Kelemvor Lyonsbane
Kelemvor Lyonsbane, Lord of the Dead and Judge of the Damned, is a fictional god in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
Fair yet cold, Kelemvor is the god of Death and the Dead—the most recent deity to hold this position, following in the footsteps of Jergal, Myrkul and, briefly, Cyric. Unlike these other deities, whose rule as gods of the dead made the afterlife an uncertain and fearful thing, Kelemvor urges knowledge that death is a natural part of life and should not be feared as long as it is understood.
Kelemvor is a Lawful Neutral Greater Power. His symbol is an upright skeletal arm holding the golden scales of justice, his divine realm is the Fugue Plane, and his Third Edition D&D domains are Fate, Law, Protection, Repose, and Travel.
In his mortal days, Kelemvor was a most skilled mercenary, with the heart of a noble paladin, concealed under rude manners and his family curse.
History
The Curse of the Lyonsbanes
The Curse of the Lyonsbanes has been passed down for generations in Kelemvor's family. All this started from the greedy mercenary Kyle Lyonsbane, who was utterly ruthless in extracting payment, to the point that one day he left his sorceress companion on the battlefield to die so that he could plunder the enemy's stronghold. In her last breath, the sorceress bestowed a curse upon Kyle. From that day on the mercenary can never attempt to perform an act for any type of reward without becoming a panther, and transform to human only by taking a life. Under the curse, only unselfish and heroic acts were permitted. The curse was passed on to Kyle's son, but it was reversed, making him unable to perform any act without asking for a reward, or suffer the metamorphosis. This resulted in a long line of mercenaries in the Lyonsbane family, and as family member grew old it become more dangerous for those who live around them, since the seniors could no longer remember if a reward had been offered. Thus it became the responsibility of every Lyonsbane to slay their father when they reached the age of fifty.
Mortal Life
Kelemvor Lyonsbane was the seventh descendant of Kyle. Because of the curse, Kelemvor had become a panther and mercilessly killed his own cruel father when trying to protect an innocent house maiden. After that he evaded the Lyonsbane castle, and became a sellsword, as most of his family members did. However because of the curse, many of his comrades died in front of his very eyes, and all he could do was turn away. Kelemvor dreamed of a day when he can perform heroic deeds free from the curse, become a true hero as those stories he had read when he was a child in the Lyonsbane castle.
After this he met up with Midnight (Mystra to be) and Adon of Sune. During the Time of Troubles He had the curse removed by the god of strife, Bane. Following this, they somehow managed to retrieve the 2 Tablets of Fate that the gods needed to return to the planes. Cyric the Mad pursued them the whole way, and eventually with the help of the Great Archmages Khelben and Elminster, they succeeded in destroying the threats of Myrkul and Cyric, and saved Waterdeep. However, Kelemvor was ambushed on the root of the Blackstaff tower by Cyric, and was killed by the evil sword Godsbane, and his spirit was held by the sword.
Revolt Against Cyric
Template:Spoiler As Cyric murdered Bhaal and ascended to godhood, the first thing he wanted to accomplish was to have Kelemvor's soul so that he could gain an advantage over the new Mystra, his most hated rival, and whose portfolio over Magic he coveted. However, for ten years, Cyric and his church were unable to find Kelemvor's soul, every divination and spell they tried yields nothing. The truth is, Cyric's sentient sword, Godsbane, was actually Mask, the God of Thieves in guise, who planned to bring Cyric's downfall and gain Cyric's portfolio over lies. Mask used Kelemvor's soul to gain the cooperation of Mystra, all the while planned a revolt in the City of Death against Cyric. With the help of Mystra, Torm, Oghma, and Cyric's own high priest Fzoul Chembryl (whose loyalty lay with the dead Bane), great chaos were caused in two of Cyric's most important bases of faith : the Zhentil Keep, and the City of Death. A great number of Cyric's follower lost their faith, thus greatly weakened Cyric himself in turn. Without the will to control the City of Death, dead spirits were freed and roamed about the City. In addition, Cyric's nightmare was freed from Dendar the Night Serpent, and the dream found Cyric, causing him to think that Kelemvor had somehow returned to life and seek to revenge. At such moment, Cyric, though a Greater Power, lost his mind, crushed his sword, which freed Kelemvor, thus making his nightmare true. They two fought, a dead soul against a god. Cyric's fear, indecision, and madness had became his defeat, and Kelemvor finally managed to overthrow Cyric's rule in the City. By the wish of all dead spirits and Denizens in the Gray Wastes (some say by Ao's will also), Kelemvor became the new God of Death.
