The Dark Gods and their Influence
A response to Reader Tarina of Candlekeep
By Oryoon Archost, Lord of Mystery
The Temple of Mystra of Baldur’s Gate
A response to Reader Tarina of Candlekeep
By Oryoon Archost, Lord of Mystery
The Temple of Mystra of Baldur’s Gate
Introduction
As a priest and a theologian, I take interest in the teachings and practices of the gods of our reality, and therefore often seek out articles and books on these matters. I recently came across a treatise by Reader Tarina of Candlekeep, on the matter of why good folk would offer their devotion to evil deities: Those who would sow fear, misery and death if not given their dues. It is a well-written and wise piece of literature, that accurately describes the common folk’s approach to these gods of evil. Presented this way, it is easy to be empathic to those who would offer a prayer to Talona to spare them from sickness, or to Auril to spare them from the coldest of winter.
But as scholars, we must also recognise that our knowledge and education allows us a clearer view of the reality of the gods. And with this knowledge, we can offer the common folk a better path. For here lies my first disagreement with the honoured Reader. It is not the wealth and resources or the power of certain individuals that allows them to readily dismiss offering prayers to these gods of evil. The truth lies in what the Reader alludes to, but fails to draw to its ultimate conclusion: The gods, both good and evil, do indeed serve their purpose. All of them are important, indeed, but they are important chiefly to those who revere them. It is the objective moralities of our reality that are truly important. And the supposed necessity for a balance in these objective moralities, seems to me to be a false observation.
If we who carry the theological knowledge are to serve the common folk in the way of objective good, we should aspire to teach them that while Umberlee certainly is a goddess of wrath upon the oceans, the waves are are not her domain alone. In this article then, I shall go through the gods Reader Tarina herself listed, and offer ways for priests and other scholars to teach the common folk an alternative to the fears the Reader so accurately describes.
Auril
The goddess of winter, one of the four furies, is a terrifying one to many of the common folk and even those more learned. She is a goddess who commands her followers to spread the fear of cold and ice, so that people will pray to her for mercy from the biting frost.
But the Frostmaiden with her threats and terror trespass on the domains of gods of benevolence. For where she threatens dead crops with an early winter, the Earthmother defends the farmlands. Where Auril threatens to make the cold night extend into the day, the Morninglord offers his warmth as the dawn arrives.
Bane
When you live under Zhentarim rule or that of other tyrannical states, such as Thay, it is easy to see why the common folk would ask the god of Tyranny to spare them from the oppression of their rulers. In these lands, the efforts of good folk are in the best of cases stifled, and far more often met with a cruel death. It is not strength that defines the tyrant, but the illusion of it. Bane is a god of fear, and it is truly through that emotion the tyrants of the world rule.
But Bane too faces opposition. As one of the greatest powers in our reality, he reaches so far into the territory of other gods, that he has many enemies, some of which are his equals. When the Zhentarim forces come to conquer and oppress, Torm grants courage to stand your ground and do your duty to your people. Ilmater shows mercy, shielding you from the pain of torture. When the ruler of your land comes to demand more taxes than can ever be paid, and you will be imprisoned for not meeting the demand, Tyr is the hand of true justice to whom your prayers should go.
Bane is evil, and while his followers claim that he encourages strength, it is always at the expense of others, and only with the purpose of sowing fear.
Beshaba
The domain of Luck was once held by one deity, Tyche. She was split into the two sides of the coin that Tymora and Beshaba represent. It would be all too obvious for me to simply state that here one could ask Tymora for luck where Beshaba offers misfortune, and therein find the balance between the two. And so I will add, that misfortune itself is something that trespasses upon the domains of gods I’ve already mentioned. Misfortune, after all, as with luck, is somewhat vague. Is it misfortune when winter comes early, or is it the design of Auril? Is it misfortune, then if the crops fail from other causes, such as a draught? Again, here Chauntea offers solace. Whatever misfortune means, Beshaba will always find opposition where she reaches out to place it upon people.
