The Church of Bane

[LastTyrant]

The ever rising faith of Bane calls upon those seeking power in all aspects of life, while serving the Dark Lord's will. Join in the conflict heavy RP as The Black Hand's forces clash with other positions of power, and there many hated foes.

All alignments are accepted, as long as they integrate themselves into the Banite way of life, or else face harsh punishment. Following Bane is a serious character commitment as any who were to turn their backs on Bane would face persecution from the rest of His Church, and would most likely be captured, and sacrificed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bane_%28god%29

[LastTyrant]

The black-haired man's skin was pale where he wasn't bruised.  His armor-clad attendants half-dragged him in front of the Imperceptor.  Surrounding the man's chair were a dozen headless corpses, all of which  the beaten man recognizes as the bodies of his friends.  "Koryn Bersk, you have been found guilty of worshiping Cyric  in defiance of the will of Bane. What do you have to say in your  defense?"  Koryn was silent. His jaw was broken.  "Very well. Your punishment is about to be enacted." The  Imperceptor loomed in front of him, an apparition of mail and black  cloth. The man's gauntleted finger stabbed at his chest, trailing green  flames. Koryn whimpered as the flames seared the word HERETIC across his  chest. The Imperceptor stood back, and at his nod the guards released  the prisoner, who collapsed in a low kneel. A moment later, the man's  head was severed and his body fell next to those of his former  companions.  "Bring in the next one," ordered the cleric of Bane.  The dread deity Bane is alive again and closing his hand about Faerun,  for only now do they realize how easy they've had it for the past  fourteen years, with the evil deities fighting each other and in some  cases enacting purges among their own ranks. The forces of Bane are  marshaled and stand ready with firm faith in their reborn deity. Aided  by the Zhentarim and dark magic, the Banites are a threat to the safety of all Faerûn. Because he has always been more appealing than Cyric or Xvim, Bane is drawing his lost worshipers back to the fold and gaining converts from the disillusioned members of other evil faiths.

Bane was a scourge upon the world for hundreds of years. Controlling,  intelligent, and incredibly evil, his servants were the source of much  misery. When Bane was slain by Torm during the Time of Troubles,  the common folk rejoiced, only to find his successors, Xvim and Cyric,  to be almost as much trouble, although certainly not as intelligent or  competent. Now that Bane has returned, he is showing the competence and  power that made him a feared name for centuries. Though he battles with  Cyric frequently and still must face his traditional foes, the Black  Hand is confident and plans to lead his church in conquest of all  Faerûn.

The church of Bane is well organized, well equipped, and populated by  people who understand the need for order and enjoy hurting those weaker  than they. This combination of qualities makes the church of Bane a more  credible threat than the church of Cyric, despite the Dark Sun's  greater numbers and his worshipers' willingness to sacrifice themselves  in a frenzy of killing.

-Branches within the Church of Bane-
"The Clergy (clerics)

The clergy acts to spread the portfolio of  Bane by converting those who are willing, and terrorizing those who are  not. Senior clerics are constantly scheming as to how best to further  Fear, Strife and Tyranny in order to increase Bane's dominion in the  realms. Religious rites, ceremonies, sacrifices, and ensuring religious  compliance are all normal activities."
 
"The Order of the Iron Gauntlet (monks)

The  Iron Gauntlet does two things: Guard the temple, and whatever dirty  work the clergy needs done. Spying, reconnaisance and assassinations are  normal activites. Monks are trained to use stealth and guile rather  than direct force whenever possible."
 
"The Order of Hatred's Wrath (blackguards and other melee types)

Hatred's Wrath is a knighthood which answers to the clergy. They serve  as the temple infantry when needed, and also assist the High Inquisitor  or High Imperceptor in dealing with heresy within the ranks. They are  unholy warriors, religiously fanatic in the extreme."
 
"The Arcane Gauntlet(sorcerors, bards, wizards)

The Arcane Gauntlet utilizes arcane magic to extend the will of the clergy.  It is specifically geared towards fighting external enemies, subduing  them either through force or fear."

As both a lawful entity and the deity of tyrrany, Bane expects a  well-defined structure for his church and compliance in all given  orders. The head of the church is Fzoul Chembryl,  who has absolute authority over all other members of the church.  Headquartered in Zhentil Keep, the church is organized like a military  unit, with each temple having a clear chain of command and the temple  leaders (called Imperceptors) reporting to a senior cleric of a region,  who reports to Fzoul or one of his direct underlings.

