(The Platinum Dragon, Draco Paladin, Lord of the North Wind, Ruler of Good Dragons, Justicemaker)

Lesser Power of Mount Celestia, LG

Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon, is venerated by most of the good dragons in the Realms, although few humans or demihumans worship him. Bahamut’s faith is new to the Realms, having first appeared only a few years after the Time of Troubles. He came to the Realms in order to fight against Tiamat, who until recently had had her heads full dealing with the Untheric pantheon. With the fall of Gilgeam, Bahamut saw that Tiamat could spread her faith across Faerun. With the aid of Tyr and Torm, who have allied with Bahamut in the past, Bahamut was able to gain Ao’s permission to join the Faerunian pantheon. Currently, the fledgling church is seeking to increase the worship of Bahamut in order to gain back some of the lead Tiamat has.

Bahamut has two favored forms: the Platinum Dragon and the form of an old, frail sage. Both of Bahamut’s forms draw their spells from all spells and schools save chaos. He almost never uses reversed forms of necromantic or healing spells.

The Platinum Dragon is an awe-inspiring platinum dragon of immense size. As a sage, he usually appears to be human, although he has been known to appear as an elf.

AC –14; MV 48 Fl 300 (C), Br 48, Sw 90, Jp 36; HP 219, THAC0 –5; #AT 3+special Dmg (2d8 +11) x 2 (Claws) 9d8 (Bite)

MR 85%; SZ G (500’—Body length 280’, tail length 220’)

Str 23, Dex 21, Con 24, Int 22, Wis 23, Cha 24

Spells P: 12/12/12/12/12/8/4, W: 5/5/5/5/5/5/5/5/4

Saves PPDM 2, RSW 3, PP 4, BW 4, Sp 4

AC –14; MV 12; HP 219, THAC0 –5 #AT 1

Dmg By weapon

MR 85% SZ M (5’-6’)

Str 12, Dex 21, Con 24, Int 22, Wis 23, Cha 24

Spells P: 12/12/12/12/12/8/4, W: 5/5/5/5/5/5/5/5/4

Saves PPDM 2, RSW 3, PP 4, BW 4, Sp 4

Special Att/Def: The Platinum Dragon uses the breath weapon capabilities of a Great Gold Wyrm, plus a cone-shaped sonic disintegration effect, affecting up to 40 HD/levels of creatures. Saving throws versus Bahamut’s breath weapons are at a –4 penalty. Base breath weapon damage is 22d20+22. Bahamut can also use all other draconic attack forms as found in the Monstrous Manual. On an bite attack roll of 12 or more, Bahamut can swallow the victim whole, killing them and destroying any equipment they carry.

Bahamut’s aura of dragon fear extends to a 140-yard diameter. Creatures of up to 5 HD/levels are automatically affected. Those of 6 HD/levels or more are entitled to a save versus petrification at a –5 penalty. If they fail this saving throw, they fight with a –2 penalty to attack and damage. No one save another deity is immune to his fear effect.

The Sage can attack with any weapon normally allowed to wizards. He is not known to carry any magical weapons, but can still strike any creature that requires magical weapons of +3 enchantment or less to hit. He can cast one spell a round in addition to making an attack.

Regardless of form, Bahamut is immune to all spells below 6^th level and to poison, paralysis, petrification, death magic, mind affecting and controlling spells, and even to limited wishes if theses are used to affect his true nature (e.g., His alignment could not be changed by this spell, nor could he be feebleminded, etc.). Bahamut takes half damage from cold-, fire-, and electricity-based spells. Weapons below +3 enchantment do not harm him.

Other Manifestations

Bahamut commonly manifests as a pole star that can be seen even on a sunny day. Additionally, he can manifest as a sudden gust of wind from the north that dies down just as quickly as it appeared.

Bahamut usually show his favor in the discovery of small amounts of platinum coins that seem to come from nowhere. If Bahamut is displeased, then the coins will be stolen soon after their discovery. Bahamut is served by all species of good dragons, faerie dragons, and lantern archons, and often uses them as messengers.

The Church

Clergy: Clerics, specialty priests, crusaders

Clergy’s Align.: LG, NG, CG, LN

Turn Undead: C: Yes, SP: Yes, Cru: No

Cmnd. Undead: C: No, SP: No, Cru: No

All clerics, specialty priests, and crusaders of Bahamut receive religion (Faerunian) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency. Bahamut is not yet well known in the Realms outside of the Heartlands. Most people who are aware of his existence either consider him a legendary monster or confuse him with Paladine (from the Dragonlance setting). He is considered to be the ruler of the good subspecies of dragons. Good-aligned dragons view Bahamut as a protector, and are fairly well represented in his worshippers.

