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Aug 26, 2024

Deities and Clergy: Bhaal

Revamped

Link: Disclaimer regarding D&D "canon" & Index [tldr: D&D lore is a giant conflicting mess. Larian's lore is also a conflicting mess. You learn to take what you want and leave the rest]

I think I lost my mind: I did this before, but this time I decided to redo it with far more detail by dragging out even more sources, and go into Bhaal himself. When I say 'long' I mean '12,419 words, 17 pages long.' Just to let you know before you click 'read more.' Fuck, I don't even know if it's coherently edited at this stage, but here's every scrap of Bhaalist lore I can find. I'll even put it in the tags this time, why not. Witness the chaos.

The full dogma A brief coverage of Bhaal's sacred symbols and the creatures he acts through. Worshipping Bhaal: the opening to a prayer, who, why and how one worships Bhaal including a bit about how to use the altar

The Priesthood: what their objective is, the do's and don'ts, the hierarchy and responsibilities, the cults, what you get for being Chosen, the funerary customs, the different places of worship available, and histories and schisms. Don't live in Baldur's Gate.

Bhaal: His personality, the world he wants to see, 'the owlbear is your great-great nephew by the way,' his parenting skills, his realm, his relationships with other deities, his avatar and manifestations and powers, more on his divine servitors and the butlers, and his brief history.

(...Why the tentacles though?)

‘Make all folk fear Bhaal. Let your killings be especially elegant, or grisly, or seem easy so that those observing them are awed or terrified. Tell folk that gold proffered to the church can make the Lord of Murder overlook them for today. ‘Murder is natural. Slaying is what all creatures in Faerûn do, daily if they can. At least daily, slay something living—and the Lord of Murder is most pleased if the victim is one of your own kind and as formidable as, or more powerful than, you. Kill with swift skill, not by torture, forced suicide, falls, or collisions. Do it personally, with ever-greater deftness and elegance, and teach others the skills and the delights of slaying. ‘Deathbringers are to slay with enough skill that witnesses are impressed. They are always to challenge those more powerful than themselves, the clergy of other deities being prize targets. Slay with pleasure, but never with anger. Be in exquisite control of yourself. Utter the name of Bhaal so the victim can hear it. Ideally, it should be the last word a victim hears.’ - Bhaal’s Dogma

Holy Symbol: ‘The Circle of Tears’ A human skull surrounded by a circle of sixteen bloody teardrops going counter-clockwise – the blood of the murdered and the tears of grief shed for their death, known as the ‘Tears of Bhaal.’

Sacred colours: Black, deep purple, violet (possibly silver) Sacred animals: N/A Sacred stones: N/A Sacred monsters: The Undead (particularly skeletal undead), the Haarla of Hate, ‘many tentacled monsters,’ Imps (employed as butlers), Perytons, Owlbears, Displacer Beasts, Bhaalspawn

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Worship:

‘O mighty Bhaal, Reveller in Blood, master of my destiny…’ - The opening of a prayer to Bhaal - Darkwell

‘Few openly admit to worshipping the Lord of Murder, but there is an unspoken assumption that anyone who benefits from violent death has some respect for Bhaal.’ - Descent into Avernus

Bhaal is god of murder, patron deity of assassins, and formerly the god of death in general (I’ll get to that later). He is worshipped by those who desire somebody’s death and those who cause it (including more non-evil-aligned mercenaries and bounty hunters as well as your stereotypical evil assassins), and supplicated by those who seek to avoid it. While it has been implied he once held greater status, his limited domain means he isn’t the most widely venerated god in the world and the people who would worship him exclusively and join the priesthood are uncommon. Like all evil deities he has a ‘legitimate’ form of worship that makes him more sympathetic to the common people and that’s vigilante killings of criminals, where he overlaps with and cooperates with Hoar.

Faerûnians pay homage to the Lord of Murder for ‘his overlook’ whenever they are at risk of death by violence; for example when setting out on journeys (which, due to the dangerous nature of the world always carries a risk of death), or whenever death and violence is occurring around them and they hope – if somebody you know is murdered then the tradition, encouraged by Bhaalists, is to make an offering to Bhaal in the hopes of averting his further attentions. Bhaal despises all that lives as a stain upon the perfection of death, good only for the joy of killing them and drinking their lifeblood, and only those that offer homage to him gain his tolerance.

Even during calmer times people are encouraged to make an offering to the nearest temple or shrine (or visiting Bhaalists from the nearby fortress doing the rounds). As with most gods, Bhaal usually takes offerings in the form of cash and other material gains as well, offered while saying prayer. How these rates work hasn’t been described, and probably varies. The dogma specifically says ‘for today,’ so it’s possibly a daily offering, or perhaps you can buy lengths of time (like, ‘1gp per day, 8gp for a tenday, for the low price of 1000gp you can enjoy a whole year, murder free!’) Donating land deeds and buildings to the temple or shrine in your testament (your will) is always greatly appreciated by Faerûnian faiths.

Such tithe collection is accomplished through ‘frightening common folk into placing offerings of coinage and valuables before Bhaalists.’ As the priests should not be identifiable and will likely be recognised by wearing their full ceremonial hoods and veils (designed for intimidation as well as anonymity) and none but the faithful may not know the location of a place of worship, let alone enter one, this is presumably done in a fashion akin to simply walking through the streets (possibly after a recent murder) as people hurriedly place valuables in the path in ‘before them,’ or maybe into an offering bowl being carried, possibly with a quickly mumbled ‘hail the Lord of Death’ thrown in. (It is believed that to touch a Myrkulyte is to bring death, and many physically avoid being near or sometimes looking at Myrkul’s Reapers lest they draw the god’s attention (which is encouraged because it keeps the fear from spilling over into violence against the priesthood). It’s not unimaginable that Bhaalists would have something similar going on, and they are stated to be ‘darkly popular’ and ‘still command respect and fear throughout Baldur's Gate’ even if not reverence.)

Offerings are also made to Bhaal for success by those who are setting out to kill another person; mercenaries and bounty hunters out to collect bandit heads, a battered spouse taking a knife to their sleeping abuser, a vigilante in a corrupt city hunting violent criminals who will never see legal justice, and assassins killing for money, all pay their dues to the god whose domain they are stepping in (some of them alongside Hoar, god of vengeance and one of Bhaal’s allies).

Bhaal was also worshipped by in the Guge kingdom of Eastern Faerûn by the spirit-folk known as the Gugari, now isolated in the Hollow Crown Mountains, where he is revered as the god of death Niynjushigampo. Their ruling class is obsessed with the royal bloodline which, coupled with their insular society, means they are inbred to high hell. Death rites and necromancy are a big part of society, and executing people for public entertainment is a popular activity at festivals (or noble parties). Which is a fair idea of what a primarily Bhaalist society looks like, I guess (surprisingly, murder is still illegal. Very little else is).

Prayers to Bhaal occur during the hours of darkness involve sacrifices of both victim’s blood and/or the supplicant’s (the sacrifice of blood and life is to ‘offer [one/one’s blood] as Tears of Bhaal,’).

Creating and maintaining an altar requires regularly anointing it with your own freely given blood to feed your Lord, done by gouging their thumbs. This leaves a subtle mark, kept visible by regular prayer, that allows worshippers of Bhaal to recognise each other. The blood is then smeared over the eye-sockets to form tears of the altar’s skull, which serves as a stand-in for Bhaal himself – this may be a large steel mask placed on the wall above it, or sitting in the centre of the altar in the form of a real human head or an expensive marble statue.

‘Carved from white marble, it was perhaps four times the size of a human head. Red streaks, which could only have been fresh blood, ran from the eyes of the skull across its cheekbones in a garish caricature of tears. ‘ - Black Wizards

‘Hanging on the wall above the altar is a three-foot-tall steel mask cast in the form of a frowning human skull.’ - Descent into Avernus

When stepping away from the altar one is to bow to the skull sitting in the centre of the altar in reverence before turning away.

Bathing in blood appears to serve some ritual purpose for Bhaalists, although the significance and purpose has not been explained.

