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.[5] Bane is also known as the creator of the Curse of Strife.[6] As an NPC, he is played by Travis Willingham in The Re-Slayer's Take.
Appearance[]
Fan art of Bane, by Cristina Anaya.[art 4]
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.[5] His followers usually depict him as belonging to their own race, out of a sense of superiority.[7] In a nightmare Heera Agneheart had, Bane appeared as a terrifying warrior as big as a mountain, about 40 ft. tall, covered in dark armor, filigree, and bone, and with a helm that was both horned and crowned.[8]
When he approached his final battle in the Calamity, seen on the horizon, he appeared bright and red, but wreathed in smoke like a sandstorm or cyclone.[9] He was tall enough that one of his greaves (armor for shin protection) was 80 feet tall.[10]
In his purest essence, the one that resembled the most his appearance in Tengar, his form contained a lattice of metallic chains, hooks, and a plated exterior.[11]
Worship[]
One pirate who struck a pact with Bane described the Strife Emperor as a patron of those who like to "take what they want."[12]
Tal'Dorei[]
In the closing days of the Calamity, the Strife Emperor had a bastion in Rybad-Kol.[13]
Toward the end of the Era of Reclamation, the Strife Emperor 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 his shattered armor helps to bolster the Authority's war machine.[14]
A organized sect of the Ravagers, led by the half-elf/half-dragonborn Grud the Great, worships the Strife Emperor. They plan to march on the village in the Turst Fields.[15]
Wildemount[]
Worship of the Strife Emperor is illegal in both the Dwendalian Empire and the Kryn Dynasty, as is worship of all other Betrayer Gods.[16] Despite the prohibition in the lands of the Dynasty, some hobgoblins and bugbears there worship Bane in a cult called the Lords of Strife.[17] In the Clovis Concord, only public worship of Betrayer Gods is banned.[18]
Commandments of the Strife Emperor[]
Commandments of the Strife Emperor
Fear is your ally. Conquer your fear, and inspire it in your foes.
Disorder and rebellion are to be punished severely.
To kill is life’s greatest pleasure, and perfecting the art of slaughter is life’s greatest pursuit.
Known worshipers[]
Late in the Calamity[]
- Azmog, the Sundering Lord: Vampiric hobgoblin ruler of the Steel Keep, commander of the garrison
- Barbithrix: Seemingly a human warlock operating a supervisory capacity at Rybad-Kol
- Captain Rustgut: Dwarven lieutenant and zealot
- High Priestess Sata'al: Aasimar lieutenant
- House Callister: Human nobles that used their resources to help the cause of the god
Era of Reclamation[]
- Tz'Jarr, the Iron Emperor
- Zuun'dak, Tz'Jarr's heir
- Gorthux, hobgoblin leader of the Lords of Strife[17]
- Grud the Great, one of the slaughter lords of the Ravagers, roving around Turst Fields[15]
- Gorgonthakahn, former hobgoblin leader of the Hoard Hive, who dressed as his god for battle[20]
- Vezoden Amerai, the Talonheart
History[]
During the Calamity, the Strife Emperor twisted much of the dranassar race into goblinkin and used them in his attempt to conquer Exandria.[21] 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.[22]
Fan art of Bane and Melora fighting, by Cristina Anaya.[art 5]
The Strife Emperor grew his armies by creating such corrupted creatures rather than by actively recruiting demons.[7] That said, there were demons on the walls and serving at a high level at Rybad-Kol, a prison fortress in southern Gwessar dedicated to the Strife Emperor, in the closing days of the Calamity.[23] In one of the last battles of that conflict, he and his goblinoid legions battled the Wildmother and her Free Children on the Beynsfal Plateau of the Rifenmist Peninsula; the battle, which involved interventions from the Dawnfather and the Stormlord, ended with Rybad-Kol destroyed, and with the Strife Emperor defeated and his armor scattered across the region.[24] The site was reduced to ash, and plants wouldn't grow there ever again.[25]
Sometime between 488 and 513 PD, Neminar Drassig made an infernal pact with Bane, and the Strife Emperor mutated and fueled Neminar's armies beyond human limits.[26] This pact carried through the bloodline to Neminar's younger brother, Trist Drassig.[27]
Around 743 PD, during a stormy battle, Urlu Novos struck some sort of dark deal[28] with the Strife Emperor after discovering his enemies were allying with each other.[29] He was struck in the forehead by a bolt and fell onto the deck, smiling.[30] After that, he and his ship became a ghostly apparition in the Shattered Teeth, seeking the treasures that once belonged to him.[31]
