Umberlee

Umberlee: Queen of the Depths, The Bitch Queen

Symbol: Two white-crested, beryl-colored waves curling away from eachother
Home Plane: Fury's Heart, The Deep Wilds
Alignment: CE
Portfolio: Currents, Oceans, Sea Winds (including coastal storms and storms at sea), Waves
Domains: Destruction, Evil, Water, Chaos
Worshipers: Sailors, weresharks, sentient sea creatures, coastal dwellers
Aliases: The Sea Queen, Queen of the Deep
Cleric Alignments: NE, CE, CN
Favored Weapon: "Drowning Death" [trident] or jellyfish (trident)

History/Relationships:

Umberlee is one of the Deities of Fury, headed by Talos and also including Auril and Malar. Talos has been encroaching on Umberlee's portfolio through storms at sea and due to her lack of strength to oppose him, Umberlee has been trying to distract the Storm Lord with romantic suggestion. Umberlee is enemies with Valkur and Selune who guide sailors safely home, Chauntea who holds dominion over land, and Sune who's beauty Umberlee envies.

While being the ruler of the Deep Wilds places Silvanus as Umberlee's superior, neither are very fond of eachother and Umberlee hardly, if ever, heeds him.

Dogma:

The sea is a violent and savage place, any who traverse it must be willing to pay the price for entering Umberlee's dominion. All should know the Queen of the Depths and fear her, for her tidal waves and monsoons will reach as far inland as necessary to carry out her wrath.

'Fair offerings bring fair winds,' but those who fail to pay their respects and give offerings to the Queen may soon find themselves at the bottom of the ocean. Spread the news of Umberlee's might and let no service in her name be done without an offering. Make everyone fear the waves and turbulent seas, unless the Queens Clerics are there to ensure their safety, and slay any who give Talos praise for her destructive storms upon the waves and shore.

Avatar/Manifestations:

Umberlee's avatar is rarely seen, but when she is she appears as a blue-green female of unique appearance with talons on her hands, fins on her elbows, hair made of kelp, and pale, pearl colored eyes. Utilizing Alter Size, she rises up from the sea and looms over doomed ships, a mauve cape made of millions of jellyfish behind her, with her body adorned in giant shells, and the trident "Drowning Death" in hand.

She is often accompanied by her many creatures of the deep who make the churning waves further boil and with her enormous size and power enabling her, Umberlee's Avatar hisses and laughs like a rolling wave as she smashes her victims asunder, leaving few who have ever survived her sighting.

Agents/Petitioners:

Very little has ever been said about Umberlee's petitioners, leaving them all but mysteries to most.

According to the famous scholar Volo, Umberlee is served by powerful evil creatures called Tribute Gatherers who sometimes visit her servants and temples to gather tithes, taking them back into the deep waters for their dark queen's use.

Umberlee is also served by many aquatic and marine undead which she and her servants will readily send to defend her holy sites or to destroy transgressors. It is not uncommon to see undead sharks and kraken defending the underwater portions of her shrines and temples or for a crew of drowned sailors and their ship to explode from the sea to do battle, again as accounted by Volo.

The Church of Umberlee:

The Church of Umberlee is ultimately a chaotic one, and as such is only loosely organized with seniority and leadership being chosen by a matter of who is the strongest.

Location to location temples and shrines are likely to be run with vast differences. Organized hierarchy is imposed by particularly powerful and strong Clerics who have muscled their way to the top, although inevitably these establishments are abolished by Umberlee. Clerics of the faith are given to settling disputes of rank and ability with duels which are rarely fatal and with the loser usually being shoved on the next ship leaving port.

Day-to-Day Activities:

In their day to day activities Umberlant clergy are charged with spreading and enforcing respect of Umberlee by preaching of the chaos and destruction she has caused in the past and the storms in coastal cities and settlements to come, should they fail to show her the respect and praise she desires.

