Major Deities of Faerun

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The following deities are the major deities of Faerun, as described in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. Each of these thirty-one deities has details about dogma, clerics and temples, and other pertinent information.

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Azuth

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Bane



The Black Lord, the Black Hand, the Lord of Darkness
Greater Deity
Symbol: Green rays squeezed forth from a black fist
Home Plane: The Barrens of Doom and Despair
Alignment: Lawful evil
Portfolio: Strife, hatred, tyranny, fear
Worshipers: Conquerors, evil fighters and monks, tyrants, wizards
Cleric Alignments: LN, LE, NE
Domains: Evil, Destruction, Hatred, Law, Tyranny
Favored Weapon: “The Black Hand of Bane” (a black gauntlet)(Morningstar)



The twisted halls of Zhentil Keep echo with malign invocations chanted in shadowy temples throughout Faerun. Bane (bain), the Lord of Darkness, has conquered death itself, returning to the world to give dark inspiration to a thousand intrigues, to foment fear and hatred in civilized lands, and to reassure the common mortal that tyranny, through it may suffer occasional defeat, will never die.

Though Bane transcended mortality centuries ago, his primary goal remains notable human – he seeks nothing short of the total domination of Faerun. When his servants sit upon the throne of every land, when commoners serve their masters in fear from their very lives, and when altruism and hope have been erased from the world, then will Bane rest. Until that dark day, however, the Black Hand has eternity to hatch demented plots and vile intrigues. Eventually, he will rule all of Faerun, but there’s no hurry. Getting there will be half the fun.

Bane prefers to keep to the shadows, allowing his servants to carry out his intricate plans. On the rare occasion in which he appears, he takes the form of a shadowy humanoid figure – often bare-chested, sometimes wearing dark armor and a stylish black cloak streaked with red. His right hand, invariably protected by a jeweled metal gauntlet, is all the weapon he needs to dispatch the few foes brave (or foolhardy) enough to attack him. He has no tolerance for failure and seldom thinks twice about submitting even a loyal servant to rigorous tortures to ensure complete obedience to his demanding, regimented doctrine. Though possessed of an unforgiving wrath when aroused, Bane is slow to anger, existing in a perpetual state of controlled burn.

Bane’s tyranny is known throughout the continent, and his is the image most seen as the face of evil. When news of Bane’s destruction during the Time of Troubles made its way throughout Faerun, no fewer than twenty-seven nations declared national festivals of celebration and thanksgiving. The commoner sees Bane’s clerics as petty would-be dictators unafraid to use immoral tactics and unthinkable violence to spread their influence and agenda. The adventurer sees the clergy as constant interlopers and enemies, agents of a rigid, evil philosophy who side with monsters, devils, and savage humanoids to further their wicked ends. Canny nobles glimpse the truest threat, that some of their peers pay homage to the Black Lord to gain through guile and subterfuge what soldiers cannot conquer by force.

Clerics of Bane pray for spells at midnight. Their religion recognizes no official holidays, through servants give thanks to the Black Hand before and after major battles or before a particularly important act of subterfuge. Senior clerics often declare holy days at a moment’s notice, usually claiming to act upon divine inspiration granted to them in dreams. Rites include drumming, chanting, and the sacrifice of intelligent beings, usually upon an alter of black basalt or obsidian. Of late, clerics of Cyric have become a preferred sacrifice, though old favorites such as paladins, unicorns, children, and celestials remain popular with traditionalists. Cleric of Bane most commonly multiclass as fighters, monks, blackguards, or dreadmasters. Those associated with the Cult of the Dragon often multiclass as wearers of purple.

History/Relationships: Even as a human, Bane wanted nothing more than to become the most feared, respected tyrant the world had ever known. However, doing so would require an infusion of arcane power greater than that usually accorded to mortals. Hence, the calculation despot joined forces with the similarly driven humans Bhaal and Myrkul in a pact of mutual assistance that would end in the apotheosis of the entire trio. The three villains adventured across the breadth of Faerun, defeated countless foes, slew one of the Seven Lost Gods, and traveled throughout the Lower Planes before achieving that goal. They benefited from the generosity (or, as some suggest, indifference) of the dispassionate Jergal, who had become bored with his role as patron of strife, death, and the dead. Each grained one-thired Of Jergal’s portfolio and dominated their areas of concern for centuries.