Clerics pray for their spells just after sundown before retiring for the night (assuming they have no work – ritual sacrifices always take place at midnight. Priests occasionally take a day off work from their day job and regular life to sleep in order to conserve their energy, particularly before going out on the hunt.) In temples and fortresses a mass known as the Day’s Farewell is held at sundown.

Something from word of god which didn’t get into the published realms for various reasons, including the Satanic Panic, but which does kind of crop up in Baldur’s Gate 3 is this:

‘Sex is used in rituals in specific (narrow) ways, for worship of the deity and "improvement of self to make the self a better servant of the deity as well as more pleasing to the deity and therefore more favored by the deity.”’ - Ed Greenwood

‘Once Bhaal's favour has quickened within one oh his beloved murderers, the bliss of his love is nigh-indescribable. For he blesses his loyal with a new sensation: a mindless, instinctual, primal sensation that comes within the bowels, an erotic spasmthat washes over the killer, in the moment of murder. It is said that in that instant, his Divine Essence can almost be tasted. Forsake all other hedonisms, acolytes, for nothing can compare. Until the true ecstasies of murder wash over you, initiates, this scroll contains a prayer, you may say after a kill, calling for the Lord's disgrace to find its course in your body.’ - A recording of a sermon, one of several out of the way examples of Bhaal being a touch invasive found in Baldur’s Gate 3

There are several references to the Dark Urge going grave digging, with necrophiliac undertones. Whether that’s part of the above, or just Durge things is up in the air.

(While the priest giving the sermon says to forsake hedonisms, Bhaalists very much have been depicted engaging in every hedonism their whims take them to and Bhaal didn’t particularly care, so it doesn’t appear to be a sin within the faith, just a turn of phrase or this one priest’s opinion.)

Priesthood:

‘The land of these mortals would become a land of death—a nation ruled by the dead, over the dead. No living thing would mar it ‘ - Black Wizards

‘When you are finished, when my will has been done, there will be not a single living creature upon this land that is not beholden to me. This island shall become a monument to death!’ - Darkwell

To the west of the Dragonreach worshippers – those who venerate Bhaal as a patron deity, rather than simply placating him as part of the larger pantheon – are known as ‘Bhaalists,’ and to the East they are ‘Bhaalyn.; Priests of Bhaal are known, generically and regardless of rank, as ‘deathbringers.’

Priests are to greet each other and supplicating lay worshippers with ‘Praises to Bhaal.’ To which the correct response is ‘Hail the Lord of Death.’

The primary purpose of the priesthood, expanding the Lord of Murder’s power and rule aside, is to sate his eternal lust for blood with a steady supply of victims. Bhaal has even been known to desire the blood of specific mortals and command his priests to sacrifice these on his altar – albeit these are usually ones that have personally crossed him, or who serve gods who have done so (Cyricists, Lathanderites, Chaunteans, Lliirans, Helmites, Tyrrans, Ilmatari and Tormites. Mystrans and Maskarrans may or may not be on the list nowadays). Once Bhaal has requested a specific victim on his altar – communicated through dream vision, typically – the Bhaalists will vehemently refuse to allow any but his faithful to slay them.

Bhaalists tend to be – and are encouraged to be – charismatic and outwardly charming (and if you really can’t manage there are cleric spells that can help). Build your people skills, make friends and allies. But of course the prime requisite of the job is that underneath all that charm is a violent sadistic streak and the ability to find joy and ecstasy in killing (which is required in order to serve Bhaal). Death is not simply a pastime or a means of employment for a Bhaalist; it is a calling and a holy duty.

Bhaalists are probably like most faiths, where the majority of their number come from orphans taken in by priests and raised from birth to serve the temple/shrine and its god. Considering their isolated and cloistered communities, I don’t think it unlikely that many are also born into their environments. The most common form of recruitment outside of that comes from what are effectively red rooms – anonymous meetings where all are masked and veiled and may gather to witness criminals and other hated figures whose death won’t be considered a crime by the mob being ‘righteously’ slain and sacrificed for the pleasure of both Bhaal and the crowd. Those who join the cult have the privilege of selecting the next sacrifice, and some of those may even graduate into the inner circles and become true Bhaalists and join the clergy.

Deathbringers are generally aware of their deity’s hatred and insatiable hunger and that they are not exceptions to it so long as they still breathe, for all that they are given a pass and even approval. They are also awarethat even if they have doubts about this that their life is immediately forfeit ‘if [their] master should suspect anything less than total obedience.’

Clerical garb, worn while hunting in the city at night or while at the shrine or temple, takes the form of black or deep purple robes with deep hoods and veils that are designed to fully obscure the wearer, giving the impression of an empty set of robes. It’s possible that black robes show that the priest is a Deathstalker and purple the regular priests, although it could simply be a regional thing that varies by location. The inner lining is black, to enhance the effect. The robes will be randomly and violently dashed with splashes and steaks of violet dye. The higher ranks of the clergy are distinguished by adding a scarlet sash around their waist, used to make their ranks easily distinguished in dimly-lit settings where nobody can see each others’ faces due to the veil.

Each deathbringer has a ceremonial curved short blade on the belt that may be used in rituals; only Deathstalkers such as the High Primate [PRIME-et] has the right to wield it as an actual weapon. These daggers are cursed so that if anybody but the faithful draw them from their sheath they won’t be able to release the weapon until they’ve used it to take a life. Attempts to otherwise remove the dagger, such as by magic like remove curse, will cause the blade to violently explode, spraying its surroundings (and the thief) with lethally toxic shrapnel.

Outside of ceremonial wear, while on guard duty or travelling Bhaalists are to wear black chausses and a black cloak, plus whatever armour they use (typically leather or chain, probably also dyed black). They may also be wearing their robes over the armour.

While priests are to dedicate themselves to murder and sating Bhaal’s endless bloodlust above all else, Bhaal encourages his followers to pursue ‘personal wealth and hobbies’ and ingratiate themselves to the halls of power. Bhaalists spend a great chunk of their life on murder (planning crimes; debating the philosophy of death and violence; building weapons collections; finding and mastering new murder methods; getting enough training, rest and food to stay healthy and capable, etc), and Bhaal will reprimand flights of vanity and self-indulgence when they interfere too much with holy duties or his commands, but he is at worst indifferent to his gollower’s avaricious tendencies and whatever luxuries and indulgences they opt to spend their spare time and the clerical powers he gives them on. Something Bhaal will not tolerate is disobedience, and deathbringers spend a lot of time watching their own thoughts and apologising for having them if they feel too rebellious.

Bhaalists outside of their own faith communities maintain a daytime identity: in worship they are anonymous; their worship is always behind closed doors in the company of fellow Bhaalists, their identities obscured by veils and hoods; outside of the temples and shrines they live a perfectly normal life. On the lower end of the hierarchy they prefer to take jobs that allow them to move around unnoticed, gather information, and observe the public for potential victims assuming that the job doesn’t allow them easy access to victims. On the higher end of the hierarchy they like to take positions of power and control.

Funerary Customs

Bhaalists are buried with their daggers.

They practice mummification (although this may have become less popular over time since -100 DR-ish) transforming volunteers into mummy lords to protect holy sites and tombs (and presumably also using invaders to create lesser undead enslaved for the same purposes). It might or might not be part of a marriage-like thing, as one dude back in Ascore named Rethkan agreed to the process on behalf of his lover, the priestess Asharla-Rhil. Then again there were basically no details as to that situation, so maybe she tricked him to it. Idk the situation is up for interpretation.

Although in the Realms – especially where Bhaalists are involved – this is a… unique twist on a funeral in that the deceased begins the process alive and is slowly murdered and converted into undeath by keeping the soul and mind active and anchored even as the body dies, while removing their internal organs, embalming them, and cycling the positive energy that keeps them alive out for the negative energy that sustains the undead. As a side effect, the trauma and the ever-hungry void that is negative energy instils a murderous hatred of all that lives. Which, I suppose, is a bonus if you’re a Bhaalist.

