Because the slave ship controlled by the Zhentarim had been hijacked, the task this follower of Bane had been responsible for—tracking down the Children of Murder—was immediately declared half-bankrupt.
Luckily, the cause of the mission's failure seemed to involve some guardian dragon. And since he had not been the primary person responsible for the incident, he had merely suffered divine punishment.
Amid the dual torment of body and soul, his level as a part-time Cleric of Bane dropped by one.
He had originally been complaining, but after hearing that the Silvermoon City official in charge had dropped dead on the spot upon making contact with the mission target, he immediately changed his tune. He was even glad that he had paid only such a "minor" price to escape this high-risk, low-reward job.
Yes, in the eyes of Clerics from other churches, such a punishment could hardly be called light.
But in the Church of Bane, it could simply be called a narrow escape from death.
For the doctrines of this dark deity tolerated almost no failure. Once one failed, regardless of loyalty, He would not hesitate to cast those failed servants into terrifying, brutal punishments, ensuring that everyone else continued to obey completely His dogma that demanded absolute submission.
Bane's tyranny and brutality were infamous throughout the Coriel Continent, so whenever most people spoke of evil and the conflicts it stirred up, he was the first one they thought of.
And in truth, whenever conflict arose among city-states, nations, or factions, if one pinned that label on His head, five or six out of ten cases would always turn up the shadow of Bane's followers.
Even if they had probably not started the conflict, once strife broke out somewhere, these pervasive "terrorists" would eagerly throw themselves into it and fan