However, even complete control over strife was not enough for Bane, whose desire for supremacy led him, in 1358 DR, to once again team with Myrkul. The pair stole the Tablets of Fate, inscribed by Lord Ao to outline the roles of the deities of Toril. This precipitated the calamitous Time of Troubles, during which bane was slain by Torm the True in a furious battle in the harbor of Tantras. It seemed the Black Lord’s ceaseless ambition had at last led to his destruction. Bane’s church fragmented, with most of the faithful defecting to the clergies of Cyric, who inherited Bane’s portfolios, and Iyachtu Xvim, the progeny of Bane’s coupling with a powerful demon. Agents of weal and freedom breathed easier in those days, knowing that Toril was rid of perhaps its greatest menace.

Those who let down their guard, however, did so rashly, and far too soon. On Midwinter night of 1372 DR, Xvim burst in a conflagration of diabolical green light. From the smoking husk of his remains emerged a newly reinvigorated Bane, his right hand ablaze with green fire. Xvim, it appeared, had been little more than a sentient cocoon, a shell in which grew a festering larva that would, in time, become Bane. Within days, he Xvimlar clergy had converted to the worship f Bane, and a great evil once again cast its calculating stare over the lands of Faerun.

Bane hates virtually the entire Faerunian pantheon but holds special antipathy for Torm, Cyric, Mystra, Tempus, Helm, Lanthander, Oghma, and Ilmater, in that order. He has established a working relationship with Loviatar, Mask, and Talona, but as these deities, desperately fear him, the alliances are not strong.

Dogma: Serve no one but Bane. Fear him always and make others fear him even more than you do. The Black Hand always strikes down those who stand against it in the end. Defy Bane and die – or in death find loyalty to him, for he shall compel it. Submit to the word of Bane as uttered by his ranking clergy, since true power can only be gained through service to him. Spread the dark fear of Bane. It is the doom of those who do not follow him to let power slip through their hands. Those who cross the Black Hand meet their dooms earlier and more harshly than those who worship other deities.

Clergy and Temples: Bane orders his clerics and followers to achieve positions of power within their society, either through force or trickery, and to use that power to further the cause of hate, fear, destruction, and strife. The Black Hand much prefers that his clerics subvert governments and carry out their agendas under cover of the rule of law, but he tolerates a limited amount of discord and debauchery. Torture, beatings, and calculated assassinations frequently come into play in such operations, and rare indeed is the initiate of the Lord of Darkness who does not possess at least rudimentary skill in such enterprises. The church operates under a strict hierarchy – questioning or disobeying the orders of a superior is an insult to Bane’s supremacy, and is punishable by torture, disfigurements, or death.

Bane’s temples tend to reflect the clergy’s regimented doctrines. Tall, sharp-cornered stone structures featuring towers adorned with large spikes and thin windows, most Banite churches suggest the architecture of fortified keeps or small castles. Thin interior passageways lead from an austere foyer to barrackslike common chambers for the lay clergy, each sparsely decorated with tapestries depicting the symbol of Bane or inscribed with embroidered passages from import religious texts. Temples frequently include an exposed central courtyard used for military drills and open air ceremonies, as well as more traditional mass hall for the congregation at large. Most churches feature extensive subterranean dungeons replete with torture chambers, starvations wells and monster pens.

Before the Time of Troubles, Bane’s church was riven by internecine strife, divided into the Orthodox sect (commanded primarily by clerics) and the Transformed church (dominated by wizards). Bane himself encouraged this struggle, appreciating the value of dissention even when applied to his own servants. His long dormancy seems to have cleared his mind on this matter, however, as he has acted personally to eradicate these divisions, even going so far as to name Fzoul Chembryl, the ruler of Zhentil Keep, as his personal Chosen Tyrant and infallible mortal representative. The formerly fractious Banites have made common cause in vicious pogroms against those clerics who turned to Cyric after Bane’s “death” and who have not returned to the fold; their increased cooperation can only lead to foul tidings for the rest of Faerun.

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Chauntea



The Great Mother, the Grain Goddess, Earthmother
Greater Deity
Symbol: Blooming rose on a sunburst wreath of golden grains
Home Plane: House of Nature
Alignment: Neutral good
Portfolio: Agriculture, plants cultivated by humans, farmers, gardeners, summer
Worshipers: Peasants and indentured servants, druids, farmers, gardeners
Cleric Alignments: CG, LG, N, NG
Domains: Animal, Earth, Good, Plant, Protection, Renewal
Favored Weapon: A shock of grain (scythe)



Chauntea (chawn-tee-ah) is as old as Toril itself. Hers is the divine spark that gave life to the natural world, the vibrant, caring spirit infused with the planet at the moment of its creation. Originally a deity of wild places and animal life, Chauntea has grown with her world, changing and adapting to its many developments. The millennia have taught her patience – to the point of being at times ponderous. Chauntea loves the inhabitants of her world, and she likes nothing more than instruction Toril’s denizens on how the land itself might enrich their lives. Hers was the hand that guided the first mortal wanderers to give up the uncertainty of the gatherer for the stability of the field. Today, Chauntea is worshiped as the Great Mother of agriculture, the kinds benefactor who ensures a strong harvest, healthy meals, and robust country living.

