Marduk

Marduk was an aspect of the lesser dragon god Bahamut, worshiped in Unther as the greater god of cities, wind, thunder, storms, and rain.

Description
Marduk was one of the few members of the Untheric pantheon who had an inhuman appearance. He had the form of a humanoid with red skin, four eyes and four ears, shooting flames from his mouth when he spoke.

Realm
Marduk had a realm in Arcadia also called Marduk, a city of marble and adobe located on the center of an arid land of sun and sky. The rivers Luar and Kath flowed through the realm and the city, keeping it cool even on the hottest days. Outsiders to the realm were watched carefully, but left to their own devices as long as they respected the law. He usually left the rule of his city to mortals, just to see how they would adapt to his precepts.

As a member of the Untheric pantheon, he also had a realm on Zigguraxus.

Personality
Marduk was concerned with justice and law, and he always opposed the schemes of Tiamat, the Nemesis of the Gods.

History
In, the Untheric pantheon was brought to Toril when former Imaskari slaves founded the Untheric empire. Bahamut, a lesser god of the Draconic pantheon, became part of the Untheric pantheon under the alias of Marduk, and his worship soon grew to elevate him to the status of greater god.

The dragon goddess Tiamat, Bahamut's sister and longtime rival, also became part of the Untheric pantheon. Now that they had humanoid worshipers, the Dragonfall War entered into a new period of intensity, and over the next thousand years the two dragon gods fought each other personally, with neither being able to gain the upper hand.

At some point after the foundation of Unther, the brown dragon Vulpomyscan wreaked havoc on Untheran farms and villages as the humans began to encroach his territory. This angered the gods of Unther and Marduk led an army against Vulpomyscan's dwarven legions. While the two armies fought on the ground, the ancient wyrm battled Marduk in the skies above the Black Ash Plain. Losses were heavy on both sides until finally Vulpomyscan was slain by Marduk and his cultists were defeated.

In, the Orcgate Wars began when an army of orcs from another world invaded the lands that later would become Thay, forcing the Mulhorandi and Untheric gods to muster their armies against them. In, during the infamous Battle of the Gods, while Gilgeam fought against the orc deity Ilneval, Tiamat saw her chance to kill Gilgeam, but before she could act Marduk intercepted her and in the ensuing battle they killed each other. With both of their Untheric aspects dead, Tiamat and Bahamut were both stripped of their divine power.

After the war was over, Marduk's body was entombed in a tomb in a southwestern tributary of the River of Swords. Besides for the small cult that remained to guard his tomb, Marduk's church slowly disappeared, mostly due to the influence of Gilgeam's priesthood, and many believed he was killed by the orc gods. His name was remembered only by the Cult of the Old Gods, a minor cult of Unther.

Meanwhile, Bahamut was reduced to the status of celestial paragon, without enough followers to worship him as a god until the, when he regained his status of lesser deity.

Legacy
Marduk was still remembered in Chessenta by the late years of the 15 DR. There was still a temple of Marduk in the small village of Saden, and its priests still practiced the old customs of painting their faces with an extra pair of eyes and ears upon their shaved scalps to emulate the appareance of Marduk, but by 1480 DR they had been converted to the modern teachings of Bahamut.