My question is how was he trapped? Was it by Cyric or was it by another deity? Also, how was he trapped, was it by an artifact or just by some divine will?
Thanks.
DMD
The avatar form of Iyachtu Xvim, the Godson of Bane, was destroyed during the early days of the Time of Troubles. His surviving spirit was drawn to an ancient imprisonment circle under Zhentil Keep. Xvim remained there, unable to leave and angry that he had been removed from the picture before he even had the chance to strike at his father. He turned his dark cunning and simmering wrath to eventually escaping.
A small fellowship of sages and scholars proposed the radical theory that Ao himself had divine foreknowledge of Cyric’s ascendancy to godhood and thus hamstrung Xvim so that the quasi-power could not rush in to fill the void left by Bane’s death. Xvim could indeed have had legitimate claim to his father’s portfolio, as he was of the same flesh, blood, and spirit as the evil god. Put simply, Xvim was Bane’s heir.
And Ruins of Zhentil Keep says (p. 115):
Xvim has a hatred for all the deities of Faerûn, regardless of alignment. He is unsure of who it was that put him in the earth. (One report claims it was Ao.) Xvim blames the entire Faerûnian pantheon for his misfortunes, and he plots his revenge accordingly.
And here I thought I had the worst luck in the world. :P
not bad luck anyway LK, just bad timing...
just look at me, there was some stuff I wanted from there too and now look, I cant.
LK oddly enough if you are interested I own 2 hardcopies of Ruins of Zhentil Keep so for a reasonable price I can part with one. Let me know, we live close to one another so even a hand off is possible.
DMD
So much for pulling them to stop illegal downloads, eh?
What ever happened to him? He turned into Bane, then?
Not exactly. Bane was gestating inside Xvim and hatched from him like one of the chestbursters from the movie Alien. Xvim died in a splatter of divine light and gore and Bane stepped out of his son's corpse, sniffed a little, shook his head and went about his business.
Xvim's corpse should be floating somewhere in the Astral now.
Not exactly. Bane was gestating inside Xvim and hatched from him like one of the chestbursters from the movie Alien. Xvim died in a splatter of divine light and gore and Bane stepped out of his son's corpse, sniffed a little, shook his head and went about his business.
Well, that's what Bane claims to have happened. I don't believe that. Shortly before Bane's rebirth Xvim tried to absord as much of what was still left of Bane's power into himself as could find (sucking dry baneliches, old artifacts / holy places of his father, just whatever he could find).
I think that Xvim misscalculated and absorbed too much too fast and thus accidently lead to Bane's rebirth. So no cunning plan on Bane's part, just his son being as much of an idiot as him.
He counted on Xvim to absorb as much of Bane's power as he could, which would acts as a catalyst to Bane's dormant 'larval' form and begin his triumphant return.
It was a well thougt out back-up plan. Had Bane not died, Xvim would have never been able to absorb that power, and the piece of Bane within him would not have been activated.
However, I'm wondering who actually came up with that particular storyline, because having a god that is one thing and then another, and having him trapped beneath a castle... thats the story of Iuz and Zagyg from the GH setting. Since Iuz is the son of Graz'zt, I think he is sort-of part of FR's canon (by way of association).
For those of you who are unfamiliar with GH, Zagyg is what you get if Halaster had been Azuth. ;)
...or Xvim is still very much alive masquerading as Bane. :evillaugh
Intersting thought.
To take it one step further - Xvim was a clone of Bane just before he ascended. That would make Iyachtu Xvim Bane's mortal name. There was no real 'metamorphsis' or whatever... he simply rememebered who he was.
Now THAT would be pretty cool....
...or Xvim is still very much alive masquerading as Bane. :evillaugh
I like that idea. As in Mirtek's conception, Xvim acquired enough of his father's power to become a greater deity, but he never lost his own identity. The real Bane is still dead, but Xvim realized his father had a better "brand name" than he did, so he staged a fake "resurrection" and sent out an accompanying press release. Even the other gods might have bought it.
Markus, your idea seems a bit of a step backward to me, inching back toward the standard notion that Bane is alive again rather than taking the notion further. I'm not sure how one would take the notion further: maybe Lathander was always a ruse on the part of Amaunator?
Anyway, when a god dies they dont just disappear as long as someone remembers them and their name is written down. Usually their divivne essance just floats somewhere in the astrel.
Wow i just thought that Mystra could still be floating out there wrapped in the remenants of the weave slowly healing and the spellplauge was mearly a side affect of mystra ripping the weave out to cacoon herself to later be reborn.
but back to the topic at hand Xvim is still alive technically just another dead deity. Its kind of like Krasus is still alive just dormant. Also in Lost empires it explains that you can get power from a dead deity.
