Church of Bhaal

The Church of Bhaal was the religious organization that was devoted to the worship of the Lord of Murder, Bhaal. "Bhaal awaits thee, Bhaal embraces thee, none escape Bhaal."

- A common saying of Bhaalists during an act of murder.

Organization
The clergy of the Lord of Murder were a disorganised group of evil priests and assassins. Priests of Bhaal were referred to as either Bhaalists, which was most common to the west of the Dragon Reach, or Bhaalyn, which was used to the east. In cities and towns, members of the Church of Bhaal were often clerics, whilst in far removed locations, they were usually deathstalkers.


 * High Primate/Primistress
 * Members of a specific faction (or an area) of the Church of Bhaal were always led by a High Primate of High Primistress.


 * Primate/Primistress
 * A Primate or Primistress was in charge of a specific fortress or temple, which were filled with assassins an agents.


 * First Murder
 * First Murders were assistants to Primates and Primistresses, and helped with sending agents to nearby settlements. In other faiths, such a role was known as a scion.


 * Cowled Death
 * Cowled Deaths, who occupied offices in the community, made up the senior clergy of the Church of Bhaal. Nine Cowled Deaths reported to each First Murder.


 * Deathdealer
 * Deathdealers formed the more common members of the Church of Bhaal, and were underneath the Cowled Deaths. They bore the title of Slaying Hand.

Activities
As expected, Bhaalists' main activities consisted of preparing for and carrying out assassinations, hunting bounties, and straight up bloody murder. Such preparations included sourcing and maintaining weapons and other gear, training, journeying, and praying. Bhaalists generally put a lot of time into researching who to murder, as well as the location and time to commit it. High priority targets often included rivals, as well as victims who would be missed by the common folk; this helped to rake in donations and other types of offerings.

Bhaal did not just urge his clergy to carry out killings, but also to seek the wealth that came along with it.

Rituals
Aside from holy killings, Bhaalists observed several rituals. Many were done privately, such as when a priest was planned to ascend to a high rank. In this instance, the member of the church would head out and perform a killing with only their bare hands. After completion, they would secretly inform a higher member of the church. The senior member would then organize a public ceremony, where all members would don their ceremonial outfits, and an honorary killing to Bhaal was made.


 * Day's Farewell
 * A formal ritual that was taken part of by the entire clergy when the day drew to a close, as well as when a member set off for duty.


 * Feast of the Moon
 * This ritual was the only one of its type that was set to occur on a specific date. During the ritual feast, priests of Bhaal praised and discussed particularly unique or interesting kills, as well as remember those who had died in service to the Lord of Murder. One of the most retold story was that of Uthaedeol's legendary murder of King Samyte of Tethyr.

Base of Operations
Urban members of the Church of Bhaal congregated in underground temples. Such temples were sometimes decorated in the theme of murder and death, from sculptures of a vicious murder, to mosaics. Many of these sites had rooms filled with multiple corpses (as well as tokens from the deceased), if the bodies could not be left at the site of the killing.

Rural members instead preferred to worship the Lord of Murder at ancient shrines and oblational altars. Such shrines were usually built atop infrequently-visited tops of hills, and were shaped in the symbol of Bhaal.

The most well-known base was the Tower of Swift Death in Thay. Others existed around the continent, such as the Temple of Bhaal in the Undercity of Baldur's Gate, the Stronghold in Delimbiyr Vale (which formerly acted as a Bhaalist monastery), and the Temple of Bhaal in the Forest of Wyrms.

Vestments
All Bhaalists, during ceremonies and other temple work, wore a combination of purple or black cowls and robes. Such garments were often streaked in violent, in a seemingly random combination. Every other part of their outfit would be black, including the interior and veil. Senior priests were known to add additions to their outfits, such as a red sash. Ceremonial daggers were utilized by all members of the church, though only the highest members of the clergy (as well as Brethren of the Keen Strike) would directly use them in their murderous acts.

