The Dark Three (The Dead Three)
EntropyXII
Member Posts: 656
Ever since the first time I first read about Bane, Bhaal and Myrkul, I have been fascinated with their story. I always thought to myself how much it would have made a good novel.
So my question to Forgotten Realms scholars out there is this: How much do we actually know about these three when they were mortals?
We know an awful lot about them as gods, including their chosen avatars etc, but very little about them beforehand away from the story of how they became gods.
So far I have discovered just a few things.
A) They were all most likely human (Bane and Myrkul definitely. No information for Bhaal though).
Myrkul was from eastern Faerun - his full name is Myrkul Bey al-Kursi and he was the crown prince of Murghom.
C) Bhaal was a LE assassin, Bane was a LE fighter and Myrkul was a powerful NE necromancer.
D) Bhaal favoured the bone dagger and throwing daggers. Bane favoured a black gauntlet (and possibly a mace?), and Myrkul used a scythe as a god, but more than likely a staff as a human (I may have made that last bit about staffs up :P).
E) They were friends...somewhat.
F) Well that's about as far as i've gotten...
I'm asking because I am planning to draw an illustration of the three. If anybody has any more information other than the tidbits I know then feel free to help me out. Any information on mortal DnD stats? Appearance?
Thanks all,
EXII
So my question to Forgotten Realms scholars out there is this: How much do we actually know about these three when they were mortals?
We know an awful lot about them as gods, including their chosen avatars etc, but very little about them beforehand away from the story of how they became gods.
So far I have discovered just a few things.
A) They were all most likely human (Bane and Myrkul definitely. No information for Bhaal though).
Myrkul was from eastern Faerun - his full name is Myrkul Bey al-Kursi and he was the crown prince of Murghom.C) Bhaal was a LE assassin, Bane was a LE fighter and Myrkul was a powerful NE necromancer.
D) Bhaal favoured the bone dagger and throwing daggers. Bane favoured a black gauntlet (and possibly a mace?), and Myrkul used a scythe as a god, but more than likely a staff as a human (I may have made that last bit about staffs up :P).
E) They were friends...somewhat.
F) Well that's about as far as i've gotten...
I'm asking because I am planning to draw an illustration of the three. If anybody has any more information other than the tidbits I know then feel free to help me out. Any information on mortal DnD stats? Appearance?
Thanks all,
EXII
3
Comments
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Dead_Three
Also @LadyRhian has a ton of sourcebooks and may be able to offer more insight into your queries.
I have all of 3rd edition books and most of 2nd. I don't know much about 1st edition but i'd read somewhere that Bhaal was one of Ed Greenwood's earliest creations. If @LadyRhian know's anything i'd be grateful. Looking more at specifics. Especially whether or not Bhaal was human, if Bane ever used a mace as well as a gauntlet and so on. I know that they must have been over level 30 each - as in old PnP that was the level a mortal needed to be before he/she could ascend to divinity.
Bane was a warrior, Bhaal an assassin (from 1e AD&D, a separate class rather than a kit.) and Myrkul was a necromancer. He made his first appearance in Dragon Magazine #54, as a Lesser God, a Lawful Evil god of murder who lived on the Plane of Gehenna. Remember this is 1e AD&D, long before the Immortals set came out for D&D- so each DM had their own rules for how a character could become divine. Also, some classes, like assassin, could never hit level 30, for the Grandfather of Assassins was the highest you could rise, and that was level 15. You could keep accruing experience, but never got any better at what you did. Whereas, other classes like Fighters, Clerics, Rangers, Paladins, Thieves, Magic Users and Illusionists could progress forever (Druids, Monks and Bards did have a upper level limit). So no, they didn't have to be level 30. Merely of a much higher level than anyone else. There was no "official" path to becoming a Deity. It was strictly by DM fiat.
I had a character become a goddess because she hit 1102nd level thanks to an influx of gold from a godly plane. Suffice to say that I had over 1 million GP from treasure and tried to get rid of it on the plane of the God of Gambling, and somehow won 20x my money back, which I got exp for (one of the reasons I never give exp for treasure collected in my campaigns), and shot up in level. So my character became the Goddess of Fighters in that world.
However, I also think that it is actually the mistery what makes us so interested in their story.
If he were alive, I'd hire H.P. Lovecraft to write about them.
Bhaal is extremely sadistic, he enjoys killing but also enjoys causing as much as pain possible while at it. Think about a horrible slasher smile with piercing, threatening eyes and bloody bone daggers. He is so much stronger than his slender body looks, and quite crafty with that dagger.
