Kiaransalee
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Lady
of the Dead, the Revenancer, the Vengeful Banshee
Demipower of the Abyss, CE
PORTFOLIO: Undead, vengeance
ALIASES: Kiaranselee
DOMAIN NAME: 113th Level/Thanatos
SUPERIOR: Lolth
ALLIES: Hoar, Myrkul (dead), Velsharoon, Lolth, Malar, Selvetarm,
Vhaeraun, Blibdoolpoolp, the Blood Queen, Diinkarazan, Diirinka, Great Mother,
Gzemnid, Ilsensine, Ilxendren, Laogzed, Maanzecorian (dead), Psilofyr
FOES: Deep Duerra, Dumathoin, Eilistraee, Kelemvor, Laduguer,
Jergal, Lolth, Orcus (dead)/Tenebrous (undead), the Seldarine
SYMBOL: Female drow hand wearing silver rings
WOR. ALIGN.: LE, NE, CE
Kiaransalee (KEE-uh-RAN-sa-lee) is the drow deity of both vengeance and the undead. She is called upon by those seeking retribution, the dark arts, or to prolong life. Although the Lady of the Dead has historically demonstrated relatively little interest in the lands of Faerun or the Underdark beneath them, the recent rise to prominence of the Cult of the Goat's Head in Vaasa under the leadership of Zhengyi the Witch-King renewed her interest in the Realms and fueled the emergence of the Vengeful Banshee's cult as a power in the north central Underdark. Kiaransalee's ascension as a dark goddess of evil predates even the banishment of Araushnee from the Seldarine, but the Lady of the Dead has long been an unwilling vassal of the Queen of Spiders, capable of only small acts of rebellion (such as assisting the elven heroine Kethryllia in rescuing her beloved from Lolth's demesne). Kiaransalee was once mortal, a powerful dark elven necromancer-queen on a world known as Threnody. The Revenancer was named drow and banished by her husband, the king of Threnody, for her unholy experiments on the once-living. Kiaransalee fled with a small group of followers who she then transformed into undead servitors to ensure their loyalty. The Lady of the Dead continued her unholy experiments in secret for centuries before raising an army of undead to exact her vengeance. In the wake of the Revenancer's army, Threnody was a dead world, and the architect of its destruction fled with her unthinking servants into the Abyss-where she eventually assumed a measure of divine power herself-to escape the wrath of the Seldarine.
Only in recent memory has Kiaransalee achieved a measure of independence from the Spider Queen, a result of a successful attack on a rival power long resident in the Abyss. Not too many years ago, Kiaransalee wrested Thanatos, a cold plane of ice, thin air, and a black, moonlit sky known as the Belly of Death, from Orcus, the former Abyssal lord of the undead, in revenge for some long-forgotten slight. Although she lacked the power to eliminate the very memory of Orcus from the minds of the multiverse after killing the Prince of the Undead, Kiaransalee magically erased the name of the late Abyssal lord wherever and however it had been recorded. With her foe slain and his corpse adrift in the Astral Plane, the Lady of the Dead stew all the servants and proxies of Orcus (save one, whom she accepted into her own service) and hid the legendary Wand of Orcus where none could ever find it-or so she thought. Recent events suggest that Orcus returned, at least for a time, as an undead god who called himself Tenebrous. It is unknown, even to Kiaransalee, whether the Prince of the Undead has successfully transformed himself into an undead god, has been destroyed forever, or simply waits for another opportunity to return to (un)life. Regardless of the truth, Kiaransalee is convinced that her former foe will eventually return, and thus the Lady of the Dead is consumed with renewed efforts to find and eliminate every last trace of both Orcus/Tenebrous.
The Lady of the Dead has long chafed under Lolth's suzerainty, and only the Spider Queen's overwhelming strength has kept Kiaransalee's long-planned vengeance in check. Consumed as she is with the unknown fate of Tenebrous, Kiaransalee has little interest in interacting with other powers. Nevertheless, her activities on Faerun have earned the Lady of the Dead the enmity of Dumathoin, Kelemvor, and Jergal and the possibility of an alliance with both Hoar and Velsharoon.
