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y-rhywbeth2 · 1 year ago

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Gods and Clergy: Tiamat

Link: Disclaimer regarding D&D "canon" & Index [tldr: D&D lore is a giant conflicting mess. Larian's lore is also a conflicting mess. You learn to take what you want and leave the rest]

@neonbutchery The Cult of Tiamat, as requested.

Summary: "The gods are all inherently evil and need to die, so let's replace them with dragons."

Clergy: Dragons! Anarchy! Swords that are also snakes! And you don't need healing magic, it's just a flesh wound - walk it off!

Wyrmkeepers: Flight, fire breathing, pet dragons! Lae'zel is right, where the hell is my dragon steed?

Tiamat: Gods forbid women do anything.

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"Tiamat teaches that rival powers of all creeds and from every pantheon are inherently tyrannical. They seek only power, at any cost, despite their honeyed words. The Dragon Queen is the only being powerful enough to defy the gods and their despotic rule. Worshippers of the Dark Lady are to work tirelessly towards the day when their queen will banish the gods from Faerûn and unite the Realms under her rule. Towards this goal, all true believers must follow her commands unquestioningly and be willing to sacrifice themselves in her service. To overthrow the gods requires power, and power is acquired through the accumulation of wealth and magic. Power demands respect. Chromatic dragons everywhere are to be venerated as the spawn of the Dragon Queen and paid homage. When Tiamat assumes her throne, her draconic children shall serve her as dukes, and her clergy as their mortal vassals." - Tiamat's Dogma

In ancient times, a nation of mages called the Imaskar had a slave work force that it bolstered by stealing people from other worlds. Earth was one of those worlds, and from Earth they kidnapped an entire settlement from somewhere in Mesopotamia. Eventually, after the fall of Imaskar these abductees and their descendants would go on to form the empire of Unther.

The Untheri brought worship of their gods with them, including the first non-draconic worshippers of Marduk (Bahamut) and Tiamat. Mainstream Untheric religion taught that Tiamat was the Queen of Chaos, Nemesis of the Gods. Unther laid its every single misfortune at the feet of Tiamat.

Untheric myth claims that Marduk and Tiamat were at continuous war with one another. In -1071 DR, during a battle in a war with the local Orcs, Tiamat saw an opportunity to slay the god Gilgeam as he battled with the orc god Ilneval. Marduk stopped her before she could, and the two destroyed each in the ensuing fight. Marduk's Untheric aspect was lost, and he was temporarily lost to the realms, existing only as the draconic god Bahamut. Tiamat was stripped of power, and depending on the source was either reduced to the lowest tier of godhood or became an archfiend in the Hells.

Marduk's cult quickly began to fade away after the disappearance of their god, due to the influence of the priesthood of the envious god Gilgeam. Meanwhile, Tiamat's cult went to ground, undeterred by the total silence of their goddess. Ironically, Gilgeam kept Tiamat's ties to Toril intact by continuing to maintain the populace's memory and fear of her by using her as a scapegoat.

The Untheric pantheon slowly faded away, leaving little but Gilgeam as he degenerated into brutal tyranny. Dissenters found their way into the ranks of the cult, and by 1346 DR the cult was powerful enough to summon an avatar of the goddess back into the Realms, and once again her priests could cast spells. They went to work, formenting rebellion against Gilgeam. Towards the end of the Time of Troubles, Gilgeam and TIamat did battle, with Gilgeam seemingly winning. What he actually did was scatter her essence amongst the three most powerful chromatic dragons in the area. One of them was Tchazzar, a red dragon ascendant (a dragon who has undergone a ritual to become a minor deity). He had already started his own cult in the realm of Chessenta. The dragon then went out and killed and ate the other two holders, becoming an avatar of Tiamat.

Tiamat proceeded to ambush Gilgeam, resulting in a massive battle that almost destroyed the capital city, and caused a fair bit of carnage on other planes of existence. The battle ended with both seemingly destroyed. And you will surely be shocked beyond the pale to learn that Tiamat was merely dematerialised. Before Tiamat could return to Uther and establish herself as the sole deity of the nation, she was ambushed outside of her lair on Avernus by a company of mortal warriors sent by Bahamut (formerly Marduk). Tiamat spent a year in recovery, but by the time she had, Unther had been conquered by neighbouring empires, and the native Faerûnian and Mulhorandi (Egyptian) pantheons had already established themselves.

With the death of Gilgeam, the Untheric gods were so utterly destroyed that Ao dissolved the pantheon, leaving Tiamat as a member of the draconic pantheon only.

Despite her many setbacks, Tiamat has never given up on her plans to overthrow the other gods. She has her cults wherever she can put them, fermenting rebellion and pushing her draconic children towards conquest.

Many of Tiamat's cultists were born into her cult. They are tasked with accumulating wealth and power for the faith, and sabotaging and sowing discord amongst all others'. Thefts, temple vandalism, assassinations, arson...

In its ancestral land of Unther, and the realm of Chessenta, the cult is focused on climbing the ranks of power. Within Chessenta she is worshipped in her aspect as Tchazzar, and his old cult is a branch of the larger faith.