Chauntea rarely manifests herself in physical form, preferring to diffuse her essence throughout the living land of Toril. Religious icons depict her as a matronly, middle-aged woman with pale white hair and a welcoming smile. She wields a sturdy shock of grain as both walking staff and weapon, on the unusual occasions in which she finds herself in battle.

Worshiped by farmers, gardeners, agricultural slaves, and any who make their living off the land, Chauntea is seen by most Faerunians as an integral part of the natural cycle of life. Wealthy landowners and simple farmers alike come to the local cleric of the Earthmother for advice on bringing in the harvest or in setting next season’s crop. When foul weather or disease leads to blighted fields, growers turn their gaze and prayers to Chauntea in hopes that her attentions will salvage the seasonal yield. Those who subvert the harvest for ill ends have much to fear from Chauntea’s servants, who take their role as pastoral protectors very seriously.

Chauntea’s clerics and druids pray for spells at sundown. The clergy holds few organized holidays, instead instructing the faithful to give thanks to Chauntea at every sunrise, and in every moment the natural beauty of the world fills them with joy. A long-standing tradition within the church holds that a newly wedded couple should spend their first night together in a freshly tilled field, which is said to ensure a fertile union. Fertility plays an important role in the Chauntean faith, and a hedonistic celebration during Greengrass encourages excessive drinking, eating, dancing, and uninhibited behavior. The clergy observe solemn High Prayers of the Harvest during a ritualized annual ceremony coinciding with the start of the harvest. Chauntea’s clerics most often multiclass as ranger or druids.

History/Relationships: Chauntea is one of the oldest Faerunian deities. Shar and Selune predate her, having given her life when they created the world of Toril. In the ensuing millennia, Chauntea has forged passionate relationships with several deities, many of whom no longer exist in any meaningful form. So too has she battled (and even destroyed) deities who schemed to befoul Chauntea’s world. Some of her worshipers claim that Chauntea is the progenitor of all the mortal races, that the creatures who populate the world first emerged from her womb in the days when the air was quiet and the earth was still. In those early centuries, Chauntea was known as Jannath the Earthmother, a wild deity who ran with animal packs and rejoiced in the unhindered growth of wilderness. Though the people of the Moonshae Isles continue to worship this aspect of the Great Mother, the deity herself has moved on, changing as the world changes.

In the last several hundred years, Chauntea has become enamored with the inhabitant of her world (particularly humans) to the point at which she now focuses her attentions completely on helping them live off the land. She preaches a reverence for nature and urges the folk of civilized lands to repair what they have damaged, but she long ago ceded the wildlands to other deities. This development has led to a cooling of relations with Silvanus – some of his more militant druidic worshipers believe that the Great Mother has betrayed herself and sold out the world to the all-too-rapid encroachment of civilization. Her ties to other nature deities, particularly Shiallia, Mielikki, Lurue, and Eldath, remain strong. She shares a fondness for Lathander that has at times become intimate, and the two deities currently spend a great deal of time together. Chauntea opposes Auril, Malar, Talos, and Umberlee, and she views the return of Bane as a dark omen. Talona, Lady of Poison, is the Great Mother’s most hated foe, as her propensity to bring blight, poison, and disease to the natural world fills Chauntea with great fury.

Dogma: Growing and reaping are part of the eternal cycle and the most natural part of life. Destruction for its own sake and leveling without rebuilding are anathema. Let no day pass in which you have not helped a living thing flourish. Nurture, tend, and plant wherever possible. Protect trees and plants, and save their seeds so that what is destroyed can be replaced. See to the fertility of the earth but let the human womb see to its own. Eschew fire. Plant a seed or a small plant at least once a tenday.

Clergy and Temples: Members of the Great Mother’s clergy divide themselves into two factions of roughly equal size. Those clerics who minister to farmers and agricultural workers in cities, towns, and village refer to themselves as Pastorals, while those of the wilder, older sect that caters to the wilderness call themselves, with a touch of arrogance, the True Shapers. Members of both sects recognize no central authority – theirs is a highly individualistic faith. Chauntea sets out a doctrine outlining a general set of values and taboos, but how each cleric adapts this code for herself and her flock is largely a matter of personal interpretation. The church welcomes members of all races though women vastly outnumber men, perhaps because the religion’s liturgy is infused with references to fertility, motherhood, and femininity.

