Lady Doom



Beshaba ( pronounced: /bɛˈʃɑːbɑː/ be-SHAH-ba ), or Lady Doom as she was also known, was the chaotic evil intermediate deity of accidents, bad luck, misfortune, and random mischief, and a member of Tempus' pantheon. She demanded worship to keep her bad luck at bay. Her aim in life was to destroy her sister Tymora, or Lady Luck. She also delighted in cursing others, often causing seafarers to lose their navigational instincts.

Contents

 * History
 * Relationships
 * Worshipers
 * Orders
 * Appendix
 * Appearances
 * Further Reading
 * References
 * Sources
 * Connections

History
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.

Relationships
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 by her lustful passions. She rejected advances from Talos, among other hopefuls. Mortals who perceived the Maid of Misfortune were often destroyed by their lust or driven to maddened loyalty.

Beshaba was the twin sister and sworn enemy of Tymora, whom she sought to destroy.

She was Tempus' lover.

Worshipers
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 followers at Midsummer and Shieldmeet. Both were celebrated by revelry and indulgence in food and drink.[citation needed]

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

Orders

 * Doom-masters
 * The best known order of specialty priests were the Doom-masters, universally feared for the way they reveled in the infliction of misfortune on others.


 * Black Fingers
 * Only by Beshaba's favor, some evil male clerics, thieves, and fighters of Beshaba could join the secret order of the Black Fingers. They acted as assassins dedicated to their goddess's name.


 * Wormlucks
 * In order to spread Beshaba's influence and counter the church of Tymora, the Wormlucks (or Priests of Bad Fortune) were created, serving as a focus for calamities which occurred wherever they went, often affecting them as well. Their style of dress was distinctive, forced upon them by the orthodox clergy to avoid confusion with them and for high visibility. They wore bright red robes worn over armor and white hair wigs, which had to be obvious and usually ill-fitting, to honor Beshaba's own locks.