Bahamut

Bahamut was the dragon god of justice and a subservient deity to Torm, god of law. Before entering the Faerûnian pantheon, he was a member of the Draconic pantheon, as a deity of good dragons, metallic dragons, wisdom, and enlightened justice (justice tempered with mercy and punishment with forgiveness) known by the name of Xymor. For some time, he was also a member of the Untheric pantheon, under the alias of Marduk.

His natural form was that of a platinum dragon, said by many to be the only one of his kind. He was also the eternal rival of his sister Tiamat, queen of the chromatic dragons.

Description
In his natural form, Bahamut was a massive dragon approximately 180 feet (55 meters) long, with a tail the same length as his body, with platinum scales tougher than any shield (said by some to be virtually indestructible) that glowed with a faint blue sheen, and blue eyes, the exact color of which was hard to specify and may have depended on Bahamut's mood. As Xymor, he was described as a huge dragon wrapped in a scintillating aura of light so brilliant that it was impossible to tell his color.

When he wished to wander the mortal world, he usually took the appearance of an old human or demihuman wizard dressed in peasant robes accompanied by seven canaries or other songbirds. Some sages believed Bahamut used this humanoid guise to not frighten non-dragon beings. They also believed that while Bahamut was fond of his old man guise, he had other guises as well. Other recorded guises included that of a prince with a carriage drawn by seven horses, an urchin accompanied by seven friends, a beggar followed by seven dogs, a humble fisher or a young monk who bear the title of the "Grandmaster of Flowers".

Diet
Bahamut's favored food was the early morning frost on blades of grass, honey, and daisy petals. He was able to eat anything, however, and he needed no sustenance while in his palace.

Realm
Myths claimed that the great fortified castle that Bahamut called home was somewhere "behind the east wind" and many scholars believed Bahamut's castle was located on the Elemental Plane of Air. Others believed his palace was located "behind the north wind", this being the origin of his "Lord of the North Wind" title. However, "Bahamut's Palace" was actually located on the plane of Celestia.

Personality
Bahamut was stern and very disapproving of evil, always arguing with Asgorath about his crusade against it. He accepted no excuses for evil acts, and didn't tolerate even minor offenses by evil creatures.

In spite of his stance, he was also considered one of the most compassionate beings in the multiverse. He had limitless empathy for the downtrodden, the dispossessed, and the helpless. He usually preferred to polymorph those who had offended him instead of killing them, although it was also said that Bahamut loathed to sully himself with the blood of evil creatures.

By draconic standards, Bahamut was neither vain nor desirous of treasure. He valued wisdom, knowledge, prophecies, and songs instead. He used the great wealth he had amassed over the ages to help those in need, while using the magic items he had gathered to further his goals. However, he also pursued viciously (usually sending his champions and followers) those who tried to steal the hoard from his palace as, after all, he was a god of justice.

Bahamut also liked to prove the strength and worthiness of his followers by battling against them in his dragon form, halting the combat when his followers were injured or when they overcame him. However, he was prone to get carried away by his zeal, and had powerful healers on hand in case he had gravely injured one of his followers in those battles.

While his court comprised only gold dragons, Bahamut enjoyed the company of all good dragons, delighting in their differences and varied personalities.

Activities
Bahamut spent half of his time traveling the Material plane's many worlds (including Toril) in the guise of an old man. In this form, he traveled from one place to another with no apparent purpose and was quick to offer advice, information, or assistance to other travelers he encountered on the road. He always tried to assess the worthiness—viewed through a lens of justice, nobility, and honor—of everyone he met while traveling. Some said that Bahamut had visited every known world and plane during these travels at least once in his lifetime. When Bahamut assumed the form of the old man, he was usually accompanied by seven gold great wyrms polymorphed into canaries or some other small animal form, always ready to attack anyone foolish enough to threaten their god.

He spent the rest of his time holding court in his shining palace on Celestia. Good-aligned clerics and paladins usually took pilgrimages to his castle, seeking to receive the blessings of the Platinum Dragon.

Bahamut was ever watchful against the machinations of Tiamat, and never interfered in the affairs of mortal creatures unless his actions could also stop her evil schemes. However, when he confronted her, he always took the necessary actions to stop the spread of her influence and to undo whatever damage she had done.