As the clergy do their work spreading their faith, many hope to build up enough favor with their queen so that if they are ever in danger at sea they may be washed ashore to continue her work. Priests will sell their services for donations and fees, often being welcomed onto ships by the crews in hopes that the presence of Clerics will ensure their safety, although sometimes a simple blessing is enough to comfort a crew and leave them believing they will be kept safe from Umberlee's wrath without the Cleric's presence.

Umberlant clergy are permitted to walk the ports and shores in most coastal settlements unmolested as coastal dwellers are more than aware that their existence is allowed only by Umberlee and rightly fear her violent and destructive wrath.

Clerics of Umberlee pray for their spells at high tide, either in the early morning or in the evening. They will anoint their foreheads, hands, and feet with sea water as part of their prayer ritual.

Holy Days/Important Ceremonies:

In a private ritual called the Drowning, a supplicant lies before an altar, surrounded by candles lit and places with a prayer by another Cleric of Umberlee. Attending clergy leave this specially prepared room, which is then flooded by seawater in a powerful breaking wave and carries the contents away. Supplicants who survive are then confirmed in the service of Umberlee with a given reminder that, should they ever betray the Queen of the Depths, drowning is the fate that awaits them as they were spared once and can so be taken by their queen at any time to come. During this night those who Umberlee feels have failed her go to bed never to wake again, their lungs mysteriously filled with seawater and drowning them while they sleep.

There are two public rituals seen practiced by the faith, one called First Tide and the other The Stormcall.

The ritual called First Tide is celebrated when the ice first melts and breaks away in a harbor, involving a parade through town with a caged animal, the animal being tied to a large rock and then thrown into the sea. If the animal survives to shore it will then be treated as a sacred animal for the rest of it's days, seen as blessed by Umberlee.

The second public ritual observed by the faith is The Stormcall. During The Stormcall, a mass is held where attendees send prayer to gather a large coastal storm and send it forth to devastate a specific ship or harbor, or to turn away an approaching or present storm that threatens the worshipers. The act of summoning a storm to destroy one's enemies should never be viewed lightly and it is a ritual to rightly be feared by outsiders.

Major Centers of Worship:

Major centers of worship for Umberlee include temples and shrines in many cities throughout Faerun. Although not a comprehensive list, the major centers of worship are as follows:

In Baldur's Gate, temple The Water Queen's House.
In Calimport, temple The Towers of Fury.
In Cimbar, temple The Halls of the Sea-Born.
In Latharl's Lantern, temple The Grotto of the Queen (guarded by Umberlee's mysterious specialty priests, the True Servants of the Wave).
In Murann, temple Wave of Might - led by Whaerd Petayr.
In Port Llast, shrine complex Priory of the Depths.
In Tsurlagol, temple The Battering Wave - led by Thogonia Grim.
In Waterdeep, temple The Queenspire.
In Westgate, temple Whitecap Hall - led by the Dread Wavelord Meralt Thurnsturm.
In Urmlaspyr, temple Darkwave Hall - led by High Priest Untharym Frostana (also guarded by the True Servants of the Wave).
Prior to the Time of Troubles, in Zhentil Keep - The Jagged Rocks, led by the Stormmistress.

Affiliated Orders:

Umberlee is a chaotic deity and as such has no known orders. Due to the chaotic nature of most of her followers, it is doubtful any attempt to form an order would last long before being torn apart by infighting.

Priestly Vestments:

The ceremonial wear of clergy devoted to Umberlee consist of blue or green skintight body stockings and voluminous capes in similar hues. The capes are trimmed in white fur, representing the foam of breaking waves, and have stiff, high collars rising from the back of the neck.

A notable and macabre symbol of rank popular within the clergy is the desiccated skeletal hand of a drowning victim.

Adventuring Garb:

As adventurers are not common among the clergy of Umberlee, one can assume that those of her faith that do take to adventuring will attempt to work as many whites, blues, greens, and beryls into their clothing as they can, retaining the colors of their ceremonial wear where possible. Whatever equipment suits the needs of the individual best can be assured, but that which allows free moment and assist with swimming should also be expected.