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Where Chronepsis judges dragons after their deaths, Lendys judges them while still alive. He believes in retributive justice, that those who live by fang and claw die by fang and claw. All punishments are carefully measured, however, and minor crimes have minor punishments. While he is hard and merciless, he is fair in his dealings.

Lendys (PDF Version)
(The Balancer, Scale of Justice, Weigher of Lives)
Intermediate Power of Mechanus, LN

Portfolio:                 Balance, justice, retribution, laws and binding social customs
Aliases:                     None
Domain Name:           Mechanus/the Cavern of Balance
Superior:                   Io
Allies:                       Arcanic, Bahamut, Chronepsis, Hoar, Rais, Tamara, Zorquan
Foes:                           Faluzure, Garyx, Kalzareinad (Dead), Task, Tiamat
Symbol:                     Sword balanced on a needle’s point
Wor. Align.:              LG, NG, LN, N, LE, NE

Lendys (LEN-dis) is the embodiment of pure justice, free of external influences like mercy, corruption, and second chances. He is the Weigher of Lives, judging a dragon during its life and meting out punishments or rewards to those who deserve them. He is the Balancer, ensuring that those who do good receive good in return, and those who do evil receive evil in return, each in perfect proportion. He represents the philosophy that every action has an appropriate and measured reaction, and that those who live by violence die by violence.

Throughout draconic history, myths of Lendys have always been deeply intertwined with those of Tamara. There is no known instance of a world where only one of the pair has ever been known, nor are they ever described as being anything other than mates. In this way they can be said to represent the ideal mating behavior of dragon-kind. Some sages speculate that the fundamental nature of the pair’s portfolios is why they are the only perpetually mated draconic gods; in their theories, the two represent basic components of draconic theology of a level only superseded by Io himself. Other sages scoff at this, pointing out they aren’t worshipped everywhere that dragons are found, and claim other deities, particularly Kereska and Astilabor, represent far more fundamental aspects of draconic nature than Lendys and Tamara. Regardless of sagely speculation, the pair figure prominently in much draconic mythology, and as a mated pair are frequently said to be the progenitors of many other draconic deities. In fact, across all the worlds of the multiverse, it is possible to find at least one myth somewhere that claims any other given draconic deity is their offspring, with the exceptions of Io himself, Chronepsis, and Aasterinian. No other deity is consistently spoken of as being their offspring, however, and it is unknown if any of the current well-known deities truly was hatched from one of their eggs.

Besides his mate Tamara, who works tirelessly to soften his rigid and unforgiving nature, Lendys has few alliances amongst other deities, although what alliances he does have are quite strong. He is closest with Bahamut, who very much embodies the same strong sense of justice, tempered with the mercy of Tamara. It is no wonder that the Platinum Dragon is the most common deity portrayed as the pair’s offspring. He is also closely aligned with Zorquan, as the High One values the order Lendys brings to relations between the various dragon species. Their closeness allows Gruaghlothor the Iron Dragon to serve both deities as their strongest proxy, and only very rarely have a conflict of interest. Recently, the Balancer was approached by the deity Hoar, and after careful consideration formed an alliance with him, marking the first time the draconic deity has established a strong relationship outside of the racial pantheon. Lendys appears to have been motivated by mutual interest in retributive Justice, but it seems likely Hoar wants the alliance as a bulwark against the expanding influence of Tiamat in some of the lands where his worship is found. How successful this alliance will be is yet to be seen.

Lendys considers the evil draconic deities his eternal foes due to their repeated injustices and repeated breaches of the social order. While he believes most deserve a formal trial, he cannot call one himself without Io’s permission, and has not had an opportunity to challenge those whose guilt is in no doubt. He argues repeatedly with Io that they require punishment for their crimes, and is frustrated by his inaction on the matter. He holds particular animosity towards Faluzure for his disregard for life and disrespect for the remains of dead dragons; in the Balancer’s eyes, the Night Dragon’s crimes warrant a death sentence many times over. There is some speculation that Kalzareinad’s voluntary merger with Kereska during the Time of Troubles in Realmspace was due, at least in part, by a desire to avoid Lendys’s judgment during that conflict. While the non-evil chaotic dragon deities don’t warrant his enmity, he tends to be very suspicious of their actions and motives.

