Bhaal
Encyclopedia
Bhaal, Lord of Murder, is a deity of the fictional Forgotten Realms
Dungeons & Dragons
campaign setting.
created Bhaal for his home Dungeons & Dragons game, set in the Forgotten Realms
.
#54 (October 1981). Bhaal is introduced as Lord of Murder, the god of death, a lawful evil lesser god from the plane of Gehenna
. The article states that "Bhaal strikes unerringly, and his dagger causes the area wounded to wither," and that he "rarely appears to worshippers or others, but is depicted by priests as a bloody, mutilated corpse with a feral face and silent movements. It is said that every murder done strengthens Bhaal. Myrkul
is lord of the dead; Bhaal is the lord of death itself, the act of killing." Bhaal is described as one of “The Dark Gods” of evil alignment: "Loviatar, Talona, and Malar
serve Bane
through Bhaal (although Loviatar and Talona are rivals). Bhaal and Myrkul have an unbreakable, symbiotic alliance." Bhaal is commonly worshipped by assassins
of any evil alignment, as well as lawful evil clerics
.
Bhaal later officially appeared as one of the major deities for the Forgotten Realms
campaign setting
, in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Sets "Cyclopedia of the Realms" booklet (1987).
. Despite his death, Bhaal was still described in the hardback Forgotten Realms Adventures
(1990), the revised Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (1993) in the "Running the Realms" booklet, and Faiths & Avatars
(1996).
His role in the cosmology of the Planescape
campaign setting was described in On Hallowed Ground (1996).
(2005).
and Myrkul
took the portfolios of the ancient deity Jergal. Despite his most common title, Bhaal was the god of Murder, but he especially favoured violent or ritual deaths.
Patron of Assassins, Bhaal was feared throughout Faerûn – especially in the island realm of the Moonshaes. A wholly evil, debased, and sadistic god, Bhaal was served by the goddesses Talona and Loviatar.
He was a Lawful Evil Intermediate Power, and his symbol was a skull encircled by a counterclockwise orbit of drops of blood
. His divine Realm was the Throne of Blood (in Third Edition D&D, part of the Barrens of Doom and Despair
). The Lost Empires of Faerûn Forgotten Realms supplement gives his 3.5 edition D&D domains as Death, Destruction, Evil and Retribution (Dragon
magazine issue #322 instead gives his domains as Death, Destruction, Evil, Hatred and Law).
, when the gods were forced to walk Faerûn, Bhaal was slain by the upstart mortal Cyric
using the avatar of Mask (a sword named "Godsbane
"), who then stole Bhaal's divinity and portfolio elements.
However, much like Myrkul
– who invested his divine essence in the artifact known as the Crown of Horns
– Bhaal was not utterly removed from Faerûn. Part of his divinity remains in the Winding Water, around Boarskyr Bridge where he was slain, his blood having flowed into the river. More importantly, Bhaal foresaw his death and impregnated many mortal women – creating his heirs, the Bhaalspawn
. The Bhaalspawn were involved in a series of conflicts along the Sword Coast, with one standing above the others. The tale of the Bhaalspawn is recounted in the Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II computer games; in the novelization
s of these games, the protagonist
is named as Abdel Adrian.
Of all the dead deities of Abeir-Toril
, Bhaal most likely has the most scattered cultists, the worst known as deathstalkers, attempting to bring him back to 'life'.
Forgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
campaign setting.
Publication history
Ed GreenwoodEd Greenwood
Ed Greenwood is a Canadian writer and editor who created the Forgotten Realms. He invented the Forgotten Realms as a child, as a fantasy world in which to set the stories he imagined, and later used this world as a campaign setting for his own personal Dungeons & Dragons playing group...
created Bhaal for his home Dungeons & Dragons game, set in the Forgotten Realms
Forgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...
.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)
Bhaal first appeared within Dungeons & Dragons as one of the deities featured in Ed Greenwood's article "Down-to-earth Divinity" in DragonDragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#54 (October 1981). Bhaal is introduced as Lord of Murder, the god of death, a lawful evil lesser god from the plane of Gehenna
Gehenna (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy role-playing game, Gehenna , is a plane of existence of neutral evil/lawful evil alignment...