Bahamut was unable to turn his back on any good creatures that were in need, however, even if Tiamat wasn't involved. But he preferred to help them in indirect ways, such as giving them useful information, needed advice that bordered on prophecy, a safe refuge, or healing and bolstering them with his powerful magic.

Powers
Bahamut disdained combat, and he preferred to talk with his opponents and convince them to surrender using his legendary diplomatic skills. Bahamut spoke many languages, including Draconic, Celestial, Auran, and Common, although he had the ability to speak to any intelligent creature thanks to his ever-present, receptive form of telepathy.

Despite his aversion to battle, he was easily capable of defending himself. Along with all the standard powers and godly senses of a deity of his rank, as well as the natural abilities of an ancient dragon, those who saw him fight claimed that he had two breath weapons, one a powerful cone of cold, the other a vapor that turned his enemies into gaseous forms. A third special attack was his roar, which was so powerful that it could disintegrate creatures or objects within 100 feet (30 meters). If facing off against more powerful creatures, this roar would still permanently deafen those who weren't turned to dust. On top of that he was more powerful than any mortal dragon, and was also reputed to know every arcane and divine spell.

Also, Bahamut had the ability to see invisible beings and objects, and to breathe underwater indefinitely. Likewise, he could freely use his breath weapons or cast spells while underwater.

Aspects
Bahamut was able to create aspects of himself from the willing sacrifice of a powerful metallic dragon worshiper. While the dragon died during the ritual, the newly created aspect remembered all of its previous life and was utterly bound to Bahamut's will forever after. Unlike normal divine aspects of other gods, aspects of Bahamut were not extensions of Bahamut's self but rather independent beings. They were not as powerful as Bahamut's normal avatars, however. Bahamut disliked creating aspects in this way, as he preferred that his dragon worshipers remained as dragons rather than sacrifice themselves, but he sometimes asked one of his dragon worshipers to become an aspect when it was needed, to act as an emissary, to become a long-term guardian, or to chase evil beings way too powerful for his mortal followers to face.

Occasionally, aspects of Bahamut arose spontaneously on Celestia or a closely related plane. Unlike Bahamut's normal aspects, these spontaneous aspects were short-lived, biological echoes of Bahamut's divine will. These aspects usually faded to nothingness within a day. These aspects were usually the ones who answered the magical summons of Bahamut's worshipers.

Aspects of Bahamut were fearless, surprisingly intelligent combatants who cared nothing for their continued existence, something that made them far more dangerous than mortal dragons because of their coldly calculated rage and battle acumen. Aspects of Bahamut usually fought to the death unless their existence was more important than any tactical gain they could get from a battle. Despite this, aspects of Bahamut were more willing to converse with mortals and deal diplomatically with them than most divine aspects, though they only spoke from positions of superiority due to them as representatives of the Platinum Dragon.

History
For ages, sages debated whether Bahamut actually was a deity or not. Many believed he was the archetype of good dragonkind, the avatar of another deity, or even a mortal dragon so powerful that other dragons revered him like a god. Whatever he was, sages knew for certain that he was powerful, was venerated by many good dragons as their king, and was even respected by evil ones.

Origins
The fact is that Bahamut was actually a god. He came into existence alongside the rest of the draconic pantheon when the first dragons were born, although in those ancient times he was known as Xymor by his dragon followers. His origins were highly conflicting, however, as there were many accounts about how he came into being. In the more commonly accepted traditions, he was the son of Asgorath and brother of Tiamat and Null; while in the traditions of gold dragon society he was believed to be the son of Lendys and Tamara. Myths from the dragonborn of Abeir claimed instead that Bahamut and Tiamat were born from the sundered corpse of Io (the name by which dragonborn knew Asgorath) when he was killed in the Dawn War.

Whatever the truth, his cult grew rapidly in the communities of metallic dragons, especially among young gold dragons. Some sages speculate that this was because gold dragons believed Bahamut was once a gold dragon whose great goodness caused him to transcend his golden form and become a unique dragon breed.