The Lady of the Dead is cruel, twisted, and consumed by thoughts of vengeance. Kiaransalee descended into madness long ago, but she retains her twisted cunning and clear recollection of every slight or insult done to her-real or imagined. The Revenancer is powerfully chaotic and swift to anger, and she schemes dark revenges against all who have wronged her. Kiaransalee prefers the mindless company of the undead, whom she can manipulate at will, to sentient beings capable of independent thought. She prefers to solve problems herself rather than trust someone else to do justice to her vision.
The Church
CLERGY: Crusaders, necromancers, specialty priests
CLERGY'S ALIGN.: CE
TURN UNDEAD: Cru: No, Nec: No, SP: No
CMND. UNDEAD: Cru: No, Nec: No, SP: Yes, at priest level +2
Kiaransalee commonly acts through the appearance or presence of apparitions, banshees, coffer corpses, crawling claws, crimson deaths, ghasts, ghosts, ghouls, haunts, heucuva, kiaranshee, larvae, lhiannan shee, liches of all sorts (including fallen baelnorns), maurezhi, nightmares, penangglans, phantoms, quasits, revenants, shadow fiends, shadows, shee, sheet ghouls, sheet phantoms, simpathetics, skeletons, skuz, slow shadows, spectres, wights, wraiths, vampires of all sorts, vargouilles, yeth hounds, and zombies, as well as even rarer forms of undead. The Lady of the Dead shows her favor through the discovery of chalcedony, chrysoberyl, chrysocolla, epidote, irtios, ivory, king's tears, meerschaum, moonbars, samarskite, silkstone, tomb jade and her displeasure through the discovery of skulls that split cleanly into two pieces and bones that collapse into dust when touched.
All crusaders and specialty priests of Kiaransalee receive religion (drow), religion (elven), and reading/writing (drowic) as bonus nonweapon proficiencies. The DM is encouraged to allow Kiaransalee's clergy members access to the necromantic spells detailed in the Complete Book of Necromancers.
Kiaransalee and her followers are little known in the Realms, even among the drow themselves. Even those dark elves who learn of her existence usually assume she is simply some sort of lich with delusions of godhood. On the surface of the Realms, Kiaransalee is almost wholly unknown, aside from a few reclusive sages. In Vaasa, rumors of Zhengyi's harem of undead drow mistresses haunting the Black Holes of Sunderland are beginning to spread in Darmshall and have drawn the attention of one or more members of the Spysong network.
Kiaransalee is worshiped in solitary secrecy in cities dedicated to Lolth in simple shrines hidden away from prying eyes. Such shrines are simply black marble sarcophagi adorned with carved depictions of the dead rising up to take their revenge on the living. To venerate the Lady of the Dead, a priest of Kiaransalee simply lies within her personal sarcophagus while holding her holy symbol clasped in two hands across her breast. According to legend, if a living priest of the Revenancer is disturbed while so engaged, Kiaransalee grants her the powers of a vampire for the next 24 hours. While the only true temple of the Lady of the Dead found in the Realms is the Acropolis of Thanatos (described below), smaller chapels exist in the wilds of the Underdark across the length and breadth of Faerun. Such chapels are typically small caves in which the skulls and bones of countless long-dead creatures have been partially absorbed by the walls, roof, or floor of the cavern. Kiaransalee is said to guide small bands of worshipers to such sites far from the prying eyes of the Spider Queen's priests where they can worship in secret and plot their vengeance on their spider-loving kin.
