Greetings! I am the John Wetzler you've heard so little about; the man who brings donuts to the masses...
To avoid upsetting anyone, let me get some acknowledgements out of the way. Lord Cyric is probably the coolest of the gods from the Forgotten Realms. The Forgotten Realms was created, originally, by Ed Greenwood, and has been expanded by more people than I could possibly name.
Cyric himself was developed by "Richard Awlinson" (the Avatar Trilogy), James Lowder (Prince of Lies and Laughter in the Flames, a short story from the book Realms of Infamy), and Troy Denning (Crucible: The Trial of Cyric the Mad). Cyric rose to power following the Avatar Crisis. As a result of this crisis, Toril (the world of Forgotten Realms) faced the end of four major gods. The powers of three of these gods (Lord Bane, "The Black Lord," God of Strife and Tyranny; Lord Bhaal, "Lord of Murder," God of Assassins; and Lord Myrkul, "Lord of Bones," Overseer of the Dead) were transferred to Cyric. The powers of the fourth, Mystra, Goddess of Magic, were transferred to the mortal known as Midnight, a former companion of Cyric's.
All Cyric and Forgotten Realms material are property of Wizards of the Coast. Painting of Cyric by Brom.
Lord Cyric's first opening to the World Wide Web, created on July 22, 1995.