Hello everybody Jorphdan here the PH is silent.
Let’s talk about some evil deities.
Specifically Bane and Beshaba.
Bane, The Black Hand, the Lord of Darkness.
Bane is all about dominance and control.
He believes the strong not only have the right
but the duty to rule over the weak.
He is an evil deity but follows the rule of
law.
Thus many rulers, or aspiring rulers, might
worship Bane asking for guidance.
Guidance on the best way to win a conflict,
or to keep the people in line.
However Bane is vilified in many legends,
and numerous people in history have committed
dark deeds in his name.
Bane represents ambition and control, and
those that lack that ask Bane for strength.
Bane himself seeks nothing short of total
domination of Faerun.
Bane is interesting because he has two histories.
One set in the forgotten realms and one set
in the core D&D Setting.
I got this info from Dragon Magazine #372.
I quote
“The Bane of the core D&D settings is not
the same god as the Bane of the Forgotten
Realms.
There’s substantial conceptual overlap….
Yet their differences are many as well
So first Bane's Faerun backstory and history.
Bane was a mortal man.
Together with his companions Bhaal and Myrkul
they set on an adventure across Faerun defeating
countless foes.
Eventually the three came to the deity Jergal
hoping to steal some of his divinity.
Jergal, who had become bored with his role
as patron of strife, death, and the dead.
He divided up his portfolio to the three.
Bane received the divine portfolio of Strife
and ascended to godhood.
This was not enough for Bane, and in 1358
DR him and his two companions stole the Tablets
of Fate in an event that became known as the
Time of Troubles.
Which I made a video about and you can click
the link to watch it.
It’s cool, we’ll be here when you return.
During this time Bane sired a son named Xvim
and because the Tablets of Fate were stolen
Lord Ao punished the gods by putting them
as mortals in Faerun.
Bane now being mortal was slain by Torm, and
Bane’s portfolio fell into the hands of
the mortal Cyric.
Bane was resurrected in 1372 DR when it was
discovered that his son Xvim was merely a
cocoon that contained the essence of Bane.
Bane burst forth destroying Xvim and returning
to the Faerun Pantheon, this time with the
portfolio of fear.
Bane regained worshipers that followed Xvim
and after the spellplague took back his worshipers
from Cyric, who was imprisoned for murdering
Mystra.
His non-faerun history is interesting too.
During the war between the primordials and
the gods Bane was known by another name; Achra.
Achra took pleasure in the dominance of other
creatures, his thirst to dominate others lead
to many victories in war.
Now during the war with the primordials the
gods were not able to gain the upper hand
against their foes.
The god’s efforts were disorganized.
It was Achra that united the gods into combining
their efforts.
He believed that all the gods must forge themselves
and their followers into a great army so that
they might sweep the primordials from the
face of existence.
None were surprised when Achra gained command
over the bulk of the divine forces.
When the war swung in the favor of the gods,
the servants of the primordials began calling
Achra by another name.
Bane.
Soon after Achra began calling himself Bane,
he adopted the name because it struck fear
in the hearts of his enemies.
Although Bane was a good strategist and fighter
during the war, once the war was won his benefit
to the gods ran out.
He disagreed with the decisions the gods had
made when the war was won.
Bane wanted to destroy every last primordial,
but the gods decided to let them be as they
retreated into the elemental chaos.
Now that the war was over Bane’s sway with
the gods was done, they were no longer unified
under a common cause.
Bane’s goal is to dominate all beings, seeing
everyone as weaker than himself.
His mantra is the strong shall rule over the
weak, and he views himself as the strongest
being in the universe.
Which is of course not true, but Bane doesn’t
see it that way.
Beshaba, the maid of misfortune, lady doom,
or Black Bess.
Beshaba is the chaotic evil deity of accidents,
bad luck, misfortune, and random mischief.
She demands worship to keep her bad luck at
bay.
Which is similar to Auril whose worshipers
merely pray to keep her wrath at a minimum.
Beshaba spawned during the Dawn Cataclysm,
which was a mysterious event sometime between
-339 DR and 760 DR.
It ended with the battle between Savras and
Azuth.
The Dawn Cataclysm in general is not well
documented but most believe it was an attempt
by the god Lathander to reshape the Fareun
Pantheon more in his own image.
Somehow with that the goddess of fortune Tyche
was corrupted with evil from the dark god
Moander.
Selune helped Tyche rid this evil by splitting
her into two separate entities.
Beshaba and Tymora.
Goddess of misfortune and goddess of luck.
Beshaba is said to have gotten Tyche’s looks
where Tymora got her love.
She is a spiteful, petty, and malicious god.
She is often invited or recognized in ceremonies
such as weddings, contests of sport, and the
naming of children.
If not invited she may take offense and wreak
endless misfortune upon those involved.
Much of her worship is out of fear.
It is the task of her clergy to spread that
fear instructing others to make offerings
to her or join the clergy else suffer grave
misfortunes.
Small misfortunes such as burning a finger
on a hot plate, or tripping are looked upon
as a positive sign for Bashaba’s clergy.
They take it that the goddess is paying attention
to them, but not causing so much destruction
in their lives.
Bad things happen to everyone, and only by
following Beshaba may a person perhaps be
spared the worst of her effects.
By worshiping Beshaba you can be spared the
bad luck she brings to everyone.
And that’s it for today.
Lots of info on Bane, he was kind of a major
deity in lore and novels.
Beshaba has less information, in fact I couldn’t
find hardly anything on Tyche except she’s
referenced in one novel “Tymora’s Luck”
which I haven’t read.
Thanks again for watching everyone, new lore
videos every Wednesday.
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Thanks again everyone I’ll see you all in
the next video.