To Bhaalists the only holy day worth celebrating is the Feast of the Moon. While the world honours the dead, the Bhaalists specifically revere their own fallen faithful now gone to Bhaal, by telling stories of their most impressive murders. A favourite is of Uthaedeol the Blood-Drenched, the model Bhaalist who – as he couldn’t simply teleport into his target (King Samyte of Tethyr)’s room due to wards, as the man had been forewarned of an assassination attempt – teleported onto a pegasus flying above the throne room, killed the rider, forced the horse into a lethal dive through the skylight and into the throne room to get around the wards (using a fly spell to survive the fall himself), killed the black dragon the king had bound into his service with one blow by punching it in the eye (using his own variation of the disintegrate spell that he never shared the secret to with anyone), used its acidic breath weapon to propel himself over to the other side of the room (he had acid resistance) and then caused all the arrows the guards had been firing at him (which missed) to fly backwards and kill the archers who fired them, and then killed the king in combat, effectively slicing him to pieces (along with any more soldiers that tried to interfere). He then cast a delayed meteor swarm on the throne room, to be activated the next time anybody tried to cast a spell in there (presumably insurance against divination spells), and a blade barrier by the doors that would activate when the next blood relatives of the king stepped through, and then he teleported away – he managed to assassinate the kings two heirs after leaving the scene when the two eldest sons next arrived in the throne room and triggered the blade barrier, as planned.

(This level of crazy-prepared overkill is an inspiration to Bhaalists everywhere.)

Duties

Bhaalists may not hope or pray to Bhaal be spared from death, to desire such seems to be blasphemy.

Bhaalists are obligated by their faith to teach combat skills – and possibly hunting – to all who ask, and are available for hire as tutors.

Work goes into infiltrating and controlling three areas; crime syndicates, law enforcement and the nobility, eliminating obstacles to their holy duty.

Take care to ‘let economically and socially important individuals live unharmed,’ unless they happen to be significant obstacles to the goals of the faith. Do not kill rich people. Do not upset the governing powers of the city. Do not upset the nobles. By being useful to those in power rather than upsetting them you get situations where Bhaalists may establish temples and enjoy freedom; like Thay, where the Red Wizards quite happily sponsored and financed the Tower of Swift Death in exchange for the assassins’ work on furthering ‘the Glory of Thay;’ and Baldur’s Gate, where the intrigues of the nobles and the violence of law enforcement and rebels makes praying to Bhaal ‘darkly popular,’ and Bhaalists can near enough do whatever they like ‘so long as the city's important citizens aren't harmed.’ That is to say, the ones in the Upper City.

They are encouraged to not target civilians too much, but to go after those who will not be missed (passing adventurers, vagrants, the homeless) and those whose deaths will more likely be celebrated (criminals and outlaws). In Baldur’s Gate this means most activity should happen in the Outer City, as the residents are not actually Baldurian by law, and there there’s so much murder there (a lot of it not even Bhaalist in origin) that there are entire ‘snuff streets’ where people dump the corpses.

Bhaalists are to found and be patrons to assassins and thieves guilds. Assassins and organisations that profit from killing people but do not pay homage to the Lord of Murder and his followers are to be routed and destroyed for their blasphemy.

50% of valuables taken from kills are owed to either the temple or to be handed over to the senior priest who serves as one’s ‘handler.’ The other 50% goes towards yourself and should be used to advance yourself in order to ‘continue [your] holy work.’ The likes of land deeds, buildings and holdings that can be stolen you are encouraged to keep and use to enrich and spread the influence of yourself and the church.

Killing one living being a day is mandatory, but not all of them must be people. Only once a tenday must a sapient being be offered as a tear, preferably using a member of one’s own race. Failing to deliver requires two kills per one missed.

In order to keep the kill ‘pure’ there is a list of conditions: - The kill cannot be sullied by emotion; you must commit the deed with a clear head and perfect awareness of what you do. - The kill must be for Bhaal alone; you may not take payment for this kill, and assassination jobs do not count towards your regular sacrifices. - The kill should least be capable of fighting back, if not stronger that you.- - The victim must be slain quickly and without torture; torture is not Bhaal’s way, but honours the ways of gods like Loviatar (to whom the pain leading into death is holy) and Bane (who feeds on the fear, and the power the torturer holds over their victim). Poison, while acceptable for assassination work, presumably doesn't count for sacrifices to Bhaal (Talona's domain) - The method and end result can be ‘grisly,’ but the kill itself must be a testament to your skill – swiftly and smoothly done. - You must take pleasure in the act – your joy and the skills you have honed and place on display for the Lord of Murder’s pleasure are a form of worship, and they empower him as much as the death itself. - The victim must be marked as an offering and informed for whom their life was taken before they die; they are to be told ‘Bhaal awaits thee, Bhaal embraces thee, none escape Bhaal.’

Once the victim is dead you are to smear your hands with the blood and draw the circle of tears near the body with it. If the offering is pure and Bhaal is pleased you will know due to the blood vanishing from your hands, and also by receiving a murder orgasm, apparently. Bhaalists are encouraged to strip the dead, and anything in their property should you be there, subject to the rules mentioned earlier. They are also to take a trophy from the body. This may be anything from a valuable like a piece of jewellery they’re wearing, a personal possession, to a body part (a hand, a heart, a finger, a severed head...). The trophy is to be offered up on an altar to Bhaal.

In their off time Bhaalists will generally dress in the same colours as their ceremonial regalia [black and deep purple], seeing as they are sacred to their faith. Though unlike some deities (Bane), I haven’t seen anything that says its mandatory religious wear. Taboos around dress for all faiths’ clergy revolve around hues and symbols, so I would imagine that those that are sacred to Bhaal’s enemies are also forbidden (which gets a tad awkward, as Cyric did steal Bhaal’s colours, but enemies can still overlap (something about specific hues)).

Assuming that’s the case: forbidden colours include: white, yellow, green, steel-grey, red (except for the ceremonial sash), orange, rose pink, blue. forbidden images are: seeds; song birds and passerines; red hens; sprites; trees; white doves; mice; most flowers, including daisies, white roses, aster, pansies…; butterflies; kittens and puppies; rainbows; bears; large cats; gold dragons; silver dragons; pegasi. forbidden gemstones: opals, agates, rhodochrosites, star rose quartzes, jasmals, fire opals, diamonds.

Places of Worship

Fortresses Hidden rural citadel-abbeys that house private Bhaalist communities: agents travel to nearby villages, towns and cities to solicit customers and worshippers to hire the assassins, who are trained in and operate from the fortress. May or may not overlap with temples. It seems like these are generally where you’ll find the ‘heart’ of the faith with the hierarchical structure; outside of them it’s mostly assassins at work, agents infiltrating and manipulating the local laws and rulers, and decentralised cults recruiting worshippers and servants and spreading fear of Bhaal.

Urban Temples Temples of Bhaal within non-Bhaalist settlements are rare. Those that exist are dark, subterranean structures beneath the city streets. Attached catacombs contain the bodies and trophies of victims offered to Bhaal (many of whom are ‘restless,’ and liable to be enlisted into the service of the priests and temples). Aside from the occasional morbid mosaic or sculpture displaying violent deaths (these also tend to be trapped in the event of intruders attempting to defile them), and any valuables that were taken from sacrificial victims as trophies, the structure is utterly spartan.

Urban Shrines The most common place to worship Bhaal outside of a Bhaalist citadel: lone Bhaalists in settlements where the faith is poorly established have private shrines hidden in their home. When they’re more organised these shrines are likely to be found in basements or in the private backrooms of fancy high-end establishments, where the previously described red rooms are held.

Rural Shrines Stone circles built on barren hilltops, consisting of a ring of teardrop shaped stones carved with skulls surrounding a bloody altar to form the Circle of Tears.

