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Banelar nagas (also simply called banelars[1]) were evil and immortal spell-wielding nagas with large, humanoid heads.[3][7]

Description[]

Their eyes had a green tint to them, and their scales were a greenish purple, but they had brown tails tipped with stingers. Around their mouths were weak yet agile tentacles which they used to wield wands, amulets, rings, rods, potions, and other small magic items.[1][3]

They could breathe in either air or water.[3]

Personality[]

Banelars were at once cruel, aggressive, arrogant, and majestic. They faced any threat head-on, haughtily confident in their ability to tackle it.[2]

Their voices had a hissing aspect to them, and they spoke the Common, Orcish, and Draconic languages,[3] and some spoke Supernal.[2]

Combat[]

Banelar1

A banelar wielding a magic wand with one of its tentacles.

Banelar nagas' tails had venomous stingers on them, with the poison causing a target's skin to turn blue.[3] In addition to this natural weapon, they favored fighting with spells, mainly from the Evil, Water, and Magic domains. They also used a variety of magical items to complement this, holding them with their tentacles.[3]

Banelars also had access to a number of divine spells,[4] and by the late 15th century DR, empowered by the god Bane, they had gained a number of verbal powers. Using just their mighty utterances, they were able to stun, rebuke, and even push back enemies with the power of their forceful words. Their preferred tactic was to daze more dangerous opponents while charging in to deal with weaker ones.[2]

Society[]

Banelar nagas followed Bane, with Cyric being a less-favored god with whose priests they worked following Bane's apparent death.[3] Those loyal to Cyric in the mid-to-late 14th century DR served the Cyricist faction of the Zhentarim out of Darkhold or served with one of two temples: Twin Towers of the Eternal Eclipse in Amn and the House of Cyric in Skullport.[1] Besides Bane and Cyric, some banelar also became servants of the duergar deities Deep Duerra and Laduguer.[8]

History[]

Banelars were created to serve Bane,[7] and historically they did so either directly through his church and the Zhentarim, or independently in his name.[2] It was from this longstanding relationship with Bane and his followers that they received their name "banelar."[1]

Following Bane's death in the Year of Shadows, 1358 DR, many banelars defected to work with followers of Cyric. Within the Zhentarim, this meant they sided against the Baneson, Iyachtu Xvim, and the former Chosen of Bane, Fzoul Chembryl.[1][3] Upon Bane's return in the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR, most but not all banelars returned to their previous alliance, and those within the Zhentarim who remained with the Cyricists became uncertain allies as it was unclear whether their alliance lay with Darkhold or with Fzoul.[3] Bane soon empowered those loyal to him to seek out and kill those who were not, and by the late 15th century DR, only banelars loyal to Bane remained.[2]

Notable Banelar Nagas[]

Appendix[]

Notes[]

  1. In 3rd edition, banelars originally were listed as magical beasts, but this was changed with the publication of Serpent Kingdoms. They were once again made magical beasts in 4th edition.
  2. 3rd edition gave the banelar three separate challenge ratings: 5 in Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn, 7 in the "Monster Update" web enhancement to Player's Guide to Faerûn, and finally 8 in Serpent Kingdoms.

See Also[]

Banedeadbaneguardbanelich

Appearances[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 James Wyatt, Rob Heinsoo (February 2001). Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn. Edited by Duane Maxwell. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 18. ISBN 0-7869-1832-2.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims (August 2008). Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Edited by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 239. ISBN 978-0-7869-4924-3.
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 Ed Greenwood, Eric L. Boyd, Darrin Drader (July 2004). Serpent Kingdoms. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 72–73. ISBN 0-7869-3277-5.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Richard Baker and James Wyatt (2004-03-13). Monster Update (Zipped PDF). Web Enhancement for Player's Guide to Faerûn. Wizards of the Coast. p. 3. Archived from the original on 2016-11-01. Retrieved on 2018-09-10.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 David Wise ed. (December 1994). Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume One. (TSR, Inc). ISBN 156076838X.
  6. Richard Baker and James Wyatt (2004-03-13). Monster Update (Zipped PDF). Web Enhancement for Player's Guide to Faerûn. Wizards of the Coast. p. 3. Archived from the original on 2016-11-01. Retrieved on 2018-09-10.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims (August 2008). Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Edited by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 269. ISBN 978-0-7869-4924-3.
  8. Sean K. Reynolds (2002-05-04). Deity Do's and Don'ts (Zipped PDF). Web Enhancement for Faiths and Pantheons. Wizards of the Coast. pp. 10–15. Archived from the original on 2016-11-01. Retrieved on 2018-09-08.
  9. Richard Baker, Bruce R. Cordell, David Noonan, Matthew Sernett, James Wyatt (March 2007). Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 82. ISBN 978-0-7869-4119-3.

Further Reading[]

Connections[]

Major Subspecies
Dark nagaGuardian nagaIridescent nagaSpirit nagaWater naga
Minor Subspecies
Banelar nagaBone nagaBright nagaHa-nagaNagahydra
Related Creatures
Nagatha
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