Bhaal
The Lord of Murder is the patron of assassins. Death, the very process of it, is his domain. And yet, it isn’t his alone. If we look outside of the gods humanity often pray to, the domain of death is one held by even some deities of benevolence, such as Sehanine Moonbow of the elven gods, or Segojan Earthcaller of the gnomish gods. And so while death is something that one could say is natural (and the gnomes who worship Segojan would, as he is indeed also a god of nature), it needs not be evil.
Bhaal in his cruel approach to death, will therefore find enemies among those many gods who would shield us from cruelty at the end of our lives. The mercy of Ilmater comes to mind easily, for example.
I should also point out here, that the Reader’s understanding of the divine laws of paladinhood is lacking, for no paladin can offer prayer to an evil deity and remain in favour.
Hoar
The god of vengeance appears on Reader Tarina’s list, and though he is a conflicted and often controversial god, he is not an evil one. The theology suggests he is being drawn in two directions, by different powers. But for the time being, praying to Hoar is not necessarily to pray to an evil.
She mentions also Tyr as a blind and unforgiving deity of justice, where Hoar serves something of a more personal sense of justice. I think this is a mistake, given Tyr’s closeness to Torm and Ilmater. The Triad and their priests will often stress that Tyr’s divine justice is enforced by the fury of Torm and tempered with the mercy of Ilmater. So it seems to me Tyr must be seen as a god of justice who is willing to forgive, even if he is also a stern one.
Loviatar
I have already mentioned Ilmater a few times in this article, but here is where he truly comes into his right. For similar to Tymora and Beshaba, Ilmater and Loviatar are opposites, and Reader Tarina seems to recognise this in her treatise. Unfortunately she again falls upon the assumption that they are necessary to one another. That the pain Loviatar inflicts is an almost educational pain, and that Ilmater tempers the pain so it is bearable. This seems to me to be a misunderstanding. Loviatar’s pain is not one of teaching, but one of torture and sadism. Her teaching is for her followers to offer slight mercies to their victims, only to shatter their hopes of relief with more pain, and in doing so, amplifying it.
Malar
The second of the four Furies on Reader Tarina’s list, is the Beastlord, a god of bloodlust and unbridled brutality and violence. Yes, nature can be savage, but we who are part of civilisation can rise above it. This includes the tribes who struggle for survival in the wilderness. Their guidance would be much better left to Mielikki and Gwaeron Windstrom.
Of all the gods, Malar is the one who hates elvenkind the most. And in his hatred, he guides his followers to murder the Fair Folk wherever they are, and with as much brutality as they can. Indeed, his priests and rangers are not allowed to kill from afar, because Malar insists that they taste the blood of those they slay.
The Reader mentions correctly that it is Malar’s pleasure (she uses the word duty, but I doubt the god has any care for such notions) to purge the weak and the sick from the world. An ideal that echoes that of the followers of Bane. The weak and the sick are served poorly by prayers to these gods. The weak and sick require and deserve compassion and kindness, not cruelty and demands of strength. Yet again, Ilmater enters the scene, as does Lathander with his renewal and vitality.
Mask
The god of thieves is one of self-serving and selfishness. And here we can take an opportunity to consider conflicting prayers. For his followers are thieves, who pray to him for a successful heist. To then suggest that the thieves’ targets pray to him for protection from such thievery, is contradictory. Mask, and other gods, will favour those who follow them in their prayers, those who truly worship.
Helm, the Guardian, is a god who will stand in the way of Mask. As is the already mentioned Tyr and Torm. Mask’s greatest enemy is perhaps the trade goddess Waukeen.
Myrkul
To slight the god of the dead, is to risk one’s afterlife, if one is to believe Reader Tarina’s words. And there is perhaps some truth to it, at least insofar as his followers will enact his wrath. And yet all faiths supporting paladins will stand in opposition to this, and seek to release those who are bound to undeath by Myrkul’s followers. Indeed Myrkul’s second, Jergal, has an order of paladins and priests called the Companions of the Pallid Mask whose entire purpose is to destroy undead. They rival the Morninglords of Lathander in their zeal when it comes to this task.
Ultimately, Myrkul serves a purpose that he cannot deny, and that is to ferry the souls of the dead to their respective patrons. If he failed in this duty, and the souls stayed within his realm, he would likely soon find himself assaulted from all sides.
