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.