Legendlore: Myrkul, Lord of Bones | D&D 5th Edition God Breakdown

[Music] thank you hello and welcome my friends viewers to this week's episode of Legend lore where I draw and talk about Monsters characters gods and other things from DND 5th edition all while giving a small but quickly digestible history about them together we'll go over their history within the game how they utilize in the modern Edition and how you guys can utilize them in your own games this week we'll be covering the god of the Dead in the final third of The Mortals turn Gods known as the Dead 3 merkool the Lord of Bones getting right into it Miracle is the fairunian god of the Dead Decay entropy and exhaustion within the Forgotten Realms born as the Mortal mercul bayal kurzie he was a prolific and skilled Necromancer and possibly a prince as well as a member of the Triad of ambitious Mortals known as the dead 3. mercool alongside the warrior Bane and the Rogue ball both of whom have covered in previous videos cleaved their way through the plains to find the god of death dragal and demand his divinity with them succeeding after a tense game of knuckle bones to decide the pecking water while Bane selected strife and ball the actual act and occurrence of death itself via murder we're cool the last depicts portfolio chose to govern over the dead themselves ruling the underworld is a sort of hades-like figure and struggling against both the godzyric and kelimpore to keep his seat of power as a deity mercur carries the alignment of neutral evil wields the sole cleric domain of death and His holy symbol is a white humanoid skull within a black triangle indicative of a rudimentary Hood his portfolio consists of death and Decay old age exhaustion the tie times of Dusk and Autumn and his worshipers consist mostly of undertakers necromancers and worshipers of death as the Mortal Necromancer McCool Bal Kersey he was described as a spindly thin man who wore dark robes wheel did a Stave to help walk and spoke in a soft high-pitched voice however his Ascension gave him a more intimidating form appearing as a large figure dressed in furland robes with the head made up of four skulls speaking in a voice reminiscent of a person's last death rattle in terms of my art piece I tried to keep to this form for the most part but I decided to fill the roams with more skulls instead of a hollow rib cage as a son of homage to one of my biggest Inspirations for this piece Neato the first of the dead from Dark Souls 1. in terms of his personality merkool was fond of the idea that his presence created an unease in others working to carefully cultivate a fear around his very existence and ensuring that he remained in the back of everyone's Minds he was the end of the road for many in favor and he made sure to remind everyone and anyone of this indisputable fact being the God of all the dead this suggests that mercol both had a sense of ego around his own existence and how it affected others as well as a distinct joy in causing other people to be uncomfortable in his presence he clearly was also forward-thinking and ambitious as plans even more so than the other two members of the Dead 3 but the best example of this being his choice of domain becoming a god of the Dead meant that no matter how hard Bane made his people Struggle No matter how many people ball slew in his killing sprees all those Souls would ultimately end up within his purview giving him a distinct upper hand in their Divine relationship it makes sense given that he was a necromancer and most Wizards have to have an at minimum above average intellect where his abilities are concerned Mercure was capable of disrupting the life force of any living thing that he touched siphoning their physical and mental strength and even being able to infect them with certain types of diseases such as the classic mummy Rod he could also create and conjure any dead body into Undead under his command no matter the size or type of creature in terms of his relationships with other entities despite his manipulation and outplaying of Bane and ball recall still keeps a tenuous relationship with them in order to help maintain the cycle of life and death mostly out of respect for their times and Adventures as Mortals while he also counted the goddess Char as an ally of sorts he was content to be Feud as an enemy by the more commonly good aligned God such as Shanti lathander and Maliki to name a few but amongst his enemies the greatest two were both cyric and kalimbor the former killing were cool and usurping is thrown at one point and the latter taking rulership over his domain as God of the dead at the behest of The Souls of the Dead themselves I can only assume this is because kelimvore is ultimately a lot more approachable than mercol ever could be with that said when it comes to recall's warship the Church of the Lord of Bones was never overtly large or popular amongst the people which for a God would normally be a very big problem due to their Reliance on the faith of their followers for power mercool didn't really suffer from this problem as he was a god of the Dead which is a primordial concept and a state at which all living beings will inevitably reach even Gods this meant that he could draw power from all the souls as they crossed into his domain which made him very dangerous but content to keep a low profile he did however enjoy it when people cursed his name for getting old and having their bodies slowly fail on them his worshipers consists mostly of undertakers and those obsessed with death as