Echo of Amelyssan

Echo of Amelyssan is a ghost of the former high priestess of Bhaal. She was the main antagonist of Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal.

Backstory

In life, Amelyssan was once the high priestess of Bhaal. Before his death, Bhaal charged Amelyssan with the ritual needed to bring him back to life. When Bhaal perished in the Time of Troubles, Amelyssan sought to complete her task, not for her fallen god but for herself, as she had later discovered that the divine essence of the slain Bhaalspawn would flow through her, increasing her power.

In her new guise as Melyssan, she sought to gather the Bhaalspawn by presenting herself as their kind protector. In secret, however, she convinced five powerful Bhaalspawn – Abazigal a blue dragon, Balthazar a human monk, Illasera an elven fighter, Sendai a drow cleric, and Yaga-Shura a fire giant – to unite and help her resurrect Bhaal with the promise that Bhaal would make them his right hand and they would rule as demigods.

The Five unleashed their armies upon the Sword Coast killing Bhaalspawn and innocents alike in their path. Those Bhaalspawn that managed to escape the massacre were guided by Amelyssan to the city of Saradush in Tethyr, but the city was encircled by Yaga Shura and his army. In Saradush, Amelyssan met Gorion's Ward, the famous Bhaalspawn that had defeated Sarevok Anchev. She then began using Gorion's Ward as a tool to achieve her goal. She tricked them into meeting the ruler of Saradush who was also a Bhaalspawn which resulted in the latter's death and sent them to an old abandoned Bhaal temple where Yaga-Shura was raised, to discover a way to remove Yaga-Shura's invulnerability. Gorion's Ward succeeded in their task but returned too late, as Saradush and its inhabitants fell to the invading army due to Amelyssan having opened the way for Yaga-Shura. Gorion's Ward and their allies fought the fire giant and managed to put an end to him.

After Yaga-Shura's death, Amelyssan convinced them to deal with the rest of the Five and revealed the locations of Abazigal and Sendai, telling them to use the village of Amkethran as their base of operations. She told them to seek her ally Balthazar, the ruler of Amkethran, for additional aid, who unbeknownst to Gorion's Ward was the the final member of the Five.

While Gorion's Ward was away dealing with Abazigal and Sendai, Amelyssan approached Balthazar in his monastery, but the monk turned on her and tried to capture her, though she escaped. Gorion's Ward returned to Amkethran to deal with Balthazar at his monastery after they had learned that he was the last member of the Five. With Balthazar dead, Amelyssan now had all of Bhaal's divine essence and went to the Mana Forge in the Throne of Bhaal to begin her ascension into godhood. The empowered Amelyssan was confronted by Gorion's Ward and their allies at the Mana Forge and fought her, defeating the traitorous priestess. Gorion's Ward was given a choice on what to do with the essence of Bhaal and chose to be free of it and be locked away in the Upper Planes. A weakened Amelyssan tried to stop the divine essence from leaving, but died when the Mana Forge imploded.

When Bhaal was resurrected a century later after Amelyssan's death, he brought her back as an Echo to serve in the Murder Tribunal along with Abazigal, Illasera and Sendai. However, unlike her fellow Echoes, she saw this as a slave sentence and punishment for her betrayal.

Involvement

Amelyssan is first encountered in the Murder Tribunal, where she accompanies Sarevok. If the party refuses to become an Unholy Assassin or performs any hostile actions she will become hostile. If the party instead completes Impress the Murder Tribunal and becomes an Unholy Assassin of Bhaal, she can be questioned to learn more about her history.

Spells and abilities

 Warding Bond ()

Ward an ally. They gain Resistance to all damage, and a +1 bonus to their  Armour Class and Saving throws.

 Melee: 1.5 m / 5  ft

 Sanctuary ()

You or an ally cannot be targeted until you attack or harm a creature. You can still take damage from area spells.

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Heal ()

70 hit points

Heals a target's wounds and remove Blindness and any Diseases.

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Vampiric Touch ()

3d6 (3~18) Necrotic damage

Touch an enemy to siphon their life force and regain half as many Hit Points.

 Melee: 1.5 m / 5  ft

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Quotes

I am Amelyssan the Blackhearted. I stood as Bhaal's high priestess - his eternal succour. Until I sought to usurp him.

— Echo of Amelyssan

Gallery

• 

  Amelyssan's model.

• 

  Amelyssan talking.

External links

Amelyssan on the Forgotten Realms Wiki