Bane Bane ( pronounced " BAIN " ) was the evil and malicious greater deity of fear , hatred and tyranny and ruler of Banehold . Preferring to plot and scheme , Bane rarely appeared to act in a direct manner ; instead acting through his worshipers and other various agents . His ultimate goal was to eventually control all of Faerûn . When summoned he had a dark and rather shadowy appearance with a resemblance of dark armor and his tell - tale jeweled dark gauntlet . He emanated an aura of vast power and cruel intelligence . Worshipers . Among the evil gods , Bane ' s church was among the most stable and powerful . While there was a time when the god encouraged sectarianism and violent disputes , that time has long since passed and today the god ' s Faithful were as likely to solve their disputes through reasonable debate as through show of force . That being said , Bane ' s church was no less ruthless than that of Cyric or Shar and it obeyed a strict hierarchy extending from the god ' s most powerful worshipers to his weakest ones , with the god himself the lord of everything they did and , though worshipers of Bane came from every station in life , they all knew to whom they owed their blessings , ready to turn it over to the Black Lord at any time . Banite customs were often quite spartan in nature and the god ' s followers celebrated no holidays in honor of their god , instead showing their gratitude to him through service and the ritual torture and sacrifice of sentient beings offensive to the god . Priests of Bane prayed for their spell s at midnight , pledging their eternal loyalty and service to the Black Hand , knowing full well that the penalty for failure or disloyalty was death . The church of Bane increased greatly in recent history due to his return . With this he gained nearly all the worshipers of Iyachtu Xvim , his half - demon son , as well as some of Cyric . Many of those among the god ' s worshipers were fighter s , monk s or blackguard s , or wizard s His clerics could be recognized by the black - enameled gauntlet worn on one fist . They were able to cast spells against undead , such as a flare of greenish phosphorescence which seared smaller undead or an even fiercer radiance that seared ghoul s and phantom s . Places of worship . Although Bane was worshiped all over Faerûn , his presence was strongest in the Moonsea region , where , as of 1479 DR , the Church of Bane had its headquarters : the House of the Black Lord in Mulmaster . During the same time , his Church was the only one allowed in Thay . Other known temples include : Biography . Like many of the younger gods , Bane was once a mortal human . Little was known about the Black Hand ' s past , not even precisely when it was he lived , but the adventurer became known when he forged an alliance with two other mortal beings : Bhaal and Myrkul . Together , the three forged a pact of mutual aid and ambition : together they would conquer not just the world , but the heavens , becoming god s unto themselves . They targeted specifically the powerful god of death , Jergal , who was among the most powerful of Toril ' s deities at the time . Divine ascension . The group , known as the Dead Three , soon became well - known to Jergal , surmounting every obstacle thrown their way , obtaining magic al power and even , at one point , destroying one of the Seven Lost Gods , taking the fallen primordial ' s essence for themselves and dividing it up equally . Unbeknown to them , this was all Jergal ' s doing , for the god had grown tired of his crown , even allowing powerful magic weapons such as the Jathiman Dagger , gifted to Bane , to fall into the hands of the party . When the time came to confront Jergal , the god of death tricked the Dead Three into turning on one another , each desiring the others ' power . Jergal then intervened and proposed to divide up his portfolio for them , based upon a game of knucklebones , which Bane promptly won . Bane claimed for his prize governance over the sphere of strife , believing he would be able to rule over all of Toril in this way . As it turned out , however , Bane would not only have to contend with Bhaal and Myrkul , who became powerful gods in of themselves , but with the rest of the divine , who would become his most hated foes . The Time of Troubles . Although Bane had many foes , he did find allies in a few gods and in particular continued a working relationship with the other members of the Dead Three , with whom he plotted against his enemies , such as the goddess Mystra . It was during this time that Bane sired a son , Iyachtu Xvim , some say by a tanar ' ri , others by a fallen paladin of good . Xvim resented his father but nonetheless served compliantly as his servant during this period , along with other servants of the Black Hand such as Bhaal . Iyachtu Xvim ' s true purpose , however , would not be revealed until many , many years later . Eventually , Bane ' s plots backfired against him and in one particularly overambitious gambit , he and Myrkul attempted to steal the Tablets of Fate from Ao the Overgod himself . For this , the two and every other god were banished from their astral dominion s to traverse Toril ' s surface in an exercise of humility , precipitating the Time of Troubles . It was Ao ' s hope that through this , the gods would learn not only to be content with what power they had , but to respect the needs and wishes of their worshipers . However , not all the gods were so willing to learn and all of them tried to regain their divine power as quickly as possible . Bane was among these but unfortunately for him he was slain by the young god Torm on Eleasias 13 , 1358 DR near Tantras . Subsequently the majority of Bane ' s power fell from him to the mortal Cyric , who temporarily claimed the powers of all the Dead Three - all of whom perished in the Time of Troubles . A smaller portion fell to his son , Iyachtu Xvim , an eventuality that Bane had anticipated should he himself perish . Resurrection and return to power . For Bane , it soon became apparent , death was but a temporary setback . Anticipating the possibility of his own death Bane , the god of tyranny had , like his companion Bhaal , created a scion for the purpose of his own regeneration . When the time was right Xvim , who was in fact little more than a cocoon to contain the essence of Bane , burst forth into the black and armored figure of Bane , destroying the younger god entirely . This event , which occurred on Midwinter in the Year of Wild Magic , appears to have been in part the work of the lich Szass Tam as well , who performed a summoning the same night . Overnight the Faithful of Xvim , led by the god ' s Chosen Fzoul Chembryl converted to the worship of their returned master , as did many of Cyric ' s own worshipers . Since his miraculous resurrection , Bane has gone to the work of reestablishing his power base , a task which he has been largely successful in . Regaining nearly all of his followers from Xvim and Cyric , Bane then went about reforming his church hierarchy , forcibly eliminating its tendencies towards in - fighting , which he previously had encouraged in order to separate the weak from the strong but which he now realized to be self - defeating and destructive and Bane put at the head of this new church Fzoul Chembryl , whom he took as his own Chosen . Bane also reestablished his old alliances with Loviatar , Mask , and Talona , who had previously worked alongside him before the Time of Troubles . Bane escaped the Spellplague largely unscathed and , in fact , the cataclysm largely benefited him , removing two of his chief rivals , Mystra and Cyric all at once . In the century that followed Bane ' s power increased only further and the god conquered the goblinoid pantheon , bringing Maglubiyet and Hruggek to heel before him . By the end of the Era of Upheaval Bane was as powerful - and as dangerous - as he had ever been . Relationships . While Bane believed himself the rightful ruler of all the planes and could not tolerate subservience to anyone , the god was willing , unlike many evil deities , to work with others if it served his interests and the god formed multiple alliances . Most notable perhaps was his alliance with Myrkul , which stretched back to when both were mortals and which continued until both of their deaths during the Time of Troubles . Bane also had working relations with the gods Loviatar , Talona , and Mask ; when Bane returned to life in 1372 DR , he quickly went about reforging these alliances , primarily by reasserting their fears of him . Besides allies , Bane also had servants , such as Bhaal and his own son , Iyachtu Xvim during his first life as a god , and Abbathor , Maglubiyet , Hruggek , and Tiamat during his second . Malar was also known to work along with Bane at times . But as numerable as his allies , Bane had many enemies as well . For a time , Bane ' s most hated foe was the goddess of magic , Mystra , whose power he coveted . Since his return , however , Bane ' s greatest foes were Cyric who stole from him many of his worshipers and the Zhentarim , and the Triad , particularly its formerly junior but now senior member Torm , who was the being responsible for Bane ' s first death . Bane was also enemies with the gods Amaunator and Oghma and called Helm and Midnight enemies as well when both gods lived . Considering that Sune represents a portfolio opposite of his , he does not take kindly to her . Appendix . Publication history . Ed Greenwood created Bane for his home " Dungeons & Dragons " game for the Forgotten Realms , conceiving of him as " the big baddie " , with powers " roughly equivalent to " the Babylonian deity Druaga . Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition ( 1977 – 1988 ) . Bane first appeared within " Dungeons & Dragons " as one of the deities featured in Ed Greenwood ' s article " Down - to - earth Divinity " in " Dragon " # 54 ( October 1981 ) . Here Bane is introduced as Lord Bane , the Black Lord , god of strife , hatred , and tyranny , a lawful evil greater god from the plane of Acheron . The article notes that he is never seen , " although there are tales of a freezing black - taloned hand and eyes of blazing fire . " Bane is described as one of “ The Dark Gods ” of evil alignment : " Loviatar , Talona , and Malar serve Bane through Bhaal ( although Loviatar and Talona are rivals ) . " Bane is commonly worshipped by lawful evil fighters , magic - users , illusionists , assassins , thieves , monks , and clerics . Bane later officially appeared as one of the major deities for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting , in the " Forgotten Realms Campaign Set " ' s " Cyclopedia of the Realms " booklet ( 1987 ) . Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition ( 1989 – 1999 ) . Bane was destroyed in the novel " Tantras " ( 1989 ) , and its accompanying adventure module of the same name . Despite his death , Bane was still described in the hardback " Forgotten Realms Adventures " ( 1990 ) , the " Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting " ( 1993 ) in the " Running the Realms " booklet , and " Faiths & Avatars " ( 1996 ) . His role in the cosmology of the Planescape campaign setting was described in " On Hallowed Ground " ( 1996 ) . Dungeons & Dragons 3 . 0 edition ( 2000 – 2007 ) . As of 3rd edition Bane returns to life , and becomes one of the major deities of the Forgotten Realms setting again , in " Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting " ( 2001 ) , and is further detailed in " Faiths and Pantheons " ( 2002 ) . Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition ( 2008 – ) . Bane appears as one of the deities described in the Dungeon Master ' s Guide for this edition ( 2008 ) . Bane ' s story and role in the default setting are expanded in the 4th edition " Manual of the Planes " and the Dragon article " Deities and Demigods : Bane " in Dragon # 372 . A " Forgotten Realms " - specific version of Bane appears in the " Forgotten Realms Player ' s Guide " and the " Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide " for this edition . The " Realms " Bane was acknowledged as being a separate character from the core Bane in the aforementioned Dragon article as is stated in the article .