The Dragonfall Wars
Once dragons as a race had established themselves during the Time of Dragons, the various religious factions of dragons began to battle one another over their different ideologies, in what is known as the Draco Holy Wars. Among those conflicts, there was one related to Bahamut that divided the usually monolithic gold dragon culture. As the precepts of Bahamut became more popular, the younger golds began to forsake the worship of Lendys and Tamara, whom they regarded as old-fashioned and inconsistent, to embrace the faith of the Platinum Dragon, an attitude that put them at odds with older gold dragons, who worshiped those two dragon gods with fanatical devotion. Although this conflict never degenerated into outright violence, religious intolerance became quite widespread among gold dragons, something that had no precedent until that time and never happened since.

Over time, religious fervor waned and draconic philosophers came to the conclusion that gods who allowed such behavior were not worthy of their worship. This started the draconic apathy towards their gods that lasted for thousands of years. The followers of Bahamut and Tiamat didn't lose their faith toward their gods, however, and continued fighting in what was known as the Dragonfall War.

To combat Tiamat's aberrant creations, Bahamut created powerful draconic humanoids known as the Ux Bahamuti, who served as his emissaries in the mortal realm during the first years of the war. The Ux Bahamuti were somehow related to the dragonborn native to Abeir; however, how they were related was a secret known only by a few older dragons.

The war waxed and waned in intensity, with the last era of intense fighting occurring between and. It was during this time that the Untheric empire began and with it, their pantheon became prominent. Bahamut became part of that pantheon by taking the alias of Marduk, one of the Untheric greater deities. A second front in the Dragonfall War opened and the two dragon gods fought each other personally, with neither being able to gain the upper hand.

In −1071 DR, in a battle of the Orcgate Wars known as the Battle of the Gods, while Gilgeam fought with Ilneval, Tiamat saw her chance to strike, but before she could kill the God-king, Marduk intervened and killed her, saving Gilgeam's life at the expense of his own. With both of their Untheric aspects dead, Tiamat and Bahamut were both stripped of their divine power. Marduk's church was eradicated and Bahamut was reduced to the status of celestial paragon.

Return of the Dragon King
He was forced to stay like this, without enough followers to worship him as a god, living in the upper planes or wandering the material plane, doing whatever good he could. Then, in the, Gareth Dragonsbane and his companions returned from the Abyss after destroying the Wand of Orcus. They brought with them the Tree-Gem, which Bahamut had given back to them as a sign of his covenant to protect Damara from demons. The Tree-Gem brought renewed interest from non-dragons in the worship of Bahamut as a god, and as he gained new followers, and he was able to restore his deific status as a lesser deity once again. However, at some point before the, Bahamut was trapped in an ancient prison somehow related to the Dracorage mythal.

In the, after the destruction of Sammaster and the end of the High Magic that sustained the Dracorage mythal, Bahamut was able to free himself from his prison and reappeared in Celestia, and soon after launched an invasion of Tiamat's demesne in Dragon Eyrie.

With the renewed faith in him, Bahamut began preparing for a renewal of the Dragonfall War as Tiamat had regained her status as a lesser deity thirteen years prior. He gifted his most devout followers with the ability to turn themselves into dragonborn of Bahamut, so that the war could continue between mortals again. The destruction of the Dracorage mythal also heralded the prophesied "Turning of the Great Cycle", which sparked the religious fervor lacking in dragons since the beginning of the Dragonfall War.

In the, lightning and meteor showers pounded Faerûn, and Bahamut and Tiamat instructed their respective followers to seek out such sites as they would each contain some form of dragon egg. Unfortunately for Bahamut, Tiamat's followers were much more effective in retrieving the eggs than his own.

In the, after the Spellplague had wreaked havoc in the planes, a group of demons led by the balor lord Axithar invaded the House of the Triad, and when Tyr and Torm sent calls for help, Bahamut answered by sending his legions to aid in destroying the demons.

Afterwards, Bahamut became part of the Faerûnian pantheon when Torm promoted him to the same position Torm once occupied while serving Tyr, becoming a temporary member of the Triad, replacing Tyr until his return after the Second Sundering in the 1480s DR. He also gained a few followers among the dragonborn of Tymanther.

After Tiamat's failed attempt to escape from Avernus in the late years of the 1480s DR, Bahamut sent the copper dragon Balarystul to that plane to keep an eye on the activities of Tiamat's followers.

