The Vaunted Archmage of Necromancy, the Necromancer, Lord of the Forsaken Crypt, Lord of the Forgotten Crypt, the Lich-Lord, Patron of Evil Liches
Lesser beings cannot understand the importance of the exploration of life, death, and undeath and the philosophical implications of this complex medley. Let no one interfere with the pursuit of such research, for the end result will more than justify the necessary sacrifices along the path. Knowledge is power, and knowledge of life and death brings power over all beings, living and unliving; power that can lift the church of Velsharoon and his priests to dizzying heights.
(You need to abide by these as clergy, not as a worshiper)
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Cleric, Fighter, Witch, or Wizard
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Any Race
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Non-Cleric Initiation: You must desecrate a grave or tomb and rob it of its remains and get away with it -OR- You must voluntarily die and be raised as an undead
(You need to abide by these as clergy, not as a worshiper)
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All Cure Wounds spells; these can be used to harm undead.
Holy Symbol: A laughing lich skull wearing a crown
(If you are a Cleric or Fighter, you may become clergy of this god; take three of these as your vows—if you violate them you lose any moves, spells, and any other benefits granted by this god until you atone.)
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Knowledge (Forbidden: Allowing any scrap of knowledge, no matter how small, to pass beneath you)
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Power (Forbidden: Allowing anyone to attain dominance over you—physically, magically, or socially)
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Immortality (Forbidden: Taking any action which would be likely to end your existence; you must be cautious at all times)
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Transcendence (You must pursue deific power every day)
Velsharoon (VEL-shah-roon) is the Archmage of Necromancy, a demipower who has gathered the study, practice, and practitioners of necromancy and evil liches into his portfolio, and general undeath as well. Newly elevated to a divine state, the Lord of the Forgotten Crypt is only beginning to create a cult of worshipers in Orben. Although many prognosticators, mortals and immortals alike, have predicted the quick destruction of this arrogant necromancer, Velsharoon has played one power off against another, and he has begun to establish himself among the gods.
Velsharoon is a vain, selfish, petty, but very canny power consumed with vengeance, obsessed with experimenting on living and dead beings, and unconcerned with the fates of lesser creatures. In many ways he continues to act like the mortal he recently was, albeit with far greater power at his disposal than before.
Home Plane
Mungoth/Death's Embrace
Portfolio
Undeath, necromancy, necromancers, lichdom, evil liches, undeath
Favored Weapon
Skull Staff of the Necromancer (quarterstaff)
Myths
Velsharoon's Vengeance
As a mortal, Velsharoon was a renegade mage of Bethar Garmak who lived in the Tower Terrible (Rahibat) as well as several other abodes in what is today Alair-Dina. He aspired to become a general in the Mage-King rebellion against the Ssianid empire, but was driven out after feuding with his chief rival, Nevrass Alair. Nearly as potent as his archrival, Velsharoon spent several years seeking enough power to destroy Alair and other wizards who thwarted his evil machinations.
After dragons bleached Zab and reduced them to the Bleak Lands, a very old ruin was exposed, in which Velsharoon discovered a process laid down long ago by which a great wizard can achieve demipowerhood. The Vaunted, as the necromancer was sometimes pilloried, managed to complete the ritual, which first turned him into a lich, and then ascended him into the ranks of Orben's gods. He assumed the portfolio of Necromancy, previously owned by the dead god Myrkul and left without a steward for many centuries—AO had allowed enough time to pass from Kelemvor's assumption of the portfolio of Death and wished for a counterbalance once again.
Thus, it is rumored Nevrass Alair is able to stay his fiendish minions but not his undead ones because Velsharoon has severed his ability to control them in revenge.
History
Velsharoon is a very recent deity, emerging only in the past few years, and his church is yet young.
Relationship with other gods and churches
Velsharoon is the source of all necromantic magic, and thus he is variously courted by many of the "evil" deities, who keep channels open with him if they wish to have any powers over the undead; this is the primary factor in his rapid rise to power.
Kelemvor, the new Lord of the Dead, and his servant Jergal, Scribe of the Doomed, actively oppose Velsharoon as his predilection for black necromancy violates many of their most cherished tenets. Cyric and Velsharoon share a mutual enmity as both seek to acquire a larger portfolio at the expense of Kelemvor. Finally, though they are not yet numbered among his enemies, it is likely that Velsharoon will soon find himself opposed by the myriad powers of nature, and the Triad (Tyr, Torm, and Ilmater), as well as by Lathander and At'ar/Amaunator.
Associated Lesser Deities
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Velsharoon is largely unknown throughout Orben, but in the past year or so many bards have begun to relate fanciful tales of his ascension to audiences seeking to be frightened by stories of horror. Outside of secretive cabals of necromancers, those mortals who are aware of this evil demipower perceive Velsharoon as the lord of liches and a power able to organize the undead against the living.
Velsharoon's clergy is composed primarily of specialty priests, known as necrophants, and necromancers. Both groups are represented in roughly equal numbers. About 20% of the Necromancer's clergy are clerics, holdovers from before the Time of Troubles who served Myrkul, the former Lord of the Dead, and who have little interest in serving Kelemvor, the new Lord of the Dead, or Cyric, who briefly preceded him.
Hierarchy
Novices and acolytes of Velsharoon are known as Pallbearers. Higher ranking priests have titles such as Soul Stalker, Cryptguardian, Dead Walker, Bleeder, Life Leech, Spirit Sepulcher, Seeker of the Seven Truths, and Necromaster. Higher-ranking priests have unique individual titles conferred upon them by Velsharoon himself.
Vestments
Velsharan vestments resemble once-resplendent, rotting wizard's robes. The Necromancer's clergy wear garments of varying colors-any shade except red-but their habits are uniformly of somber hue. Most adorn their vestments with depictions of skulls and bones, but the faith is still young enough that fixed patterns of adornment for the various ranks have not developed.
When adventuring, Velsharan clergy members favor iron-shod staves and cold iron or silver maces which are effective when battling undead. Most eschew armor as too great a burden on their spellcasting abilities, with only the relatively rare clerics of the clergy garbing themselves in conventional protective garb. A typical priest or necromancer disciple of Velsharoon considers an escort of undead servitors as eminently suitable armor.
Rites and Duties
For a young faith, the clergy of Velsharoon have quickly established a large number of holy days and rituals. The faith has yet to coalesce into a homogeneous creed, however, and widely varying rituals are found not only in different temples but within individual temples as well. Nonetheless, one ritual has become fairly widespread.
The Pact of the Everlasting is a special ceremony performed by Velsharoon's priests upon attaining 9th-level (or sooner if they employ an appropriate scroll spell). This unholy ritual involves the casting upon them of a Velsharoon's death pact (as the 7th-level priest spell), as well as numerous other horrible incantations and the foul sacrifice of numerous good-aligned sentients. Prominent theologians of the faith claim that this ritual is merely the first of seven to be revealed by Velsharoon along a path to achieving immortality.
Many priests of Velsharoon spend their days in necromantic research, seeking to understand the faith's collective knowledge of life, death, and undeath. Most have created hundreds of undead servitors, some of them unique. When an undead creation has served its purpose, these self-involved researchers often brand the symbol of their god on its chest and then order it to wander randomly across the Realms. Other priests of Velsharoon are involved in "support" activities for the faith-grave robbing, embalming, teaching, etc. A few of the more congenial low-level priests sometimes cure the minor ills of the populace to bring in funding or worldly supplies for the church and to more easily gather information about its enemies.
Affiliated Orders
The Order of One Thousand Nightmares is a company of nightmare-riding swordwraiths who haunt the Fields of the Dead. Although the ghostly warriors have battled each other for centuries, Velsharoon's clergy have recently mastered powerful spells enabling them to organize the contentious spirits of the ancient warriors into a necromantic knighthood of nearly 200 undead mercenaries whose ranks continue to grow. The aims of the necrophant masters of this unholy army are unknown, but they surely spell trouble for Orben.
Cultists of Velsharoon gather in dusty crypts, abandoned mausoleums, and neglected graveyards. The Necromancer has few true temples, but those few which have been constructed are located in ancient catacombs or necropolises and resemble brooding stone mausoleums carved with ghastly depictions of the dead, the dying, and the undead. Fetid air and the cloying reek of embalming fluid waft through such edifices, and undead servitors serve as untiring sentinels. Vast laboratories, crammed storerooms of alchemical supplies, and befouled mortuaries consume most of the space, and few concessions are made toward sleeping chambers, dining halls, and kitchens.
Major Center of Worship
The Crypt of the Arisen Army is hidden amidst the caverns worn into the walls of the steep-walled valley known as Skull Gorge. The subterranean temple and surrounding city, Necropolis, were founded at the site of one of Velsharoon's mortal abodes known as the Forgotten Crypt, which was built in the form of a grand mausoleum amidst the crypts of an ancient city in Bleakland. The Cryptskulls, as the clergy of the temple are known, haunt the length of the Skull Gorge and the neighboring Battle of Bones. The have animated a legion of undead to guard the gorge after claiming the entire valley as their domain. They are led by a high-level necrophant, Baron Thaealab Asuda.
For Cleric/Wizards
When you gain a level from 2–5, you may choose a single Domain. A full list of domain spells and moves is under Choosing a God in Advanced Play Guides.
When you gain a level from 6–10, you may choose a second Domain.
If you choose the primary domain for your god, you also get the Primary Domain Move of that domain and take +1 to cast spells from the domain.
Clerics/Wizards
If you are a Cleric or Wizard (and your god permits your class), choose from the following domains. You add all spells of the chosen domain to your spell list, up to level 7 (once you meet the mana requirements) or up to level 9 (if it's the primary domain and once you meet the mana requirements).
Primary Domain
Undeath (Gain this domain's level 1-7 spells, this Primary Domain Move, and this level 9 spell)
Primary Domain Move
Mine! All mine!
If you don't already have Turn Undead, you gain Turn Undead. When you roll a 10+ on Turn Undead, you can instead choose to control undead. A mindless undead will support you instead of their own master, until someone destroys or incapacitates it.
Level 9 Spell
Unholy Pact | Level 9
You can raise up to 3 people as an Intelligent Undead (see the bottom of this page). You can use this on yourself casting pre-emptively before you die, so that the following evening you will rise as undead, however this will take up one of your 3 slots.
Secondary Domains
Corruption (Gain this domain's level 1-7 spells)
Hate (Gain this domain's level 1-7 spells)
Knowledge (Gain this domain's level 1-7 spells)
Murder (Gain this domain's level 1-7 spells)
For Non-Cleric/Wizards
When you gain a level from 2–5, you may choose a single Domain. A full list of domain spells and moves is under Choosing a God in Advanced Play Guides.
When you gain a level from 6–10, you may choose a second Domain.
If you choose the primary domain for your god, you also get the Primary Domain Move of that domain and take +1 to cast spells from the domain.
Non-Cleric/Wizards
If you are not a Cleric or Wizard, you gain access to all spells of your chosen domain up to level 3 and can cast them using the Cast a Spell Cleric move (you do not however gain any spells from the Cleric spell list). You can also gain a secondary domain move from that domain, in addition to the domain spells.
Primary Domain
Undeath(Gain this domain's level 1 and 3 spells, this Primary Domain Move, and a Secondary Domain Move)
Primary Domain Move
Mine! All mine!
If you don't already have Turn Undead, you gain Turn Undead. When you roll a 10+ on Turn Undead, you can instead choose to control undead. A mindless undead will support you instead of their own master, until someone destroys or incapacitates it.
Secondary Domain Moves (choose 1):
Blucher and Destiny
Wraith Rider
You have a supernatural connection with an undead riding mount. You can’t talk to it per se but you can communicate emotions at any range and it usually acts as you wish it to. When you and your mount study the same thing, you take +1 to Discern Realities.
Happy?!
Your Inflict Wounds spells heal an additional +1 on the undead.
Secondary Domains
Corruption (Gain this domain's level 1 and 3 spells and this Secondary Domain Move)
Secondary Domain Move:
I Plead the Fifth
If someone would normally be able to compel you to tell the truth (by a spell or other effect), you can say nothing instead.
Hate (Gain this domain's level 1 and 3 spells and this Secondary Domain Move)
Secondary Domain Move:
It is Useless to Resist
When you use Cause Fear, the target of your attempt takes -1 to their Saving Throw.
Knowledge (Gain this domain's level 1 and 3 spells and this Secondary Domain Move)
Secondary Domain Move:
Knowtographic Memory
If you have read or heard something said before in play, you can recall it perfectly. You must have RPed reading or hearing it.
Murder (Gain this domain's level 1 and 3 spells and this Secondary Domain Move)
Secondary Domain Move:
CSI: Evasion
When using Defy Danger to escape from the scene of a crime (or hide evidence) take +1.