Lendys is not particularly active on the Prime Material Plane, preferring to leave the work of passing judgement and carrying out justice to his followers and servitor creatures. When a mortal dragon’s injustices are so great that it rises to the Balancer’s notice, he may send a gold or iron dragon proxy to dispense a just verdict upon the dragon. He will typically only make an appearance if one of the evil draconic deities is taking clearly unjust actions against mortal dragon populations. He has little interest in interfering if the evil deity is causing harm to lesser races.

Lendys’s Avatar (22-HD Great Wyrm Dragon, Crusader 31, Wizard 22)
Lendys appears as a huge, muscular, wingless dragon the color of platinum alloyed with iron. This leaves his scales with a matte or brushed appearance, rather than the shining brilliance of pure, polished platinum. His head sprouts a pair of forward-swept horns, and his chin and cheekbones sport sleek hair-like tufts. His eyes emit twin beams of platinum light that pierces all illusions, camouflage, and concealment. Lendys draws his spells from all spheres save animal, plant, and chaos, and all schools save illusion/phantasm.

AC −12; MV 12, Fl 42 (C), Jp 6; HP 242; THAC0 −7; #AT 3+special
Dmg 2d8+12/2d8+12/5d10+12 (claw/claw/bite)
MR 75%; SZ G (400 feet—body 210 feet, tail 190 feet)
Str 23, Dex 19, Con 23, Int 20, Wis 22, Cha 21
Spells P: 13/13/12/12/11/9/8, W: 5/5/5/5/5/5/4/4/3
Saves PPDM 2; RSW 3; PP 4; BW 4; Sp 4

Special Att/Def: Lendys uses both his physical and magical powers to their utmost, favoring neither over the other. The Balancer has three breath weapons, the first of which is a ray of white light 5 feet wide and 120 feet long. Any creatures within the path of this light suffer 24d8+12 points of damage; a successful saving throw versus breath weapon reduces the damage by half. Creatures who are hurt by natural light suffer an extra point of damage per die from this breath weapon. In addition, regardless of the saving throw, another saving throw versus breath weapon is required; those who fail it are blinded for 4d4 rounds. Lendys’s second breath weapon is a cloud of paralyzing gas that fills an area 75 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 30 feet high. Those within the area must make a saving throw versus breath weapon or become held in place (much like a hold monster spell) for 15 turns. His final breath weapon is a cloud of gas that mimics the spell zone of truth. The dimensions match that of his paralytic gas, and it persists for 6 turns, unless dispersed earlier with other magic. Those within the gas must make a saving throw versus breath weapon with a −6 penalty or be unable to lie. Even near-divine creatures or divine manifestations can be affected by this effect.

The Balancer can issue a command in any round in which he does not use his bite attack or breath weapon, and he can detect lie at will.. The light beams emanating from his eyes extends to a range of 300 yards and have a diameter of 10 feet at their ends, and automatically dispels any non-divine illusions and invisibility they touch, reveals any creature utilizing natural concealment or camouflage, and exposes any creature hiding in shadows. Lendys can sweep across a 120 degree arc in one round, and any creature revealed by this ability cannot attempt to regain concealment or camouflage for at least three rounds. If he knows of a specific creature who is hiding within his gaze range, he can automatically direct his gaze towards them in order to reveal their location. He is able to summon an elemental of law (anemo, helion, or kryst) once per day, and can cast flame strike three times per day.

The Balancer’s aura of dragon fear is 140 yards in diameter. Creatures of up to 5 HD/levels who catch sight of him are automatically affected (as well as all noncarnivorous, nonaggressive creatures with fewer than 25 Hit Dice) and flee for 4d6 rounds. Trained war mounts of 4 HD or more, organized military units, and single creatures with more than 5 HD or levels do not automatically flee. Rather, they are entitled to a saving throw vs. petrification at a −5 penalty. If they fail this saving throw, they fight with a −2 penalty to attack and damage rolls. No one save another deity is automatically immune to his fear effect

Lendys is immune to weapons below +2 enchantment, as well as all spells below 5th level. He is immune to any attacks based on light or radiance (prismatic sphere, rainbow, etc.) and takes half damage from fire and cold. In addition, he is immune to poison, paralysis, death magic, blindness, deafness, and mind-affecting and controlling spells and psionics. He is also completely immune to wild magic and priest spells from the sphere of Chaos.

Other Manifestations
Lendys’s most common manifestation is the loud sound of a sword clattering to a hard surface, followed by a clearly audible pin drop. This manifestation occurs when a dragon who has committed injustices suffers a suitable retribution; for example, a dragon who gained the bulk of his hoard through theft finds himself bereft of that same hoard due to a chasm opening below it into a magma chamber, or a dragon who murdered a rival in cold blood rather than face him in a challenge is mortally wounded by human dragon slayers.

On very rare occasions, Lendys may make his power known during important draconic proceedings where the cause of justice is in danger of being subverted, or where a just decision is necessary to avert a calamity. In such cases, his manifestation will take one of two forms. In the first form, he manifests as a glowing sword and needle bathed in platinum light, balanced point to point, to indicate that the cause of justice is being upheld, or to indicate that a dragon speaks the absolute truth. The second manifestation is of a ghostly, dull grey sword which appears above the neck of a dragon who is lying in such a way to cause or perpetuate a major injustice, or above a decision maker who disregarded the truth or proper justice to arrive at an unjust decision. Only events of incredible significance can warrant these manifestations, and such an appearance can cause unintended effects such as panic or fear as the dragons witnessing them realize the gravity of the situation at hand.

The Balancer is served primarily by aleax, anemos, buseni, fallen archons (with a LN alignment), helions, hounds of law, justice incarnates, ki-rin, krysts, lock lurkers, lythlyx, maelephants, maruts, mediators, mist wolves, mongrelmen, monitors, observers, per, rogue modrons, spectators, translators, vaati (wergadeam, houdeam, and haikjadeam only), and xavers. He shows his favor through the discovery of swords and needles made of platinum or platinum-iron alloys, as well as pairs of natural crystals that formed in such a way that the pointed tips are joined together. Lendys demonstrates his displeasure through the discovery of shattered or otherwise destroyed platinum swords, swords that have been impaled by needles, and pairs of crystals with serious visual flaws that were once clearly joined at their points, but have now broken apart.

The Church
Clergy:                      Priest-dragons, specialty priests
Clergy’s Align.:      LG, LN, LE
Turn Undead:           PD: Yes, SP: Yes
Cmnd. Undead:         PD: No, SP: No

All dragon-priests and specialty priests of Lendys receive religion (draconic) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency. Priests of Lendys may never knowingly utter a lie or a deliberate evasion of the truth designed to mislead; doing so immediately costs them their powers until they atone through actions that punish a known injustice, as directed by another priest of Lendys. They may choose not to answer a question, so long as it does not perpetuate an injustice. When priests of Lendys cast the spells analyze balance and detect balance, balance is measured from a Lawful Neutral starting point, rather than True Neutral.

Many dragons propitiate Lendys regularly, particularly amongst those who are lawful, but far fewer are able to uphold his stringent standards of conduct in order to become clergy. He is often called upon to mete out retribution against a dragon that has wronged another, and misfortune befalling a dragon that has harmed others is said to be his hand balancing the scales of that dragon’s life. His followers are respected, if sometimes only grudgingly, by most dragons due to their impartiality and depth of knowledge on draconic social rules and customs. As such, they serve as judges in disputes between individual dragons or dragon clans. Even the most malicious of the chromatic dragons will generally maintain the appearance of adhering to decisions rendered by a follower of the Balancer, if only to ensure hated foes amongst the metallic dragons do so as well.

Temples built in the Balancer’s honor are more common where dragons recognize some form of centralized authority that dictates rules of conduct between individual dragons or dragon clans. Such temples tend to be spacious affairs with acoustics that allow a dragon to speak to a large group without straining their voice. They tend to be well-lit, and where possible, decorated with materials that enhance lighting, such as marble and well-polished metal. The symbol of the Balancer is also a repeated motif. Shrines in honor of Lendys tend to be found in the lairs of dragons who worship him, and tend to consist of simple alcoves with marble or metal edging and the symbol of the sword balanced on a needle point located within.

On most worlds, dragons do not form organized priesthoods, as there are too few of them, and they are far too individualistic. Only worlds with very dense dragon populations or very structured dragon cultures will develop hierarchical priesthoods, and the form they take are likely to be unique to those worlds. Specialty priests of Lendys are known as balancescales. Any dragon may become a priest of Lendys, but it is exceptionally rare for a naturally chaotic dragon to do so, to the point that many dragons believe chaotic chromatic are barred from the priesthood. The Balancer draws most of his priests from ranks of gold, silver, iron, emerald, and sapphire dragons. Of his clergy, the bulk are specialty priests (80%), while the remainder are dragon-priests (20%). Lendys is worshiped by some half-dragon paladins and rangers, as well as the majority of those who enforce or dispense justice within their communities.

Dogma: All actions have an appropriate and proportional reaction. Malicious acts are revisited upon their perpetrators, while honorable acts will be rewarded honorably. Those who live by fang and claw die by fang and claw. Uphold the rules of dragon society, and dispense the agreed upon punishments to any who violate those rules for any reason. Every dragon’s life is a balance scale of their deeds and actions; those whose scales are tilted too heavily need correction by the Balancer or his servants. Be equitable and unbiased in your dealings with others, and always seek the truth.

Day-to-Day Activities: Other than the activities typical to all dragonkind, followers of the Balancer keep a close eye on other dragons, watching for instances of unjust actions. Those dragons with little interest in the strict interpretations of the Lendite faith often see followers of Lendys as nosy and meddling, although this view can change quickly should they become a victim of theft by another dragon or lose a loved one in an unfair draconic duel. Lendys’s followers have been known to spend decades or centuries planning for the perfect time to administer justice to a dragon that has violated draconic social order, although this is only typical in cases where they do not have the power yet to face the dragon directly. Wyrms and great Wyrms are swift indeed with their punishments, and knowing that such a dragon was watching them has dissuaded more than one chromatic dragon from engaging in malicious activities. The Lendite faithful carry out retribution even against lesser races who have slain a dragon in a cowardly manner, although the reverse does not hold true. In the eyes of Lendys’s faithful, lesser races do not have the right to call for redress against true dragons, except in very rare circumstances where draconic law enshrines rights for lesser races, as in some clans amongst Io’s Blood Isles.

Important Ceremonies/Holy Days: The Balancer’s faithful have some of the most regular holy days of all draconic faiths, for they hold the spring and autumn equinoxes are the time when all is in balance in the world, and they spend the two hours on either side of noon in quiet contemplation of truth and justice. They mull over recent injustices, looking for guidance from Lendys on appropriate punishments for recent infractions, and renew vows to carry out Justice against those whose punishments have already been determined. They do not maintain a name for these prayer vigils, nor do they hold organized service on these days, for they are meant to be observed in private.

Major Centers of Worship: The Vault of Redress is a temple dedicated to Lendys built within the Snowflake Mountains in eastern Amn on the world of Toril. This ancient temple, built long ago during the Dawn Ages as a central location for carrying out draconic justice. Built in the magma chamber of a long-extinct volcano, the roughly circular chamber offers excellent acoustics which allows a dragon in the center to be heard clearly anywhere in the chamber. The walls are overlaid with polished marble and silver representations of the Balancer’s symbol. Prior to the temple’s relatively recent rediscovery circa 1250 DR, it had been lost for at least a millennium when the previous priest died without an acolyte to take over. The current priest is a mature adult emerald dragon named Calcoryndorax; he believes he was lead to the temple by Lendys himself when he left his parents to look for a lair of his own. He spent the first decades restoring the temple, and now is working on letting other dragons know, albeit carefully, that he is available for standard Lendite services.

