Tiamat

Tiamat (pronounced tee-a-maht ), also known as the Nemesis of the Gods, is the queen of evil dragons and a servant of the greater god Bane. Like most other draconic deities, she is the offspring of the dragon creator deity Io. Tiamat is also the eternal rival of her brother Bahamut, ruler of the good metallic dragons.

Appearances
Tiamat has one head for each primary color of chromatic dragon (black, blue, green, red, white), and each head has the powers of a member of the respective race of dragonkind.

Worshipers
Tiamat had a reputation amongst the people of the new state of Unther for battling with the other members of their pantheon and was blamed for every one of the many setbacks Unther experienced.



Relationships
Being a member of certain pantheons though has made her some enemies, including Bane and Ilmater. She is the antithesis of her brother Bahamut, although some say that her hatred of him is also full of lust for the platinum dragon.

History
Like other Untheric deities, she was brought to Faerûn when the Imaskari planar barrier fell, allowing the avatars of the gods of their slaves to come to Faerûn via the Astral Plane. Tiamat was also one of the first deities to have aspects, or lesser avatars. These aspects may appear as powerful versions of her chromatic children or as versions of her own five-headed form.

Unther
Tiamat gained a negative reputation in Unther after the arrival of her cult of followers (in the first millenium of Unther's history, around -2087 DR onwards), being accused of being the “Nemesis of the Gods” and being blamed for Unther's setbacks. Tiamat was killed by Marduk (who was also killed), while she was fighting Gilgeam in the Battle of the Gods in -1071 DR. Although her power was reduced by this, her cult survived and some of the people of Unther turned to her when Gilgeam became more tyrannical.

Despite her reputation among the inhabitants of Unther, Tiamat was much more concerned with expanding her influence over the rest of Faerûn, converting chromatic dragons to her worship. The first notable problem she caused was when she ate the dragon god Tchazzar who was worshiped by the people of Unther. Because she kept out of the affairs of Unther, her cult survived while the other Untheric powers became more tyrannical and destructive. This gave her the power to defeat Gilgeam during the Time of Troubles which threw Unther into chaos and helped dissolve the whole pantheon. Now she is a member of both the Faerûnian pantheon and the Draconic pantheon.



Inconsistencies
The adventure The Throne of Bloodstone depicts Tiamat being slain by Gareth Dragonsbane and his party, on the instructions of Bahamut as her heart was needed to destroy the Wand of Orcus. As originally written this adventure took place in 1148 DR: too early for Dragonsbane to be included in the modern Forgotten Realms. The date was thus retconned and the death of Tiamat has not been mentioned since, although the destruction of the wand is still a canonical event.

Faiths and Avatars suggested several theories for the survival of Tiamat: that the actual dragon slain was actually Takhisis (a deity from a different Crystal Sphere), that a deity can only truly be slain on their home plane (unless they are stripped of their divinity, as happened during The Time of Troubles) and so Tiamat simply reappeared in Dragon Eyrie, or simply a different multi-headed dragon or even an imposter.

Dragons of Faerûn states the Dragonsbane party destroyed an avatar of Tiamat. Although Tiamat's avatar was also slain by Gilgeam, this indicates the death of the avatar did not destroy Tiamat herself but merely slowed her plans for a time.

Dogma
Rival deities of all creeds and from every pantheon are inherently tyrannical. They seek only power, at any cost, despite their honeyed words. The Dragon Queen is the only being powerful enough to defy the gods and overthrow their despotic rule, as demonstrated by her overthrow of the other Untheric deities. Work tirelessly toward the day when Tiamat will banish the gods from Faerûn and unite the world under her rule. Toward this goal, follow her commands unquestioningly and be willing to sacrifice yourself in her service. To overthrow the gods requires power, and power is acquired through the accumulation of wealth and magic. Power demands respect. Chromatic dragons everywhere are to be venerated as the spawn of the Dragon Queen and paid homage. When Tiamat assumes her throne, her draconic children shall serve her as dukes, and her clergy as their mortal vassals.