Amelyssan

Amelyssan the Blackhearted, also known as Melissan, was the most calculating and seemingly devoted priestess of the deity Bhaal, a follower whom he entrusted with the task of his divine resurrection.

Description
While she took on the form of a fair, demure woman of plain appearance and steady disposition, Amelyssan viewed herself as so much more. When she seized the power of Bhaal's throne, Amelyssan emerged as a massive warrior of great potency.

Personality
"The Servant of Bhaal knows death and destruction, The face of an ally, the mask of a foe."

- A forest spirit at the Grove of the Ancients.

Amelyssan was capable of convincingly pretending that her greatest desire was to help other people to the point of masking her moral and ethical outlook to others as that of pure dutiful benevolence. In truth, she was psychotic and irredeemably evil. Amelyssan was a megalomaniacal and remorseless killer that regarded others, even her god, as nothing but mere tools. She had little tolerance for others trying to limit her will in any form, believing that was a already goddess that should be treated accordingly.

Possessions
In her nearly-divine form, Amelyssan wielded an enormous military fork that was was longer than most men.

Activities
Amelyssan served as one of Bhaal's deathstalkers, an order of fervent assassins associated with his clergy. In the years following Bhaal's death she masqueraded as one of his half-divine children, one whos altruism was directed at sparing her fellow outcast siblings from the harshness of the world.

Abilities
"I am no dead thing! You have called a piece of a living goddess to you."

While the assertion that Amelyssan was a god was nothing but wishful thinking on her part, she was nonetheless immensely powerful. She was proficient in both divine and arcane magic, spellcasting that was only increased in power with the more Bhaalspawn essences she consumed.

At its apex, her power rivaled that of a demigod; she could nearly simultaneously summon otherworldly beings to her aid, while striking foes with her massive military fork. She had become immune to the elements and other forms of harmful energy, could resist physical harm and was even not affected by some time-altering magic.

History
Having foreseen his own death during the Time of Troubles, Bhaal came to Toril years before the event and mated with mortal females of different races, producing offspring called Bhaalspawn meant to be slain for his eventual rebirth. Some of these Bhaalspawn, such as those slain at the temple in the Forest of Wyrms were already slain, and their essence released for the taking. Amelyssan's task was to perform rituals that would complete Bhaal's return, however sought to gather the power as her own and become a goddess herself.

When the gods were actually exiled to the Realms in the, Bhaal took at least two mortal forms before being slain by the mortal Cyric. The essence that was left when some of the Bhaalspawn had been slain in the years prior was retained by Amelyssan and her power began to gradually increase.

After his death she assumed the name of Melissan, a benefactor who took pity on the Bhaalspawn, but was secretly gathering them to acquire their essence. To fulfil her goal, she gathered together the most powerful Bhaalspawn, known as the Five and promised them the power of demigods when Bhaal was resurrected.

Siege of Saradush
Under the guise of Melissan, attempted to lead some citizens of the Tethyrian settlement of Saradush to safety, as the city was under siege by an army of fire giants. She sought to gain audience with Gromnir Il-Khan, the city's half-orc ruler and surviving Bhaalspawn. As Melissan and the townspeople were nearly struck down by Gromnir's guards, another Bhaalspawn Abdel Adrian and his companions were teleported into the city from a portion of Bhaals divine realm. Along with the newly-arrived adventurer, Melissan was able to confront Gromnir within his palace, casting away his misgivings, and ensure his death – providing herself with another small portion of Bhaal's divine essence.

Melissan then convinced Abdel to defeat Yaga-Shura, the Bhaalspawn general that commanded the fire giants besieging Saradush. While the hero managed to remove Yaga-Shura's magical invulnerability and then slay him, Saradush was left to ruin and many of the Bhaalspawn trapped within were dead. Melisan remain unscathed, yet troubled enough by the catastrophe to convince Abdel Adrian that other members of the Five must be stopped, lest the tragedy of Saradush befall another city. Under Melissan's direction, the Bhaalspawn from Baldur's Gate set out across Tethyr and slew two more members of the Five, the drow sorceress Sendai, and the blue dragon Abazigal, then set out to reunite with her in the Calishite mountain village of Amkethran.

Final Act of Treachery
"Remain dust, my foolish god."

- Amelyssan the Balckhearted.

While in Amkethran, Amelyssan's true nature was uncovered by the final living member of the Five, the monk Balthazar. He imprisoned her within his monastery, not taken in by her promises of power. He planned to kill the remaining Bhaalspawn himself then take his own life, ensuring both her scheme and that of Bhaal would never come to fruition. Fortunately for Amelyssan, Abdel and his companions found their way into the monastery and battled the righteous monk in his throne room, in a vicious struggle for their own survival. With nearly all the Bhaalspawn dead, Abdel was whisked away by his patron solar and Amelyssan was granted the essence of one of the most powerful of Bhaal's children.

Just before Amelyssan was set to claim what remained of the Throne of Blood, her mortal form was summoned by the solar and presented in front of Abdel and the divine being within the shard of Bhaal's realm. The true history of the former Deathstalker was presented as witness before the Bhaalspawn, as well as an avatar of Bhaal himself. When presented with his fury over her delay, Amelyssan stood defiant in front of her former god.

Armed with the Bhaalspawn essence of all but two of the dead god's children, Amelyssan confronted Abdel Adrian and his companions at the Mana Forge in the Abyss. Requiring time to fully absorb the collected essences, she summoned forth great demons such as succubi, glabrezus and mariliths, undead monstrosities like death tyrants and bone fiend, and even a fallen solar. Amelyssan also called upon immensely powerful extra-planar beings to protect her during the battle, including the archomental Yan-C-Bin, from the Elemental Plane of Air, and Cryonax from the para-elemental plane of Frostfell.



Fall
"You are no god, priestess of Bhaal. You play with stolen energies that make you immortal, that give you great power...but that does not make you a god."

- Solar.

The mustering of fiends and other-worldly allies was not enough. Abdel Adrian and his allies defeated Amelyssan in an epic and decisive battle on the platforms of the Mana Forge, floating across the Astral Plane. While the mortal adventurers could not kill the immortal Amelyssan, the same solar that had presented her true face to Bhaal declared the contest for Bhaal's divinity was over, as decided by the gods themselves. The pretender's divine essences were stripped and presented to the surviving Bhaalspawn to do with what he wished, at least for the time being.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal
 * Video games
 * Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal