Shar
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| Shar | |
|---|---|
| Titles | Mistress of the Night, Lady of Loss, Nightsinger, Dark Lady, Dark Goddess |
| Symbol | Black disk with a deep purple border |
| Home Plane | Plane of Shadow |
| Alignment | Neutral Evil |
| Portfolio | Caverns, dark, dungeons, forgetfulness, loss, night, the Underdark, unrevealed secrets |
| Worshipers | Anarchists, assassins, avengers, monks, nihilists, rogues, shadow adepts, shadowdancers |
| Domains | Cavern, Darkness, Evil, Knowledge |
| Favored Weapon | Chakram |
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Shar (pronounced SHAHR), the Mistress of the Night, is the goddess of darkness and the caverns of Faerûn, as well as a neutral evil greater deity. Counterpart to her twin Selûne, she presides over caverns, darkness, dungeons, forgetfulness, loss, night, secrets, and the Underdark. Among her array of twisted powers is the ability to see everything that lay or happened in the dark. Shar's symbol was a black disk with a deep purple border. Shar is also the creator of the Shadow Weave, which is a counterpart and attack upon the Weave, controlled by Mystra.
Clergy and Temples
The clergy of Shar are a secretive organization that pursues subversive tactics rather than direct confrontation with its rivals. In addition to her clerics, Shar maintains an elite order of sorcerer monks who can tap Shar's Shadow Weave. Among her worshipers are the Shadovar of Thultanthar, who fled into the Plane of Shadow before Karsus's Folly. Shar also holds power over all who use the Shadow Weave.
Although the estimated one hundred thousand worshippers of Shar can loosely be deemed members, its true membership consists of the clergy of the church, who number around three and a half thousand. The faith is forbidden in many areas of Faerûn and this leads the church underground, practising in hiding much of the time. An element of fear is associated with the worship of Shar since many of her followers are willing to give their lives in her service.
The clergy of the Church of Shar use corruption and subversion to spread Shar's faith, but they must do this in secret in many places due to the religion being forbidden. The atmosphere of the organization is one of unwavering faith to its leader, Shar herself. Disobeying an order usually results in death. Although devotees are perfectly willing to give their life for Shar, she often does not intend for this to happen because it will deplete the number of her dedicated followers.
From time to time, Shar requests of her priests that a certain individual, usually a sorcerer or wizard who she deems to have misused the Shadow Weave, is killed. On the other hand, Shar can forbid such acts against specific individuals. It is not uncommon for the church to make use of the Shadow Weave itself, although Shar holds onto the deepest and most powerful secrets of the magical force.
The clergy of the church will travel in small groups or individually throughout Faerûn, often disguised as merchants or pilgrims to avoid detection. Their missions usually involve either espionage or murder.
The church is split into individual cells that can operate independently from one another, often having a temple or shrine as their focal point. Cells are linked by the leadership of a priest, and one priest will typically control the cells in a geographic area. Priests communicate with one another, but rarely reveal truthful information to their inferiors.
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