Hierarchy

The church historically has been split into two larger factions, the urban, temple-based Bhaalists and the Deathstalkers; Bhaal’s selected speciality priests who serve him directly, and whom the temple hierarchy is overseen by. Between the two they form something that roughly corresponds to a Catholic monastic hierarchy overseen by an Archbishop, sans pope or any other form of global centralisation. Obviously, as is stressed now and again, Toril is not Earth, and these aren’t perfect comparisons, but still give an idea of what the role is for.

The places of worship all operate independently of each other, having their internal hierarchy (Primate/Primistress > First Murder > the Council of Cowled Deaths > the Deathbringers (amongst whom one may find other, minor ranking systems)). Each of these temples, shrines, citadels and cults answers to the regional central authority: the High Primate or High Primistress, a high ranking Deathstalker and member of the Brethren of the Keen Strike.

One is promoted through the ranks of the temples by accomplishing being sent out on a mission to commit a ritualistic murder with nothing but ones’ bare hands. Going by how these things are usually described, and the personal closeness to a deity required for high level clerics, Bhaal is likely personally involved in the process of deciding who gets promoted and how (communicating via dreams rather than manifestations being the most likely for him). The rituals built around this are apparently ‘solemn’ affairs. On success one reports back to a higher ranking priest for a private interview. Bhaalists are known for their uncanny ability to spot when somebody is lying about these things, and also known for the horrific punishments they hand out for attempted deception. On a successful promotion, there is a full formal ceremony (marked by human sacrifice, naturally).

The four highest ranks are positions of eminence:

The highest rank in the entire hierarchy is the High Primate [PRIME-et, not pri-MATE like an ape or monkey], or High Primistress. Elected from the ranks of the Deathstalkers, as said. The High Primate is the ruler of an entire area or faction of Bhaalists, tasked with planning ‘proper strategies of manipulating nearby rulers, inhabitants and organisations into the deeds and behaviour that the Bhaalyn desired,’ which takes up most of their time. They presumably appoint individual primates and determine Bhaalist doctrine, the direction of the faith (and its temples and shrines), and ecclesial law – and in BG3 the equivalent of a synod appears to be a fight to the death where the winner gets the job and the right to make the rules.

Within the walls of temples and fortresses (walled and secluded rural Bhaalist communities) the rank and file answer to the Primate or Primistress, roughly equivalent to an abbot.

The First Murder is described as holding a rank equivalent to a prior, presumably a claustral prior, answering to the Primate. They serve as a personal assistant and technically have no power save by proxy when the Primate delegates a task to them.

The nine most senior clergy beneath them form the Cowled Deaths, chosen from those who hold office within their community, who answer directly to the First Murder. If the First Murder is a prior then these are presumably the sub-priors; their job is to do the rounds and ensure that nothing is amiss and the rank and file are behaving and being suitably pious. They likely don’t pass judgements or perform discipline themselves, instead simply passing it onto the First Murder, and then the higher ranks will decide what to do within the law defined by the High Primate.

Answering to Cowled Deaths are the Deathdealers – the common rank and file of the Bhaalist faith, who may be divided into further, lesser local hierarchies, but all of whom can be refered to with the title ‘Slaying Hand’.

As well as the hierarchy there are the cults operating outside of them, presumably founded by deathdealers or deathstalkers, these are decentralised and loosely organised, rarely gathering in one place. Within Baldur’s Gate in the 15th century the cults have three ranks: Night Blade, Reaper and Death’s Head. Comprised of a variety of people who worshippers of Bhaal varying from individual agents like freelance killers for hire, to the people who gather in the ‘back rooms’ - the angry and oppressed seeking bloody justice the law won’t deliver and those who simply get off on watching people die. Cults may share a base of operation but for the most part aren’t a larger organised force and don’t have anything to do with other Bhaalists in the city other than being able to recognise each other by the gash in their thumbs. The cultists are not clerics, but they do receive blessings in the form of powers from their god, and presumably some may be recruited to become Deathdealers.

The Brethren of the Keen Strike ‘Deathstalkers’

The Bretheren of the Keen Strike is the holy Bhaalist assassin order consisting of Bhaal’s most zealous followers, its members titled Deathstalkers.

To qualify for membership the candidate must meet Bhaal’s personal approval, either being selected by a priest who presents the idea to Bhaal or actively chosen by Bhaal. They exist outside the church hierarchy as independent agents answering only to their god, though the church hierarchy may answer to them (via the High Primate). They aren’t attached to a single church, fortress or shrine and instead usually wander the realm undertaking missions, doing Bhaal’s will and spreading death and fear wherever they go.

Candidates must know, or will be trained in prior to initiation, the basics of stealth and wilderness survival (emphasis on tracking and hunting) and must have spent some a decent degree of time in service to Bhaal amongst the regular clergy (level 5, meaning they probably held one of the higher ranks in the temple hierarchy). Clerics must have the death and destruction domains. The majority are clerics, and many are multi-classed as rangers, barbarians, fighters or rogues, though other classes may be seen.

They must kill sixteen victims – one for each Tear of Bhaal on the holy symbol – either with sixteen different methods, or sixteen different weapons. As usual these are sacrifices and cannot involve ‘accidents,’ falls or forced suicide, and the candidate must slay with a clear mind, no personal attachments, and take joy in the deeds.

Upon their initiation the Deathstalker receives the right to wield their sacred blade in combat and assassinations, and are trained to use it with ‘devestatingly potent in aim and effect (fatal or nearly fatal)’. A Deathstalker is capable of formulating and carrying out a plan to kill or incapacitate you within three minutes of setting eyes on you for the first time (three minutes is not a metaphor). Apparently you also get a snazzy invisibility cloak out of the deal nowadays… or maybe that’s just if you have a mothering imp butler who might’ve knitted it for you as a graduation present.

They wield the powers of the deity himself, albeit to much more limited and milder extents. Training includes: • Drawing weapons (and throwing them at targets) with alarming speed. • Sneak attacks, if you didn’t already have those. If you did then your sneak attacks become even more dangerous. • Many athletic abilities (climbing, sneaking around, moving silently) • Quickly assessing their surroundings using their senses and using that to their advantage. • Enough knowledge of anatomy to know how to instantaneously wreck a living body. • Crafting (presumably in the sense of making their own weaponry); • Subterfuge (gathering information, reading body language and subtle cues, intimidation, bluff, diplomacy) • Constructing false identities, forgeries and disguises • How to live off the land outside of civilisation and without aid. • How to fight in armour from padded through to chain-mail. Shields are forbidden. • Magic; those to the effect of charm, combat, summoning, attack spells and a touch of divination particularly stand out.

As Bhaal’s speciality priests, Members of the Brethren of the Keen strike are gifted with the gods own abilities. They are disciplined killers, and well organised (i.e. required to be Lawful Evil in alignment).

‘Attraction/Disdain’ The ability to turn an emotion or opinion inside out for 1-20 hours by touching a person: Those in the grip of panic relax and feel comfort. A loving couple despise each other. Disgust becomes lust. Technically it’s meant for forming alibis, diverting suspicion, and calming hostilities. As you can probably spot from the name, it also functions as a magical date rape drug, and Bhaalists have canonically used it for ‘recreational’ purposes.

‘Bloodlust’ Also known as ‘The Urge to Slay.’ Tapping into an individual’s hates and rages, dragging them out and stirring them into a blind homicidal rage that drives them to kill.

‘Decay’

‘Tristan filled another bucket, but suddenly gagged as a surprising stench assailed his nostrils. Gasping, he dropped the bucket and staggered backward. Maggots spilled from the container to slither about the hull. He struggled to voice his shock but no sound emerged. More maggots seethed from the hull of the boat, and he felt the wood grow spongy beneath his feet. The sickly white creatures, creeping from the Ducklings’ very planks, seemed to fill the boat. The horrible smell of rotting flesh rose from the hull with the maggots.’ - Black Wizards

Accelerating the ageing process of any inanimate object (spells generally consider dead bodies objects (not to be confused with undead/unliving bodies))

‘For every hour that passes the object decays a day. After an appropriate amount of time has passed, most objects break, rust or corrode, decay into powder, or otherwise become useless.’ [Faiths and Avatars]The ageing can be returned to its normal speed with counter magic, but the damage done is irreversible.

