Dave Wood's

Campaign

Myrkul

Lord of Bones, Old Lord Skull, the Reaper, Lord of the Dead

Alignment: Neutral Evil

Portfolio: The dead, wasting, decay, corruption, parasites, old age, exhaustion, dusk, autumn

Symbol: A white human skull face-on against a black field or a reaching white skeletal hand in white on a black field.

Domains: Death, Evil, Fate, Law, Pestilence, Travel

Favoured Weapon: Scythe

Worshipper's Alignment: LN, N, CN, LE, NE, CE

Myrkul (MER-kul), one of the Dark Gods, was the god of the dead, as opposed to the god of death, which was the province of Bhaal. His portfolio, and his home in Hades, the Bone Castle, were both usurped by Cyric after the Lord of Bones was destroyed atop Blackstaff Tower in Waterdeep during the time of Troubles by Midnight. Later Myrkul's portfolio passed to Kelemvor when Cyric was driven from the City of Strife by an alliance of Gods and denizens.

Myrkul had a cold, malignant intelligence, and spoke in a high whisper. He was always alert, never slept, and was never suprised. He was never known to lose his temper or be anything other than coldly amused when a mortal succeeded in avoiding his directives or chosen fates. His influence in Faerun was imposed through fear, and he was a master of making mortals terrified of him through his words and deeds. At times, just to remain unpredictable, he seemed almost kind and caring. His cowled skull head was known in nightmares all over Faerun, and he was the one diety that almost all human mortals could picture clearly. Myrkul took care that all mortals thought of him often - he was even known to materialize beside open graves, scythe in hand, just to gaze around at gathering mourners for a few silent seconds before fading away, in order to remind everyone that he was waiting for them all.

The Church

Clergy's Alignment: LE, NE, CE

The faith of Myrkul was not popular, nor were its priests numerous. Many venerated Myrkul out of fear, and offerings were made in his name at funerals and other solemn occasions, but few actually worshiped him as their primary faith. Myrkulyte priests tended to be morbid loners who enjoyed scaring others or enjoyed the power that widespread rumours that it is death to touch or act against a priest of Myrkul brings. They took care to conceal their identities, always leaving the locales where they were born and raised. Some who were romantically attracted to the notion of death followed the god and his teachings, and of these priests about three-quarters were specialty priests. Relationships between the various branches of the faith of Myrkul were very good, primarily because no single person held enough power to confidently direct it against others.

Myrkulytes all addressed each other as "Death" or "Most Holy Death" (for senior or elderly priests), adding the honorific before a known name or title, as in "Death Williamson", or "Most High Death Trollslayer". Their titles in ascending order of rank were:

• Daring One
• Night Walker
• Bone Talker
• Shroud Wearer
• Crypt Carver
• Bone Dancer
• Ritual Consecrator
• Undead Master
• Withering Lord
• Deathbringer
• Elder Doom

Elder Doom was a title used by all clergy who ascended in rank and influence beyond rule over a temple. All of these level titles described a duty or ritual of the faith that the priest assumed for the first time upon ascending to the named rank. For instance, Bone Dancers lead the bone dance ritual (a variant of animate dead), wherein guardian undead were conjured up and placed around something to be guarded; Ritual Consecration dedicated altars, scythes, and the materials to be used in the making of magical items to the service of the god; Withering Lords were taught wither, a prayer that brought them a spell able to duplicate the powers of the staff of withering, and Deathbringers gained quench the spirit, a priestly version of finger of death. Specialty priests are known as gray ones or less polietly as "fingerbones".

Temples of Myrkul were typically massive mausoleums built above ghastly subterranean necropolises. Most were covered in a dim haze of smoke belched from ever-burning cremetoriums. Leering gargoyles adorned the outsides, and stone statues of men, women, and children in various stages of death and decay lined the walls of the interior halls. All sorts of undead creatures, particularily skeletal undead, stalked the halls and dungeons in ancient pursuits. Both living and undead temple guards employed special concecrated scythes and wielded manyskull wands.

Dogma: The clergy of Myrkul were charged to make folk fear and respect death and the power of the almighty Myrkul so that no one stood against the church or tried to thwart its activities. Myrkul's priests were expected to spread the word that touching a priest of Myrkul brings death. They were expected to tell all folk that those in the service of Myrkul had perfect patience and could be trusted utterly - then conduct themselves accordingly. Myrkulyte clergy were to teach the stories of past and future "doombringers" - mortals who roamed the land avenging dead friends, masters, and blood kin to whom they had sworn oaths, and slaying those who scoffed or who held other gods supreme over the Lord of Bones.

Initiates to the faith first heard the word of Myrkul through a speak with dead spell cast on a temple's most revered deceased former high priest. Such spells allowed all within hearing range to comprehend the corpse's words. Myrkul spoke through such vessels to say: "Know me and fear me. My embrace is for all and is patient but sure. The dead can always find you. My hand is everywhere - there is no door I cannot pass, nor guardian who can withstand me."

Day-to-Day Activities: Myrkulyte clergy members roamed the Realm burying the dead and conducting funerals for fees. Their resistance to diseases made them popular for the disposal of plauge victims and dealings with infected lycanthropes and the diseased. They would do all they could to make the dying comfortable, but viewed death as natural, inevitable, and not something to be run from. They placed great value on the influence dead folk could have (referring to it as "the sacred hand that reaches from the grave") and would assist dying folk to draft decrees, wills, and cryptic verses that would guide the living to search for their hidden treasure or otherwise dance to their bidding after they were dead. In return for a "skull fee", a priest of Myrkul would even agree to act as an agent or avenger for the dead, administering the wishes of the departed or carrying out tasks they were unable to complete before death. While Mykrul rarely allowed his clergy to ressurect the dead, bringing a person to the temple of another faith for attempted resurrection and paying for his undertaking with the money left by the dead was a procedure both commonplace and perfectly acceptable to Myrkulyte clergy members.

Prestige Class: Horned Harbringer

See Faiths and Pantheons p. 197

Prestige Class: Gray Ones

See True Necromancer