Enlil was the patriarch of the Untheric pantheon.[9] He abdicated in favor of his son Gilgeam and left Toril in −734 DR.[10] His symbol was a pickaxe,[1] and later a clawed fist over a wheel of lightning.[11]
Description[]
Enlil was portrayed as a tall human male with a dark, weighty beard and curly hair. He could change his form at will, raise lightning storms, and he kept for himself, alone of his pantheon, the ability to raise the dead. Enlil wore a war helm that cannot be affected by any known attack or substance. He wielded an unbreakable stone axe that disenchanted any weapon it hit.[4]
During the Second Sundering, Enlil took the shape of a black-scaled dragonborn with golden eyes surrounded by a lightning storm, after having chosen the dragonborn race as his new protégés.[8]
Relationships[]
Enlil was the son of Nammu, the sea, and the original ruler of the Untheric pantheon.[1] He was the father of Gilgeam[12] and of Enki[1]. Inanna was once his wife, but he set her aside.[1]
Realm[]
Enlil dwelt on the Great Mountain of the East in Eronia, the second layer of the plane of Elysium along with his fellow deities Ki, Nin-Hursag, and Nanna-Sin. The surrounding plains were flat, dotted with cities and sluggish rivers. Only petitioners and servants of the gods, or those with a legitimate request to make of the gods' servants, could climb the mountain. Petitioners had to climb it in order to merge with their patrons.[13]
Enlil was never associated with the outer plane of Zigguraxus because while he was worshiped on Toril his avatar, like those of all the gods of the Mulan, dwelled on the Prime Material Plane.[12]
History[]
Enlil was the firstborn of the Untheric gods. He rose from the sea long ago to bring the power of his spirit to the skies.[1]
A suspicious plague decimated the empire of Imaskar sometime around −4370 DR. In response, Imaskari wizards opened two portals to two different places and times on another world. They captured slaves from that world in a series of lightning raids. On Toril the slaves intermarried with one another and became known as the Mulan. Although the Imaskari had created a barrier around Toril that denied entry to the gods of the Mulan homeworld, the prayers of the slaves were heard by Ao, who summoned the god Ptah to invite the Mulan gods to come to Toril. Because of the barrier, the only way the gods could enter Toril was by creating powerful avatars known as manifestations to physically sail through the Flow between spheres. Enlil led his fellow pantheon members to Toril in a ship known as the Galley of the Gods.[14]
Enlil's pantheon and the Mulhorandi pantheon landed on Toril on the highest peaks of the Godswatch Mountains on the northeastern border of Imaskar. There, they divided their essences further to create lesser avatars known as incarnations to travel among the Mulan slaves and stir them up into rebellion against their hated Imaskari masters. To aid them, some of the Mulan were given the powers of priests, and some were made into divine minions. At first, things seemed to be going badly for the rebels, with many incarnations and minions destroyed by Imaskari minions. However, when the retreating rebels led the Imaskari attackers to the mountains where the manifestations of the gods awaited, the gods unleashed a rain of divine fury that devastated the whole of Imaskar, transforming the fertile vale into the barren Raurin desert.[14] This happened around −2488 DR.[15]
Enlil and his children led their people away from the barren remains of Imaskar to the western shores of the Alamber Sea, where they founded the nation of Unther. They drove away the Turami people who had previously inhabited the region, considering them to be barbarians. The manifestations, including Enlil, retired to towering palaces to concentrate on finding a way to break the Imaskari barrier, leaving the rulership of the lands to their incarnations, who became known as god-kings.[16]
In −2087 DR, Enlil discovered pearls on the west coast of the Alamber Sea. There, he founded Unthalass, the City of Gems.[15]
As first king of Unther, Enlil founded the system of laws known as the code of Enlil, which insisted on "justice, the destruction of evil and wickedness so the strong shall not oppress the weak, and the land shall be enlightened."[17]