‘The Last Breath of Bhaal’ While Bhaal still desires it a Deathstalker does not die. After being slain, the corpse will lie dead for an hour before reviving. This isn’t a terribly pleasant process, as the priest will be restored clinging to life by the skin of their teeth with their soul mildly damaged (mechanically they come back at 1hp and lose a character level).

‘Wound’ They don’t need to make physical contact to inflict damage with cause serious wounds from a distance, they can just will your bones to spontaneously shatter, or your veins to rupture, or your skin to break apart in lacerations, or however you imagine the spell working. They can also just point at you and cast finger of death.

'Plane Skipping' A deathstalker may chose to, in a fashion, teleport, receiving ‘an understanding of the nature of the planar fabric, and an ability to use that fabric to suit his own ends.’ For example if one wanted to cross an ocean without taking a boat or other form of transport, one could simply slip through the planes – bringing companions if desired - into Bhaal’s realm on Gehenna, walking the same distance and then stepping back through the fabric into Toril. Direction is irrelevant, as Bhaal’s will and the priest’s own intent shapes the spell. Generally every 10ft walked on Gehenna is equivalent to 1 mile on Toril.

(How exactly his works is a little harder to grasp, since Gehenna and the Prime don’t overlap geographically, but presumably that’s why you need the knowledge of a god downloaded into your brain to do this).

Gehenna is a hazardous place (which will be described when I get to Bhaal’s domain further in), and Bhaal makes no effort to protect his followers while they are on his plane (reasoning that if they are powerful enough to wield the power they are powerful enough to protect themselves), but while there the residents apparently ignore the priest, recognising them as belonging to the plane as a servant of one of the resident deities. I’m not sure if that attitude extends to any guests brought along for the ride.

So long as the area you’re trying to access isn’t shielded with protective magics (or a dead magic zone), there is nowhere the assassin cannot enter and no obstacle that can keep them from their target.

Bhaal’s most favoured servants can, once a month, summon an aerial servant – an invisible air elemental which will serve them with unfailing loyalty and makes a very good personal assassin.

Like any divine spellcaster who crosses their deity, a deathstalker who severely displeases Bhaal by violating his commands and dogma will be stripped of all these abilities until they have atoned, usually by undergoing quests and trials set by the deity.

Chosen of Bhaal

The Chosen of Bhaal receives Bhaal’s own bloodlust (assuming they didn’t already have it from being a Bhaalspawn), and is liable to go on a killing spree the moment they receive Bhaal’s divine essence (again, already having it seems to help in this department). They are immune to all diseases, poisons and toxins. They gain a slight resistance to magic. Their strikes are imbued with death magic that paralyses on contact and leaves victims helpless.

The weirdest part to picture is that they can fluidly scale walls and parkour at the same speed and ease that they can run or walk with, and just go scuttling at high speeds up the wall. They become rather spring-heeled, able to simply leap into the air whenever, apparently at speeds that prevent anybody from striking at them, so they can just suddenly flip over your head and stab you in the back at any time, I guess.

History and Schisms

After the death of Bhaal and his replacement by Cyric in the Time of Troubles (1358 DR), the church entered a schism. Some Bhaalists, mostly the urbanites, believed that Bhaal had taken the portfolios of Bane and Myrkul and taken on a new name – the Banites had clearly erroneously mistaken him for their god, who was dead, so they called him Cyric-Bhaal to differentiate him from the Banite Cyric. Other Bhaalists, namely the Deathstalkers, saw Cyric as a different entity and refused to follow. They still received their unique powers and denied that Bhaal had died. Naturally this led to the two factions attempting to murder each other for heresy.

Eventually Cyric, having amused himself watching the schisms within his own faith, proclaimed that the various bickering Cyricist cults that were once followers of the Dead Three had to accept that they were all worshipping the same god and get over it. At roughly the same time the Deathstalkers lost their powers and were forced to accept their gods death. Some Bhaalists fully converted to Cyric; others converted to the worship of Iyachtu Xvim, son of Bane, seeking vengeance on Cyric for taking their god from them (and presumably ended up being part of the church of Bane in 1372 DR, after Bane’s resurrection); and the remainder stayed firmly loyal to Bhaal, retreating to their hidden citadels and continuing their traditions, although many of them also started to pick up veneration of darker non-human pantheons, such as the orcish pantheon.

In 1369 DR, after the Bhaalspawn Crisis, those loyal to Bhaal once again began to have their prayers answered and received their Deathstalker powers, although Bhaal never spoke to them directly (there were debates about whether this was because he wouldn’t, couldn’t, or if it was somebody else giving them their powers on his behalf which was the favoured answer). Instead of direct communication Bhaalists received nightmare-visions in their sleep.

They set about establishing small temples and shrines throughout Faerûn and re-establishing the faith, working towards their Lord’s inevitable return. Some even suspected that Bhaal was resurrected after the Bhaalspawn Crisis and simply decided not to make it an official announcement (this… wouldn’t be totally unimaginable for him?):

‘Several Deathbringers have managed to become city rulers or the heads of city law-keeping forces- and their minions now stalk the streets slaying undesirables [criminals or vagrants, for example] and rivals to increase their wealth and tighten their rule. Increasingly, Deathbringers seek positions where they can live comfortably, make lots of coin, and kill often with few consequences.’ - Elminster’s Forgotten Realms

The faith was officially back as of 1482 DR, when Bhaal’s rampage as the Slayer through the streets of Baldur’s Gate and the selection of temporary Chosen Torlin Silvershield, who Bhaal sent on a(nother) killing spree. Bhaalists have had a keen interest in the city since, and the Bhaalspawn still around apparently find themselves drawn to the location.

---

Bhaal

Aliases: Bale (in the Farsea Marshes), Niynjushigampo (Hollow Crown Mountains) Titles: ‘The Lord of Death,’ ‘The Lord of Murder,’ ‘Reveller in Blood’ Alignment: Lawful Evil (1e-4e, 5e can’t decide what it thinks his alignment should be) Portfolios: Murder, Violence, Assassins, Death (formerly) Domains: Death, Destruction, Hatred, Evil, Law Groupings: The Faerûnian Pantheon; The Dark Gods; the Dead Three Rank: Greater (until 1346 DR), Lesser (1e), Intermediate (2e), Quasideity [Vestige] (3.5e and 4e), Quasideity [Demipower] (5e) Favoured Weapon: ‘Bone Blade’ (a dagger, made of bone) Usual Class: Multiclass Fighter(27)/Rogue(32)

Personality and Motivations

‘He thrilled at the sight of the dead army that was defiling Myrloch vale. They would be his mightiest achievement when he was done, creating a legion of death that would bring the entire land beneath his baneful rule.’

Bhaal exists in a perpetual state of violent rage and bloodlust – portrayed as literal bloodlust, the deity craves the blood of the living. He is usually capable of controlling it and experiencing other emotions at the same time. Occasionally he is forced to delay a plan to lash out in rage at a less important target when encountering particularly difficult obstacles. He also tends to swear a lot when frustrated, usually in Supernal, the language of the gods.

He has a spectacular talent for grudges and escalating them, going from ‘these individuals should die horribly for harming me/my minions’ to considering the larger web of people and things connected to them, and that they care about and developing that into ‘these mortals, everyone they know and love, the gods they serve and the land itself they live upon must all die for their offence against me/my minions.’

Like most gods he is also motivated to form schemes for the chance to gain status amongst the other gods, and also simply to amuse himself.

Somewhat paradoxically, while Bhaal delights in the crude force of violence and especially when he can personally partake in it, Bhaal also greatly favours subtlety and prefers not be perceived except through the ‘art’ (murder scenes) he leaves behind him. He has displayed no vanity in regards to human appearances he takes, and moves through the world in stealth except when engaging in violence; when forced to partake in a face-to-face conversation he becomes irritable and seems to prefer to remain as laconic as possible if required to speak, and very rarely manifests or takes avatar form. For all the wealth his followers seek, and are encouraged to seek, worship of Bhaal follows a monastic hierarchy and his temples are spartan and solely devoted to the emptiness of death itself.

