The "Seven Lost Gods", or simply the "Lost Gods", was a collective term used at different times for several different sets of deities and primordials.[1][2][3] Numbering seven[2][3] or even a host,[2] they were of mysterious and ancient origin[2] and caused disagreement and confusion among sages.[3]
The Seven Lost Gods of Antiquity[]
The name "Seven Lost Gods" originated in ancient times, and properly included seven demipowers who were defeated by or submitted to the god Bane, the Black Lord.[1] For example, Urgund's Description of Darkness, an account by Urgund of his imprisonment in the lower planes, named five entities as "those who fell down and became servants of the great lord Bane" and later sat in his Hall of Minor Courtiers as lesser powers.[4][5][6] These were:
- Maram of the Great Spear;[4][5][6][1][7]
- Haask, the Voice of Hargut;[4][5][6][1]
- Tyranthraxus the Flamed One;[4][5][6][1][7]
- Borem of the Lake of Boiling Mud;[4][5][6][1][3][7]
- Camnod the Unseen;[4][5][6][1][7]
and two more whose names were lost to history.[1]
These entities may have been primordials, and other candidates included Dendar the Night Serpent and Kezef the Chaos Hound.[3]
In certain occult beliefs, one of the seven was slain by the mortal Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul as part of their apotheosis. Based on an inscription on a menhir on Mezeketh Isle discovered by Zembrath Klun in 1359 DR, Borem was the slain god.[2]
The Seven Lost Gods of Westgate[]
A later "Seven Lost Gods" originated in Westgate. These were seven deities worshiped in the city prior to the Templeban Edict in the Year of the Red Rain, 927 DR, and comprised:[8]
and one more also lost to history.[8] A local sage of the city speculated that the seventh god was Auppenser, a god of psionics that was prominent during the ancient empire of Jhaamdath, but this theory remains unproven.[9]
As a response to the ban, shrines to these Seven Lost Gods were established outside the city, on seven hills to the west, each topped with a ring of standing stones. The southernmost was the Hill of Fangs, and was dedicated to Moander the Darkbringer.[8][10] However, unknown to the common folk of Westgate, beneath many or even all of these hills were also secret underground temples to their respective gods. These shrines and temples were in use until the Templeban Edict was reversed in the Year of the Dracorage, 1018 DR, and the hidden temples presumably lay undisturbed since that time.[8] In time, the hills were called the Shrines of the Seven Lost Gods, even if some were still worshiped in the city once more.[1]
However, much older stories of Westgate suggested that these same seven hills were used for religious practices before this time and went back much earlier, to before there was a Westgate and the area was an outpost of the empire of Jhaamdath. What gods or other forces were venerated here is unknown.[8] As of the Year of the Rune Lords Triumphant, 1487 DR a cult has started operating in the area venerating these older gods, calling themselves the "Cult of the Old Seven."[11]
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Dale Donovan (2001-03-27). Westgate Timeline (DOC). Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2016-11-01. Retrieved on 2020-03-26.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Eric L. Boyd, Erik Mona (May 2002). Faiths and Pantheons. Edited by Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 169. ISBN 0-7869-2759-3.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims (August 2008). Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Edited by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 79. ISBN 978-0-7869-4924-3.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Mike Breault, David "Zeb" Cook, Jim Ward, Steve Winter (August 1988). Ruins of Adventure. (TSR, Inc.), p. 26. ISBN 978-0880385886.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Strategic Simulations, Inc. (1988). Pool of Radiance. Strategic Simulations, Inc.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 (1988). Pool of Radiance Adventure Book , link:[1]. (Strategic Simulations, Inc.).
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford (May 29, 2018). Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Edited by Kim Mohan, Michele Carter. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 237. ISBN 978-0786966240.
- ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 Steven E. Schend, Sean K. Reynolds and Eric L. Boyd (June 2000). Cloak & Dagger. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 152. ISBN 0-7869-1627-3.
- ↑ Erik Scott de Bie (October 2013). “Backdrop: Westgate”. In Miranda Horner ed. Dragon #428 (Wizards of the Coast), p. 11.
- ↑ Julia Martin, Eric L. Boyd (March 1996). Faiths & Avatars. (TSR, Inc.), p. 122. ISBN 978-0786903849.
- ↑ Erik Scott de Bie (October 2013). “Backdrop: Westgate”. In Miranda Horner ed. Dragon #428 (Wizards of the Coast), p. 12.