well as necromancers who seek to emulate his Mastery over the school of magic as such most merkelites or gray ones as they're often called were secretive in their faith and practiced in isolation but we're all dedicated to the act of ensuring that the concept of death was feared and respected they were also made to study all aspects of death and undeath if only to ensure that the power to create such things solely rested in their hands now contrary to popular belief this didn't mean that they performed sacrifices or killed swaths of people in dedication to their God as one did not need to rush something that was as inevitable as death nor did they need to fuel Ball's power with wanton murder Merkel preferreded that people died quietly in their beds too weak to carry on but gripped in fear of finally meeting him when they crossed over one thing that merkelites did do however was actively prevent or discourage the use of healing or resurrecting Magics on those who were Afflicted with disease or died as their death gave him power and to undo it was to steal what was now his some more volatile priests would even go as far as to infuse poison and disease into local populaces if only to help speed up the mortal's natural process with ring away it was also on special occasion that mercolites would conduct a ritual to resurrect somebody usually of another faith and done either after a long spot of begging was done or a large amount of payment or tribute was made I personally don't see any reason as to why a god of death can't be bribed now despite their disorganization in the rare case that mercola's church had managed to organize itself to such a degree that ranks could be formed merkelites would be led by a high priest known as an elder Doom where the following titles being bestowed to lower members of the clergy examples of these roles could be a deathbringer serving as a merkelite crusader while a withering Lord could be a high Necromancer within the order and a bone dancer can make a great title for a dervish Rogue that serves McCool and so on and so forth you can get pretty creative with it beyond that one of merkel's most dedicated orders were the Knights of the Eternal Dragon a small sect formed of 12 the death knight commanders who each controlled their own subsect of 12 Rider acolytes the death knight commanders wrote atop nightmares while their Knight Rider subjects rode gaunt horse skeletons and they were known for conducting the many great feats ranging from the annual slaying of the dracolic savarthemius to keeping vigil over merkool's very corpse after his death at the hands of cyric in terms of Ceremonies and rights that mercolites observed they did have very little in terms of rituals with his clerics mostly praying for their Spells at dusk and their personal worship being conducted at night one such ritual was known as the dusking where people were reminded of the world's Collective mortality and those who were not members of the faith would leave offerings to try and appease the lord of the Dead this could be a good way to have a clericleer of yours interact with another merkelite by providing tribute in order to avoid the Gaze of the lord of the dead then there was The Bone Dance which despite its name was performed by necromancers in order to conjure powerful Undead instilling in them the charge to protect a sacred item or location that was important to the church this is more often than not graveyards or large ruins or tombs and thus we as dungeon Masters now have an explanation as to why these Undead are running around all these dungeons merkulets could even be contracted and hired as something called doombringers being paid a price in order to avenge the death of the client who paid them some priests were performed this act without the need for payment instead seeking Vengeance for the death of those that they had sworn Oaths or service to other smaller acts of mercolites included performing last rights offering Comfort to the dying and burial services as well as settling the Affairs of those who had passed away in exchange for a skull fee imagine an undead lawyer settling your Affairs long after you're gone this strangely puts merkules faithful in a respectful almost trustworthy light as the clergy has no need to lie deceive or otherwise manipulate others in the way that most other gods often would they also even had a holiday similar to that of sotwen where the veil between the land of the living and the dead was so thin that they could interact and leave messages for one another to find in terms of Canon artifacts rumor cool most Greece would often wield something called a many skull wand used as both a badge of rank within the church and as a spell casting Focus for their Divine spells but the most well-known relic of mercury would be his own personal black wand which was said to have been created to contain a piece of his Divine Essence and used to resurrect him back to life should he ever find himself to be killed it is clear that this may have been successful given the fact that cyric did kill him and he ended up returning anyway with that said when it comes to role-playing and portraying Marco at the table He commands a largely unknowable and frightening presence but the party will come to realize very quickly that Mercola is not a particularly ambitious entity compared to the likes of Gods like asmodius lethander Bane and other deities who are Keen to spread their influence and convert others and mercol frankly is just down to chill he's the god of the dead and all