The northern reaches of the Barrier Peaks on Oerth in Greyspace holds the Hall of Balance. This rather young temple, having been founded less than a thousand years ago, consists of a rectangular chamber with a raised platform opposite the entrance to the chamber. Columns of bright white limestone line the walls of the chamber, and gold and silver is used to catch and reflect light. A mated pair of venerable gold dragons, both priests of Lendys, are the current caretakers of the temple, and they have a brood of three young adult offspring they are grooming to continue in the Balancer’s service.

Amongst Io’s Blood Isles, the great gold dragon clan of Justice represents the strongest bastion of Lendys’s faith. They feature no less than four priests of mature adult age or older, with the eldest often serving on All Clans Isle as judge and arbitrator of disputes. While the clan is still Lawful Good in outlook, they have a strong Neutral tendency, which some centuries back frustrated a large number of the clan’s youths, causing them to leave and form the new clan of Sunblaze. Clan Justice features no draconic temple dedicated to Lendys, but most members maintain a shrine in their lair, and there are a handful of temples in the communities of their vassals.

Affiliated Orders: The Talons of Justice, an order of primarily silver dragons found on many worlds, venerate Lendys and Tamara as secondary members in a triumvirate behind Bahamut. Details on this order can be found in the entry for Bahamut.

Priestly Vestments: The holy symbol used by the Balancer’s clergy consists of a small diamond sword and diamond needle embedded in a platinum plate. The shape of the plate varies, but is typically an exaggerated ovoid or lozenge.

Adventuring Garb: None

Specialty Priests (Balancescales)
Requirements:          Intelligence 14, Wisdom 15
Prime Req.:                Intelligence, Wisdom
Alignment:                LN
Weapons:                   Any, but normally a dragon’s natural weaponry
Armor:                       Any, but normally a dragon’s natural armor
Major Spheres:         All, charm, combat, divination, law, numbers, protection, summoning, sun
Minor Spheres:         Astral, creation, healing, necromantic
Magical Items:         Same as dragons, clerics
Req. Profs:                Law (PO:S&M), reading/writing (High Draconic)
Bonus Profs:             Ancient history, etiquette, local history, or tracking (choose one)

• Balancescales can be of any true dragon that is capable of becoming a priest, but normally chaotic dragons are exceptionally rare.
• Balancescales are not allowed to multiclass.
• When cast by a balancescale, the spells analyze balance and detect balance measure balance from a Lawful Neutral starting point, rather than True Neutral.
• Balancescales can cast protection from evil (or its reverse) or protection from chaos (as the 1st-level priest spells) once per day.
• At the 2nd age category, balancescales can cast zone of truth (as the 2nd-level priest spell) or command (as the 1st-level priest spell) once per day.
• At the 3rd age category, balancescales can cast invisibility purge (as the 3rd-level priest spell) or death recall (as the 2nd-level wizard spell) once per day.
• At the 4th age category, balancescales can cast detect lie (as the 4th-level priest spell) once per day.
• At the 5th age category, balancescales can cast detect illusion or speak with dead (as the 3rd-level priest spells) once per day.
• At the 7th age category, balancescales can cast true seeing (as the 5th-level priest spell) once per day.
• At the 9th age category, balancescales can cast detect lie (as the 4th-level priest spell) at will.
• At the 10th age category, balancescales can cast hold monster (as the 5th-level wizard spell) three times per day.
• At the 12th age category, balancescales can cast true seeing (as the 5th-level priest spell) at will.

Lendite Spells
In addition to the spells listed below, priests of the Balancer can cast the 3rd-level priest spell compel, detailed in Faiths and Avatars in the entry for Torm, and fire of justice, detailed in the Priest’s Spell Compendium Vol.I.