Godhood
Being the new Lord Death, Kelemvor wished to clear all the corruptions in the Realms of Death brought by former Lords of Death. He changed the evil-looking Bone Castle, where Jergal, Myrkul, and Cyric used to dwell, into the glorious Crystal Spire, its translucency representing that no more should Death be a frightening mystic. The main purpose of the Lord of the Dead is the judgement of the departed souls. While faithful souls would be claimed by their respective deities, faithless souls and those with a false faith that his/her god did not want, are judged before the God of Death. Former Gods of Death would decide whether they are the Faithless, or the False. Either way, in the hands of Myrkul or Cyric, these souls eventually ended up being eternally tortured.
Kelemvor, however, was more lenient on those Faithless and False who were virtuous and honorable in life, while the ones who were cowardly or capricious were severely punished. Those souls being judged as noble, would be sent to the then merrier and heaven-like parts in The City of Death, such as the Singing City, or Pax Cloister, while for thieves and cowards there were hell-like parts of the City such as Acid Swamps. As a result, honorable and brave mortals no longer feared death, and recklessly threw their lives away, trusting in Kelemvor's judgement rather the worshipping of other goodly gods. The cowardly and crafty mortals became too fearful to do much, lest they die and find themselves before Kelemvor. This, in combination with Mystra's unjust granting of magic, favoring only those good, brought unintentional imbalance and robbed the other deities of potential worshipers. Being exposed by Cyric, Kelemvor and Mystra were accused by the Circle of Greater Gods of being guilty of "incompetence by humanity."
Kelemvor wondered how can he judge the damned, when he himself failed his own personal judgement. To correct his mistakes, the City of the Dead was changed to a gray world, not truly light, not totally dark, simply dull gray. Gone was the good and evil in the City, only indifference and silence remained. The once diamond-like Crystal Spire was also smoked the color of topaz. Kelemvor then conducted the Reevaluation, where all souls in the City were to be judged according to new criteria, then be sentenced to new places in the City. Souls being judged will not find torture, but neither will they find joy. They will be living with souls ethically similar to themselves. Kelemvor also rid himself of all signs of humanity in order to properly fulfill his duties. His's raven black hair turned to silver, his eyes pupiless, his appearance aged, his armor tattered and black, and he donned a silver death mask.
During the process, Adon (Kelemvor and Mystra's mutual friend, as well the patriach of Mystra's church) was driven mad by Cyric's trick, losing his faith in Mystra, and had died a faithless soul. Mystra came to Kelemvor and asked for Adon's soul, which Kelemvor steadfastly refused since Adon was now one of the Faithless, or perhaps even the False. This, along with Kelemvor's loss of passion, eventually caused the breaking up of their relationship.
Relationship
As mortals, Kelemvor and Mystra were lovers, but it is unlikely this is maintained now they are both deities with responsibilities (Crucible: The Trial of Cyric the Mad gives an account of the end of Kelemvor and Mystra's love). Kelemvor's greatest enemy is Cyric, but he also fiercely opposes the machinations of Velsharoon, the necromancer god who animates the dead into undead and thus stands against everything Kelemvor works for, and Talona, for the unnatural deaths caused by her diseases. This also makes him an ally of Lathander the Morninglord, who also opposes undeath. Kelemvor maintains practical alliances with good- and neutral-aligned gods of death in other pantheons—Sehanine Moonbow, Osiris and Urogalan amongst. Kelemvor is served by the original deity of death, the mysterious, fatalistic, and pragmatic Jergal, who keeps records of the final disposition of spirits of the deceased.
References
- Scott Ciencin (as Richard Awlinson), Shadowdale, TSR, Avatar Trilogy, Book 1, 1989.
- Scott Ciencin (as Richard Awlinson), Tantras, TSR, Avatar Trilogy, Book 2, 1989.
- Troy Denning (as Richard Awlinson), Waterdeep, TSR, Avatar Trilogy, Book 3, 1989.
- James Lowder, Prince of Lies, TSR, production no.: 8539 / 964510000, 1993.
- Troy Denning, Crucible: The Trial of Cyric the Mad, TSR, production no.: 8577 / 964520000, 1998.
- Boyd, Eric L, and Erik Mona. Faiths and Pantheons (Wizards of the Coast, 2002).
- Martin, Julia, and Eric L Boyd. Faiths & Avatars (TSR, 1996).