The church's goals are simpleâ€"convert all to the worship of Bane, and  destroy those who do not convert. It is presumed that some exceptions  would be made for servants of allied deities (such as Lovitar, Malar, Mask, and Talona).  In the meantime, people should be made to fear Bane so that they invoke  his name in fear and to ward him off, which gives him some small power.
The church of Bane uses force and persuasion to control  territory, whether by marching armies against reticent towns or by  bribing bored nobles with slaves, riches, and offers of power. With its  close ties to the Zhentarim, the church has been able to focus on the  subtler methods of conversion, leaving the more direct methods to the Black Network.


Given that it wishes to convert everyone to worshiping Bane, the church  is very open to new recruits. Anyone can swear loyalty to Bane and join  the church. However, the church expects loyalty and is not stupid, so it performs alignment checks on new recruits (with detect chaos and detect good)  to see if they are fakers or potential saboteurs. Even those with  alignment differences are given the opportunity to convert (often with  an atonement spell), for Bane recognizes the value of those who  have seen the lure of good and turned away from it to serve evil (one of  his most powerful servants is a blackguard of this type, after all)

Followers of Bane can sometimes enlist the aid of his servitor deities  Loviatar, Malar, Mask, and Talona, although their alliance is more a  pact of mutual nonaggression than true friendship. The greatest ally of  the Banites is the Zhentarim, and all followers of Bane are taught how  to recognize Zhentarim safe-markings and the proper countersigns to give  to an agent of the Black Network.

Because it wishes to subvert and destroy all other faiths, the church  of Bane is opposed by nearly every other church in Faerûn (some of the  weaker deities hope that by serving him, they may survive). The  rivalries with the churches of Helm, Ilmater, Lathander, Mystra, Oghma, Torm, and Tyr  are particularly strong, and the Banite clerics take great pains to  kill clerics of these faiths in gruesome ways, leaving them to be  discovered by unsuspecting innocents.
Cyric is Bane's greatest divine foe, for the Dark sun wishes to  reclaim the portions of his portfolio taken by Xvim, which were then  passed to the new Bane. Bane has similar feelings for Cyric, and would  love to crush the upstart under his heel, seizing his lost portfolios in  return. Banites enjoy branding Cyricist corpses and altars with the  word "heretic" as a warning to other followers of the Dark Sun.
The Banites are also opposed by the Harpers, the Lord's Alliance , the Emerald Enclave, and other groups that respect local governments and the freedom of people to make decisions about their lives.


In combat situations, the faithful of Bane are trained to follow  orders from the clerics. In turn, the clerics are expected to react  intelligently in combat, give precise orders, and have those orders  carried out. Clerics of Bane try to maximize the use of flanking, cover,  and the strengths of their trooops, using their spells to increase  their own abilities or directly attack their enemies. Banite clerics  tend to rely upon wands and potions to heal their allies, since they  dislike preparing cure spells in favor of attack magic. Rarely do  they use defensive spells, seeing this as a weak-willed usage of Bane's  gifts. Defensive magic items, however, are acceptable and common. Bane and Xvim have provided their clergy with several unique  spells, and Bane continues to grant these spells to his worshipers, even  though some of them have spread to other faiths. These spells are battletide, mystic lash, and stone walk. Since his return, many of his faith have been using a weapon they call a Banesword, and these blades are becoming as recognizable as Bane's own symbol.
 
The church of the Black Hand knows many dark rites that grant the  devout recipient powers or immunities in exchange for sacrifices. Each  ritual takes several hours of prayer and requires the intervention of  two clerics of Bane, one of whom must be at least 7th level.
 Ritual of Terror's Allegiance: This ritual cements the  recipient's loyalties to Bane, reducing the chance that they might be  controlled by another being. The target gains a +4 morale bonus on Will  saving throws against fear and a +2 morale bonus on all other  mind-affecting effects. The ritual requires a black star sapphire worth  1,000gp or more as a material component and drains 800XP from the  recipient.  
The Rite of Dread Presence: The recipient gains the abillity to use a fear  spell once per day as a supernatural ability. The caster level is 7th,  and the DC is 14 + the recipient's Charisma modifier. The ritual drains  2,000 XP from the recipient

[LastTyrant]

