Cultist of Bane

Wicked Zealots of the Dead Three Treasure: Individual, Relics

The adventurers Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul seized divinity but were slain for their hubris. All three have been reborn and are now known as the Dead Three. Each of the Dead Three has inspired wicked cults that follow their paths of tyranny, murder, and necromancy. More than any other gods, the Dead Three directly influence Faerün-and particularly the city of Baldur's Gate —in malign ways. Cultists who receive orders from their patron god directly are often the most ambitious and most dangerous.

Cultist of Bane: Cultists of Bane sow strife, either by directly bullying others or by abusing existing power structures to create division and oppression. Although many cultists of Bane are tyrants capable of influencing large groups of lackeys, other cultists prefer to operate from the shadows. These cultists use their forceful personalities to counsel well-intentioned rulers, turning benign organizations into dictatorships and twisting leaders into tyrants. They tattoo Bane's symbol on their hands as a sign of devotion.

Cultists of Bane, the Faerûn's god of tyranny, strife, and control, seek to reshape the world through absolute order and fear. They operate in highly organized, martial hierarchies, viewing themselves not as mindless destroyers, but as lawful conquerors whose ultimate duty is to control and rule the weak.

Church of Bane: The Church of Bane is the organization dedicated to worshiping, as well as furthering the influence of the deity, Bane. Generally speaking, they are a cruel and power-hungry group of individuals who worship their deity under a strict hierarchy.

Beliefs: The church of Bane believes in subservience and submission within their hierarchy, with junior members bowing, kneeling, or even kissing the feet of their superior, depending on their rank. Superior members are to be followed and obeyed at all times. The rules in the church are of the utmost importance, but those from any other lands or faith are entirely meaningless. Bane's authority and divinity are revered above all else. According to his priests, Bane is to be feared by his faithful and even more feared by the unfaithful. It is the duty of every member of the church of Bane to "spread (his) fear".

Attitude: Banite priests take great pride in their ability to control their actions and avoid succumbing to emotional outbursts. Their outward demeanor is cold and thoughtful, they think carefully before they speak, often preferring sarcasm and "witty banter" rather than overt hostility.

Activities: The overarching goal of Bane's clergy is the charge of seizing or manipulating their way into power in every nation, city-state or freehold in all of Faerûn, to bring them under his influence. Using emotionally manipulative tools such as fear, hatred or greed to sow conflict, war and chaos allows the Black Hand to maintain control over lands too distressed to maintain stability. To this end, priests and followers are encouraged to commit acts such as torture, political infiltration or inciting mayhem with subtlety, cruelty and overall, fear.

Titles:

• High Imperceptor: Serving as the apex in the hierarchy of Bane's church, this leader is the supreme servant of the Black Lord.
• Deep Mystery: A general rank for the higher-tier clergy members including (in descending order) High Inquisitor, Grand Bloodletter, Dark Imperceptor, Imperceptor, Lord/Lady of the Hand, Lord/Lady of Mysteries and Vigilator.
• Dreadmaster: A title granted to certain priests of Bane that mostly keep low-level positions within the church.

Knightly orders:

• Knights of the Black Gauntlet: An order of black knights and helmed horrors from the city of Mintar led by Lord Knight Imperceptor Teldorn Darkhope.

Monastic Orders:

• Order of the Iron Gauntlet: A small sect of Bane worshipping monks within the Zhentarim, specially trained in stealth and assassination. In 1372 DR, they were led by the Half-elf Mara Kalaliv, who had been commanded by Scyllua Darkhope to recruit and train up the monastic order.

Rituals: Rituals of Bane are to be performed whenever ordered by senior clergy members and hold no correlation to any seasonal shifts, marks on the calendar or specific holy days. They are held either outdoors at night, or in a space of darkness, such as darkened chambers, caves or ruins with only dim lighting. A Black Altar is prepared; consisting of a plain stone block which, if obsidian is unavailable, is painted black or draped in black fabric. To accompany the altar is either a floating, stone Hand of Bane or, failing that, an empty black throne facing its direction. Services include rhythmic chanting, the rolling beating of drums and the sacrifice of an intelligent creature's life. To prepare for this life to be given to Bane, the oblatory life is to be demeaned and tortured until they show him due fear.