In −1081 DR, the Theurgist Adept Thayd, last apprentice of the Imaskari wizards, opened a portal to a world of gray orcs just prior to his execution for inciting a wizard's rebellion. In −1076 DR, a horde of gray orcs poured through the portal to conquer the lands of Unther and Mulhorand. In response, the divine manifestations came down from their towers to defend their lands. However, the powerful gray orc clerics called down avatars of the Orc pantheon to battle them. In the Orcgate Wars that followed, many manifestations of the Untheric pantheon died at the hands of the orcish gods, including Inanna, Girru, Ki, Nanna-Sin, Nergal, and Utu.[16] Marduk sacrificed his manifestation to kill the manifestation of Tiamat during those battles.[18]
In −734 DR, Enlil decided to leave the world of Toril behind and merge again with his greater self on the plane of Elysium. He left his son Gilgeam as King of Unther in his stead. This became known as Year 1 in the calendar of Unther.[15]
On Nightal 26 1486 DR, Enlil returned to Toril. Called for help by Kepeshkmolik Dumuzi, the soldier of all the lands and father of all children manifested in Djerad Thymar in the shape of a dragonborn, and stopped the process that was about to return Tymanther to Abeir, thereby choosing the dragonborn as his new protégés.[8]
After he regained some of his deific power, he rebuilt Zigguraxus for some purpose.[19]
On Hammer 10 of 1487 DR, Enlil allowed Asmodeus to use the divine spark of Nanna-Sin to become a god if the Archdevil were to bring back the dead god to life - as an immortal being and not as a god.[20] . This deal allowed Azuth, whose spark had been consumed by Asmodeus with the assassination of Mystra in 1385 DR but had recently started to fight against Asmodeus for the control of the body they shared, to come back as his own.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Colin McComb (October 1996). On Hallowed Ground. Edited by Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), p. 62. ISBN 0-7869-0430-5.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Erin M. Evans (December 2015). Ashes of the Tyrant. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 415. ISBN 978-0786965731.
- ↑ Erin M. Evans (2016). The Devil You Know. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 415. ISBN 978-0786965946.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 James Ward, Robert J. Kuntz (August 1980). Deities & Demigods. Edited by Lawrence Schick. (TSR, Inc.), p. 125. ISBN 0-935696-22-9.
- ↑ Jennifer Clarke-Wilkes, Bruce R. Cordell and JD Wiker (March 2005). Sandstorm. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 47. ISBN 0-7869-3655-X.
- ↑ Richard Baker, James Wyatt (March 2004). Player's Guide to Faerûn. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 165. ISBN 0-7869-3134-5.
- ↑ Erin M. Evans (2016). The Devil You Know. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 413–414. ISBN 978-0786965946.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Erin M. Evans (December 2015). Ashes of the Tyrant. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 411–412, 463–464. ISBN 978-0786965731.
- ↑ Eric L. Boyd (September 1997). Powers & Pantheons. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 94. ISBN 978-0786906574.
- ↑ Scott Bennie (February 1990). Old Empires. Edited by Mike Breault. (TSR, Inc.), p. 5. ISBN 978-0880388214.
- ↑ Erin M. Evans (October 4th, 2016). The Devil You Know. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 413–414. ISBN 978-0786965946.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Eric L. Boyd (September 1997). Powers & Pantheons. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 96. ISBN 978-0786906574.
- ↑ Colin McComb (October 1996). On Hallowed Ground. Edited by Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), p. 60. ISBN 0-7869-0430-5.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Eric L. Boyd (September 1997). Powers & Pantheons. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 94. ISBN 978-0786906574.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Scott Bennie (February 1990). Old Empires. Edited by Mike Breault. (TSR, Inc.), p. 5. ISBN 978-0880388214.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Eric L. Boyd (September 1997). Powers & Pantheons. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 95. ISBN 978-0786906574.
- ↑ Scott Bennie (February 1990). Old Empires. Edited by Mike Breault. (TSR, Inc.), p. 39. ISBN 978-0880388214.
- ↑ Eric L. Boyd, Eytan Bernstein (August 2006). Dragons of Faerûn. Edited by Beth Griese, Cindi Rice, Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 8. ISBN 0-7869-3923-0.
- ↑ Erin M. Evans (2016). The Devil You Know. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 444–446. ISBN 978-0786965946.
- ↑ Erin M. Evans (2016). The Devil You Know. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 447–449. ISBN 978-0786965946.