Relationships
Bahamut's allies included good dragons, half-dragons, dragonborn (both Abeiran and ancient ones), and good draconic creatures.

Bahamut was a servant deity to Torm, occupying an equivalent position to that of a knight. As a comrade in arms of Torm, both deities had battled side-by-side against evil gods and devils on many occasions.

Bahamut's antithesis was Tiamat, as both of them represented opposing values, and this enmity was reflected in the attitude of each deity's worshipers as well. He was also at odds with his brother Null.

Servitors
As Bahamut was active in the Material plane, he needed less divine servants than other deities. The best known of his few exarchs was Kuyutha, a dragonborn demigod. As of 1479 DR, the King of Justice Tamarand was one of his few Chosen.

The Seven Gold Wyrms
A council of seven ancient gold dragons comprised Bahamut's court. They were Bahamut's closest servants and friends. Each one worked on specific tasks, and served as Bahamut's emissaries in tasks that didn't demand the god's personal attention. They also advised Bahamut on matters of honor and acted as a jury when the god was judging evildoers—often apprehended by his champions.

Some claimed these wyrms were reincarnations of dead kings, renowned for their sense of justice and returned to life to serve the Platinum Dragon. Gold dragons, however, believed that Bahamut chose among the most noble and courageous among them to serve him in this capacity, and they considered a position in his court to be the most prestigious of all. According to gold dragon traditions, Bahamut chose them through secret, elaborate, and dangerous tests that challenged their mettle. Once appointed to a position in his court, that gold dragon served Bahamut until dead or until it was too old or infirm to aid their god.

It was unknown if there was some form of hierarchy among them.

As of the 15 century DR, the Seven Gold Wyrms were Borkadd the Claw, Kurya the Eye, Sonngrad the Wing, Gruemar the Voice, Marroshok the Tail, Troannaxia the Presence, and Urgala the Fang.

Worshipers
The majority of Bahamut's worshipers prior to the Spellplague were metallic dragons. While he was revered by all good dragons, gold, silver, and brass dragons held him in particularly high regard.

His worship grew in the decades following the Time of Troubles, when he regained his divine status, as non-dragons began to take interest in his teachings. When he became a subservient deity to Torm, after the Spellplague, many Tormites also paid homage to Bahamut as well, and it wasn't uncommon for both gods to lend their strength to worshipers of either deity at the same time.

Followers of Bahamut often took quests to oppose the schemes of Tiamat and to stop or destroy her followers. They were allies of worshipers of Torm, Moradin, Yondalla, and other lawful good deities.

Clergy
Bahamut accepted only clerics of good alignments. Whether they were dragons, dragonborn, half-dragons, or other beings attracted to his philosophy, clerics of the Platinum Dragon always had to strive to take constant but subtle actions on behalf of good while trying to do as little harm in the process as possible.

Dragon clerics were usually nurtured from birth, trained by a senior dragon cleric, usually a parent or close friend of their parents, although it was not unusual that a dragon of any age heard the call of Bahamut and sought out clerical training. As with any dragon deity, dragons who wanted to become clerics of Bahamut had to first acquire an appropriate holy symbol. This holy symbol became the most prized item of their hoards after that, as it was a symbol of their status in dragon society and of the cleric's devotion to Bahamut, and to lose it was considered a blasphemy. If a dragon cleric didn't try to recover a stolen or lost holy symbol, he or she would lose their investiture. Usually a dragon had to acquire his or her holy symbol on their own, but Bahamut also bestowed a holy symbol to a dragon he wanted to be his cleric.

The holy symbol used by dragon clerics of Bahamut was a small dragon claw (about the size of a human hand) usually made of platinum or some other metal plated with platinum, although younger (and relatively poorer) dragons made theirs of their own metal type. They carried their holy symbol at all times, usually around their necks on a stout chain. One of the main goals of a dragon cleric was to acquire their most preferred type of holy symbol; in the case of Bahamut's worshipers, this was one made of platinum. In some instances, Bahamut blessed some of his clerics for services rendered by upgrading their holy symbol to one made of platinum.

Bahamut was known to work with his clerics more often than other dragon deities, and he asked his clerics to oppose the greatest weaknesses of dragonkind, which in Bahamut's point of view were the tendency of good dragons to perform questionable acts because of greed or cowardice, the chance to be subdued (something all dragon gods frowned upon), and the existence of evil dragons.

