Shar (SHAHR)

Overview

The dark twin of Selune, Shar is the goddess of darkness, both in its physical form and as it exists in the minds and souls of mortals. People worship Shar as the goddess of night, secrets, loss, and forgetfulness. She represents pains hidden but not forgotten, and vengeance carefully nurtured away from the light. She is said to have the power to make folk forget their pain or become inured to a loss, and many people in distress pray to Shar for such a blessing.
Shar is revered by those who must venture into dark places and so pray to her for protection, such as miners, as well as by those who have fallen into melancholy and despair, who wish to forget something, or who have lost something and wish to recover it. Priests drawn to serve Shar often nurture their own deep wounds or dark secrets, which in their minds makes them best suited to console those who suffer from a similar ill. Throughout the world's history, many followers of Shar have done dark deeds in her name - most notably the shadovar of Netheril, an entire society dedicated to Shar. The tragedies and losses brought about by the fanaticism of her followers have caused many places to outlaw her worship and thus driven most of her priests into secrecy, but such prohibitions only heighten the priests' umbrage at authorities and make the faithful a focal point for rebellion and revenge against whoever rules.

(The faithful of Shar are often misunderstood and feared)

Ethos & Dogma

Reveal secrets only to fellow members of the faithful. Never follow hope or turn to promises of success. Quench the light of the moon whenever you find it, and hide from it when you cannot prevail. the dark is a time to act, not wait.
The very existence of Shar was paradoxical; the Nightbringer was brought into existence by the creation of Realmspace but was the living embodiment of the void, the perfect nothing that existed before she was born. The emptiness that she originally reflected had itself been erased at the start of time, and she longed to return to the ancient calm of nonexistence. By her very nature, Shar was defined by loss, the foolishness of hope, and the basic principle that life was a joke. The depths of Shar's evil were too extreme to be described in words. She was deeply twisted and perverse, a being of ceaseless, petty hate and envy. She plotted from the shadows to undermine all creation, reveling in the hidden and never to be revealed. Though she was not chaotic herself, like her sister was, Shar nonetheless sought to destroy all order. Even her own devoted worshipers were simply pawns in her overarching scheme against everything there ever was and ever would be.
Although Shar purported to be a healer, soothing the grief-stricken by letting them forget their woes, she was in truth a sadist and enjoyed inflicting the pain of loss on her worshipers. Her alleged help did not release from that pain, but numbness to it, the acceptance of it as normal, and the removal of any expectation otherwise. The Lady of Loss did not truly believe in healing grief, not even her own, but in harnessing it, in nurturing spite, nursing indignity, and reinforcing regret until minor slights, at least in her mind, become transgressions worthy of bitter vengeance.

Religious Orders

• Church of Shar
• Order of the Dark Moon
• More information coming soon!

(While the Weave could be considered a loose latticework running throughout reality, the Shadow Weave was the pattern formed by the negative space in between)

History & Relationships

Shar's ceaseless battles against her bright sister have caused the creation and destruction of several deities throughout history. Though Selune strikes openly and forcefully against her twin at every opportunity, Shar prefers subversion, using her mortal worshipers to attack Selune's clergy and those things Selune holds dear. She desires to consume most mortals and gods alike with her only frequent ally being Talona, who may eventually serve Shar in return for the Dark Goddess's aid in murdering her hated enemy Loviatar.

(The temples of Shar are often in ruin adorned with warriors of darkness)

Tenets of Faith

• Place your trust in the Mistress of the Night, for she will lead you through the darkness.
  
• Never forget a slight or a loss, for those who have hurt you must suffer in kind.
  
• Never forget that the darkness is your friend, hiding your secrets and cloaking you from the suffering and pain of the world.

(Shar is the goddess of the darkness, loss, and the Shadow Weave)

Holy Symbol

(The holy symbol of Shar)

Statistics

Titles

• Mistress of the Night
• The Nightbringer
• Nightsinger
• Singer of Eternal Night
• Dark Lady
• Dark Goddess
• Lady of Loss
• Goddess of Loss
• Mistress of Pain
• God of Thieves
• Greater Power of the Gray Waste

Adjectives

• Sharran

Portfolio and Domains

• Darkness
• Knowledge
• Undeath

Common Worshipers

• Miners
• Rogues
• Shadow Weave Adepts
• Nihilists
• Assassins

Favored Manifestations

• Death Tyrant
• Nightshade
• Tendrils of Darkness
• Violet Aura

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Divine Classification

Greater Deity

Alignment

Neutral Evil

"Blessed Nightsinger, witness our adoration. See how we serve you, only you. We have emptied our hearts of falsehoods. We have vanquished your foes. In the darkness, we see your truth. Embrace us, your loyal warriors. Cloak us in your shadow. Guide us to your victory. Shar's will shall be done. As sure as night will fall."
— Shadowheart's prayer to Shar