Basically all deities have some kind of back up plan Bane had Xvim, Mykrul had the crown of horns and still does for that matter, Baal has his spawn cause im pretty sure he got jiggy with a few elves plus he probly has some Deva spawn as well, and gilgim had the albaster staff.
That are just some of the back up plans i know of. so their might be a chance Xvim could also come back
Edit: Cyric i belive has that one book of his that plants seeds of maddness which i think let him spend some of his essance creating mystra type chosen
Bane dies. Xvim gathers up alot of Bane's power ... and eventually turns into Bane.
Tiamat dies (at the hands of Gilgeam). Tchazzar eats up the parts of Tiamat's power stored in him and two other dragons ... and turns into Tiamat.
Markus, your idea seems a bit of a step backward to me, inching back toward the standard notion that Bane is alive again rather than taking the notion further.
Depends on how you look at it.
I'm thinking Iyachtu Xvim was always Bane. that was the being who fought Borem and eventually managed to ascend to Godhood. Bane was a nickname he went by, and he kept it into godhood (seriously... who names their kid Bane? :P )
Iyatchu Xvim was a mortal clone of him (from when he was younger) that was activated when he ascended (because he was no longer 'alive' in the regular sense in the Prime Material). The clone had no knowledge of his eventual destiny, or the fact that Bane was his 'father' was purely metaphorical.
Ergo, it could have been Bane himself that locked away Xvim, not killing because he made a good insurance policy.
One he obviously needed.
In that way, the two were seperate (Xvim being a much younger, mortal Bane), and yet the were really the same (hence Bane springing-forth once again from his younger self).
A bit convoluted, but very fantasyish, and very mythlogical-sounding (have you ever read some of those myths? Goddesses growing in armpits? :yuck
I just hate the idea that Xvim was just a gestation-pod for Bane, which is why I took to Brian's idea. But I also dislike the idea that Xvim is masquerading as Bane (too 4e-ish for me), hence my own personal take.
just an idea, is all.
If he doesn't have Fiendish blood, then he's not human. At least not Torillian human.
True, he can take whatever form he wants, but the shape he takes most-often is definately fiendish in appearance.
Besides, if your willing to accept the wonky theory that Xvim was Bane's clone, it's easy-enough to accept that Bane had some fiendish blood.
He supposedly IS extra-planer in origin, anyway (he is not a native of Toril).
Though art using mine own postulations against me. ;)
-They're not postulations, and I'm not really using them against you (I don't think). It's widely known canon fact that deities are "globs" of divine energy without true form (Crucible: The Trial of Cyric the Mad), and that deities can take whatever form they wish (F&A/F&P). People just often forget those fact, whereas I keep it in mind fairly often.
True, he can take whatever form he wants, but the shape he takes most-often is definately fiendish in appearance.
-Not really. Using the cover of Faiths and Pantheons, he doesn't look any more Fiendish than Torm does, right there. He doesn't look Human, but nothing specifically jumps out as 'Fiendish' to me. Of course, it's up to the individual to determine just what exactly looks Fiendish, so there is no objective answer.
-That aside, the form he takes isn't really indicative of his heritage. Bane represents fear, oppression, tyranny, and all of that stuff. Much like the Sith. And, if we look at the Sith Order, many possess tattoos (Darth Maul), body modifications (Darth Bane), masks (Darth Revan), and other things to instill fear in others, and aid in their tyrannical presence. With Bane, the form he takes, I think, is very much in the same vein. A scary looking guy with claws, fangs, and spikes is proportionally more scare than a "plain" scary looking guy.
Besides, if your willing to accept the wonky theory that Xvim was Bane's clone, it's easy-enough to accept that Bane had some fiendish blood.
-Like I said, all of the source materials I know of mention the mortal Bane as nothing more or nothing less than a Human. He may or may not have had some trace of Fiendish blood in him, with it not manifesting in any real way, like a lot of Dalesfolk have Elven blood in them, without it manifesting in any real way, other than being able to claim Elven linage generations ago, but that'd still produce in incongruity with Xvim being (going down the route that he's the spawn of Bane and a Tanar'ri) described as a Half-Fiend. For Xvim to have been a direct clone of Bane, Bane would have to be a Half-Fiend. And that doesn't seem the case.
He also looks pretty extra-planer (Genie-ish, almost!) in this pic from F&P -
Its not too hard to to imagine he may have been a Tiefling as a mortal. Anyway, it was just a random thought. I don't use Xvim - never have, never will - so it matters not to me in the slightest.
Bane never died in my world - he just spent a year in the Bahamas for tax purposes. :P
I just thought he finished doing the nasty with a bald chick. :P
Lathander/Aumanotor's 'New Sun'?
Or is that what divinity is supposed to look like?