Temples:

• The Obsidian Chapel: the temple to Bane that stood in Anauroch and housed the enchanted Loviatan weapon - the Icon of Power. The temple was plundered by Bedine raiders sometime long before 1281 DR.
• A temple of Bane could be found in Undermountain. The sect that maintained that temple still worshiped Bane following his demise during the Time of Troubles. By mid 14th century DR, the leadership of the temple was taken over by wizards as they still had access to spells, unlike loyal baneites. Eventually, the Undermountain temple was abandoned by living followers of Bane, leaving only baneguard to defend it from scavengers and adventurers.
• The Black Lord's Altar in Mulmaster, considered for a time to be the centre of power for the High Imperceptor and Banite church.
• The Black Altar in Zhentil Keep, the result of a splinter in the church instigated by Fzoul Chembryl. It was destroyed a number of times, contested, and at different stages was reconsecrated to both Cyric and Iyachtu Xvim.
• The House of the Black Lord in the Ruins of Zhentil Keep, originally dedicated to the tyrant god's progeny, Iyachtu Xvim.
• The largest temple of Bane in the time between his death, and subsequent return, was the Black Lord's Cloak in the city of Mourktar in the land of Threskel. It was led by the self-appointed Dread Imperceptor Kabbarath Telthaug, who separated himself and his clergy from the greater church of Bane some time before the Time of Troubles. The temple was served by over 700 ranked Banite priests, posessed a clergy of over 1000 and even had a loyal and disciplined army, who had enjoyed numerous victories in Chessenta.

Equipment: Clergy of the church of Bane dress in black and are sure to always remain armed. For ceremonial purposes, the priests adorn black armor draped in blood-red capes while mages don ceremonial black robes that have been affixed with illusion spells to present shimmering black stars or blood spilling out. The prestige and rank of the individual Banite is evident by the craftsmanship of their armor or robes. When on a mission outside their temples, the priests keep in their armor and mages wear more appropriate, although similarly themed, traveling robes. No member of the church adorns vestments that would hamper their attempts of subterfuge or infiltration, if it is so needed in their service of Bane. Unfortunately, the popularity of facial tattoos among Bane's faithful often makes them stand out regardless of what they wore. Many Banites bear baneswords, enchanted longswords that are forged in great number for the Black Lord's clergy.

History: The church of Bane began its entrenchment in Zhentil Keep, or what was then-called Flostren's Hold, in the mid-8th century DR. Long before the beginning of the Era of Upheaval, due in part to the ambitions of one Fzoul Chembryl, there was a great schism within the church of Bane. A fierce rivalry emerged between the orthodox and Transformed sects of his worship.

Splintering: After Bane's death during the Time of Troubles, his church underwent significant changes and the rift between his warring sects intensified. Even more troubling, The Mad God Cyric assumed his portfolio, granted spells to his priests and attempted to convert them to his direct worship. The Orthodox members of the faith saw Cyric as Bane's new form and, along with former faithful of Bhaal and Myrkul, were adamant followers of the Prince of Lies. The group of Banites that followed the Transformation saw Bane as truly dead, insisting that Cyric assumed his portfolio of strife. They maintained a reverence of that office of power and Cyric as its holder. Some more smaller sects of Bane-worship emerged in this time such as the ultra-orthodox Risen Cult of Bane in the Moonshae Isles. They maintained that Bane was still alive following the Avatar Crisis and that Cyric, whom they referred to as "the Pretender", usurped his power and would face a divine punishment upon Bane's return. By 1361 DR almost all of Bane's clergy had converted to the worship of Cyric, with few holdouts in the Moonsea and more specifically Zhentil Keep. By this time Cyric had grown impatient and frustrated and his followers carried out an inquest against the remaining Banites in Zhentil Keep that would come to be known as the Banedeath. Over the period of a tenday, all remaining temples, shrines or other evidence of Bane's worship were purged from the city. The last remnants of the true church of Bane went underground while a small group began reverence to Iyachtu Xvim, Bane's divine son. The High Imperceptor of Bane went in hiding during these years.