee… #Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 2, 2019
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…their temples and go elsewhere for some months, only to sidle back into a community during local festivities or crises, to murder and intrigue anew.
Hope these contrasted descriptions are of help!#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 2, 2019
Fantastic! Any chance of the pre-time of troubles errata of this? The sociologist in me is now very curious about Bane and … I’m blanking.
— 🌈Jaye🦄Em🌹Edgecliff🏳️🌈 (@jayeedgecliff) October 2, 2019
1)
Sure. Pre-Time of Troubles: no change to Bhaalists or Myrkulytes, Cyricists of course don’t exist, and:
BANITES were widely feared, because they were not only evil and martial (quick to organized, efficient, ruthless violence), 2)
…but because they served the Lord of Tyranny by being tyrants to all within reach. For this reason, their urban temples were few except in locales where they locally (secularly) ruled; wherever there were kings or ruling…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 2, 2019
3)
…lords, they acted against such secular authorities until they prevailed or were ousted.
Clergy of Bane lived in a strict hierarchy, superiors being ruthless to inferiors but never resorting to deceit or trickery, as Bane… 4)
…frowned upon deception (not His way or portfolio). Weak (“wavering in faith”) Banites were demoted, cast out, maimed, or slain, but those who capably carried out orders were rewarded with food, drink, diversions, and…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 2, 2019
5)
…increased rank. From time to time, the Black Lord watched over rising or possibly erratic clergy closely, speaking in their minds and to those of his clergy around them—but then would turn his attention elsewhere for 6)
…frustrating-to-mortals long times, leaving “his rats to gnaw each other,” as Elminster once put it.
The Church of Bane over time became like an army, dwelling in grim black stone-and-painted-steel fortress-temples, its clergy…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 2, 2019
7)
…being well-armed and having black armor at the ready, and its way of open violence (not intrigue) forcing its daily activities increasingly into a militaristic style. Although it never used our real-world lingo of 8)
…“Operation [Codename],” its endeavours followed the same model, with various priests directly tasked by the god to carry out this or that operation (co-ordinated series of missions), all intended to increase the reach and…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 2, 2019
9)
…influence of the church; Bane observed the results and rewarded or punished individual priests accordingly.
What kept the Church of the Black Lord from conquering most of the Realms was Bane’s delight (abandoned after his… 10)
…return from death, when he saw that this strategy was self-defeating) in pitting his clerics against each other. Pre-Time of Troubles, he encouraged infighting among his clergy, allowing them to form competing sects and…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 2, 2019
11)
…make war on each other, for he saw this as desirable to eliminate the weak and keep only the strong in his service. (After his return, Bane stamped this out by personally slaying, swiftly and publicly, all who strayed from 12)
…hierarchical obedience, and encouraged a new style in which Banites achieved more through threats and offering non-Banites “carrot and stick” treatment to increase the faith’s reach and influence without open violence.)#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 2, 2019
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To sum up: Pre-Time of Troubles Bane was positively gleeful about fomenting and watching infighting in his church; post-Time of Troubles Bane is more about getting and holding on to power, without open warfare but through tyranny.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 2, 2019