Cyric

Cyric, known as Sirhivatizangpo by his Gugari worshipers and as N'asr by the Bedine, was the monomaniacal Faerunian god of strife and deception, and the greater god of conflict and murder, as well as lies, intrigue and illusion. It was he who murdered Mystra and caused the Spellplague, throwing the cosmos into turmoil in an act that cost him much of his following.

Mortal
When he was a mere man, Cyric had a lead athletic build.

Avatars of Cyric appeared as slim human males with chalk-white skin and blazing dark eyes.

Personality
As a man Cyric was petty, self-centered, and enjoyed manipulating individuals into ruining or ending their own lives. He came to believe that everyone lived their lives truly alone; placing trust in others was folly that would only end in suffering or more likely death.

Divine Realms
When becoming a deity Cyric took over the former realm of Myrkul, Bone Castle, in the Gray Waste of the Great Wheel cosmology (also known as the plane of Hades). When he lost dominion over the dead to Kelemvor, he relocated to Pandemonium and fashioned himself a warped and changable realm he named the Castle of the Supreme Throne, but was generally called Shattered Castle by others. Within the World Tree cosmology, Cyric took the batrachi realm of the Supreme Throne from Limbo and fashioned his own plane from it. The Supreme Throne survived the transition into the World Axis cosmology, though it became a prison for the Mad God.

Relationships
"I have little desire to see yet another godling who might be a possible opponent. If you even have any power worth noting."

- Cyric, to Abdel Adrian in 1369 DR.

Cyric hated most of the other deities of Toril, but he particularly loathed Mystra, Kelemvor, and Bane. Cyric had no divine allies, but he made himself a wide variety of enemies. These included gods such as Mystra, Kelemvor, Oghma, Azuth, Mask, Tyr, Torm, Deneir, Leira, Iyachtu Xvim (deceased 1372 DR), Bane, and many others.

Worshipers
The Church of Cyric was hated all over Toril, and for good reason: Cyric's church was pledged to spread strife and work murder everywhere in order to make folk believe in and fear the Dark Sun. It supported cruel rulers and indulged in intrigue in such a way that the world wouldn't be overrun by wars (thus falling under the sway of Tempus). His church was often beset by internal feuds and backstabbing, but this conflict decreased in recent years as Cyric gained better control of himself and consolidated the churches of the deities whose portfolios he took over.

Cyric's clerics, who often trained as rogues or assassins, prayed for spells at night, after moonrise. Cyric's church had few holy days and did not even celebrate the date of his ascension to divinity (this would also honor Mystra, called "the Harlot" by Cyricists). Whenever a temple acquired something, or someone, important enough to be sacrificed, its high priest declared a Day of the Dark Sun to signify the holiness of the event. Eclipses were considered holy, being accompanied by feasts, fervent prayers, and bloody sacrifices.

The religion of Cyric was widely and openly active in Amn. It fit in well with their culture of ambition, lack of reliance on others, and "buyer beware"–type contracts.

Many outside the church viewed it as a twisted den of madness, trickery, and death. But its clergy condemned this outlook, preferring to see their religion as enlightened. It supposedly revealed that all societal bonds of friendship, family, and love were nothing but weak ties that always withered away, and therefore were useless, weak, and pitiful.

Temples
Main article: Category:Temples to Cyric

Cyric the Mortal
The mortal Cyric was born a bastard to two of Zhentil Keep's most unfortunate souls around the early 1330s DR. His mother unsuccessful and destitute bard that lived in the poorest part of Zhentil Keep, and his father was a low-ranking Zhentilar officer that refused to acknowledge Cyric as his son. Cyric's mother resorted to prostitution and depended on the good will of others to keep her son alive, successful until the day she was slain by Cyric's father. The illegitimate Cyric was sold into slavery by his father, as recompense for the inconvenience of his existence, and shipped off to the southern nation of Sembia.

