Rime of the Frostmaiden

Cyric, Lord of the Fifth

Cyric , known as Sirhivatizangpo by his Gugari worshipers and as N'asr by the Bedine, was the
monomaniacal Faerunian god of lies, trickery, and strife, having previous held dominion over tyranny, murder, lies,
intrigue, illusion. It was Cyric who murdered Mystra and caused the Spellplague, throwing the cosmos into turmoil in an act
that cost him much of his following.

“
It all depends on me, you see. Nothing is certain until I have beheld it and set it in place, until I have placed myself above it
or below, before it or after...I am the One, the All, the Face Behind the Mask. I am the Everything.

”
— Cyric, on the Night of Despair, Nightal 28 1368 DR.
Cyric is the monomaniacal deity of strife and lies. He is closely associated with murder, conflict, lies, intrigue, and illusions.
Cyric holds himself above all other deities.

Cyric enjoys tricking and misleading both well-meaning and corrupt individuals and then revealing his deceit when they
have made some fatal mistake in judgement or taken a personally devastating course of action that will ruin their lives. His
favorite libation is the tears of disillusioned dreamers and broken-hearted lovers, which he drinks from a silver chalice
encrusted with tiny rubies in the shape of sundered hearts.

He has an immense following—the unholy radiance of the Dark Sun draws power-hungry mortals like moths to a flame and
then inexorably consumes them.

Worshipers, Clergy &

Temples
The church of Cyric is widely (and justly) hated across all Faerûn, for the Dark Sun's followers are pledged to spread strife
and work murder everywhere. The followers of good-aligned deities hate Cyric's church for the wicked acts of its members.
The followers of neutral-aligned deities, and even the faithless, detest the intrigues, murder, and discord sown by Cyricists
that disrupt the lives of all. The followers of evil-aligned deities view Cyric's church as mad with power and a threat to their
own influence—the Prince of Lies has shown himself willing to do almost anything, including kill rival deities whose
power he covets.

Cyric's faith attracts power, and it remains strong in any area where evil is planned and beings seek to impose their will on
others. Cyric's most devoted followers are young evil men and women seeking to make their way in an uncertain world and
gathering as much power as possible for themselves. He also attracts the worship of almost all who pursue assassination for
a living.

Clerics of the Dark Sun pledge to spread strife and work murder everywhere in order to make people fear and believe in
Cyric. They support rulers with a taste for cruelty and empire-building, but indulge in intrigue in every land. They avoid
plunging realms into widespread war, which would pay honor only to Tempus, the war deity—at least, this is the ideal
Cyricists pay lip service to. In truth, Cyricists spend most of their time scheming against one another, each striving to
strengthen his or her personal power in an endless struggle of cabal against cabal. To make matters worse, during his
madness Cyric spoke often to his faithful clergy, but not with one voice. As they all fear him, and each believes what he
says is the One True Way, his words set Cyricist temples at cross purposes. His clerics are at one another's throats as often
as they are promoting the defeat of other religions.
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Cyric's clerics often multi-class as assassins, illusionists, or rogues.
Vestments
Clerics of Cyric dress in black or dark purple robes trimmed with silver, with or without hoods. They wear
silver bracers or bracelets (usually stamped with the skull-and-sunburst symbol of Cyric) to symbolize the
church's enslavement to Cyric. Some clerics paint the symbol of their deity on their cheeks or foreheads on
high holy days.

Priests of Cyric are fond of going about in disguise and love using illusions to alter their appearance when
they can obtain them. They dress either to be inconspicuous or to impress, awe, and terrify, depending on
what they are assigned to do. Whenever they are in disguise or trying to look inconspicuous, they still
attempt to wear as much protective armor or magic as possible without it giving them away. When
dressing to terrify, they love black armor with ornamentation that looks menacing, such as spiked shoulder
and elbow pieces and helms in the shape of snarling monsters.

Hierarchy
Cyric's clerics employ a wide variety of titles and dispute each other's rank often. Members of the clergy
are always aware of the possibility that a superior may stumble, allowing them to advance. Priests are
often encouraged by inner voices that may or may not be the voice of their deity. Popular priestly titles
seem to include Dark Master, Hand of Cyric, Watchful Skull, and Dread Death.

Temples
Cyric's temples are festering sores of evil that vary widely in appearance, reflecting the deity's chaotic
nature. Many are hidden within caves or existing structures, including abandoned buildings, crumbling
sewers, and forgotten dungeons, from which terrifying screams echo at irregular intervals. Many such
complexes once served as temples of Bane, Bhaal, or Myrkul, and thus resemble the grim, foreboding
keeps of the Black Lord, the hidden guildhalls of the Lord of Murder, or the tomb-like vaults of the Lord of
Bones. All have in common a bloody sacrificial altar and a great hall where the local high cleric can rant to
the assembled worshipers at irregular intervals.

Rituals
Cyric's clerics pray for spells at night, after moonrise, when the Dark Sun's radiance is at its height. Blood
sacrifices are deemed necessary for Cyric to hear any prayers of entreaty.

Cyric's church has few holy days and does not even celebrate the date of the deity's ascension, for to do so
would also honor Mystra ("the Harlot," to Cyric's worshipers) and imply that Cyric has not held the mantle
of divinity for all eternity. However, whenever a temple acquires something or someone important enough
to sacrifice to Cyric, its high cleric declares a Day of the Dark Sun to signify the holiness of the event.
Eclipses are always considered holy, and are often celebrated by feasts, fervent prayers, and the murder of
a high-ranking cleric or paladin of Lathander.
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