Clerics and druids of Chauntea often double as farmers or gardeners and Pastorals frequently hold positions of great respect in rural communities. They were usually born in small villages or country farms, and while few eschew cities altogether, most came to the church through an appreciation of natural beauty, a feeling of peace when standing at the center of a tilled field under the light of the midsummer sun. They earn the admiration of their peers by strengthening yields and driving away natural blights or predators with magic spells. They also don’t hesitate to pin up their skirts and join locals at harvest time, keeping farming families healthy and providing an additional pair of hands for even the most arduous and menial tasks. Like their deity, most who serve Chauntea are patient and quiet, slow to anger, and prefer passive diplomacy to open conflict.

Surprisingly, quite a few cities sport temples to the Great Mother, usually large, many-windowed structures that double as granaries or impressive open gardens. In the outlands, most ceremonies take place under the light of the sun or moon, with clerics holding special services in their homes, small shrines, or even barns or haylofts. In such places, clerics and druids of Chauntea instruct congregants on proper methods of planting, identification of plant and animal diseases, and herblore. Many perform marriages and act as midwives for human and animal births. They preach a respect for the natural world and emphasize programs of replanting, careful irrigation, and crop rotation to ensure that the earth is not despoiled.

Militant druids of Silvanus scoff at these lessons, however claiming that the very act of agriculture is an affront to nature. It allows more people to live in a given area that can be sustained in the long term, and hence fosters overpopulation and environmental destruction, despite the best intentions of the Pastorals. They assert that over time, Chauntean agriculture, with its diverted waterflow, drained wetlands, and emphasis in supporting cities, will do irreparable damage to the natural balance. The Pastorals discount them, but such reactionary screeds have caused a great deal of turmoil among the True Shapers (most of whom are themselves druids). Numbers of the more primal Chaunteans have become Silvanites in the last century, leading to a cooling of relations between even the more moderate members of both clergies.

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Cyric

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Eilistraee

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Gond

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Helm



The Watcher, the Vigilant One
Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Staring eye with blue pupil on an upright war gauntlet
Home Plane: House of the Triad
Alignment: Lawful neutral
Portfolio: Guardians, protectors, protection
Worshipers: Explorers, fighters, guards, mercenaries, paladins
Cleric Alignments: LE, LG, LN
Domains: Law, Planning, Protection, Strength
Favored Weapon: “Ever Watchful” (bastard sword)



Helm (helm) is the ultimate guardian, the ever-vigilant sentry who allows nothing to compromise his duty. Often seen as cold and emotionless, he appears as a giant man in full plate armor. In truth, Helm is simply a stern disciplinarian dedicated to his appointed task. He is fond of children and more tolerant of their minor infractions than of anyone else’s. Many believe that Helm would give his own life to guard something entrusted to him. He is silent on the matter.

The church of Helm was once seen as a bastion of stability and safety in the oft-dangerous North. Its member were highly respected for their pledge to defend civilization against the dangers of the wild and monsters of the depths. However, during the past fourteen years it has shrunk greatly in numbers and influence. Helm served his duty faithfully and faultlessly during the Time of Troubles, but he played a role in confining the other deities to Faerun. The death and destruction that resulted from the Avatar Crisis earned the Vigilant One and his followers a great deal of enmity from members of other faiths, particularly those of Mystra, Bane, and Torm. In the South, Helm’s role during the Time of Troubles was not viewed as unfavorable as it was in the North, but recent events have further sullied the name of the deity and his clergy. Word has begun to trickle back to Faerun of the church’s activities in far off Maztica: the brutal and unflinching subjugation of the native populace and the rape of the verdant land’s riches. The church is only just starting to recover, thanks in large part to the need for skilled guardians to defend against the waxing power of evil.

Clerics of Helm pray for their spells n the morning promptly after rising or just before retiring for the evening. Their one holy day is the Ceremony of Honor to Helm, which takes place on Shieldmeet. The most holy major Helmite ceremonies are the Consecration of a Postulant, which confirms a seeker as one of the clergy, and the Consecration of a Glymtul, which dedicates an special item to Helm’s service (glymtul is an ancient word for “favored thing”). Other ceremonies of note are the Purification and the Holy Vigil. The Purification is a renewal of faith undergone by beings returning to the faith or atoning for a shortcoming in vigilance, loyalty, or worship, The Holy Vigil, marks the ascension of a cleric to a higher rank. It is a nightlong ceremony that tests the willpower of the candidate, whose weapon is enspelled to levitate by a senior cleric through ritual magic; the candidate’s concentration keeps it hovering. Clerics of Helm never command undead, although evil clerics may rebuke undead. They most commonly multiclass as fighters or paladins.