Outside of these regions Tiamat's faithful focused their energy on taking over another cult; the Cult of the Dragon, and turning it to their mistress' control. The Cult of the Dragon reveres "the Sacred Ones" and believes that undead dragons are destined to rule the world, based on an interpretation of a prophecy claiming that all the rulers of the world would die, and dragons would rule. They try to convince dragons to transform themselves into liches in preparation for this event (it's also essentially Bane's fault that this cult exists, but that's off topic). Tiamat appeared to them as one of her avatars; a five headed dracolich, in order to draw their worship, and now works to bring them fully into her cult. Many belong to both cults, and the blurred loyalties can cause problems.

As of 1480 DR they have mostly succeeded in assimilating the Cult. The Cult of the Dragon is lead by Severin Silrajin, who has pushed the cult strongly into the worship of Tiamat over dragons in general, and believes that their energy should be focused on summoning her into the Realms to destroy the world as we know it and pave the way for our draconic overlords. Though not everybody in the Cult agrees with the Tiamat worship...

Tiamatans are also known for hunting metallic dragons, and are believed to have devastated their numbers over the years.

The Undying Queen frowns on healing magic; she teaches that people must understand their losses, and as such you should not simply erase the pain. Her followers are to learn from their mistakes as she has, and take full credit for their own successes. Only in the most extreme cases are Tiamatans supposed to use healing magic. That said, some individuals have ignored this restriction and Tiamat has done nothing to stop them.

Tiamat's temples are built in dragon lairs, decorated with frescoes of the Dragon Queen and her many consorts, depicting her being worshipped by all peoples. The temples are filled with the wealth her cult has accumulated for the purposes of sacrificing it to her. The temples are guarded by at least one juvenile or young adult dragon, sometimes more than that. The most important temples contain permanent portals to Avernus.

The ceremonial garb for most of Tiamatans is a form-fitting outfit made of the scales of a living being - preferably a metallic dragon. They wear dragon masks decorated with the images of the various chromatic dragon species, encrusted with gems. Across their back they wear a diaphanous, multihued silk cloaks, draped across their backs in a way that resembles wings. Their claw-tipped gauntlets are red-tinted steel.

In Chessenta priests of Chazar wear black scale armour under a breast plate or tabard sporting the symbol of Tchazzar. Their ornate masks and helms depict red dragons, and they are armed with saw-edged two-handed swords

Outside of ceremony Tiamat's faithful enjoy dressing in ways that bring dragons to mind, out of homage to their goddess.

Regardless of which branch a priest belongs to, they share the same holy symbol, usually in the form of jewellery - a stylised five headed dragon, bearing one of each colour.

Tiamat's faith involves many daily ceremonies. Most notable is the Tithing.

The Tithing involves the worshipper hiding an offering of a small tithe in clasped hands - typically several coins or a small gem. They offer a small prayer, and when they unclasp their hands there is a 10% chance the offering will vanish, and the supplicant will be blessed.

The Rite of Respect is a ceremony a cultist must perform when approaching a chromatic dragon, described as a "complicated ritual of abasement and appeasement." It doesn't offer any magical protection against the dragon, should it attack, but if the rite is not performed to exact perfection the dragon is almost definitely going to attack just for the disrespect.

In Unther the first full moon after midsummer is considered a holy day; the Festival of Vengeance, marking the day Tiamat defeated Gilgeam. In the city of Unthalass, which could've been destroyed by the battle, the night is dedicated to absolute anarchy as the faithful incite mayhem and riots throughout the city. People bearing grudges are encouraged to act upon them on this night, and the cult sees support from native Untheri, who would see their country returned to rulership under their own people and culture rather than that of foreign invaders. The priests of the Mulhorandi and Faerûnian pantheons prepare ahead of these nights in order to try and contain the damage, but this can sometimes be difficult because another way to celebrate the day is to assassinate prominent officials who would be responsible for managing these task forces.

The ranks of the clergy begin with the acolytes, known as Wyrmfodder. Advancement in the cult is a cutthroat affair - sometime literally. Those who can't keep up avoid the clergy, serving as lay worshippers, guards and spies. For clerics, any sign of fear or weakness can be the end of them, and priests guard their thoughts, feelings and plans at all times. You do not have to be powerful in the ranks of the cult, so long as you can fake it convincingly enough. The high priests however, are as powerful as they seem.

In rising order of rank, the cultists are known as;

Custodian of the Copper Chalice

Defender of the Silver Shield

Warden of the Electrum Mail

Guardian of the Gold Scepter

Keeper of the Platinum Crown

Scale of the White Wyrm

Horn of the Black Beast

Wing of the Green Gargantua

Talon of the Blue Baatoran

Breath of the Red Ravager

The High Priests are collectively known as the Dark Scaled Ones.

High ranking priests are permitted to carry serpent blades, green blades decorated with scale patterns that transforms into a live, venomous snake and begins striking at everyone within reach when drawn (the venom is a paralytic). Said priests also wear a specific ring, shaped like a snake biting its own tail, which keeps the snake from turning on them.