things die so he frankly doesn't have to do much work to maintain his power or his influence this also allows followers who believe in his faith to emerge organically forming admittedly small but devoted congregations that are more loyal and willing to do the work if the party encounters merku himself he will have a voice consisting mostly of Whispers a very tall and imposing figure and will spend most of his time extracting every bit of enjoyment that he could out of the PC's fear of him if the party asks to try and resurrect one of their friends who has passed so long as they understand the gravity of what they're asking and show the proper respect and fear Merkel could easily be convinced so that this one person slide back into the land of the living but the second that the party comes to him with demands and arrogance he'll do them all a favor and ensure that the party can very easily be reunited back together and the in the life of the Dead where he can torment them for as long as he wishes for their hubris the guy's neutral evil for a reason now in terms of classes that would be aligned with mercool for artificers Alchemists once again sit Above the Rest as the best fitting subclass for a merkolite brewing poisons and experimenting on diseases and rot in the name of the Lord of Bones for barbarians the two go-to's would for sure be the ancestral guardian and the Zealand the second one is obvious given it being the main Godly Barbarian subclass but I could imagine a small clan of Barbarians holding her cool in reverence each of them connecting to their newest descendant in order to protect them and guide them through their lives armed with both wisdom and spectral might for bards a mercolite of the College of spirits could let others speak to their dead loved ones for a fee as well as perform burial rights and comfort others as they begin to pass on to the Land of the Dead using their Charisma and comfort to inform the victim as they transition and then there's also the classic spooky College of Whispers Bard which can seek to spread the fear and demand their respect that mercall deserves for clerics while mercall primarily wields the domain of death above everything else I could very easily recommend the Twilight engraved domains as also being under his purview given his focus on controlling the transition between life and death as well as the veils of the Realms of the living and the non-living a grave Claire kubricks the rules of the cycle only for their party can make for a very interesting character ask and the Twilight cleric who seeks to stoke the fear and uncertainty that mercol wishes to have speaking of the cycle of life and death for Druids the cycle is actually very largely present in their practices and their beliefs so any Druid can be a merkelite so long as they observe the tenants properly but if you're looking for a subclass to match the Skull and Bones aesthetic circle of spores is really the only way to go although a circle of the Moon Druid who spends a lot of time as an animal and observes the eat or be eaten philosophy of life could also be very interesting for Fighters any subclass can fit into merkel's ideology but I always find myself returning to the trusty Echo Knight a warrior who can summon a necromantic double of himself Just Hits so many points for me personally and imagine an echo Knight doombringer who was charged with hunting someone down and their Echo being the ghostly presence of the person who was killed who they're trying to avenge there's just so many cool ideas out there with this one so I highly recommend that you play around with it for monks unfortunately the way of the long death is my only recommendation both out of its mechanical basis and its flavor matching were cool studies of the life force and its manipulation if you want to have a little bit more of a supportive role the way of Mercy can also match for healing and harming for paladins merkel's symbol for death to be spread means that many Oaths can be flavored to be in reverence of his tenants especially those of devotion conquest and Vengeance devotion paladins can devote themselves to the cycle of life and death Conquest paladins can take a more zealous route in hunting down those who disturb the cycle and Vengeance paladins can make for very excellent doombringers charged with ensuring the death of their Quarry now for Rangers their Mastery of tracking their foes and taming creatures can certainly make for excellent doomrenders as well able to kill foes from a distance with ranged weapons and arms with hunting pets that can wolf down a Target very easily in this respect almost any Ranger can fit with the exception of the Fey Wanderer and maybe the Drake Warden but I find that the shadowy loom stalker the magic hunting monster Slayer and the extra planar focused Horizon Walker all make for a variety of targets and of course you could have the maggot or corpse butyl covered swarmkeeper for that good Fear Factor that Mercola likes to maintain for Rogues just like the fighter almost any of their subclasses can also fit within merkel's representation and while the Phantom and assassin Rogues may be the most obvious choices to go to the best remain in Soul knife Rose can also be very great choices a mastermind with five or so Killers under his belt can curate death far more than a lone assassin can and soul knives can de-summon their weapons to hide their involvement at murders while also riddling their targets with psionic-based mental horror for Sorcerers the shadow sorcerer is