Shar
By Reader Tarina’s own words, the Lady of Loss is the core of her treatise. And to me, she is the greatest enemy of my faith, that of Mystra. The Reader presents Shar in an almost romantic and sympathetic way, as if she deserves our empathy and compassion, because she is a god who was betrayed. And that Shar teaches to accept our ’darkness’. This is in some contrast to what the followers of Shar practice, as they would fill the world with darkness, embracing it. They deny every other god, for Shar insists that she is the only truth. And at the same time, she is the goddess of loss, opposing knowledge to be preserved as the Reader’s own Candlekeep has as its mission. In this, she finds many enemies, in Oghma and his servants Deneir, Gond and Milil, as well as Mystra, Azuth and Savras.
She teaches that one should not keep company with followers of good deities, unless it is to corrupt them to darkness. There is nothing redeeming in Shar’s teachings.
Do not let darkness, whether your own or someone elses consume you or them. And always strive towards the light, for accepting the darkness is at best moral apathy, and at worst an approval of evil.
Talona
The goddess of disease and poison aligns as the Reader correctly identifies with the goddess of pain, and therefore Ilmater returns to us to offer his healing and mercy yet again. Lathander, too, with his renewal and vitality to stave off the illnesses, shall be considered here.
But Talona is also the goddess of the blighters, corrupt ex-druids who spread unholy contageon, destroy forests and animate the dead. This earns her the animosity Silvanus, Chauntea and many of the other gods of nature. So when Talona threatens to spread a plague, pray to any of these, for her plagues are unholy and unnatural, and her enemies stand together against her.
Talos
The god of destruction is the third of the furies, and perhaps the most deserving of the fury title. His rage is endless and praying to him for salvation from his rampage will only ever encourage him. Nothing less than utter destruction will satisfy this god.
Thankfully, he is fairly alone in his desire to destroy the world. Even among his fellow furies, only he truly hates creation. The shadow of Talos that the Reader writes of does not exist, and he can never truly be described as a god of creation, and all his follower are taught is to spread the fear of the Storm Lord by wanton destruction.
Where he threatens storms, droughts and wildfires, Chauntea defends the farmlands again, and the goddess of peace Eldath calms the storms. Other gods of nature oppose the Storm Lord as well, as does Gond, who truly is the god of creation. Sune too stands against the Destroyer, for he would not leave anything of beauty left standing.
Umberlee
The last on Reader Tarina’s list is also the last of the furies. In Baldur’s Gate, a harbour town that has much sea trade, Umberlee has a not insignificant following, and many times on the streets I overhear words that one must give praise and tribute to Umberlee before setting out on a sea journey, lest the Queen of the Dephts take you.
But the waves belong to other gods than just Umberlee. The elven god Deep Sashelas carries elven sailors to safety. Selûne and Valkur answers the prayers of sailors caught in Umberlee’s storms, to give them starlight and guide them home to safety. As much as Umberlee’s clergy of Baldur’s Gate wants to frighten the sailors, they can find support against her evil in the Halls of Inner Light, and even the temple of Tempus, where a shrine to Valkur can be found.
Conclusion
There are yet several gods of evil Reader Tarina did not mention, such as Gargauth or Garagos. But she managed to bring across her message, well written and accurate in description. Unfortunately, in the end, these gods and their evil designs are only served by the continued preaching to fear them and give them praise. Instead, I submit we who are priests and scholars ought to teach the common folk that very fact. That evil is allowed to endure because it is given praise, when it is its opposition we should always seek.
If you read this text one day, Reader Tarina, I commend you on your hard work, well written and accurate as it is. It is a great piece of literature, and I learned much in the process of reading your treatise as well as researching for my response to it. I hope that I may have offered you some other perspectives on these matters, and that these two texts together can progress and shape the theological discussions of our time.
Lastly, I hope that clergy and scholars will have some benefit from this text, whether it is just a theological musing or as guidance to approach the common folk who deserve our attention and aid against the troubles they face in life.
(( This was a fun exercise for me! Thank you Rhifox for having posted that article almost a year ago that I came across just today. I've now spent about 4 hours writing this thing, and it was a good challenge for me OOCly and my character ICly. There likely are some spelling errors in it. I'll fix as I discover them! ))