There are two holy orders in service to the cult, both centred in Unther. The Serpent Guards are holy warriors tasked with guarding temples and hunting down enemies who meddle in the cult's affairs - including spying on, assassinating and otherwise sabotaging individuals who have the political power and inclination to get in the way.

The best of the Serpent Guards are inducted into the Knights of the Five-Thorned Rose, an order of dragon hunters dedicated to eliminating metallic dragons and their father Bahamut/Marduk. They keep massive libraries, chronicling every scrap of lore on dragons the order has come across and have plans for dragon hunts that are centuries in the making. "These persistent, seemingly inexhaustible, assaults are taking a great toll on the population of Faerûn's dragons."

Wyrmkeepers are Tiamat's most devoted priests. Prior to 1358 DR, they were only present in Unther, however they may now be found in any human culture.

They can magically cause an individual to be overcome with fear

They can cast featherfall for free, once per day

They can fly

They can breathe fire, as a red dragon can.

They are immune to a specific form of elemental and physical damage. Which varies by individual. It may be piercing, slashing, bludgeoning, fire, cold, acid, lighting, poison... The elemental immunity includes immunity to the breath weapons of dragons.

The most powerful of them can summon a young adult chromatic dragon to serve as a mount. Tiamat is the one who decides on the dragon who answers, but it's usually whichever type is native to the area. The dragons will not tolerate disrespect and will leave once they are above a certain age (the young dragon stage is between 51-100 years old). They must be treated with absolute respect, and the priest can expect a lot of bribery, bargaining, pleading and placating.

Tiamatans can detect the presence of and identify precious metals and gems within a 20-foot radius by scent. They can't tell the exact location, but they can tell when they're getting hotter or colder in trying to find it. In order to use this ability, Tiamat requires 20% of the treasure given to her within 10 days, lest she lose her temper.

They can magically cover their entire body, except their face, with dragon scales. The exact colour is up to the priest, but must correspond with one of the chromatic dragons.

They can induce a magical sleep in a target by touching them, during which the sleeper doesn't require food, drink or air, and ages only a single year per century. The only way for this sleep to end is by the death of the sleeper or by touching them with dragon bone.

They can also make chromatic dragons grow a magical second head.

Tiamat is a Lawful Evil deity known by many titles: The Dragon Queen; the Chromatic Dragon; the Dark Lady; Queen of Chaos; the Undying Queen; Bane of Bahamut; the Avaricious. She is the embodiment of the idea of the chromatic dragon; embodying all of a dragon's avarice, vanity and arrogance, and all of their legendary strength, with none of their weaknesses. She is capable of being charming if she feels like it, but ultimately sees mortals as nothing but pawns.

Most of Faerûn outside of Unther is unaware that Tiamat is, or has ever been, a deity. They only know her as a terrifying monster from the Hells.

In larger D&D lore (or one version of it, anyway) she is considered one half of the original dragon god Io, and twin sister to Bahamut, who was the other half. He became the father of all metallic dragons, and she the mother of the chromatic breeds. This is apparently the version of her known on Abeir, and the version the post-4e version of the dragonborn believe.

On Toril, Tiamat was first worshipped in the Dawn Age, when dragons were the dominant species. The fighting between followers of Bahamut and Tiamat escalated into a full blown war (the Dragonfall War) in -30,000 DR and only got worse when Tiamat started creating horrible reptilian abominations as weapons. Bahamut's answer was the original dragonborn, but those got retconned in 4e. The resulting mass carnage saw dragons as a whole turn their backs on religion, deciding that if this was how gods were then they wanted nothing to do with them. The draconic pantheon only saw a minority of reverence for the better part of 30,000+ years, only really coming back to draconic attention in 1373 DR - which is great news for Tiamat and her cult. Until recently, Torilian dragons dismissed her as a human god - one worthy of respect, but nothing to do with them.

Tiamat usually announces that she's paying attention in ways that are likened to a sudden bolt of lighting. Explosions of fire and ice, and other things that draw from the elemental powers of dragons.

Tiamat's messengers and servants include chromatic dragons and similar dragon kin, abishai (dragon like devils of her own creation) as well as ordinary reptiles. She is particularly fond of snakes.

Her approval is shown in the sudden discovery of priceless valuables made of precious metals and gems (which she then expects to be offered up to her in gratitude, or else) When she's displeased with them, followers may find their valuables vanishing en masse.

When taking an avatar, Tiamat primarily appears in three forms:

One of her avatars is the Dark Lady, a human sorceress of the Mulan ethnic group (a group descended from humans abducted from across bronze age North Africa and the Middle East). Her beauty is described as "fey", her smile "seductive" and her entire eye is black (including the sclera)

Another avatar - the Chromatic Dragon - is a five headed dragon. Typically she has one head for each dragon, but she can change them at will. For example, she may decide to manifest with five red dragon heads.

Her final avatar - the Undying Queen, is much like her Chromatic Dragon avatar, except that she takes the form of a five headed dracolich.

#I think Tiamat just runs on pure spite #Congrats Bhaal I found a god worse at dying than you #only dropping in briefly to post this #ended up listening to Cain by the band Tiamat just because writing this triggered the memory #bg3 cleric #cleric tav

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