Bane is a tyrant that enjoys people bowing down to him, and is always careful never to show any weakness or mercy to anyone. He looks to be an arrogant bastard with attitude and strength to back it up. He is well built, buff and looks impressive and scary in his suit of armor.
To Myrkul, lives of sentient beings have no value, the spirits and life forces of people are just his tools to empower his spells. He looks non-chalant and unimpressed most of the time, and almost skeletal-gaunt in appearance. And he has an aura as cold as grave.
That's how I picture them in my mind ^^
The name of the article was "Down to Earth Divinity".
Also, according to one source, The Dead Three ascended to being Gods in -339 DaleReckoning (aka DR). This was after the fall of Netheril, because Jergal was God of the Dead in Netheril.
I always imagined Bhaal to look like my profile picture. As the ultimate assassin (and killer) he was likely charismatic himself. Bhaal would have had that 'serial killer' facade, able to hide or blend in at will, but also with an ability to easily put himself into any environment, switching between charm and cruelty at will. I imagine as he grew in power, he would allow his darker side to emerge more often.
Back in the day when you could get half a roast pig with a free tankard of ale at your local Weatherproof Inn, all for a copper piece... I was part of the adventuring troop, 'The Dark Four'.
Ahhh... I remember it like it was yesterday... We were young and rebelling against authority. We stayed in bed all day, and stayed up all night. We all wore hoods. At the time I thought we did it because it made us mysterious and edgy... But really it was because we all had bad acne due to poor hygiene. The truths a git... Anyway... Our group included Bane, Bhaal, Myrkul and me, Anduin.
Bane was our muscle. He was a bit dopey, to tell you the truth. No brain Bane we called him. Don't get me wrong, he was good in a fight, but his one brain cell was faulty. Once I got him to carry all my equipment by saying I was responsible for carrying the groups air supply, and that my bag had to be fully loaded with air! Also, Bhaal liked to trick him into eating different meat. 'Bane' Bhaal would witter 'Bane, did you know that Gnoll is a delicacy in far off Kara-Tur?' Then off Bane would go eating Gnoll until he was sick. Them were the days!
Bhaal was our lock pick. His real name was Karl, but that's neither here or there. The reason we started calling him Bhaal was due to the sound he made after two pints. I have never met anyone below the age of four who could not hold their drink WORSE than Bhaal. At the tavern, sitting nicely ensconced in the corner looking shady and then 'BHAAAAAL' bright red vomit all over the table. Bhaal got clever enough to regurgitate nearly exactly a pint, back into his pint glass each time he had to... err... Bhaal. We gave it to Bane, I swear he liked it... Where was I... Yes, for a measly thief, Bhaal was so UP HIMSELF. I'm so good at this, I'm the best at that, Watch me twirl my bone dagger, look at me I'm Bhaal. When It came to a fight. NOWHERE TO BE SEEN! Ran away and hid like a baby. Afterwards he would say things like 'Did you see me totally backstab that mage? I chunked him into little pieces so Bane could eat him' Absolute rubbish! He was just the lock pick and that's why we put up with him.
Uncle Myrkul was a Necromancer. He could animate the dead. Without giving away too many trade secrets, I can reveal it was all done with wire coat hangers. We would have a great time digging up somebodies Gran and then getting the deceased to pop into the local hostelry and ask for a quick ale and a kiss!
Then there was I. Anduin the Almighty! I was the real brains of the operation. Without me they would just end up fighting and bickering. I also once talked to a girl, so the other guys really looked up to me.
Now one day Uncle Myrkul had this idea to go visit a god called Jergal and ask for some his powers. Bane was hungry and was wondering what gods taste like and Bhaal was all up for pickpocketing a gods wallet. Me. I was like WHOA! Nurgle! Is that not a god of disease from the Games Workshop Franchise? And Uncle Myrkul was going nah, Jergal is a god of death, bit depressed after losing all his wealth to a knucklebone gambling habit... And I was like. HOLD ON! Jergal is a bit like Nurgle! I don't want to catch the clap and die with my testicles falling out the bag! Bhaal called me a wuss and Bane wanted to know what testicles tasted like. We parted company there and then. Uncle Myrkul said he couldn't guarantee that his information source was 100% legit and understood why I was reluctant. He said he would cut me some slack if we ever met again.
You know the rest. The Dark Three became The Dead Three.
I started Gargoyles 4U. We are still trading strong today, the business now being nearly 2000 years old... You see... I did meet Uncle Myrkul again... and he gave me... A LOT OF SLACK!!!!