Beshaba

Beshaba

An unexplained grotesque shadow with faint maniacal laughter

Domains	Trickery
Aliases	Beshaban ; Lady Doom ; The Maid of Misfortune ; The Maid of Misrule ;
Plane	Barrens of Doom and Despair

Beshaba (pronounced: /bɛˈʃɑːbɑː/ be-SHAH-ba) appears as a young, tall, slim, and beautiful maiden with a wild mane of pure white hair. The woman was pale, had a small waist and voluptuous shape. Her corpse-like pale skin was countered by flushed hues of blue and violet on the cheeks and throat. Beshaba's most prominent feature were her yellow-rimmed eyes that were ablaze with insanity. She was adorned in a tight gown that snugly wrapped her body in pitch-black fabric. She wore a tiara of black pearls.

Works

Beshaba was a spiteful, petty and purportedly insane goddess whose actions often seemed random to onlookers. Her primary motivation however was jealousy, specifically towards her sister for her more favorable public reception, and so she demanded equal lip service (if not actual veneration) lest she curse the offenders. Unlike her sister Tymora, who happily shared her gifts with her own worshipers as well as her godly allies, Beshaba hoarded her divine powers, creating a reserve.

Worshippers

Beshaba was revered more out of fear than out of religious faith. Her doctrine stated that bad luck befell everybody and the only way to avoid it was by worshiping her. She was renowned for being spiteful and malevolent, and her priests manipulated common folk into revering and providing for them by acting mysteriously and playing on morbid fears. Her clerics offered an entreaty for their spells and made sacrifices of alcoholic beverages such as burning brandy or wine. There were two festivals in the calendar of Beshaba, at Midsummer and Shieldmeet. Both were celebrated by revelry and indulgence in food and drink.

Red Wizards of Thay were known to erect shrines to Beshaba near their ritual chambers to ward off bad luck.

Giant black stags with red eyes who could gore an elephant with ease served the goddess of misfortune and inhabited Beshaba's Blood Tor.

Clerics of Beshaba pray for their spells at midnight. Immediately before doing so, if at all possible, they must make an offering to the Lady by setting fire to brandy, wine, or spirits while uttering the name of the goddess and dipping a black antler tine into the mixture. Burning one's fingers slightly in doing so is looked upon favorably. A second prayer similar to the first must be made to Beshaba each night outside under a dark sky. If a member of the clergy is forcibly confined, at least a prayer during the hours of darkness is expected to be attempted. The nighttime offering is a personal prayer for guidance, and the goddess often answers it with nightmare visions later in the evening.

Devotees of Beshaba mark every Midsummer and Shieldmeet with wild revels of destruction and rudeness to mark Beshaba's nature as Maid of Misrule. Otherwise they ignore the calendar, holding special ceremonies upon the deaths of important clergy and when a priestess ascends to a new rank. The funeral ceremony is known as the Passing. It is a rare time of dignity and tender piety among the clergy. The body of the departed is floated down a river amid floating candles in a spell ceremony designed to make the corpse into an undead creature and teleport it to a random location elsewhere in the Realms to wreak immediate havoc. Senior clergy use spells or magical items to scry from afar to see what damage is then done by the creature's sudden appearance.

The ceremony of ascension in rank is known as the Marking. It is a ceremony involving drum music, dancing over flames, and either branding or tattooing. The priest being promoted must bear the pain without benefit of spell or potion to ease it.

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. Never falsely advise any being in how to worship Beshaba, or pay the price of being cast out and cursed with misfortune all their days.