the one best suited to have ties from rakul and their lineage possibly being a distant relative from the God's mortal bloodline or gaining some dark sorceress Powers because of his Ascension and their blood connection the sorcerer's Hound DeVille Omen could also emulate merkel's shape by being bigger Furrier and having four heads instead of one for warlocks the hex blade and Undead warlocks are the best choices forever Collide a hex blade can certainly rise through the ranks of the Knights of the internal dragon and an undead warlock can make for a very excellent doombringer by wielding mercool's terrifying power as an Unstoppable engine of death and fear and lastly for wizards Necromancer is the obvious and best choice for a worshiper Merkel given their focus on the study of both death and undeath and the God's past life as a mortal Necromancer in his own right evocation attention for want and Destruction has them more in lines with Gods like ball and Talos in the alteration school's focus on protection is directly opposite to merkel's beliefs as such I'd avoid these two specifically but if you have an interesting idea I insisted to run with it now when it comes to running NPCs and introducing Quest hooks that are aligned with Marco you'll find that most characters who Worship the Lord of Bones are very private secretive and not vocal about their faith due to its largely negative if not self-imposed connotations as such most followers of Miracle will be Hermits Undertakers gravediggers grave Watchmen and necromancers the company of which is often seen as unpleasant by your common person but the exploits and Adventures of a party can put them in contact with all manner of interesting characters so have these grape tenders and hermit speed nuggets of secret wisdom and information that the party would otherwise not have access to a party member goes down have them be bought to a merkelite and make a deal with the Lord of Bones in exchange for their friend's life for quests the idea of the doombringer and their promise to avenge Target is very good for both PCS and NPCs alike especially if the target of the Doom singer's oath is the bbeg of your campaign the party could also be tasked by a merkelite to settle the Affairs of a powerful NPC such as a wizard Noble Knight or whatever else Outsourcing the work to them and rewarding them with the aforementioned skull fee that was paid this payment can be made in the form of gold magic items Scrolls or anything else you want to give the party incidentally the party discovering that an NPC that they've found to be particularly helpful friendly or otherwise positive being a silent merkelite worshiper could be a great reveal and addition of tension between them for roleplay and a cool way to subvert common D and D expectations no one's going to be suspecting the happy joyous Bard to be a death worshiper now when it comes to magic items of mercolite aesthetic and origin the theme of skulls bones hoods and Reapers is very easy to implement think of maces of Terror forged like screaming skulls on Pikes bloodwell vials with a triangular cap and a skull inside of it things like that all the items below are the ones that I personally recommend as using rewards for merkelites or loot found off of Merkel aligned enemies that the party discovers and finally for a Homebrew magic item this evening we have The Stave of the black prince this Dave is made of a sleek black obsidian-like material with a pyramid seed at the top as believed to be the same Stave that recall himself used to walk and cast spells in his mortal life this day itself requires Attunement and is a plus two staff that can be used as spell casting Focus granting a plus two bonuses spell attacks and increasing the spell save DC of the spouse cast with this by two The Stave also grants the wheel to resistance to necrotic damage as well as the ability to use the accursed Specter class feature from the hexblade Warlock class using your class level to determine the specter's hit points and such and lastly The Stave has three charges with which can be used to cast The Following spells by spending the appropriate amount of charges regaining all expended uses on a long rest these spells were also counted amongst your spells known without taking up any slots and can be upcast using your own personal spell slots instead of the charges and with that that's more cool the Lord of Bones everybody if you enjoyed this video please like share and subscribe and press the little bell icon to be notified of future videos if you guys want a chance to vote on the comment that comes out on the Channel please check out the Channel's Community Tab and also comment down below how you guys have encountered or used mercool in your games and let me know what you guys would like to see in upcoming videos but until then I'll see you guys next time

Channel: Legendlore

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Keywords: d&d 5e, dungeons and dragons, dnd, dnd 5e, 5th edition, 5e, legendlore, legend lore, legend, lore, spells, monsters, gods, forgotten realms, art, fantasy, dragonlance, pathfinder, rpg, roleplaying game, ttrpg, tabletop, deities, divines, spelljammer, critical role, critrole, bane, black hand, strife emperor, betrayer god, bhaal, myrkul, lord of bones, god of the dead, hades, god of death, dead three, pantheon, deity, divine, god, necromancer, death cleric, lord of the dead, cyric, faerun, kelemvor

Id: Ffxfv6Ynrl4

Length: 17min 49sec (1069 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 02 2023