Myrkul

Template:Forgotten Realms Deity Myrkul was the fictional Lord of the Dead in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting based upon the Dungeons & Dragons universe. 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 folk of Faerûn. His alignment is Neutral Evil

Character history

In the Dead Three Myrkul was the second to choose from Jergal's powers. Since Bane, the first to choose, had chosen to rule over Strife, pain, etc., Myrkul tried to one-up him by choosing the Domain of the Dead, so that eventually Bane's subjects would become his. During the Time of Troubles, in which Lord Ao (the God of the gods) banished all the gods from the Planes, where they were forced to take on mortal Avatars, Myrkul and Bane teamed up to storm a Celestial Stairway (an ever-changing "stairway to heaven", granting access to the Planes from the Realms).

When Bane's avatar was destroyed during a fight with the legendary mage Elminster in the Temple Of Lathander in the city of Shadowdale, Myrkul had his temple's wizards locate the shards of his power. Three of his wizards died in the process due to the unstable nature of magic in the Realms, which is why Myrkul ventured into the Border Ethereal (since none of the gods had lived in the Border Ethereal before the Arrival, Lord Ao didn't see any reason to have Helm blockade it). This made it much easier to locate Bane's being and to reform them into a whole again. If not for Myrkul, Bane may have actually "died" that day in Shadowdale. Bane lost most of his followers and his power, and Myrkul mysteriously gained those followers.

Myrkul was killed in a duel with Mystra in the skies over the city of Waterdeep, during the Time of Troubles. However, Myrkul infused the sinister artifact called the Crown of Horns with the remnants of his essence, and teleported it away. The artifact was once in the possession of a yuan-ti from Skullport, but has since abandoned its user. Cyric briefly gained control of Myrkul's portfolio, but it was later granted to Kelemvor.

The Lord of Bones enjoys his new form, free of the rigid rules of godhood. He spends his time harassing the churches of Cyric and Mystra.

In the Expansion pack for Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer, the protagonist will meet Myrkul, and is given the choice to destroy him with the power the Spirit Eater within them gives them. A fitting punishment, since the Spirit Eater was created by Myrkul from his rebellious High Priest, Akachi, as punishment for turning against him.

References

• Myrkul biography as regards role in RTTEE

Sources

This information complied from the Avatar Trilogy from the Forgotten Realms series of books, as well as various other source books from the Dungeons & Dragons Pantheon. Most of the Information is not based on or approved by Wizards of the Coast (Owner of all D&D copyrights).

External links

• History of the Dead Three: 'Knucklebones, skull bowling, and the empty throne'

References

• Martin, Julia, and Eric L Boyd. Faiths & Avatars (TSR, 1996).

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