On the other hand he has a household staff including butlers and crafters making fancy dining-ware and has been portrayed enjoying his little luxuries, like using Gehenna’s bloody lava flows as a jacuzzi while watching his murder soap opera. No, I’m not joking:

‘Bhaal wallowed in the fire pits of Gehenna, luxuriating in the sensual feel of lava fuelled with fresh blood. The god of death, lover of all murderous acts, was in fine fettle. His devotees, and even those opposed to him, were acting in concert to provide entertainment.’ - Black Wizards (I feel like pointing out to the author that blood would probably burn away in molten rock, but eh. It’s the Lower Planes, whatever.)

More than simply a storm of bloody murder, Bhaal is also noted for being ‘cold and calculating’ and has, somewhat surprisingly, been described as a patient long-term planner when his hungers don’t overwhelm him. (Although when the urge does strike, Bhaal will waylay a plan to sate it.) He also on rare occasions shows mild signs of possessing a dark sense of humour, nodding in greeting with mock politeness mid-attempted-murder when his would-be victims recognises him or making dad-tier jokes (‘how do I get to the world of the dead’ ‘by dying.’ :) )

Bhaal, by his very nature, despises life and the presence of living beings stirs an insatiable hunger for their destruction in him. The only tolerable living things are those that are beholden to him. He considers living beings to ‘mar’ the world, and his ideal planet is an apocalyptic wasteland that would be inhabited only by his children, the dead, the undead, and his loyal followers (who may also be undead in this scenario). Under Bhaal’s reign the plants wither, sources of water dry out or becomes hazardous to life, and all living beings slowly die of exposure in a dead world.

He despises the natural Balance of the cycles of life and death, and would see it tipped in favour of death with no return to life, despite the fact that his threat to Myrkul and Bane was that he has the power to play arbiter to this cycle and tip it in favour of life by refusing to allow mortals to die if he chooses.

I don’t know that Bhaal would go out of his way to do this to the whole planet (which would be difficult to pull off, set too many the other powers against him, and probably get him disciplined by Ao), but he certainly enjoys the notion of having a physical domain on Toril like this, even if not the whole planet.

He delights in beings that bring death and destruction, including ‘many species of tentacled monsters.’ I don’t know why he has such an interest in tentacles, and frankly I’m afraid to ask. Bhaal’s bloodlust has been portrayed as both a cannibalistic desire for blood, as well as ‘leering’ over corpses, which might account for/contribute to the inclinations seen in certain offspring.

He views his children and minions – all of them, down to the least – as extensions of himself and takes it extremely personally when they are harmed (Bhaalspawn killing each other as part of his plan notwithstanding; that’s apparently different). And Bhaal doesn’t handle people striking back at him well:

'Bhaal sought vengeance [...] Kazgoroth was neither Bhaal's most powerful servant, not his most favoured. But he was slain by a mortal, and the man who dared strike a minion of Bhaal's might as well strike at the god himself.' - Black Wizards

‘Lord Myrkul is the one who’s angry about the Black Lord’s death. After Bane destroyed my assassins, I was happy to see him die.’ - Waterdeep

Curiously Kazgoroth is as aspect of Malar, who at one time was subservient to Bhaal and could indicate that Bhaal’s wrath extends to people who insult or halm divinities who serve him, such as Loviatar and Talona (Loviatar making Talona’s life hell is fine though).

Despite his portfolio, several times Bhaal has been shown working to bring back his loyal followers, such as the monster Kazgoroth, the ability he bestows upon his Deathstalkers that allows them to resurrect when they die, and occasionally his Bhaalspawn (the Five – a handful of his strongest children, who sought to resurrect him and hoped to serve him as minor deities – have in a way been given their wish in death, their souls given form that they may serve on the Murder Tribunal. Sarevok too is unable to die, but this seems more of a punishment.)

That said, his temper still makes him a risky boss to work for:

‘Bhaal once drop hammer on big godly toe. Jump around and swear for days, he did. Kicked poor me all the way to Baator. Very bad week, that.’ - Cespenar, Bhaal’s personal butler and quartermaster

Ever since encountering the Earthmother (an aspect of Chauntea)’s divine children and realising that’s an option, Bhaal has had a… slight case of baby fever.

‘These children you speak of... the children of a god. The thought of them brings me pleasure. I, too, shall create children—the Children of Bhaal. They will stalk the land beside you and bring death to all the corners of the world!’

He tends to get mad when people kill those too.

‘Bhaal greeted the death of Thorax not with sorrow, but with an explosion of boiling hatred. The god thrashed within his oily medium, cursing his lack of physical form. Bhaal desired to smash objects, to strike solid blows, but his watery form denied him that power. As he raged, his will crystallized into actions. The perytons, gliding in eerie silence, flew from throughout the vale to gather at the Darkwell. His clerics, Hobarth and Ysalla, paused briefly in their own plotting as the stuff of their faith shook from the deep disturbance. Each recoiled before the rage of their deity, and each likewise felt immense relief that the rage was directed elsewhere. Instead, Bhaal's rage brought them a command, imperious and irresistible. Level the Iron Keep! Bhaal's intense anger needed slaying before it would cool, and at that fortress there would certainly be many humans gathered, seeking the imagined safety of its high walls. But those within were not reckoning on the mighty power of the god of murder and his minions. His clerics instantly set to work upon the plan. And then Bhaal gave another command, this to his flock of perytons. The monsters had gathered at the well and circled, a great cloud of corruption, above the center of their master's power. And they heard his command. Bhaal sent them soaring across the vale, silently gliding above the wasteland of death. He ordered them to find those who had slain Thorax and kill them.‘ - Darkwell (In Bhaal’s defence, I too would utterly lose my shit if my owlbear son died)

One can only assume that the Bhaalspawn don’t count when they’re dying by each others’ hands – and thus by his will. Or maybe Bhaal simply loves you less when you’re not an owlbear. Which is fair, I suppose. (Or because different writers, but I'm trying to get some coherency, so.) He also tends to get annoyed when said children get rebellious and display independence and act as anything but extensions of his will (by which he generally means ‘murder murder murder conquest murder’.)

Samples of ‘parenting’:

‘Don't be afraid. You are safe here… if you behave.’ ‘Special, yes, special, aren't you? Ssh, don't fight it.’ ‘You worry for your companions perhaps? Leave them, abandon them, and become what you must. There is great power in your heritage. Use it, and become closer to who you are… what you could be. Feel what is in the void. Use the tools that you are given. Become part of something greater. I am in you, and I know what is best.’ ‘You are to be given a gift. It is a valuable prize, one that you had better appreciate.’ ‘You will come to realize how little choice you have. You will do what you must, become what you must [...] You will accept the gifts offered to you.’ ‘See? You are worse than everyone else. Filthy hierophant of the broken and damned.’ ‘Such pride is undeserved, great predator, when your whole being is borrowed. Credit where it is due, and dues where payment is demanded.’ ‘You will learn to trust me.’

Domain:

‘The Throne of Blood’ Gehenna, Mt Khalas / Banehold: The Barrens of Doom and Despair

An exact description of the Throne of Blood has never been given, although it has been described as having a household. There is a household staff, overseen by Cespenar – Bhaal’s personal imp butler, quartermaster and smith who creates the arms and armour, as well as the cutlery and cooking utensils used by the household. (Why Bhaal or any of his undead/fiendish servants require those is beyond me.)

In BG2 it had a decidedly fleshy appearance with lava pits and eyes and teeth in the walls, however this was also because the divine realms shaping itself to Charname’s mind and ideas of what their father’s domain might look like, answering to the portion of Bhaal within them, and still being mostly mortal the Bhaalspawn could not comprehend or properly shape its true form.

The Throne of Blood has been connected to the first layer of Gehenna, on Mt Khalas.