Kiaransalee's clergy are known collectively as the Crones of Thanatos. Novices of the Revenancer are known as the Commanded. All other members of the clergy are known as Nighthags. Titles used by Kiaransaleen priests vary widely across temple hierarchies, but those used at the Acropolis of Thanatos include Bones of the Dead, Flesh of the Zombie, Terror Touch of the Ghoul, Chill Touch of the Shadow, Raking Claws of the Wight, Life Leech of the Wraith, Rot of the Mummy, and Spirit Harvest of the Spectre. High-ranking priests of the Lady of the Dead have unique individual titles. Specialty priests are known as yathrinshee. As one might expect, many of Kiaransalee's faithful are transformed into undead servitors either by their own hands, by the hands of other priests, or-in very rare cases-by the hand of the goddess herself. High-ranking priests may become banshees, liches, vampires, or-if truly favored-kiaranshee. (Kiaranshee are banshees who retain their spellcasting powers, whether they were necromancers or priests.) The clergy of Kiaransalee includes only living and undead female dark elves. Kiaransalee's clergy includes specialty priests (80%), necromancers (12%), and crusaders (8%).
Dogma: Death comes to all, and cruel vengeance will be exacted on those who waste their lives on the petty concerns of this existence. True power comes only from the unquestioning servitude of the once-dead, mastery over death, and the eventual earned stature of one of the ever-living in death. Hunt, slay, and animate those who scorn the Revenancer's power, and answer any slight a thousandfold so that all may know the coming power of Kiaransalee.
Day-to-Day Activities: Kiaransalee's priests are rare, secretive, and usually found in small drow communities or special enclaves. They are agents of vengeance, plotting revenge on those who have slain, harmed, or insulted the priesthood in any way. They also regularly go out on missions to kill others to acquire corpses for animation or to steal the corpses of the recently buried. They take a prominent role in persecuting slaves of the drow.
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: While each priest performs a handful of minor devotions to Kiaransalee every month, the Crones of Thanatos venerate the Lady of the Dead on a single annual holy day-the Graverending-celebrated each Midwinter Eve. The Graverending is celebrated individually, with each priest animating as many undead creatures as she can. All such undead-known as the Vengeance Hunters-are consumed with thoughts of revenge against their killers and unerringly seek them out over the next 24 hours. If destroyed, a Vengeance Hunter does not rise again. Vengeance Hunters return to their graves, if possible, once 24 hours have passed since their animation or once they have exacted their revenge.
Major Centers of Worship: Deep beneath the Galena Mountains and the cold plains of Vaasa is a great subterranean lake fed by the icy waters of the Great Glacier and inhabited by hundreds of giant water spiders. The Vault of Gnashing Teeth is so-named for the thousands of skulls embedded in the roof whose collective cacophonous chomping echoes throughout the great cavern. At the center of the freshwater sea is a large island, nearly a mile in diameter, dominated by a steep-sided plateau at its center. All that remains of V'elddrinnsshar-once a drow city dedicated to the Spider Queen that encircled the central mesa-are crumbling ruins, stalked by a legion of banshees awakened by Kiaransalee's faithful, and the bones of the city's former inhabitants (drow and slaves of various races).
V'elddrinnsshar fell in the Year of Many Bones (1278 DR) to the ravages of the Ascomoid Plague and was plundered by duergar scavengers a decade later. The city sat unoccupied until the Year of the Wandering Maiden (1337 DR), when it was explored by Reaper of Souls Larynda Telenna and a small band of acolytes. At their goddess's direction, the priests began construction of a brooding temple of black marble atop the central plateau, a massive stalagmite whose tip had been sheered off centuries before by the followers of Lolth for a similar purpose. When the Acropolis of Thanatos was completed a decade later, Larynda had expanded the ranks of Kiaransalee's faithful a thousandfold, and the skulls of V'elddrinnsshar's dead had been enchanted and mounted in the cavern's roof to form an unholy choir. Since the temple's completion, the priests of Kiaransalee have relentlessly combated the Cult of the Goat's Head, active in the lands of Vaasa above. In the decade since the defeat of the Witch-King and the destruction of Castle Perilous, Kiaransalee's priests have nearly exterminated the remaining clergy of Orcus in the Bloodstone Lands-many of whom took refuge in the Black Holes of Sunderland and thus were readily accessible to attacks from below-and destroyed most of the goblinkin tribes who venerated the Prince of the Undead while the Witch-King reigned in the Lands of Light. Although they do not realize it, King Gareth Dragonsbane and the people of Damara owe a great deal of their success against the forces of the Witch-King to their subterranean neighbors.
