Beshaba

Beshaba: The Maid of Misfortune, Lady Doom

Symbol: Black antlers on a red field
Home Plane: Barrens of Doom and Despair
Alignment: CE
Portfolio: Random mischief, misfortune, bad luck, accidents
Domains: Chaos, Evil, Fate, Luck, Trickery
Worshipers: Assassins, auspicians, capricious individuals, gamblers, rogues, sadists
Aliases: N/A
Cleric Alignments: CN, NE, CE
Favored Weapon: Ill Fortune (barbed scourge)

History/Relationships: Beshaba (pronounced be-SHAH-ba), or Lady Doom as she is also known, is the chaotic evil intermediate deity of accidents, bad luck, misfortune, and random mischief. She demands worship to keep her bad luck at bay. Her aim in life, is to desiccate and disintegrate her sister Tymora, or Lady Luck. She also delights in cursing others, often causing seafarers to lose their navigational instincts. Beshaba came into being when the deity Tyche split during the Dawn Cataclysm, a separate disaster relating to the machinations of Lathander. Tyche was infected with a taint of the dark god Moander and was forced to split into two parts by her friend Selûne.

Those two parts, Tymora and Beshaba, sprang out fully formed and immediately fought. Beshaba, who is said to have gotten Tyche's looks where Tymora got her love, is considered to be attractive to many male deities and some have been devoured with her lustful passions. She has rejected advances from Talos, among other hopefuls. Mortals who perceive the Maid of Misfortune are often destroyed by their lust or driven to maddened loyalty. She has no real allies, but is wholly dedicated to the destruction of Lady Luck. She also enjoys toying with Shaundakul and masquerades under his name in Anauroch while performing malicious and mischievous tricks (such as causing oases to dry out, blinding people and causing travelers to get lost).

Dogma: Bad things happen to everyone and only by following Beshaba may a person perhaps be spared the worst of her effects. Too much good luck is a bad thing and to even it out, the wise should plan to undermine the fortunate. Whatever happens, it can only get worse. Fear the Maid of Misfortune and revere her. Spread the message across Faerûn to obey Beshaba and make offerings to appease her. If she is not appeased, all will taste firsthand the curse that is spreading throughout Faerûn: "Beshaba provides!" (misery and misfortune). Make others worship Beshaba and then advise any being in how to worship Beshaba, or pay the price of being cast out and cursed with misfortune all their days.

Avatar/Manifestations: The Maid of Misfortune appears as a beautiful white-haired face, laughing hysterically. Ill fortune falls on those who behold her. Often, surefire plans go awry, stout weapons or walls suddenly give way, and freak accidents occur to man and beast where Beshaba has been.

Agents/Petitioners: Her petitioners include pretty much everyone who doesn’t want bad luck. Although the thought of Beshaba actually appearing is enough to make most folk tremble, she is always invited and welcomed formally in speeches or ceremonies of formal functions (such as marriages and coronations), contests of sport or martial prowess, or at the naming of children. If not invited, she may take offense and wreak endless misfortune upon those involved.

The Church of Beshaba : Beshaba is worshiped largely out of fear and it is the task of her clergy to spread that fear by starting talk of Beshaba's power and latest wickedness and by instructing all in how to make offerings to her or in how to join her clergy if they would prefer to be protected against all misfortune. Along the way, the members of her clergy take care to indulge their tastes for random cruelty and sadism. They enjoy acting mysteriously to manipulate simpler folk into serving them in matters both great and small, from providing them with food, luxurious shelter and companionship to giving them weapons to wield against their rivals in the church of Beshaba and against the clergy of all other faiths.

The worship of Beshaba is fairly widespread and varied throughout the Realms. His followers prefer to keep a low profile even in those cities which profess tolerance and those towns which actively support evil religions. As a rule of thumb, if Tymora can be found in the area, then Beshaba probably goes hand in hand.

Day-to-Day Activities: Her clergy also make sacrifices: Clerics must offer an entreaty for their spells, and make sacrifices of alcoholic beverages such as burning brandy or wine.

Holy Days/Important Ceremonies: Devotees of Beshaba observe both Midsummer and Shieldmeet with wild revels of destruction and rudeness. Otherwise, they ignore the calendar, holding special ceremonies upon the deaths of important clergy members and when one of their number ascends in rank. The former ceremony is known as the Passing and is a rare time of dignity and tender piety. The corpse of the departed is floated down a river amid floating candles in a ceremony that transforms it into an undead creature and teleports it to a random location in Faerûn to wreak havoc. The ceremony of ascension is known as the Marking and involves drum music, dancing over flames and either branding or tattooing. No spell or potion is permitted to mitigate the pain.

Major Centers of Worship: N/A (underground religion)

Affiliated Orders: Some male clerics and evil thieves and fighters of Beshaba join a secret order called the Black Fingers. They act as assassins dedicated to their goddess's name. Of course, the group is so secret that this has yet to be confirmed.

Priestly Vestments: Priests of Beshaba prefer simple black tunics with the symbol of Beshaba on the chest, and black stockings.

Adventuring Garb: N/A