Around 839 PD, the night after the sphinx Osysa showed her a vision of her mother making some strange ritual, Heera Agneheart had a dream in which she was surrounded by smoke and flames; the god of conquest was there, as a big figure of red eyes calling for her nearby, using chains to force her to walk in his direction. After Heera woke up she noticed that her reflection was behaving oddly, and that in her forearm the chains had left a mark, as well as the words "promised one" written in an old form of Infernal.[32] After that night the tiefling manifested warlock abilities,[33] and from time to time she had the sensation that someone was observing her.[34] During her battle against Ûgel the undead troll she saw the rest of her team in danger, and when she sensed Bane watching her, she promised to give the god whatever he wanted if he helped her friends; satisfied, the Strife Emperor claimed control over a portal in the lair of the troll, summoning through it several chains that moved the adventurers out of the way, and otherworldly fire that burned and severely weakened Ügel, enough for Heera to defeat it, although leaving her extremely exhausted in the process.[35] Two nights later the tiefling had a dream in which her friend Timpani Guff told her that she disgusted him, and suddenly their environment transformed: nature was destroyed, and in the distance the gargantuan form of the Strife Emperor appeared, surrounded by warriors running towards Heera. The god told her he was sickened by her weakness, encouraging her to command the warriors as she was destined to; when the tiefling asked, the Betrayer explained she had been promised to him by her mother, and that she had let him in, unlike her siblings, who had renounced him. She dropped her family's gilded horn to the ground and tried to break it, but the Strife Emperor merely stated that she wouldn't make him leave that easily, just before the nightmare ended.[36]
A few days later, while Heera, Frog, and Farah Vallari were exploring a dungeon filled with ghosts, the former had a vision of Bane in the form of Poogs coming out of the shadows. The Betrayer told her he was disappointed by her attempt of breaking her family's horn, and that even though she believed there were better candidates to do his bidding, he thought she had potential commading people, although she was wasting it by adventuring with her friends, and mocking her nickname, "Heera the Hopeful". The tiefling replied that if he wanted her to work for him, they would have to establish some rules, including not using her friends' faces against her. The Strife Emperor admitted he was using Poogs to annoy her, and when she replied he was just angry because the goblin was out of his reach now, he admitted he was planning something more "ironclad" to fix it, refusing to let acts of kindness be his downfall again. However, when he mentioned he needed Heera's help, she told him he shouldn't show his cards like that; he, seeing he couldn't intimidate her or outsmart her at the moment, decided to leave with their general understanding in place. Before the vision ended, Bane casually mentioned that the rogue should help her friends, since they were being attacked by ghosts and she had been saved only because the god had kept them at bay.[37] Two days later, while the Re-Slayers were on a mission in the Thorain Tundra, the Strife Emperor sent his warlock a new vision, appearing first as a red-eyed Poogs, and then summoning the images of the goblins of the old Hoard Hive; he told Heera that she was being irresponsible bringing her friends to a dangerous place, and that she needed him, but she ignored him (since the actual Poogs was nearby and they were busy at the moment). The god then said he would just let her handle stuff by herself, and she asked if he wasn't worried about Heldwell and the Timberblight toying with life and death; in response, Bane declared that the weaker Exandria was, the easier it was for him to control it. Heera pointed out that that could potentially end up with an entirely different immortal spellcaster ruling over the world, and the Strife Emperor admitted she was right, but he was more interested in teaching her a lesson at the moment, making the goblins surround the tiefling before the vision ended.[38] Not long after Heera and her friends ended up in a fight during which Farah Vallari died; before the old woman was resurrected by Pike Trickfoot, Bane appeared before his warlock as a vision of a monstrous Poogs, and reminded her of his words earlier about her learning a lesson. When Farah came back to life and the adventurers took shelter in Pike's Temple of the Gods, Heera asked the cleric if her goddess, the Everlight, could help someone get rid of dark influences; Pike responded that there was always hope, and the chance of redemption and new choices.[39]
During the apogee solstice of 843 PD, when he sensed that Predathos might be freed soon, the Strife Emperor was presumably concerned and sent one of his followers, Vezoden Amerai, to help his patron's cause. She traveled to Ruidus with a team, and became an ally of the Volition there.[40]