The black-haired man's skin was pale where he wasn't bruised.  His armor-clad attendants half-dragged him in front of the Imperceptor.  Surrounding the man's chair were a dozen headless corpses, all of which  the beaten man recognizes as the bodies of his friends.  "Koryn Bersk, you have been found guilty of worshiping Cyric  in defiance of the will of Bane. What do you have to say in your  defense?"  Koryn was silent. His jaw was broken.  "Very well. Your punishment is about to be enacted." The  Imperceptor loomed in front of him, an apparition of mail and black  cloth. The man's gauntleted finger stabbed at his chest, trailing green  flames. Koryn whimpered as the flames seared the word HERETIC across his  chest. The Imperceptor stood back, and at his nod the guards released  the prisoner, who collapsed in a low kneel. A moment later, the man's  head was severed and his body fell next to those of his former  companions.  "Bring in the next one," ordered the cleric of Bane.

The dread deity Bane is alive again and closing his hand about Faerun,  for only now do they realize how easy they've had it for the past  fourteen years, with the evil deities fighting each other and in some  cases enacting purges among their own ranks. The forces of Bane are  marshaled and stand ready with firm faith in their reborn deity. Aided  by the Zhentarim and dark magic, the Banites are a threat to the safety of all Faerûn. Because he has always been more appealing than Cyric or Xvim, Bane is drawing his lost worshipers back to the fold and gaining converts from the disillusioned members of other evil faiths.

Bane was a scourge upon the world for hundreds of years. Controlling,  intelligent, and incredibly evil, his servants were the source of much  misery. When Bane was slain by Torm during the Time of Troubles,  the common folk rejoiced, only to find his successors, Xvim and Cyric,  to be almost as much trouble, although certainly not as intelligent or  competent. Now that Bane has returned, he is showing the competence and  power that made him a feared name for centuries. Though he battles with  Cyric frequently and still must face his traditional foes, the Black  Hand is confident and plans to lead his church in conquest of all  Faerûn.

The church of Bane is well organized, well equipped, and populated by  people who understand the need for order and enjoy hurting those weaker  than they. This combination of qualities makes the church of Bane a more  credible threat than the church of Cyric, despite the Dark Sun's  greater numbers and his worshipers' willingness to sacrifice themselves  in a frenzy of killing.

-Branches within the Church of Bane-
"The Clergy (clerics)

The clergy acts to spread the portfolio of  Bane by converting those who are willing, and terrorizing those who are  not. Senior clerics are constantly scheming as to how best to further  Fear, Strife and Tyranny in order to increase Bane's dominion in the  realms. Religious rites, ceremonies, sacrifices, and ensuring religious  compliance are all normal activities."
 
"The Order of the Iron Gauntlet (monks)

The  Iron Gauntlet does two things: Guard the temple, and whatever dirty  work the clergy needs done. Spying, reconnaisance and assassinations are  normal activites. Monks are trained to use stealth and guile rather  than direct force whenever possible."
 
"The Order of Hatred's Wrath (blackguards and other melee types)

Hatred's Wrath is a knighthood which answers to the clergy. They serve  as the temple infantry when needed, and also assist the High Inquisitor  or High Imperceptor in dealing with heresy within the ranks. They are  unholy warriors, religiously fanatic in the extreme."
 
"The Arcane Gauntlet(sorcerors, bards, wizards)

The Arcane Gauntlet utilizes arcane magic to extend the will of the clergy.  It is specifically geared towards fighting external enemies, subduing  them either through force or fear."

As both a lawful entity and the deity of tyrrany, Bane expects a  well-defined structure for his church and compliance in all given  orders. The head of the church is Fzoul Chembryl,  who has absolute authority over all other members of the church.  Headquartered in Zhentil Keep, the church is organized like a military  unit, with each temple having a clear chain of command and the temple  leaders (called Imperceptors) reporting to a senior cleric of a region,  who reports to Fzoul or one of his direct underlings.

The church's goals are simpleâ€"convert all to the worship of Bane, and  destroy those who do not convert. It is presumed that some exceptions  would be made for servants of allied deities (such as Lovitar, Malar, Mask, and Talona).  In the meantime, people should be made to fear Bane so that they invoke  his name in fear and to ward him off, which gives him some small power.
The church of Bane uses force and persuasion to control  territory, whether by marching armies against reticent towns or by  bribing bored nobles with slaves, riches, and offers of power. With its  close ties to the Zhentarim, the church has been able to focus on the  subtler methods of conversion, leaving the more direct methods to the Black Network.