History/Relationships: Helm always borne a heavy load, symbolized by his omnipresent suit of armor. As the eternal sentry, he knows that the end of the world will inevitably come on his watch. Nevertheless, he serves without complaint, willing to make any sacrifice to protect his charge. Thus, Helm is implacably opposed to the machinations of Bane, Cyric and Shar, whose insidious plots eternally threaten Faerun. He also fights the unbridle fury and destructive impulses of Garagos and Talos at every turn. Helm is not amused by Mask’s thievery or his jests, viewing the Lord of Shadows as simply another threat to be defeated. Of the good-aligned deities, only Torm truly understands Helm’s unbending commitment to his charge. Relations between the Loyal Fury and the Vigilant One are strong, enough so that the two churches have grudgingly begun to heal the rift between them, at the command of their respective deities.

Dogma: Never betray your trust. Be vigilant, stand, wait, and watch carefully. Be fair and diligent in the conduct of your orders. Protect the weak, poor, injured, and young, and do not sacrifice them for others or yourself. Anticipate attacks and be ready. Know your foes. Care for your weapons so they may perform their duties when called upon. Careful planning always defeats rushed actions in the ends. Always obey orders, providing those orders follow the dictates of Helm. Demonstrate excellence and purity of loyalty in your role as a guardian and protector.

Clergy and Temples: Helmite clergy believe they can win back the rightful power of Helm only through demonstrating excellence of vigilance and purity of loyalty. In their roles as guardians and protectors, they have set about training bodyguards everywhere and spread the word that only Helm-tested worshipers of the Vigilant One are truly reliable. The church of Torm greets such claims coolly, though, ensuring that true rapprochement between the faiths will be long in coming.

Temples of Helm are always imposing edifices built solely for defense. Many are fortified abbeys located near dangerous and evil areas, where they form a line of defense against the encroachment of powerful enemies. Major cities usually have a temple or shrine to Helm, for his clerics make excellent guards or leaders of guards. Wherever they are located, helm’s faithful watch their houses of worship with unceasing vigilance. Frequent guards are spectators, a race of smaller beholderkins, which infuriates the church of Bane and its allied beholders. At the heart of the endless barracks, armories, and training chapels is the central altar, which is always a massive suit of full plate mail. All such suits of armor are holy relics of the faith, having once been worn by one of Helm’s most esteemed champions. All who seek sanctuary are welcome within a temple of Helm, but if they are accused of a crime, they must willingly submit to the local laws of the land and its justice, if lawfully executed. Despite its risks, many accept this condition, for Helm’s followers always ensure that the accused receives a fair trial.

Clerics of Helm wear spotless, shining, full plate armor (often with the everbright property) and open-faced helms, often topped with plumes. They may drape this armor with red cloaks and tabards of steely gray, and such garments – or the armor itself - may be adorned with the Unsleeping Eye in the center of both back and breast. In southern regions, Helmite clergy often wear fine full plate set with gems and worked with gold filigree, accentuating great golden eyes set in the center of the both breastplate and back. In areas where heavily armored clerics are frowned on, the armor is reduced to a set of heavy shoulder plates, but the helm always remains.

The church of Helm is organized into a strict military hierarchy, and every member of the faith can easily determine his or her rank relative to the others. In centuries past all members of the faith ultimately reported to a single Supreme Watcher, but there has been no pontiff of the faith since the Year of the Watching Helm (922 DR). It is whispered, always out of range of known Helmites, that the taint of corruption had spread among the seniormost clergy of the Watcher in that era, and that the deity himself came to smite those who would betray their sacred trust. In the centuries since that purging of the faith, the church of Helm has been ruled by the Council of Helms, an assembly of the elder members of the faith. Chief among its duties is to be ever vigilant against the taint of corruption spreading in its own ranks, a practice that has proved effective in rooting out insidious threats to the faith.

Many Helmite abbeys maintain powerful church armies or sponsor orders of guardians. The Companions of the One True Vision is an order of crusading Helmite clerics and fighters, whose members were known for unswervingly loyalty. Their shock troops followed orders to engage the most difficult objectives without breaking and held the most trying positions against overwhelming odds. Recently, however, members of this order, many of whom served in the Helmite actions in Maztica, have taken a beating in popular reputation. Other orders include a small fellowship of battlefield healers known as the Watchers Over the fallen, a group of dedicated bodyguards called the Everwatch Knights whom Helmite temple hire out to generate revenue, and an order of paladins called the Vigilant Eyes of the Deity.

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Ilmater

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Kelemvor

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Kossuth

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Lathander

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Lolth

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Malar

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Mask