. The article states that "Bhaal strikes unerringly, and his dagger causes the area wounded to wither," and that he "rarely appears to worshippers or others, but is depicted by priests as a bloody, mutilated corpse with a feral face and silent movements. It is said that every murder done strengthens Bhaal. Myrkul
Myrkul
Myrkul was the fictional Lord of the Dead in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting based upon the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Further aliases of Myrkul include the Reaper and Old Lord Skull. His symbol is a skull against a black field, known to occur in nightmares of many of the...
is lord of the dead; Bhaal is the lord of death itself, the act of killing." Bhaal is described as one of “The Dark Gods” of evil alignment: "Loviatar, Talona, and Malar
Malar (Forgotten Realms)
Malar is the Faerûnian deity of the hunt, evil lycanthropes , and bestial savagery and bloodlust in Ed Greenwood's Forgotten Realms fictional world of Abeir-Toril for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game...
serve Bane
Bane (god)
Bane , is the god of hatred, fear, and tyranny and one of the main evil gods in the fictional Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting, Forgotten Realms....
through Bhaal (although Loviatar and Talona are rivals). Bhaal and Myrkul have an unbreakable, symbiotic alliance." Bhaal is commonly worshipped by assassins
Assassin (Dungeons & Dragons)
The assassin is a playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It first appeared in 1975 in the Blackmoor supplement, as a thief sub-class. It next appeared in the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons again as a thief sub-class...
of any evil alignment, as well as lawful evil clerics
Cleric (Dungeons & Dragons)
The cleric is one of the standard playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. In the game, clerics are versatile figures, both capable in combat and skilled in the use of divine magic. Clerics are powerful healers due to the large number of healing and curative...
.
Bhaal later officially appeared as one of the major deities for the Forgotten Realms
Forgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...
campaign setting
Campaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
, in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Sets "Cyclopedia of the Realms" booklet (1987).
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)
Bhaal was destroyed in the novel Tantras (1989), and its accompanying adventure module of the same nameTantras (module)
Tantras is an adventure module published in 1989 for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Plot summary:Tantras is a Forgotten Realms scenario in which the player characters have been accused of the murder of Elminster the mage; they break out of prison, and have adventures as they make...
. Despite his death, Bhaal was still described in the hardback Forgotten Realms Adventures
Forgotten Realms Adventures
Forgotten Realms Adventures is an accessory for the fictional Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
(1990), the revised Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (1993) in the "Running the Realms" booklet, and Faiths & Avatars
Faiths & Avatars
Faiths & Avatars is an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms campaign expansion book. The book was designed by Julia Martin with Eric L. Boyd, and additional design by Ed Greenwood, L. Richard Baker III, and David Wise...
(1996).
His role in the cosmology of the Planescape
Planescape
Planescape is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, originally designed by Zeb Cook. The Planescape setting was published in 1994...
campaign setting was described in On Hallowed Ground (1996).
Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)
Bhaal's worship was discussed in Lost Empires of FaerûnLost Empires of Faerûn (accessory)
Lost Empires of Faerûn is a campaign supplement for the fictional Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:...
(2005).
History
One of the Dead Three, Bhaal was originally a mortal, who along with BaneBane (god)
Bane , is the god of hatred, fear, and tyranny and one of the main evil gods in the fictional Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting, Forgotten Realms....
and Myrkul
Myrkul
Myrkul was the fictional Lord of the Dead in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting based upon the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Further aliases of Myrkul include the Reaper and Old Lord Skull. His symbol is a skull against a black field, known to occur in nightmares of many of the...
took the portfolios of the ancient deity Jergal. Despite his most common title, Bhaal was the god of Murder, but he especially favoured violent or ritual deaths.
Patron of Assassins, Bhaal was feared throughout Faerûn – especially in the island realm of the Moonshaes. A wholly evil, debased, and sadistic god, Bhaal was served by the goddesses Talona and Loviatar.
He was a Lawful Evil Intermediate Power, and his symbol was a skull encircled by a counterclockwise orbit of drops of blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
. His divine Realm was the Throne of Blood (in Third Edition D&D, part of the Barrens of Doom and Despair
Barrens of Doom and Despair
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the Barrens of Doom and Despair is an evil-aligned plane of existence. It is one of a number of Outer Planes that form part of the cosmology retroactively introduced in the third edition of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting...
). The Lost Empires of Faerûn Forgotten Realms supplement gives his 3.5 edition D&D domains as Death, Destruction, Evil and Retribution (Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
magazine issue #322 instead gives his domains as Death, Destruction, Evil, Hatred and Law).
Death
Despite his power, during the Time of TroublesTime of Troubles (Forgotten Realms)
The Time of Troubles, also known as the Arrival, Godswar, and Avatar Crisis, is a fictional time period in the chronology of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role playing game...
, when the gods were forced to walk Faerûn, Bhaal was slain by the upstart mortal Cyric
Cyric
Cyric is a deity in the fictional Forgotten Realms campaign setting, a branch of Dungeons & Dragons. Cyric has many titles, including the Prince of Lies, the Dark Sun, the Black Sun, the Mad God, and the Lord of Three Crowns...
using the avatar of Mask (a sword named "Godsbane
Godsbane
In The Avatar Series, a quintet of novels based in the Forgotten Realms setting, Godsbane was a magical sword which was actually a manifestation of the deity Mask and was wielded by the then-mortal Cyric during the Time of Troubles...