The infant Cyric was purchased by a childless merchant-class couple as an heir to pass on their wine-making business. Astolpho the vintner and his wife raised Cyric in the lap of luxury for years, catering to the young lad's every want and desire. At the age of ten, circa the, Cyric uncovered the truth of his birth and dramatically ran away from his family's estate. While he was promptly returned home by local guardsmen, Cyric boisterously asserted to all that his true home was Zhentil Keep and word of his origins spread rapidly across the Sembian elite. Over the course of the next two years, Cyric's parents became pariahs among their peers and their businesses came to ruin. The young man's growing mistrust of his parents turned to derision and outright hatred of them. At the mere age of 12 years old, Cyric murdered his parents in their sleep and left Sembia north for Zhentil Keep.

Believing the death of his parents would grant him peace, Cyric set out to make a life of his own. The reality of surviving in the Realms quickly set in with Cyric. Within a tenday he found himself near-starving, stricken with fever at the border of the Dalelands. In a strike of twisted fate, the dying child was captured by Zhentarim slavers and taken north to their home city in the Moonsea.

Before the Gods War, Cyeic attempted to steal the Ring of Winter from a powerful tribe of frost giants, but was unsuccessful and became trapped in their cave. The opportunity to flee only came when a band of adventurers, including the mercenary Kelemvor Lyonsbane, attacked the frost giants' lair while also trying to find the Ring of Winter. Kelemvor's entire party, save himself, was slain and only he and Cyric managed to escape. Once back in Arabel the two eventually joined Adon, a young cleric of Sune, and they took work for the local city watch to uncover a traitor.

As the Time of Troubles began in 1358 DR, they met Caitlan Moonsong, who beseeched the trio to help her on a quest to free the now-mortal Lady of Mysteries, who had been imprisoned in Castle Kilgrave north of Arabel by Bane. Along the way, they met Midnight, a beautiful wizardess. Once the goddess had been freed, she attempted to ascend the Celestial Stairway to confront Helm, the God of Guardians, with the information that Bane and Myrkul had stolen the Tablets of Fate. But Helm's orders were clear, and without the two Tablets he would not let Mystra pass, and thus the Lady of Mysteries attacked the God of Guardians in a bid to pass him and re-enter the planes. Helm, having retained his divine powers for just the purpose of guarding the stairways, easily slew Mystra. On Midsummer, her divine essence was spread over the nearby lands by a powerful explosion as her avatar was destroyed. Helm's mention of the tablets, as well as witnessing the destruction of a deity, did much to kindle the powerlust in the young Cyric, and when Midnight announced that the now-dead goddess of magic had instructed her to recover the tablets, Cyric was eager to help, planning to take the tablets for himself when chance came.

Cyric the God
On Marpenoth 15, 1358 DR, Cyric ascended to godhood. At some point after this, Cyric killed Leira, making himself the God of Deception, Murder, Strife, the Dead (a title he later lost to Kelemvor), and Intrigue (when he temporarily killed Mask). Cyric also released Kezef the Chaos Hound, and created a book called the Cyrinishad, a magical tome that proclaimed him the One True Deity. This last plot ultimately failed (though not before the book was written and read by both Mask and Cyric, which cost Mask most of his power and drove Cyric insane).

In 1385 DR, in retaliation for his murder of Mystra, which sparked the Spellplague, Lathander, Tyr, and Sune trapped Cyric in the Supreme Throne for 1000 years.

Rumors & Legends
There were alleged to be seven black iron keys that could free Cyric from the shackles of the Supreme Throne. Such keys fetched prices upwards of 50,000 gp.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Avatar series:
 * Shadowdale
 * Tantras
 * Waterdeep
 * Prince of Lies
 * Crucible: The Trial of Cyric the Mad
 * Crucible: The Trial of Cyric the Mad


 * • The Ring of Winter
 * Video Games
 * Neverwinter Nights: Tyrants of the Moonsea

Connections
Cyric