2nd Level
Bolt of Lendys (Pr 2; Invocation/Evocation)
Sphere:                    Law
Range:                     30 yds. + 5 yds./level
Components:           V, M
Duration:                 Instantaneous
Casting Time:          5
Area of Effect:         1 creature
Saving Throw:        Special

By means of this spell, the caster may launch a bolt of shining light at a single creature. If the targeted creature has ever unjustly harmed another creature physically, they take 1d6 points of damage per age category of the casting dragon. No saving throw is allowed to avoid this damage. If the DM does not know if a creature has unjustly harmed another, they can calculate the chances by starting with a base of 20% and adding or subtracting an amount based on their alignment using the table below. Adjust any negative results to zero, then add the target creature’s level or hit dice to get the final percentage chance.

Ethos          Modifier               Morality     Modifier
Law             −20%                          Good           −20%
Neutral        +0%                           Neutral        +0%
Chaos          +15%                          Evil              +40%

If the casting dragon is of Venerable status or older and knows the target has murdered another individual in cold blood, the target must make a saving throw versus death magic or die instantly. Even if the save is successful, they still take damage as listed above.

The material components for this spell are the priest’s holy symbol.

4th Level
By The Sword (Pr 4; Enchantment/Charm)
Sphere:                    Law
Range:                     40 yds.
Components:           V, S, M
Duration:                 1 rd./level
Casting Time:          7
Area of Effect:         1 creature
Saving Throw:        Neg.

With this spell, the caster lays an enchantment of reciprocity upon a single creature. The caster can target any creature within 40 yards, although a saving throw versus spell is allowed to avoid the enchantment. While under this enchantment, any damage the creature deals is revisited back upon it. The damage a creature under the effects of this spell suffers is automatic; no attack roll is made, nor is any saving throw allowed to avoid or reduce the damage. In addition to standard damage, harmful effects like poison and disease is also visited upon the target of this spell, but energy draining and similar effects are not. In a case where a creature under the effect of this spell casts a spell that damages multiple creatures, they suffer damage equal to the largest amount they dealt. For example, a wizard casts a fireball spell that inflicts 28 points of damage on two creatures, while four others make their saving throw and only suffer 14 points of damage. The caster would suffer 28 points of damage themselves. In a situation like this, spells or powers that reduce damage from fire would not apply. Neither would spells such as stoneskin, and the damage would not take away a charge from such protection. Spells that reduce all damage regardless of source would allow some degree of protection from this reciprocal damage.

One side effect of this spell is that any healing or curative spells a creature under this enchantment casts on other creatures are similarly revisited upon themselves. Priests of Lendys have been known to cast this spell upon injured followers of Tamara so they can heal others and heal themselves at the same time.

The material components for this spell are the priest’s holy symbol and a small mirror or mirrored metal plate.

Zone of Justice (Pr 4; Enchantment/Charm)
Sphere:                    Law, Wards
Range:                     30 yds.
Components:           V, S, M
Duration:                 1 rd./level
Casting Time:          7
Area of Effect:         5-ft./level cube
Saving Throw:        Neg.

This spell prevents creatures in the area of effect (including those who enter it later) from taking deliberate actions that are unjust in the eyes of Lendys. Such creatures are allowed a saving throw versus spell to avoid the effect; those who fail the saving throw are affected. Creatures affected are aware of this enchantment, and may attempt to circumvent the proscriptions creatively. Creatures leaving the affected area are free to act as they desire.

Lendys has a particularly strict view of what actions are unjust. Amongst the actions proscribed by this spell are attacking a prisoner or incapacitated creature, attacking from behind, the use of poison, the use of invisibility or concealment, lying, the use of illusions, theft of any sort, and the use of counterfeit or shaved coins. Similar actions may also be prevented by this spell, at the DM’s option.

The spell affects a cube whose sides are 5 feet long per level of the caster. Thus, a 5th-level priest can affect a 25 foot cube.

The material components for this spell are the priest’s holy symbol, a platinum coin, and a small iron bar or rod (an iron nail suffices).

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