"), who then stole Bhaal's divinity and portfolio elements.
However, much like Myrkul
Myrkul
Myrkul was the fictional Lord of the Dead in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting based upon the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Further aliases of Myrkul include the Reaper and Old Lord Skull. His symbol is a skull against a black field, known to occur in nightmares of many of the...
– who invested his divine essence in the artifact known as the Crown of Horns
Crown of Horns
The Crown of Horns is a fictional evil, intelligent artifact of great power from the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
– Bhaal was not utterly removed from Faerûn. Part of his divinity remains in the Winding Water, around Boarskyr Bridge where he was slain, his blood having flowed into the river. More importantly, Bhaal foresaw his death and impregnated many mortal women – creating his heirs, the Bhaalspawn
Bhaalspawn
In the fictional universe of Forgotten Realms, Bhaalspawn is a name given to all children of the fictitious Bhaal, Lord of Murder, who foresaw his own death during the Time of Troubles and fathered children who could one day be sacrificed for his return....
. The Bhaalspawn were involved in a series of conflicts along the Sword Coast, with one standing above the others. The tale of the Bhaalspawn is recounted in the Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II computer games; in the novelization
Novelization
A novelization is a novel that is written based on some other media story form rather than as an original work.Novelizations of films usually add background material not found in the original work to flesh out the story, because novels are generally longer than screenplays...
s of these games, the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
is named as Abdel Adrian.
Of all the dead deities of Abeir-Toril
Abeir-Toril
Abeir-Toril is the name of the fictional planet that makes up the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting, as well as the Al-Qadim and Maztica campaign settings and the 1st edition version of the Oriental Adventures campaign setting.The name is archaic, meaning "cradle of life." It...
, Bhaal most likely has the most scattered cultists, the worst known as deathstalkers, attempting to bring him back to 'life'.
Literature
Bhaal features prominently in the following Forgotten Realms novels:- Moonshae Trilogy series of novels, by Douglas NilesDouglas NilesDouglas Niles is a fantasy author and game designer. Niles was one of the creators of the Dragonlance world and the author of the first three Forgotten Realms novels, and the Top Secret S/I espionage role-playing game.-Early life:Niles was born in Brookfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee, and...
- Darkwalker on Moonshae (1987)
- Black Wizards (1988)
- Darkwell (1989)
- The Avatar SeriesThe Avatar SeriesThe Avatar Series, originally The Avatar Trilogy, is a series of fantasy novels in the Forgotten Realms setting, covering the event known as the Time of Troubles.The books were:...
novels- Shadowdale (1989), by Scott CiencinScott CiencinScott Ciencin is an American author. He sometimes writes with Denise Ciencin.-Biography:Scott Ciencin is a New York Times bestselling author who writes adult and children's fiction and works in a variety of mediums including comic books. Among his works are novels written for the Dungeons &...
- Tantras (1989), by Scott Ciencin
- Waterdeep (1989), by Troy DenningTroy DenningTroy Denning is a fantasy and science fiction author and game designer.-Career:Denning joined TSR as a game designer in 1981, and was promoted a year later to Manager of Designers, before he moved to the book department...
- Shadowdale (1989), by Scott Ciencin
- Novelizations of the Baldur's Gate seriesBaldur's Gate seriesBaldur's Gate is a franchise of action role-playing games released under the Dungeons & Dragons Video Game Licenses. It is set in the fictional campaign setting of Forgotten Realms and takes place in its fictional continent of Faerûn. It takes place mostly in the Western Heartlands, but has also...
of computer role-playing games- Baldur's Gate (1999), by Philip AthansPhilip Athans-Biography:Philip Athans was born in 1964 in Rochester, New York, but was raised in Chicago. Athans grew up reading Marvel comics and Starlog magazines, and watching Star Trek...
- Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000), by Philip AthansPhilip Athans-Biography:Philip Athans was born in 1964 in Rochester, New York, but was raised in Chicago. Athans grew up reading Marvel comics and Starlog magazines, and watching Star Trek...
- Baldur's Gate II: Throne of BhaalBaldur's Gate II: Throne of BhaalBaldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal is the expansion pack for the computer role-playing game Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, and is the final chapter in the Baldur's Gate series. It adds a multi-level dungeon called Watcher's Keep to the game and completes the main plot...
(2001), by Drew KarpyshynDrew KarpyshynDrew Karpyshyn is a Canadian video game scenario writer, scriptwriter and novelist.-Career:Karpyshyn was a loan officer, but when he got in a car accident, he quit his job as a loan officer and was able to go to college again to gain a degree in English...
.
- Baldur's Gate (1999), by Philip Athans