Like the dragon clerics of the other dragon deities, clerics of Bahamut were expected to perform three key functions alongside any other tasks he asked them to do: to act as role models for other good dragons, to function as emissaries of Bahamut in a given area, and to spread Bahamut's will to other dragons in that area while collecting sacrifices from Bahamut's worshipers. Those sacrifices were usually a small part of their dragon hoards, and dragon clerics were allowed to take a small share of this sacrifice as well, making this third function the favorite of many dragon clerics. Dragon clerics were also expected to sacrifice a part of their treasure to Bahamut once every year.

If a dragon cleric transgressed Bahamut's dogma, committed questionable acts, or was subdued, either voluntarily or by force, he or she would lose favor with him and would need to atone by sacrificing part of their treasure or by performing special tasks, or they would lose part of their clerical powers. Repeated transgressions would earn them the loss of all their clerical abilities, a merciful punishment compared to how other dragon gods, such as Tiamat, punished their failed clerics.

Non-draconic clerics of Bahamut typically learned his teachings at the foot of a wyrm, usually a gold or silver dragon in humanoid form. Teacher and student often traveled to see the effects of injustice and cruelty firsthand. Bahamut's wanderings gave rise to many bard tales about an unassuming old man with canaries who helped people on the roads that were well known among his faithful, and many of his human and demihuman priests undertook pilgrimages in the company of trained canaries, seeking to emulate their god.

Orders
The Talons of Justice was an order of dragon paladins dedicated to Bahamut that followed the Ptarian Code. No one knew exactly how many Talons there were, but the group probably numbered in the scores. Group members were spread throughout Faerûn, many living in human and demihuman form in cities and towns of other races.

The Platinum Cadre was an order of dragonborn knights from Tymanther who believed that not all dragons were evil, and that dragonborn were the ancient children of Bahamut. They worked actively to change Tymantheran prejudices about dragons, and although they were ridiculed by Tymantheran society, they were also acknowledged as some of the best warriors Tymanther had to offer, even if grudgingly.

Temples
Temples to Bahamut were extremely rare, as the Platinum Dragon didn't appreciate being honored by objects, taking into account deeds instead. Many gold, silver, and brass dragons maintained small shrines to Bahamut in their lairs, usually nothing more than Bahamut's holy symbol engraved on a wall.

The few temples that were made to honor him were beautiful and elegant buildings with simple furniture and no embellishment or adornment. Those temples had meeting rooms where followers could gather to plan their next campaign against Tiamat, and a few smaller rooms where individuals could pray, meditate, or rest in privacy.

Dogma
Bahamut's dogma was based on justice, nobility, protection, and honor. He taught his followers to always uphold the highest ideals of honor and justice; to be constantly vigilant against evil and to oppose it from all fronts; and to protect the weak, liberate the oppressed, and defend just order. Bahamut advocated a "greater justice" that included fighting against evil and toppling oppressive regimes. He also liked to reward strength of purpose and character in his followers.

His dragon adepts followed the Ptarian Code, a draconic code of honor created by the gold dragon Ptaris in the ancient past. Originally intended as a code of conduct for the lords who attended the King of Justice, the Ptarian Code eventually was adopted by many gold and silver dragons. The Ptarian Code was similar to the codes of chivalry adopted by knightly orders of humanity. It included paying homage to Bahamut, as well to the draconic deities Lendys and Tamara. The major precepts were:
 * Justice and Good above all.
 * Honor and Fealty to the King.
 * Honor and Respect to Righteous Innocence.
 * Honor and Duty to the Balancer (Lendys), to Her Mercy (Tamara), and to the Justicemaker (Bahamut).
 * Honor and Protection to the Lesser Races.
 * Honor and Correction to the Enemies of Justice and Good.
 * Honor and Forbearance for oneself.

Rites
Bahamut's worshipers and clergy had no formal rituals or ceremonies. Those who followed the Platinum Dragon believed in the philosophy of "praying through their deeds". The only activity that was considered as something like a ritual was the Rite of Rebirth, the magical process by which non-dragon humanoids transformed themselves into dragonborn.

Connections
[[Category:War domain deities]