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| {{Context|date=December 2011}} | |||
| {{In-universe|date=December 2011}} | |||
| {{Forgotten Realms Deity|fgcolor=#fff| | |||
| image=| | |||
| bgcolor=#000| | |||
| fgcolor=#fff| | |||
| name='''Beshaba'''| | |||
| title=The Maid of Misfortune, Lady Doom| | |||
| home=Abyss (layer 13), Blood Tor (D&D); Barrens of Doom and Despair (3e FR)| | |||
| power=Intermediate| | |||
| alignment=Chaotic Evil| | |||
| portfolio=Random mischief, misfortune, bad luck, accidents| | |||
| alias=| | |||
| super=|}} | |||
| '''Beshaba''' ({{IPA-en|bə ˈʃɑː bə|pron}} {{respell|bə|SHAH|bə}}),<ref name="FRCS1E"/> also called ''The Maid of the Misfortune'', is a ]al ] of the ] ] for the '']'' ] ]. Within the game, she is the ]ian ] of ], misfortune, random mischief, and accidents. | |||
| ==Publication history== | |||
| ] created Beshaba for his home ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game set in the ].<ref name="Dragon 54"/> | |||
| ===Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)=== | |||
| Beshaba first appeared within ''Dungeons & Dragons'' as one of the deities featured in Ed Greenwood's article "Down-to-earth Divinity" in '']'' #54 (October 1981). Beshaba is introduced as the Maid of Misfortune, Black Bess, and Lady Doom; she is the goddess of mischief, misfortune, ill luck, accidents, (treachery, betrayal), a chaotic evil lesser goddess from the ]. She is described as "a beautiful white-haired face, laughing hysterically. Ill fortune ... falls on those who behold her. Often, sure fire plans go awry, stout weapons or walls suddenly give way, and freak accidents occur to man and beast where Beshaba has been."<ref name="Dragon 54">], Dragon magazine #54 - "Down-to-earth divinity" (October 1981)</ref> | |||
| Beshaba later officially appeared as one of the major deities for the ] ], in the ''Forgotten Realms Campaign Set'''s "Cyclopedia of the Realms" booklet (1987).<ref name="FRCS1E">{{cite book | isbn =0-88038-472-7 | title = Forgotten Realms Campaign Set | author = Ed Greenwood, Jeff Grubb and Karen S. Martin | year = 1987 | publisher = Wizard of the Coast}}</ref> | |||
| ===Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)=== | |||
| Beshaba was described in the hardback '']'' (1990),<ref>] and ]. '']'' (], 1990)</ref> the revised ''Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting'' (1993) in the "Running the Realms" booklet,<ref>{{cite book | title=Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting | author = Ed Greenwood | year = 1993|id = ASIN B000K06S2E }}</ref> and '']'' (1996).<ref>], and Eric L Boyd. '']'' (TSR, 1996)</ref> | |||
| Her role in the cosmology of the ] campaign setting was described in ''On Hallowed Ground'' (1996).<ref>McComb, Colin. ''On Hallowed Ground'' (], ])</ref> | |||
| ===Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)=== | |||
| Beshaba appears as one of the major deities of the Forgotten Realms setting again, in ''Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting'' (2001),<ref>{{cite book | title = Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting | author = Ed Greenwood et al. | year = 2001 | publisher = Wizard of the Coast | isbn = 0-7869-1836-5 }}</ref> and is further detailed in '']'' (2002).<ref>Boyd, Eric L, and ]. '']'' (Wizards of the Coast, 2002)</ref> | |||
| <!--===Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)=== | |||
| Did she appear anywhere in 3.5?--> | |||
| <!--===Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)=== | |||
| Let's wait and see who's in the new Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting--> | |||
| ==Overview== | |||
| ''Lady Doom'', as she is also known, demands worship to keep her bad luck at bay. She is a ] ], whose symbol is black antlers on a red field, divine realm is Blood Tor on the 13th layer of the Abyss or in the ] in the 3rd edition Forgotten Realms cosmology, and Third Edition domains are Chaos, Evil, Fate, Luck, and Trickery. Her weapon is a "barbed" scourge, aptly named "Ill Fortune". | |||
| ===Worshipers=== | |||
| Beshaba is revered more out of fear, than out of religious faith. Beshaba's doctrine states that bad luck befalls everybody, and the only way to avoid it is by worshipping her. She is renowned for being spiteful and malevolent, and her priests manipulate common folk into revering and providing for them by acting mysteriously and playing on morbid fears. Their favored weapon are ]s. | |||
| Her clergy also make ]s: Clerics must offer an entreaty for their spells, and make sacrifices of alcoholic beverages such as burning ] or ]. There are two festivals in the calendar of Beshaba followers, "Midsummer" and "Shieldmeet". Both are celebrated by revelry and indulgence in food and drink. | |||
| ==Orders== | |||
| *'''Black Fingers''' | |||
| Some male clerics and evil thieves and fighters of Beshaba can join a secret | |||
| order called the Black Fingers. They act as assassins dedicated to their | |||
| goddess's name. Only by Beshaba's likings can a member join this order. | |||
| ==History & Relationships== | |||
| Beshaba is the twin of ], are sworn enemies as well as 'sisters', much like ] and ]. | |||
| Beshaba came into being when the deity ] split during the ] (a separate disaster relating to the machinations of ]). Tyche was infected with a taint of the dark god ], 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. | |||
| 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 with her lustful passions. She has rejected advances from ], and other hopefuls. Mortals who perceive the Maid of Misfortune are often destroyed by their lust or driven to maddened loyalty. | |||
| Beshaba's aim in life, is to desiccate and disintegrate her antithesis, "Lady Luck". She also delights in cursing others; for example, she causes seafarers to lose their navigational instincts. She has no allies. ], who was Tyche's mate, fears and abhors Beshaba, but has roused himself to seek the reunification of her with Tymora. | |||
| * In Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, a mob in the Government District of Athkatla is preparing to burn Viconia, a runaway drow elf, as a sacrifice to Beshaba. This is most likely due to the mob wanting to dissaude the misfortune of a drow invasion on the city (The mob does not know Viconia has no ties to her people anymore, although it's unlikely they care either). | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * '''' - Information on Agathos Daimon | |||
| * | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{No footnotes|date=December 2011}} | |||
| {{reflist}} | |||
| {{D&D deities}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
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