Cyric is a fictional deity in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, a branch of Dungeons & Dragons. Cyric has many titles, some of which include the Prince of Lies, the Dark Sun, the Black Sun, the Mad God, and the Lord of Three Crowns. Cyric is closely associated with the essence of murder, conflict, lies, intrigue, and illusions. The Forgotten Realms is a fictional world created by author and game designer Ed Greenwood for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. ... ... The Avatar Series, originally the Avatar Trilogy, is a series of fantasy novels in the Forgotten Realms setting, covering the Time of Troubles. ... The Forgotten Realms third edition logo. ... For other uses, see Dungeons & Dragons (disambiguation). ... An illusion is a distortion of a sensory perception. ...

Though he is a freelance god due to his lack of superiors, friends and allies, he has made himself a wide variety of enemies. These include gods such as Mystra, Kelemvor, Oghma, Azuth, Mask, Tyr, Torm, Deneir, Leira (killed by Cyric), Iyachtu Xvim (now Bane), and many others. Cyric is recognized in Faerûn by his symbol, a white jawless skull on black or purple sunburst, and his alignment, Chaotic Evil. He is a Greater Power, and he rules supreme in his divine realm, the Supreme Throne. Mystra is a fictional goddess in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. ... Symbol of Kelemvor Kelemvor - Lord of the Dead and Judge of the Damned - is a fictional god in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. ... Categories: Possible copyright violations ... Azuth is a fictional deity in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of D&D. He is one of the more minor gods in the pantheon of Faerun. ... Mask is the calculating, mysterious god of shadows, thievery, and thieves in the Forgotten Realms Dungeons and Dragons setting. ... Jeff Anonymous 2 July 2005 00:34 (UTC) Categories: Possible copyright violations ... Torm, the True, is a fictional deity in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. ... Deneir is a fictional Faerûnian minor deity of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. ... Leira is a fictional Faerûnian lesser diety of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. ... In the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting, Iyachtu Xvim was the half-demonic son of the god Bane and temporary holder of his portfolio. ... Bane (also known as the Black Hand and the Black Lord), is the god of hatred, fear, and tyranny in the fictional Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting, Forgotten Realms. ... Faerûn is a fictional continent, the primary setting of the Dungeons & Dragons world of Forgotten Realms. ... In Dungeons & Dragons and some similar role-playing games, alignment refers to the moral and ethical perspective of the player characters, non_player characters, monsters, and societies in the game. ... The phrase Greater Power denotes a ranking of deities in both role playing games including Dungeons & Dragons and various mythologies. ...

History

Cyric's story is a clear one. He became a divine being due to the events which occurred during the Time of Troubles, which is detailed in The Avatar Series. He won over many followers during that time, and he also stole the domains of other fallen gods, most notably Bhaal and Leira. The Time of Troubles, also known as the Godswar or Avatar Crisis, was a cataclysmic time period in the chronology of the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. ... The Avatar Series, originally the Avatar Trilogy, is a series of fantasy novels in the Forgotten Realms setting, covering the Time of Troubles. ... Bhaal, Lord of Murder, is a fictional deity of the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting, created by Ed Greenwood. ...

Cyric's power is immense, and he is considered one of the major evils in Faerûn. The destruction of Zhentil Keep is his doing, along with many unfortunate problems Faerûn has to deal with. Cyric became utterly mad when he read a tome he had created, the Cyrinishad, which made whomever read the book believe everything it says, thus making him or her a wholly devoted follower of Cyric, and came to believe that he was the greatest power in all of the universe, superseding even Ao, the overgod. Cyric's sanity has since been somewhat restored with the help of his Seraph Malik, but the deity remains evil, unpredictable, and egocentric. He delights in placing people in power through intrigue, then tearing them down at his whim.
Lord Ao (ay-oh) is the Overgod of the fictitious, magical world of Abeir-Toril. ... A seraph (Hebrew שרף, SRF; in the plural seraphim, שרפים, SRFYM) is one of a class of celestial beings mentioned once in the Old Testament (Tanakh), in Isaiah. ... Malik (ملك) is a word that means king in Arabic, also adopted in various other oriental languages, also in derived meanings. ...

Relationships

Cyric hates all other gods, especially Mystra and Kelemvor, but these enmities are dwarfed by the deity's brewing war with the returned deity Bane. Cyric believes in his own heart that every other god is a slave to his will and can easily be undone. Symbol of Kelemvor Kelemvor - Lord of the Dead and Judge of the Damned - is a fictional god in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. ...

He has formed temporary alliances with dark deities (e.g., Mask in the form of Godsbane, used to slay both Bhaal and Leira), but inevitably these are short-lived, as he uses them wholly for self-serving purposes, and betrays all too easily (as seen by his weakening of Mask and subsequent stealing of his portfolio element of "intrigue"). In several Forgotten Realms novels, Godsbane was a magical sword which was actually a manifestation of the deity Mask and was wielded by the then-mortal Cyric during the Time of Troubles. ...

The sinister demipower Velsharoon also despises him. The archnecromancer is well aware of Cyric's megalomania and of the deity's past and considers him to be a bungling clod who has lost much of his power and will continue to lose more. Cyric hates Velsharoon because of the latter's somewhat reluctant servitude to Azuth. Velsharoon the Archmage of Necromancy, aka the Vaunted, is a fictional deity of the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. ...

Company of the Ebon Spur

This fighting order established by Cyric had no leader. It is rumoured that the two clerics in charge of establishing admission standards into the order could not agree on what those standards should be and were engaged in intricate plots to kill each other off, since each was convinced that he was right. They both pretended that Cyric appeared to them and gave them precise orders, but the orders given to the two priests were contradictory. It was originally feared that when the order finally got off the ground, Cyricist crusaders would certainly lead fighters against rival churches for the glory of the Prince of Lies. Since, however, the army destroyed itself while plotting to attack Candlekeep. Baldurs Gate is a popular series of computer role-playing games that take place on Faerûn, the main continent from Dungeons & Dragonss Forgotten Realms campaign setting. ...

Literature

Cyric features prominently in the following novels:

• The Avatar Series novels
  • Shadowdale (1989), by Scott Ciecin
  • Tantras (1989), by Scott Ciecin
  • Waterdeep (1989), by Troy Denning
  • Prince of Lies (1993), by James Lowder
  • Crucible: The Trial of Cyric the Mad (1998), by Troy Denning

The Avatar Series, originally the Avatar Trilogy, is a series of fantasy novels in the Forgotten Realms setting, covering the Time of Troubles. ... Troy Denning (b. ... James Lowder (born January 2, 1963) is an American author and editor, working most often within the fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror genres. ...

External links

• Sneek Peak: Cyric
• Cyric's minions feature as villains in the webcomic Planescape Survival Guide

References

• Boyd, Eric L, and Erik Mona. Faiths and Pantheons (Wizards of the Coast, 2002).
• Martin, Julia, and Eric L Boyd. Faiths & Avatars (TSR, 1996).