Affiliated Orders: The Legion of Vengeful Banshees is an order of Kiaransaleen crusaders dedicated to the destruction of Tenebrous's undead tanar'ri servants, known as visages. While Banshee Knights are found on many worlds, in the Realms all are based in the Acropolis of Thanatos deep beneath the Galenas. From their chapter house within the temple grounds, the members of the order mount long-ranging hunts on the surface and in the Underdark for Tenebrous's minions. The Banshee Knights have apparently developed some sort or spell or magical item that allows them to detect and defend against the use of a visage's lucidity control power. Crusaders of the order are fanatically dedicated to their goddess and the destruction of all visages; they stop at nothing to see one destroyed, regardless of the collateral damage.
Priestly Vestments: The church of Kiaransalee favors loose black robes with hooded cowls stitched with bone and ivory. The clergy wear gray skullcaps on their shaven heads and thin silver rings on every finger save the thumb. They spread a grayish paste made of the ashes of incinerated corpses over all uncovered skin, such as the face, hands, and feet. The holy symbol of the faith is the silver rings worn on as noted above.
Adventuring Garb: Priests of Kiaransalee are forbidden to wear any sort of armor, preferring to trust their own magical defenses and the combat skills of their undead bodyguards. Many priests substitute a silver ring of protection for one of their ceremonial rings to supplement their defenses. Members of the Revenancer's clergy are trained in a wide variety of weapons, but most favor slim poisoned blades, garrotes, and maces so as to minimize the damage to bodies that could later be animated.
Specialty Priests (Yathrinshee)
REQUIREMENTS: Intelligence 9, Wisdom 9
PRIME REQ.: Intelligence , Wisdom
ALIGNMENT: CE
WEAPONS: Any
ARMOR: None
MAJOR SPHERES: All, charm, combat, divination, elemental (earth),
guardian, healing (reversed only), necromantic, sun (reversed only)
MINOR SPHERES: Astral, chaos, elemental (fire), protection,
summoning
MAGICAL ITEMS: As clerics
REQ. PROFS: Dagger, spellcraft, singing
BONUS PROFS: Necrology
Kiaransaleen Spells
2nd Level
Threnody (Pr 2; Necromancy, Enchantment/Charm)
Sphere: Necromantic, Charm
Range: 0
Components V
Duration: Special
Casting Time: 1 round
Area of Effect: 30-foot radius
Saving Throw: Special
Also known as Kiaransalee's song of lament, this spell enables the priest to evoke images of lost friends and family in the minds of those who are facing the undead, hindering their ability to attack those who bear the guise of their loved ones.
After 1 round of singing threnody (the casting time), anyone within or who enters the spell's area of effect while the singing continues must succeed at a saving throw vs. spell or fall under the sway of threnody for as long as she or he remains within the area of effect. Anyone unaffected who remains within the area of effect in subsequent rounds must continue to roll a saving throw vs. spell with a +2 bonus or fall under the sway of threnody. The only way to escape the lament's effects is to stay more than 30 feet from the singer of threnody.
To a being under the sway of threnody, undead creatures in the area of effect appear to be deceased persons for whom the subject being cared deeply. As a result of threnody's magic, affected beings attack undead opponents with a -2 penalty to attack and damage rolls.
A fortunate few persons-typically the very young or the very sheltered-have never lost a loved one or family member or witnessed a death. Such individuals (as adjudicated by the DM) are immune to threnody. At the other extreme of experience, if a being who falls under the sway of Kiaransaiee's song of lament who actually encounters the animated remains of a love one or comrade while subject to the spell's effects is incapable of attacking that foe and suffers a -4 AC penalty to avoid the undead creature's attacks.
This spell requires no material components, but the priest casting threnody must be a proficient singer.
5th Level
Haunted Reverie (Pr 5; Necromancy)
Sphere: Necromantic
Range: Touch
Components: V,S
Duration: Special
Casting Time: 8
Area of Effect: One elf
Saving Throw: Special
This insidious incantation affects only elves, drawing them into a world of nightmares when they attempt to enter the reverie. After casting haunted reverie, the priest must make a successful attack roll against an elf, ignoring any nonmagical Armor Class adjustments (including shields and the base AC rating of armor, but excluding Dexterity and magical adjustments), within the next turn or the spell dissipates without effect. Only one elf is affected by this spell.
