Bane

Ares Mars Bane, the Iron General

Bane (not to be confused with the Batman villain, which would be admirable, but mistaken) is the Evil D&D deity of conquest and war. He originated in the Forgotten Realms as part of the Dead Three - Bane, Bhaal and Myrkul -- who were originally epic-level evil adventurers who set out to claim the godhood of Jergal, Faerun's original god of Strife, Death and the Dead. Instead, the world-weary and jaded deity willingly abdicated; after a game of knucklebones, each took one third of Jergal's portfolio. Bane took Strife and turned it into the portfolio of War, Tyranny and Conquest.

Always the most interesting of Faerun's evil gods, he was reworked as a core god in 4th edition's "default pantheon", given a very different backstory and nature.

Rise to Power

The god who would one day become the Iron General was once one of three brothers: Kord, Tuern and Achra. Three deities who reveled in combat, but for different reasons: Kord loved competition and proving himself, Tuern loved the pain he caused in his enemies, and Achra loved the domination victory gave him.

Initially, the Dawn War went bad for the gods: each would assemble his/her own armies and go to war with the massed Primordials. Initially Tuern and Achra fought together, but Achra believed that if they were to be victorious, all gods should work together. Rallying the few deities who wanted to fight at his side, he lead an army against the forces of the Queen of Bronze, Tabrach-Ti. After a terrible fight, Achra stood victorious over the Queen's body; the first Primordial to fall. This had two effects: now all of the gods agreed to work on an united front if they wanted to prove victorious. The forces of the Primordials, however, gave a new name to the leader of their enemies: Bane.

During his stint as the general of the forces of the gods, Bane befriended Asmodeus, in whom he saw a kindred spirit. Tuern, on the other hand, got jealous of his brother's position. Things went bad for the Iron General once the war was over, and realised that the gods didn't want to have anything to do with him when the Primordials were defeated and that he'd been used as a tool of war.

The hope of an ordered and structured world that he would lead was dashed, leaving Bane to plot for the day he would make the world like this. His first step was to both conquer a mighty fortress to use as his own, and to overthrow his rival and brother, Tuern. In a violent siege Bane killed his brother and took control of the fortress of Tuern-Chern. Now, the other gods were not amused, and a massive army lead by Moradin and Erathis to stop the Iron General. When suddenly, Gruumsh came out of nowhere and bound his own realm of Nishreck to Bane's Chernoggar, putting Tuern-Chern under constant threat of the One-Eyed God.

Domain

Bane is the Evil god of domination, conquest and war. He is unusual in the way that he is not only prayed to by evil people: even those fighting for good sometimes invoke the Iron General's name at the beginning of battle. Those who conquer in his name might not do so out of greed or glory, but to defend their people. Also, doing what needs to be done "for the greater good" falls under Bane's mantle, which is fitting, as he is the only Evil or Chaotic Evil God who does what he does because he thinks the world would be better for it. And the scariest part is: He may be right.

Dwelling

Bane's domain is Chernoggar, a 300 mile plateau of ashen wastes adrift in the Astral Sea. He rules from the fortress-city of Tuer-Chern, a city constantly busy with the creation of the tools of war and the training of soldiers. Bane's throne room is a truly massive chamber, housing the Iron General's throne, a sight that drives lesser men mad with terror.

Servants

Few worship Bane as the only true god. He is often worshipped alongside other deities, and the faithful see him as a figure of protection, albeit a harsh one. Goblins, however, worship Bane as their true god, because he managed to best Maglubiyet, the previous god of all of goblin kind, and took him on as his Exarch. He has a fiefdom in Chernoggar, a goblin fortress-city called Clangor.