The Strife Emperor and the rest of the main pantheon attended the meeting in which Bells Hells and the Matron of Ravens proposed to use the latter's Rites of Catatheosis to turn them into mortals and avoid Predathos. During the conversation, after hearing Laudna speak about the fear of being forgotten, Bane loudly declared that his followers had been properly instructed, and since he had left enough of a mark on the past he would not to be forgotten (causing the warlock to point out they were in agreement, somehow). He said that Laudna had no right to teach them lessons, and that everyone would kneel in time; Imogen Temult pointed out that there was a chance that he would be born as a mortal monarch and that would be great, although some of the gods intervened to say that the Strife Emperor's attitude was always like that. Eventually the gods present agreed to the plan and through the Matron's ritual, bound their souls to Exandria itself and were reborn as mortals.[41]
Relationships[]
The Beynsfal Plateau, site of the legendary battle
The Strife Emperor's greatest enemy is 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.[5]
Appearances and mentions[]
- Exandria Unlimited: Divergence
- "Give and Take" (E4x01)
- "Seven of Them" (E4x02), mentioned only
- "Mirror and Key" (E4x03), mentioned only
- "By Heart Alone" (E4x04), mentioned only
- Campaign Two
- "Lost Treasures" (2x22), mentioned only
- The Re-Slayer's Take
- "The Masked Man" (RT2x02) (first appearance) (in a dream)
- "The Promised Pact" (RT2x07), voice only
- "The Restless Retreat" (RT2x09) (in a dream)
- "The Decomposing Domicile" (RT2x13), mentioned only, unnamed
- "The Hopeless Hostages" (RT2x14) (in a vision)
- "The Cursed Contract" (RT2x16), mentioned only
- "The Fading Frosts" (RT2x17) (in a vision)
- "The Broken Beacon" (RT2x19) (in a vision)
- Exandria Unlimited Prime
- "The Gift Among the Green" (E1x06), mentioned only, indirect
- Campaign Three
- "Phantasmal Parley" (3x72), mentioned only
- "Divisive Portents" (3x89), mentioned only
- "Mission Improbable" (3x90), mentioned only
- "A New Age Begins" (3x121)
Trivia[]
- Outside of Critical Role canon, Bane shares his name with an individual that ascended to godhood in the Forgotten Realms, being part of a divine triad (the Dead Three) with Myrkul and Bhaal. In 4th Edition, however, it was clarified that the two gods known as "Bane" are different figures, with the Strife Emperor being a god from his very origin, and having a dark brother-like position in relation to Kord, the more honorable god of war.
- For the most fervent followers of the Strife Emperor, he is considered the most capable among the Betrayer Gods, and the others deserve respect because they are his siblings and allies.[42]
- Bane claims that the quality of his agents has never been too important, since he is used to rely on "small and pathetic" goblins to do his bidding. Instead, the value of those mortals is determined by how well they serve their purpose and how invested is the Strife Emperor in the task.[43]
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.
- ↑ See "Mirror and Key" (E4x03) at 0:22:04.
- ↑ See "The Cursed Contract" (RT2x16).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 22.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 39.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 34.
- ↑ See "The Restless Retreat" (RT2x09).
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 2:35:58.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 3:39:16.
- ↑ See "A New Age Begins" (3x121) from 1:19:48 through 1:21:20.
- ↑ See "Phantasmal Parley" (3x72) at 3:10:05.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 0:13:55.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 79.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 88.
- ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, pp. 35–36. See also p. 40.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 134.
- ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 46.
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 35.
- ↑ See "The Cursed Contract" (RT2x16).
- ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 125.
- ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, pp. 173–174.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 0:13:55.
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 3:39:13.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ See "Mist and Whimsy" (3x71) at 3:48:39.
- ↑ See "Phantasmal Parley" (3x72) at 3:00:45.
- ↑ See "Mist and Whimsy" (3x71) at 3:52:38.
- ↑ See "Mist and Whimsy" (3x71) at 3:49:12.
- ↑ See "The Masked Man" (RT2x02).
- ↑ See "The Dire Descent" (RT2x03). Heera casts Command.
- ↑ See "The Monstrous Mine" (RT2x04).
- ↑ See "The Promised Pact" (RT2x07).
- ↑ See "The Restless Retreat" (RT2x09).
- ↑ See "The Hopeless Hostages" (RT2x14).
- ↑ See "The Fading Frosts" (RT2x17).
- ↑ See "The Broken Beacon" (RT2x19).
- ↑ See "Divisive Portents" (3x89) at 0:58:47.
- ↑ See "A New Age Begins" (3x121).
- ↑ See "Give and Take" (E4x01) at 2:08:59.
- ↑ See "The Hopeless Hostages" (RT2x14).
Art:
- ↑ Symbol of the Strife Emperor from Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn by Conceptopolis.
- ↑ Symbol of the Strife Emperor from Critical Role: Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting by Conceptopolis.
- ↑ Symbol of the Strife Emperor from Explorer's Guide to Wildemount by Claudio Pozas. (source)
- ↑ Fan art of Bane, by Cristina Anaya (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Fan art of Bane and Melora fighting, by Cristina Anaya (source). Used with permission.
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