Mount Khalas is an active volcano, hundreds of thousands of miles high with slopes of at 45° at their very flattest. The slope is generally more like a sheer cliff face, and falling may ‘completely shred’ the would-be climber. The mountain floats in an infinite void by the border of the Nine Hells. The ground is full of bottomless black chasms and magma flows fed by ‘waterfalls’ of the stuff, and the ground glows crimson from the heat of the molten rock. The air is clogged with pyroclastic ash and it's impossible to see further than a dozen feet in any direction. It also features the River Styx, a river polluted by all the filth and evil of existence that flows through all the Lower Planes, and is the only source of water on the entire plane. The next layer of Gehenna, Mount Chamada, is visible overhead, glowing faintly, ‘burning like a small, bloody moon.’ The spirits of the dead who are sentenced to this plane are those who were consumed by greed and a ruthless and insatiable lust for power in life; in death they are selfishness embodied. The domains of the deities who reside there are carved into ledges on the slopes.

The Throne of Blood also links to the Barrens of Doom and Despair, an ‘an inhospitable locale, filled with vast deserts of black sand and huge plains of dark granite’ also called Banehold, as Bane is the ruling power there. The sky is blood red and sunless.

Servants and related monsters:

A lot of which will be Bhaal’s offspring, or else created from the souls of his mortal worshippers in the afterlife.

The Haarla of Hate Invisible and incorporeal undead who feed on specific emotions. They pass unseen amongst the living, drawing out emotions and impulses. Bhaal, naturally, decided to invent the kinds that invoke hate and homicide, and in Faerûn it is believed that he directly guides their actions.

The Butlers Bhaal’s bizarre little sycophantic servants are imps – small Lawful Evil fiends that attach themselves to a mortal master, sometimes at the behest of a more powerful evil, in a servile position while manipulating their ‘master’ into doing evil.. As Cespenar and Cruor both use regular imp models, it’s hard to say whether they all have funky hats or if that’s just Sceleritas.

The head butler and quartermaster is Cespenar.

Tentacled Horrors That Should Not Be Bhaal likes all violent and murderous beings. For some reason he likes them even more when they have tentacles for reasons that have not been explained. Examples given include darktentacles; amphibious horrors the size of a cow with leathery black skin, 50 15ft tentacles covered in red eyes, and three mouths. They can detect the motion of creatures around them through the vibrations in the earth and water, have inbuilt charm person and use that to charm their victimsbefore grabbing them with their tentacles and killing the shit out of them (erecting a forcefield that prevents any allies from interfering.)

And grell, flying brains with a squid-like beak and barbed tentacles that inject paralytic venom. They remove the brain from their paralysed prey (maybe keeping it to trade with mind flayers) and then eat the rest of the body. Their priorities include; kill and eat anything that moves, and conquer world for the grell. They generally show no respect for anything except powerful murderous beings that eat everything in sight like the Tarrasque that they call Great Devourers. Apparently the Lord of Murder fits in with this category. Bhaal is apparently fond of philosopher grell, the wizards caste – and unofficial ruling caste - of the little oddballs.

The Undead Bhaal favours ‘skeletal undead of all kinds,’ though he is also capable of creating any form of undead. When using undead as messengers of his will he generally goes for skeletons, crawling claws, deathfangs (skeletal flying snakes) and dreads (a set of skeletal arms, with no body, wielding a weapon).

Perytons Abominations with the skeletal head of a deer (with a mouthfull of sharp teeth) and the body of an eagle.

The perytons of Toril are Bhaal’s godspawn, created from the life force of eagle and a deer and then twisted into abominations to spite the natural balance. Perytons hate being alive, and hate everything that lives. Like all of Bhaal’s spawn they have an insatiable bloodlust. They believe they can escape their miserable existences by finding the being with the ‘perfect heart’ and consuming it, thus ascending to a higher existence. To this end they even run breeding programmes using captured human/oids. They cast the shadow of the last being whose heart they ate and also have some kind of inexplicable hatred for elves, whose hearts they refuse to consume.

The Children of Bhaal Bhaal’s godspawn, created to bring death and chaos to the world.

An assortment of godlings, the first of whom were monstrous aberrations, including the Perytons, Thorax the Owlbear and Shantu the displacer beast (‘King of Bhaal’s Children’).

The younger, second set are the colloquially known as Bhaalspawn, conceived with the help of another parent (humanoid, dragon, fey, goblin, giant, a chinchilla… etc) for whom information is hard to pin down. Most do not deliberately serve their father, despite him guiding them in their dreams and whispering in their blood, but all are pawns in his schemes regardless. Sources even now disagree on whether or not they still exist, but the original generation is apparently extinct.

Gods are said to have the ability to ‘postpone’ pregnancies after conception, leading to ‘miracles’ years down the line, so it’s possible there are Bhaalspawn of dwarven, gnomish and elven stock who haven’t been born yet. (Or dragon, giant, fey...)

When Bhaalspawn conceive children, Bhaal can – from within them – chose to pass on more of his divine essence, creating another Bhaalspawn. Otherwise the child will simply be a mortal, carrying his blood and some homicidal quirks and powers and maybe a birthmark in the shape of the circle of tears.

It’s also possible, contrary to whatever BG3 is saying, that Bhaal has sired more Bhaalspawn in the past 14-ish years, and it has been said that Baldur’s Gate serves as something of a beacon to his children even now.

Relationships

Allies: Bane, Bhaal, Loviatar, Talona, Malar, Hoar, Mask (may have changed)Enemies: Cyric, Ilmater, Tyr, Torm, Lliira, Lathander, Chauntea, Solonor Thelandira, likely Mystra Offspring: Shaantu, Thorax, the Perytons, And a good few hundred half-mortals (including a chinchilla)

Bhaal’s original and long term allies are with Bane and Myrkul with whom he forms the Dead Three, originally adventurers who earned the nickname ‘the Dark Three’ for their evil shenanigans. It seems that when Bhaal lost almost all of his divine power after a failed attempt to conquer the Moonshaes as his own physical domain on Toril and was broken that Bane was the deity who took him on as a subservient deity – exchanging his protection for service. He seems to have gotten a fairly good deal out of it, as he served Bane directly where Loviatar, Malar and Talona were at the bottom of their little hierarchy, serving Bane through Bhaal. While his relationship with Bane has been severely strained due to the Black Lord once massacring almost all of Bhaal’s worshippers to empower himself during the Time of Troubles, Bhaal’s relationship with Myrkul is a genuine friendship which has been described as ‘symbiotic,’ and Myrkul grieved Bhaal’s death in the Time of Troubles. After Second Sundering when Myrkul and Bhaal were returned the three have resumed their alliance in the fashion of their mortal days, working together to seek higher power. As Kelemvor holds Myrkul’s former office as Lord of the Dead, Myrkul has taken half of Bhaal’s portfolio as god of death (specifically death by old age), while Bhaal remains god of violent and ritual death. Myrkulytes consider Bhaal’s domain of murder holy however (and one they do not intrude on for this reason) and it seems as though the deities have no bad blood between them over this so far. Myrkul and Bane are the only beings in existence who can control Bhaal when he’s in one of his Moods.

Alongside the other two, Shar, Loviatar, Malar and Talona, he belongs to a grouping of deities known as the Dark Gods; those deities amongst the Faerûnian pantheon who represent the worst fears of people and the darker side of the world

Like the rest of the Dead Three Bhaal despises Cyric and will actively target the Black Sun’s worshippers. (Every god hates Cyric, of course, it’s just personal here.)

He had an alliance with Mask, god of thieves, though whether that still stands after Mask killed him in the form of the sword Godsbane remains to be seen.

Another of his allies is Hoar, god of vengeance, who patronises vigilantes. As Bhaal encourages such vigilantism the two find overlap.

Bhaal has hostilities with: Chauntea, after his attempted conquest of the Moonshaes. Lathander, who as god of reknewal and new life is diametrically opposed to Bhaal. The Triad, Torm (champion of the people), Tyr (justice), Ilmater (who seeks to relieve the world’s suffering) all despise Bhaal and vice versa. As does Lliira, flowerchild goddess of joy who resents the grief and violence Bhaal causes.