Adventuring Gear
When on a mission or quest, member of the Church of Bhaal usually wore full armor of high quality, in addition to black leggings and capes.

Dogma
Bhaalists saw murder as not just a duty, but as pleasure. When they committed murder, they would make sure their victims knew that it was the Lord of Murder behind the killing. Each member strongly believed that every single murder they committed strengthened their master. They were required to kill once every tenday during the darkest time of the night. This was not always possible, as a Bhaalist could be incarcerated; once released, they would have to make up for their killings twice over. "Make all folk fear Bhaal. Let your killings be especially elegant, or grisly, or seem easy so that those observing them are awed or terrified. Tell folk that gold proffered to the church can make the Lord of Murder overlook them for today."

- Bhaalist dogma

Orders
The Church of Bhaal supported many organizations that performed duties on behalf of the Lord of Murder.


 * Brethren of the Keen Strike
 * The Brethren of the Keen Strike were a society of which all speciality priests of Bhaal were included in.


 * Shadow Thieves of Amn
 * The Shadow Thieves were a deadly group of rogues, money-lenders, and assassins based in Crimmor, Amn.


 * Citadel of Assassins
 * The Assassins Guild of the Galenas were an organization of highly-trained killers that was led by the Grandfather of Assassins.

Classes
The Clergy of the Church of Bhaal consisted of multiple different occupations, but were mostly clerics and speciality priests. Deathstalkers were speciality priests of Bhaal that were skilled in alteration and necromantic magic. Once powerful enough, they were able to cast finger of death, as well as aerial servant.

Ancient
Long before the 14 century DR, Bhaal ascended to godhood in a strange bargain with Jergal; after this his church came to form. His church would expand over Faerûn, but two generic factions would form: those who dwelt in urban areas, and those who dwelt in rural areas. The relations between those two sets of worshipers was fairly neutral, as well as distant.

14 century DR
In 1358 DR, Bhaal was forced to walk the ground of Faerûn as a mortal. On Eleasis 13 of that year, Bane and Myrkul were determined to increase the power of the Lord of Darkness. The mastermind, Myrkul, came up with a plan to produce an enormous death spell, which would kill all true assassins of the Realms. In turn, their life-force would be absorbed by Bane in a ritual known as the Stealing of the Souls. As the plan was executed, a large amount of Bhaal's agents and worshipers perished immediately.

Later on that year, Bhaal was murdered by Cyric the Dark Sun, and many of his temples and clergy were converted to Cyricism. During this time, his church referred to their new master as Cyric-Bhaal. After 1361 DR, the Dark Sun would impose order among the converted members of the Church of Bhaal, and many eventually came to worship Cyric as their true lord. However, the rural faction would retain their belief in the Lord of Murder, as they were still granted spells in his name. The differences between the rural and urban factions would became great, and in 1367 DR, they were known to have ambushed each other. As of that time, the rural worshipers of Bhaal stopped receiving spells in their master's name. As such, many converted to the Church of Cyric, or even the Church of Iyachtu Xvim. However, not all turned to the worship to members of the Faerûnian pantheon, and instead venerated deities of the Orc pantheon, as well as other non-human groups of divine beings. Still, some did not turn from the Lord of Murder; ancient priests would lead their clergy in remote places scattered around the continent.

Though the worship of Bhaal mostly faded away, Bhaal planned to return. He had in fact foreseen his death, and scattered his essence in his mortal progeny, the Bhaalspawn.

15 century DR
In 1482 DR, the two final Bhaalspawn, Abdel Adrian and Viekang, engaged in a fight. The victor was transformed into the Slayer, Bhaal was reborn, and his church began to operate once more. As of the Second Sundering, Bhaal remained behind in mortal form as a quasi-deity, and his church became known as a "cult". Together with Myrkulytes and Banites, Bhaalists began to terrorize the Realms once more, particularly in Baldur's Gate. Reports claimed that the Lord of Murder was known to make visits to a secretive temple of this city in person.

Appearances

 * Video Games
 * Baldur's Gate