Given that it wishes to convert everyone to worshiping Bane, the church  is very open to new recruits. Anyone can swear loyalty to Bane and join  the church. However, the church expects loyalty and is not stupid, so it performs alignment checks on new recruits (with detect chaos and detect good)  to see if they are fakers or potential saboteurs. Even those with  alignment differences are given the opportunity to convert (often with  an atonement spell), for Bane recognizes the value of those who  have seen the lure of good and turned away from it to serve evil (one of  his most powerful servants is a blackguard of this type, after all)

Followers of Bane can sometimes enlist the aid of his servitor deities  Loviatar, Malar, Mask, and Talona, although their alliance is more a  pact of mutual nonaggression than true friendship. The greatest ally of  the Banites is the Zhentarim, and all followers of Bane are taught how  to recognize Zhentarim safe-markings and the proper countersigns to give  to an agent of the Black Network.

Because it wishes to subvert and destroy all other faiths, the church  of Bane is opposed by nearly every other church in Faerûn (some of the  weaker deities hope that by serving him, they may survive). The  rivalries with the churches of Helm, Ilmater, Lathander, Mystra, Oghma, Torm, and Tyr  are particularly strong, and the Banite clerics take great pains to  kill clerics of these faiths in gruesome ways, leaving them to be  discovered by unsuspecting innocents.
Cyric is Bane's greatest divine foe, for the Dark sun wishes to  reclaim the portions of his portfolio taken by Xvim, which were then  passed to the new Bane. Bane has similar feelings for Cyric, and would  love to crush the upstart under his heel, seizing his lost portfolios in  return. Banites enjoy branding Cyricist corpses and altars with the  word "heretic" as a warning to other followers of the Dark Sun.
The Banites are also opposed by the Harpers, the Lord's Alliance , the Emerald Enclave, and other groups that respect local governments and the freedom of people to make decisions about their lives.


In combat situations, the faithful of Bane are trained to follow  orders from the clerics. In turn, the clerics are expected to react  intelligently in combat, give precise orders, and have those orders  carried out. Clerics of Bane try to maximize the use of flanking, cover,  and the strengths of their trooops, using their spells to increase  their own abilities or directly attack their enemies. Banite clerics  tend to rely upon wands and potions to heal their allies, since they  dislike preparing cure spells in favor of attack magic. Rarely do  they use defensive spells, seeing this as a weak-willed usage of Bane's  gifts. Defensive magic items, however, are acceptable and common. Bane and Xvim have provided their clergy with several unique  spells, and Bane continues to grant these spells to his worshipers, even  though some of them have spread to other faiths. These spells are battletide, mystic lash, and stone walk. Since his return, many of his faith have been using a weapon they call a Banesword, and these blades are becoming as recognizable as Bane's own symbol.
 
The church of the Black Hand knows many dark rites that grant the  devout recipient powers or immunities in exchange for sacrifices. Each  ritual takes several hours of prayer and requires the intervention of  two clerics of Bane, one of whom must be at least 7th level.
 Ritual of Terror's Allegiance: This ritual cements the  recipient's loyalties to Bane, reducing the chance that they might be  controlled by another being. The target gains a +4 morale bonus on Will  saving throws against fear and a +2 morale bonus on all other  mind-affecting effects. The ritual requires a black star sapphire worth  1,000gp or more as a material component and drains 800XP from the  recipient.  
The Rite of Dread Presence: The recipient gains the abillity to use a fear  spell once per day as a supernatural ability. The caster level is 7th,  and the DC is 14 + the recipient's Charisma modifier. The ritual drains  2,000 XP from the recipient

[el groso]

Go Banites!

[LastTyrant]

Join us in exacting Lord Bane's will. Be rewarded for loyalty to His cause, or be punished for failure to heed His name, and fear it above all else.

Join us in establishing a organized faith of militaristic zealots who scheme for power by any means. The Black Hand rises over Ymph, enclosing the island in His iron grasp!

[LastTyrant]

Come to the dark side! Join in political intrigue, and power hungry scheming in controlling the world!

[morva]

MORVA

[LastTyrant]

Oi! Sorry I have not been around too much lately, work is insane. Anyone interested in joining, or learning more about the church of bane, send me a PM. We can arrange a time to meet IG, and I will answer any question to the best of my ability.

[RuinedDesires]

I have something, that might fit perfectly