Bhaal has made enemies of the elven god of hunters Solonor Thelandira, for reasons unknown, and is also enemies with Yondalla and the halfling protector god Arvoreen. Considering the events of Baldur’s Gate 2, Rillifane Rallathil and the rest of the Seldarine are probably also rather displeased with him.

Key Historical Notes

Bhaal was once mortal, and going off the most recent semi-offical lore, was man named Arabhal during the end period of Netheril who served the Crown-Sorcerers of Rdiuz as a spymaster and assassin while they attempted to claim divinity and war with the gods. He allied with the former slave warrior Bane, with whom he founded a relationship of mutual respect based on how much of a ruthless ambitious bastard the other was. The two caught the eye of Jergal, who thought they’d make good pawns and after the Karsus’ Folly sent them traumatic nightmare-visions in their sleep, directing them to gather god-killing daggers and slay Primordials with them that threatened his plans. Both of them were eventually joined by necromancer prince Myrkul Bey al-Kursi, and once Jergal was done with them the three set about looking for routes to godhood for themselves and generally brought death and chaos in their wake, eventually winning their portfoliio from them in a version of the story you can read here if you want because this is getting too long.

At some point – the canon date given is 1346 DR, which feels a bit weird timeline wise but ok – a monster who worshipped Bhaal, Kazgoroth was slain by soon-to-be High King Tristan after an attempt to conquer the Moonshaes. Bhaal retaliated against the isles seeking vengeance, planning to supplant the local nature goddess and reduce the entire area to a barren undead wasteland using his own power, an army of Sahuagin who worshipped him, and a zombie apocalypse. Bhaal is apparently a fan of the genre. This was also when he developed his first bout of baby fever:

By consuming the life force of animals he murdered he then used them to create aggressive amalgamate creatures from them; Perytons, the owlbear Thorax, and the displacer beast ‘Shantu, King of Bhaal’s Children.’ These were eventually slain by the heroes of the novel, and Bhaal himself was later defeated and lost a great deal of his divine power, being left broken and drained. Before this Bhaal was described as a very powerful and independent deity, likely a Greater Deity like the rest of the Dead Three. Afterwards he was – for whatever reason – taken on as a subservient Lesser Power by Bane, and working alongside Bane’s son Iyachtu Xvim (either a half-mortal demigod or a half-fiend Abomination (known as an Infernal)), who unwittingly existed as Bane’s contingency plan in the event of his death.

At some point between 1346 DR Bhaal decided his answer to his prophetised death was going to be more godspawn children, hundreds of them, but of the partially-mortal variety and most of them birthed by his own priests (...mostly. There was a chinchilla Bhaalspawn.)

Bhaal died in 1358 DR when Mask killed him during a battle on the Boarskyr Bridge north west of Baldur’s Gate. Yes, officially it always says Cyric, but Bhaal died because Mask in sword form pierced his avatar and if Mask hadn’t been holding Cyric together during the fight Cyric would’ve been a corpse. So Mask actually killed Bhaal wielding Cyric, really, although I imagine Mask is quite happy to let Cyric take the blame and the brunt of the Lord of Murder’s wrath.

Bhaal’s blood saturated the river known as the Winding Waters, which remain toxic to this day due to being saturated with his divine essence… which is still there.

Ten years after his death the eldest of the Bhaalspawn came of age, and thus began the Bhaalspawn Crisis as Bhaal started encouraging them to murder each other for various promises (‘accept the gifts offered in your blood great predator,’ etc etc). There was a lot of murders, witch hunting, wars and lynching and so on for a year or two before it died down and most of the Children were dead. Supposedly the resurrection failed, but it was after this point that Bhaal’s loyal followers began to receive their spells and commands again.

In 1482 DR, during the Second Sundering, the deaths of the two last (known) remaining Bhaalspawn via fratricide saw Bhaal announce his official return to the Realms by manifesting within one of his sons’ bodies and going on a rampage through Baldur’s Gate. He then proceeded to urge on the darker impulses within the minds of Rilsa Rael (high ranking member of the Thieves Guid), Torlin Silvershield (Patriar and member of Parliament), and Ulder Ravengard (head of the Flaming Fist), at the time being too weak to do anything but whisper in their ear and encourage them to give in to their own thoughts. Their respective positions of power were used to push the Gate deeper into violence, eventually coming to a head when Silvershield became a Chosen of Bhaal, his mind being overwhelmed by the urge to slay as Bhaal claimed his mind. (Torlin was left to become a footnote, eventually dying after being experimented on by a Red Wizard of They who had an interest in the rash of Chosen that were cropping up all over the course of the Sundering).

Bhaal, alongside Myrkul and Bane, currently walks amongst mortals, personally recruiting mortals face-to-face into following him for unknown purposes. It’s said that they are frequently sighted in Baldur’s Gate, and that there’s a temple beneath the city that he pays frequent visits to.

Avatars and Manifestations:

If he must manifest then Bhaal vastly prefers minor manifestations to using a full avatar. He can manifest within things of his sacred colour, and through his creatures. When fully manifesting within one of his Bhaalspawn he twists their mortal form, ‘cracking bone’ and ‘tearing flesh’ to form a ‘hulking,’ ‘corpse-like’ shape ‘drenched in blood’ (their own, soon to be others) that has been nicknamed the ‘Bhaalspawn-Slayer.’ Unlike the true Slayer its utility appears to be almost entirely physical, bar a spot of death magic.

Independent manifestations include a pair of skeletal human hands that float through the air, capable of communicating by pointing and wielding things, and a floating skull that weeps from its empty eye sockets and laughs.

Bhaal’s physical touch has a mildly corrosive effect on living flesh, causing blistering, blinding agony and giving a sensation of violation that may cause the person in contact to become nauseous or even vomit from the stress and revulsion. In contact with unliving flesh he can also immediately destroy the undead, reducing it to ash. Through this contact he may also cause the effects of the attraction/disdain spell.

Bhaal can also just appear as a normal person, and if so required, though it he will likely be doing so for a purpose and not for vanity.

The Urge to Slay

While manifesting within 90ft of people, Bhaal can tap into the hatreds and violence within their hearts, whispering to them and inflaming them. Hell, from a certain perspective Bhaal is the hatred and violence within the hearts of people. He cannot place desires in an individual’s mind however, only work with what he is given to draw a target further under his control. A target who truly falls under the urge to slay will ‘rush to attack whatever target Bhaal directed it to, striking [rapidly] with whatever weapon came to hand [] and moaning and sobbing uncontrollably with its need to take a life.’

Attraction/Disdain As with his followers, but worse, Bhaal is able to touch a person and reach into their emotions and poison love into blistering hate, or force those who fear and despise him to love him with unflinching loyalty and so forth. It is presumably still temporary, but will still last for about 59 hours and is significantly harder to resist.

The Slayer An exsanguinated, palid human corpse with a feral expression on its face, covered in lesions that weep black ichor. Bhaal has apparently recently modified it so that the flesh of the face is flayed off to reveal the skull underneath, and added a halo of blood. The slayer can levitate at will and summon six daggers of bone from thin air that cause living flesh to wither and die upon piercing it. Those slain will either rise as a zombie under Bhaal’s command, or their skeleton will shatter and explode violently, the shrapnel flying away to form even more bone daggers. (Mechanically, these daggers move with such speed that they can strike twice a go. They also leech the energy out of victims and leave them feeling cold.) Rather than wielding the bone shrapnel, Bhaal can also just have them form an ambient blade barrier which has the added bonus of trapping the souls of the slain so that they cannot leave, and the trap does not dissipate when Bhaal leaves.

Bhaal has the ability to cause any murder victim he touches to rise as a form of undead of his choice – sapient undead like liches and vampires will receive full free will after performing the service he created them for.

There’s also the Ravager, but that was presumably a single use thing limited to the Moonshaes, and I'm not writing any more.

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