Page 43 - D&D - Player's Handbook

with items that remind others of the sea's dangerous THE Goos OF MULHORAND
nature- a necklace of shark teeth, seaweed wrapped People of Faerun refer to M ulhorand as one of the Old
about a h1,1man bone, and so on. The preserved hand of Empires, but most don 't know that Mulhorand is in
a drowned person is thought to be a particularly holy ob- fact the oldest human empire still in existence on the
ject, and some of her few clerics use such severed hands continent. Mulhorand's pantheon of deities, sometimes
as holy symbols. Umberlee does have a large number of called god-kings or pharaohs, can trace their lineage even
farther back.
shrines in the coastal cities, and sailors often leave flow-
According to the demigods enthroned in Mulhorand, the
ers or small candies at them in hopes that she will spare
ancestors of the Mulhorandi people were brought from
them on their next voyage. Both Waterdeep and Baldur's
another world and enslaved by the lmaskari in an ancient
Gate have true temples dedicated to Umberlee, staffed empire deep in what is now Raurin, the Dust Desert. When
largely by the widows of sailors lost at sea. the gods of those ancestors heard the pleas of their distant
fa ithful, they set out in a great celestial ark guided by the
WAUKEEN entity known as Ptah. Upon arriving in the world, two of
the deities, Re and En Iii, set about empowering the slaves
Our Lady of Gold, the Coinmaiden, the Merchant's
Friend and fomenting rebellion.
The revolt succeeded, but Re and Enlil couldn't keep
Waukeen is the goddess of wealth and trade, on both peace with one another. Each then founded a separate
sides of the law. Her most ardent worshipers include dynasty of divine mortals, Re in Mulhorand, and Enlil
shopkeepers, members of trading costers, wealthy (father of Gilgeam) in Unther. Re and his related deities
merchants, caravan guides, itinerant peddlers, money- ruled Mulhorand through mortal incarnations for thou-
changers, and smugglers. She is interested in anything sands of years.
Time took its toll, and the attention the deities of Mul-
that increases trade and the flow of money, whether new horand paid to their followers wavered and diminished.
trade routes, new inventions, or the whim of changing Each new incarnation of Isis, Osiris, and Thoth was a little
fashion. Those who take Waukeen as a patron can be re-
more human and a little less divine. When the magically
liably thought of as greedy, but the Coinmaiden is said to powerful lmaskari returned with a vengeance a little over
frown upon misers and smile upon the industrious and a century ago, they stole the scepter of rulership from a
the profligate, and thus priests who bear her holy sym- grasp so weak it barely had any strength left.
bol find themselves welcome in many towns and cities. Although Mulhorand's conquerors outlawed slavery in
Temples ofWaukeen resemble guildhalls and often the area they now called High lmaskar, the Mulhorandi
serve as meeting places for trade consortiums. Those people recognized the yoke they now bore. The lmaskari
were the new coming of the slavemasters of old, as depict-
who follow Waukeen's ethos seek to create more op-
ed in the carvings in the pharaohs' tombs. Many prayed
portunity for all and see competition for wealth as one that the vanished gods would return and once again free
of society's main means of progress. Thus, the faithful
them from lmaskari rule, and during the Sundering, that is
of Our Lady of Gold often find themselves at odds with
what happened. What were referred to as Chosen in other
trade guilds and others who would form monopolies. It's lands were recognized in Mulhorand as living gods, come
common practice among those who seek Waukeen's fa- to lead the Mulhorandi in an uprising.
vor to set aside a tithe of ten percent of their profits, but Today Mulhorand is ruled by demigods that call them-
rather than being given to a temple, the money is meant selves by such names as Re, Anhur, Horus, Isis, Nephthys,
to be spent to help a struggling business, to finance a Set, and Thoth. They take different forms, some human
new endeavor, or, if all else fails, on frivolous fun. and others tieflings or aasimar, but all speak and act
like the gods of legend come to life, which they must be.
This family of deities bears the scars of all the past loves,
rivalries, and wars between them, but for now they have
set their differences aside for the betterment of Mul-
horand and its people, and the people of Mulhorand love
them for it.

SYM B OL OF' W AUKEEN

SYMBOL OF' U MBERLEE

CHAPTER 1 I WELCOME TO THE REALMS