Bahamut’s clergy is composed of 40% specialty priests, known as wyrmguards, and the rest is split evenly between clerics and crusaders. There is currently no set hierarchy of titles, although that will change as the faith spreads through the Realms. There are several paladins dedicated to Bahamut, and his paladins can be of lawful good or chaotic good alignments.

Dogma: Bahamut teaches that good dragons can be allies of humanity if treated properly. Dragons should be treated with the same respect one gives to one’s elders, for they have lived longer than even the most long-lived of the elves. No dragon subspecies, not even evil ones, should be hunted to extinction. Tiamat must be opposed at every opportunity, lest she destroy what little peace is in the Realms.

Day-to-Day Activities: Priests of Bahamut typically spend their time guarding whatever area they live in against evil and chaos. They work against priests of Tiamat whenever they find them operating nearby, and also seek to stop the Cult of the Dragon. Wyrmguards currently travel across Faerun, preaching their faith and working with local adventurers to stop the predations of nearby evil dragons that prey on sentient life, usually by finding an unintelligent food source for the wyrm to hunt. If this proves unsuccessful, they will reluctantly try to kill it.

Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: The only holy day currently celebrated by Bahamut’s faithful is the Feast of Fellowship. Occurring the night after the spring equinox, the festival is a night for dragon and human to set aside differences. Each clergy member in an area rides on dragonback into the night sky, and partake in an aerial dance of breathtaking beauty. Afterwards, the dragons all polymorph into humanoid shapes, and share a feast with the clergy and those who have done great services to the church or to the dragons. Even those good dragons that cannot normally polymorph into humanoid form can do so on this night due to a gift from Bahamut. Each temple will also hold a celebration on the day of its founding. This celebration usually takes the form of a public parade, and the donation of one valuable item from each clergy member to the church.

Each clergy member is expected to say a prayer facing north every night. Clergy members also must show respect to any good dragon they come across, and to address them in Auld Wyrmish (or in the proper metallic tongue, if known) unless the dragon in question is familiar to them and/or would rather speak in common. Bahamut's clergy is also honor-bound to help any good dragon they meet who needs it.

Major Centers of Worship: Currently, the only temple to Bahamut is The Dragon’s Radiance, located in Suzail. The Radiance, as it is also known, is a modest two-story temple with an underground connection to the lair of Argellin, an adult male silver dragon, who can often be found in human form in the temple proper. Argellin serves as advisor to the clergy, who respect him as a friend and mentor.

Affiliated Orders: So far, only one order of paladins is dedicated to Bahamut. The Platinum Legion is a group of five paladins of 9^th level or higher, each with two squires of 1^st -6^th level. Paladins of Bahamut can be of either Lawful Good or Chaotic Good alignments. At 9^th level, an aspirant to the order must climb to the top of a mountain, face north, and pray to Bahamut for a day and a night. If Bahamut is pleased with the petitioner, he sends a young adult dragon, usually silver or mercury, but always matching the alignment of the paladin. This dragon serves as the paladin’s mount and friend, and is granted the ability to shapechange into a human as part of the bond. If, for some reason, Bahamut is not pleased with the aspirant, the paladin receives a vision depicting his past failures and is given a suitable quest that they msut complete before they petition again. The Platinum Legion will protect any good dragon that is endangered, and has already protected several from the Knights of the Five-Thorned Rose, earning them Tiamat’s ire.

Priestly Vestments: The ceremonial garb of Bahamut’s clergy consists of a suit of brightly-polished scale mail, made of a metal denoting rank, with a golden robe worn over it. The metals used in the armor are, in order of rank from lowest to highest: copper, brass, bronze, silver, and gold. The armor/robe combination gives the priest a base AC of 5. The holy symbol is usually a gemstone carved into a star or with the star-over-nebula engraved into it.

Adventuring Garb: When adventuring, Bahamut’s priests usually wear the heaviest metallic armor they can afford, usually having the armor custom-crafted to more closely resemble a dragon, especially the helm, which will almost always be in the shape of a dragon’s head. Some high-ranking priests, crusaders, and paladins will carry dragon swords. These weapons are long swords that come in seven varieties, each corresponding to a type of good dragon: gold, silver, bronze, copper, brass, steel, and mercury. The swords appear to be made of the metal of the corresponding dragon. The hilt and handle of the sword are fashioned to resemble the head of a dragon. When carried, the sword confers a +2 to saves verses the type(s) of breath weapon used by that dragon. In combat, they function like long swords, with one important difference: when they strike an opponent, the creature struck must make a save vs. spell or take 3d4 points of additional damage from the blade. A successful save results in half damage. The damage is caused in the same manner as the dragon’s breath weapon, i.e., fire from a gold dragon sword, cold from a silver, etc.(DM's note: these should be rare.)

Specialty Priests (Wyrmguards)