A latent haunted reverie effect can be removed by a remove curse, limited wish, or wish, but not a dispel magic. Once an elf enters the haunted reverie, only a wish or a remove curse cast by a 12th-level caster can extract him or her from its effects.
The subject of a haunted reverie attack suffers no effects from the magical attack until the next time she or he enters the reverie. Upon entering the reverie, the targeted elf must succeed at a saving throw vs. spell with a -3 penalty to avoid its effects. If the saving throw is successful, haunted reverie is held in abeyance until the next attempt to enter the reverie. Each subsequent attempt by the elf to enter into the reverie requires another saving throw vs. spell, but the penalty decreases by one with each success. If the elf succeeds at four successive saving throws against the spell, the magic of haunted reverie dissipates without effect. However, upon failing any of the saving throws, she or he enters into the haunted reverie, a nightmarish parody of the true reverie sought.
An elf who enters the haunted reverie thrashes about in agony but cannot be awakened except by means of a wish spell or a remove curse cast by a 12th-level caster. The elf is consumed by horrific visions of Thanatos, Kiaransalee's realm in the Abyss. Memories of friends, family, and favorite places are intermixed with visions of death, the undead, and decay. Each turn an elf remains in the haunted reverie, she or he must succeed at a saving throw vs. spell-with a cumulative -1 penalty for every turn entrapped in the haunted reverie (round down)-to escape its nightmarish dreamscape. For every turn an elf remains in the haunted reverie, she or he loses 1 point of Intelligence in the first round, then 1 point of Wisdom in the second round, and then 1 point of Constitution in the third round. If any attribute drops to 0 (zero) in this manner, the elf's psyche is drawn into Kiaransalee's grasp, and the elf is permanently dead, beyond the reach of all magic save a wish spell.
Once an elf escapes the haunted reverie, the spell ends, even if the elf has not yet succeeded at a saving throw vs. the effect on four separate occasions. Lost Intelligence, Wisdom, and Constitution attributes return at a rate of 1 point each every hour.
Although elves are normally resistant to sleep and charm spells, haunted reverie is designed to undermine the defenses of elves to such effects, and, as a result, the normal elven magic resistance to such enchantments is ineffective in defending against haunted reverie.
6th Level
Curse of the Revenancer (Pr 6; Necromancy)
Sphere: Necromantic
Range: Touch
Components: V,S,M
Duration: Special
Casting Time: 8
Area of Effect: One living creature
Saving Throw: Special
This spell curses a single creature to be haunted by the vengeful spirits of the dead. Curse of the Revenancer requires the priest to make a successful touch attack within 3 rounds of casting this spell or the spell dissipates harmlessly. A victim touched within that time can avoid the curse's effects by making a successful saving throw vs. spell, but otherwise nothing short of a wish or a remove curse cast by a 14th-level caster can end the curse of the Revenancer.
Once the curse of the Revenancer is successfully laid on a victim, any foe killed by the victim has a 5% chance of rising from the grave as a revenant, regardless of the foe's ability scores. If the foe's Constitution is at least 18 and either Intelligence or Wisdom is 17 or greater, that chance increases to 30%. If the foe is a follower of Kiaransalee, the chance of the foe rising as a revenant increases to 50%. If the foe is the priest who laid the curse of the Revenancer, the chance of the foe rising as a revenant is 100%.
The effects of the curse of the Revenancer become more pronounced the more deaths the victim of the curse is responsible for. If the victim of the curse kills a large number of creatures shortly after the curse is laid, she or he may awaken an army of revenants seeking vengeance before even noting the presence of the curse. For the purposes of this spell, the victim is deemed to have killed a foe if she or he delivers the killing blow via magical, psionic, or physical assault or by poison.
The material components of this spell are a pinch of dirt from a freshly dug grave and the priest's holy symbol.