Bane, the Strife Emperor is the evil deity of war and conquest. His followers accept his call to conflict, seeking lesser people to break and subjugate. Warmongering nations and many goblinoid tribes worship him as they conquer the world. The Strife Emperor twists all living things to his iron will, even forcing nature itself to bow to his whims.[3]
Appearance
A dark reflection of the honorable warrior, the Strife Emperor is often depicted as a brutish ogre-like man clad in jagged black armor. Heads dangle from his belt and unblinking, piercing yellow eyes peer through the shadow that obscures his helmeted face.[3]
Worship
Tal'Dorei
Bane is highly praised by the Iron Authority, a hobgoblin empire in the Beynsfal Plateaus of southern Tal'Dorei. Bane's 30-foot-tall helmet, lost during his final battle in the Calamity, is now the central palace of Tz'Arrm, the capital of the empire. The rest of Bane's shattered armor helps to bolster the Authority's war machine.[4]
Xhorhas
In the lands of the Kryn Dynasty, some hobgoblins and bugbears still worship Bane in a cult called the Lords of Strife.[5]
Commandments of the Strife Emperor
Commandments of the Strife Emperor
Fear is your ally. Conquer yours, and draw it from your foes.
Disorder and rebellion are to be punished severely.
Combat is the greatest gift, and perfecting your skills to master it is the greatest pursuit.
Known worshipers
- Tz'Jarr, the Iron Emperor
- Zuun'dak, Tz'Jarr's heir
- Gorthux, hobgoblin leader of the Lords of Strife[5]
History
During the Age of Arcanum, Bane twisted much of the dranassar race into goblinkin and used them in his attempt to conquer Exandria.[7] This "Curse of Strife" that leads goblinoids to evil has been passed through the generations to the 9th century PD, though it can be broken by magic or extraordinary circumstances.[8]
During the Calamity, Bane filled his armies with such corrupted creatures rather than recruit demons.[9] In one of the last battles of the Calamity, Bane and his goblinoid legions battled Melora and her Free Children on the Beynsfal Plateaus of the Rifenmist Peninsula, where Bane was defeated and his armor was scattered across the region. The site was reduced to ash, and plants wouldn't grow there ever again.[10]
In ~400-500 PD, Neminar Drassig made an infernal pact with Bane, and the Strife Emperor mutated and fueled Neminar's armies beyond human limits.[11] This pact carried through the bloodline to Neminar's younger brother, Trist Drassig.[12]
Relationships
The Beynsfal Plateau, site of the legendary Battle
Bane’s greatest enemy is Melora, the Wildmother, the goddess who defeated him at the Rifenmist Peninsula during the Calamity. The Strife Emperor grew his armies by corrupting noble creatures into monsters and destroying the wilds to fuel his terrible engines of conflict. This enraged the Wildmother, and the two deities clashed many times during the war before his defeat at Beynsfal Plateau.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 27.
- ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 26.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 22.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 79.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 134.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 16.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 125.
- ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, pp. 173–174.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 34.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 21. See also p. 76.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 9.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 10.
Art:
- ↑ Symbol of Bane from Critical Role: Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting.
- ↑ Symbol of Bane from Explorer's Guide to Wildemount by Claudio Pozas. (source)
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