Beshaba

The Maid of Misfortune, Black Bess, Lady Doom, the Maid of Misrule, Tyche's Unpleasant Daughter

Beshaba (Beh-SHAH-ba), the Maid of Misfortune, is a deity feared and placated in Faerun much more than she is venerated. When represented, she is shown much like her avatar appears, as a lovely maiden with snow-white hair, her features twisted by maniacal laughter. In Anauroch, where she pretends that she is Shaundakul to perform mischievous and malicious tricks (such as causing oases to dry out, blinding people, and causing travelers to get lost), she appears as a jackal-headed man. Needless to say, this behavior has done much to befoul the reputation of the real Shaundakul.
She is known as Tyche's unpleasant daughter, but this is more a poetic title than one designating her maternal lineage. In actuality, Tyche was not her mother in the sense of giving birth to Beshaba, rather Beshaba is half of the deity once known as Tyche, with Tymora being the other half. It is said among sages that when Tyche split to become her two warring "daughters" in the Dawn Cataclysm, Beshaba got the looks, and Tymora all the love. (The Dawn Cataclysm was a war among the gods that preceded the Time of Troubles and is said to have heralded the fall of Myth Drannor.) Certainly many men seem to lose their senses when they meet the gaze of Beshaba, either being overwhelmed with lust and driven to carry out Beshaba's every whim in reckless, slobbering haste or descending into pure gibbering madness on the spot. In women, her gaze is said to inspire mania reflective of Beshaba's own inner turmoil or a similar insanity.
Beshaba is spiteful, petty and malicious. While most people tremble in fear at Beshaba's attendance at any event even in spirit, Beshaba is almost always invited and welcomed formally in the opening speeches or ceremonies of formal functions (such as marriages and coronations), contests of sport or martial prowess, and at the naming ceremonies of children. If she is not so invited, she may take offense and wreak endless misfortune upon those involved. She is difficult to understand as her actions often seem random, but in the main she is jealous of the favorable opinion people have of her sister and demands equal veneration (or at least equal lip service) to that given to Tymora or she will ruin the lives who so slight her.
Talos has recently been courting the affections of Beshaba, perhaps with an eye toward eventually controlling misfortune and bad luck along with destruction. Beshaba has not returned his overtures.

Divine Domains

Trickery

Divine Symbols & Sigils

A rack of sharp-pointed black antlers on a red triangular field

Tenets of Faith

The ethos of Beshaba is the beliefs of Tymora stood on their head. 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.
Beshaba charges her novices to simply fear her and revere her. All her clergy are to spread the message across Faerun to obey Beshaba and make offerings to appease her. If she is not appeased, all will taste firsthand the curse that is spreading Faerun-wide: "Beshaba provides!" (What she provides, of course, is misfortune to all and in generous supply.) Her clergy are to make others worship her and then they will be spared the ill luck she can bring. They should not falsely advise any being in how to worship Beshaba, or they will pay the price of being cast out and cursed with misfortune all their days.

Holidays

Beshaba is worshiped in two ways: by those who believe only in her power and wish to appease her and by her faithful clergy.
To appease Beshaba, one must make an offering of something valuable and hold it in flames until it is at least partially consumed. Beshaba's name must be called out while this is done, and a prayer of praise and entreaty must made while on one's knees immediately afterward. Beshaba is said to look more kindly on entreaties made by those who allow themselves to burn their fingers somewhat in the offering.
Priests of Beshaba must make an offering to the Lady at least once a day by setting fire to brandy, wine, or spirits while uttering the name of the goddess and dipping a black antler tine into the mixture; prayers follow. 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 the permanent marking of the priest with a brand or tattoo. The priest being promoted must bear the pain without benefit of spell or potion to ease it.

Divine Goals & Aspirations

Day-to-Day Activities 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 priesthood 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.

Priestly Vestments

Female priests of Beshaba wear robes of mauve, purple, and black, and are branded or tattooed on one instep with Beshaba's Badge (the antlers) and on one thigh with a row of marks of rank which can only be read by fellow initiates. These are covered by normal clothing when the priestess is outside of temples or sites where ceremonies are being conducted. Male priests wear robes of crimson and are tattooed with Beshaba's Badge on one cheek, a device which can be covered only by a mask, mud (or a similar substance), or long, unkempt hair. In services, doommasters of either gender who are leading a ceremony prefer simple black tunics with the symbol of Beshaba on the chest and black stockings.

Adventuring Garb

When working in the field, under cover, on a quest, or simply traveling, most Beshaban clergy wear utilitarian garb appropriate to their locale and the level of danger they anticipate encountering.

Symbol: A rack of sharp-pointed black antlers on a red triangular field
Home Plane: The Barrens of Doom and Despair
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Portfolio: Random mischief, misfortune, bad luck, accidents
Worshipers: Assassins, auspicians, capricious individuals, gamblers, rogues, sadists
Cleric Alignments: CE, CN, NE
Domains: Trickery
Favored Weapon: "Ill Fortune" [Barbed scourge] (scourge)
FOES: Tymora, Shaundakul

Divine Classification

Power