THE LEGEND OF KNUCKLEBONES, SKULL BOWLING, AND THE EMPTY THRONE
Long ago there was but one god of strife, death, and the
dead, an.d he was known as jergal, Lord of the End of Every-
thing. jergal fomented and fed on the discord among mortals
and deific entities alike. When beings slew each other in their
quest for power or in their hatred, he welcomed them into
his shadowy kingdom of eternal gloom. As all things died,
everything came to him eventually, and over time he built a
kingdom unchallenged by any other god. But he grew tired of
his duties, for he knew them too well, and without challengethere is nothing-and in nothingness there is only gloom.
In such a state, the difference between absolute power and
absolute powerlessness is -undetectable.
During this dark era arose three powerful mortals-Bane,
Bhaal, and Myrkul-who lusted after the power jergal pos-
sessed. The trio forged an unholy pact that they would gain
such ultimate power or die in the attempt. Over the length
and breadth of the world they strode, seeking powerful magic
and spells and defying death at every turn. No matter what
monster they confronted or what spells they braved, the three
mortals emerged unscathed at every turn. Eventually, the
trio journeyed into the Gray Waste and sought out the Castle
of Bone. Through armies of skeletons, legions of zombies,
hordes of wraiths, and a gauntlet of liches they battled.
Eventually they reached the object of their lifelong quest- the
Bone Throne.
"I claim this throne of evil," Bane the tyrant shouted
to jergal.
"I'll destroy you before you can raise a finger," threatened
Bhaal the assassin.
"And I shall imprison your essence for eternity," promised
Myrkul the necromancer.
jergal arose from his throne with a weary expression and
said, "The throne is yours. I have grown weary of this empty
power. Take it if you wish-I promise to serve and guide
you as your seneschal until you grow comfortable with the
position." Then, before the stunned trio could react, the Lord
of the Dead asked, "Who among you shall rule?"
The trio immediately fell to fighting among themselves
while jergal looked on with indifference. When eventually
it appeared that either they would all die of exhaustion orcommon in places where an individual's grave or tomb
isn't marked with the person's name.
Few people favor Jergal as a deity, and most who do
are concerned with the dispensation of the dead in some
way. Priests ofJergal serve communities as undertakers
and caretakers of gravesites. Jergal has no temples ded-
icated to him aside from abandoned places devoted to
his old, darker incarnation, but his priests are welcome
in the temples of Kelemvor, Deneir, and Myrkul. His
SYMBOL OF KELEMVORbattle on for an eternity, the Lord of the End of Everything
intervened.
"After all you have sacrificed, would you come away with
nothing? Why don't you divide the portfolios of the office by
engaging in a game of skill for them?" asked jergal.
Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul considered the god's offer and
agreed to it. So jergal took the skulls of his three most pow-
erful liches and gave them to the trio so they could compete
in skull bowling. Each mortal rolled a skull across the Gray
Waste, having agreed that the winner would be he who
bowled the farthest.
Malar the Beastlord arrived to visit jergal at this moment.
After quickly ascertaining that the winner of the contest would
receive all of jergal's power, he chased off after the three
skulls to make sure that the contest would be halted until he
had a chance to participate for part of the prize. Bane, Bhaal,
and Myrkul again fell to fighting, as it was obvious their sport
had been ruined, but again jergal intervened. "Why don't you
allow Lady Luck to decide, so you don't have to share with
the Beast?"
The trio agreed to this alternative, and jergal broke off his
skeletal finger bones and gave them to the contestants. When
Malar returned from chasing the skulls, he found that the trio
had just finished a game of knucklebones.
Bane cried out triumphantly, "As winner, I choose to rule
for all eternity as the ultimate tyrant. I can induce hatred and
strife at my whim, and all will bow down before me while in
my kingdom."
Myrkul, who had won second place, declared, "But I choose
the dead, and by doing so I truly win, because all that you are
lord over, Bane, will eventually be mine. All things must die-
even gods."
Bhaal, who finished third, proclaimed, "I choose death, and
it is by my hand that all that you rule, Lord Bane, will eventu-
ally pass to Lord Myrkul. Both of you must pay honor to me
and obey my wishes, since I can destroy your kingdom, Bane,
by murdering your subjects, and I can starve your kingdom,
Myrkul, by staying my hand."
Malar growled in frustration, but could do nothing, and so
yet again only the beasts were left for him.
And jergal merely smiled, for he had been delivered.faithful send their annual recordings of mortality to holy
sites where records of that sort are kept.KELEMVOR
The Lord of the Dead, the judge of the Damned
Kelemvor is seen as a just, fair, and comforting god of
death. Death comes to all, and when it occurs Kelemvor
is there to take each soul by the hand and lead it to the