#sharess

Oh gods (pun intended) this has taken me so incredibly long to get to, many thanks for the patience to everyone who tagged me: @cinder-rellish181, @litsenn, @spillingteanotpermitted, @elceewunjo, and @burnt-by-marigolds!

I wanted to put some good thought into this and stretches of time that allow for good thought have been sparse enough I've been using most of my remaining brain cells to work on fics.

Open tags for this because I'm sure everyone who has wanted to participate has already, but if you'll allow me to be a greedy little gremlin I'd esp. love to hear thoughts on the topic from @et-augury (although I know you covered this a bit in one of the last chapters I read of your fic) and @lilhumanoid, I feel like your OCs will have some intriguing angst thoughts.

General thoughts on the gods

Miss Fortune doesn't start out with affiliations to any deities; similarly to Astarion, they tried a few when they were younger to try to get them out of their shitty situation at the brothel and no one answered so they took on an attitude of "okay, well fuck you too, then."

Miss Fortune is an irreverent person; it's rare for them to automatically respect someone. (They'll sweet talk and charm strangers but that is not even remotely the same as respecting them). After all, nobody respected them, nobody helped them. (Edit: I cannot slander my good NPC friend Haverford Gist here, he respected and helped them. But in generalll.) They've seen and serviced so many self-important people - beloved public figures, heroic adventurers, nobles, religious leaders, etc. - who were terrible people, wholly undeserving of the heaps of praise they amassed. Gods don't get a pass simply because of their divinity. You want respect? Earn it.

Gods who merit a special callout

Mystra/Shar/Vlaakith: Big middle fingers all around for their personal involvement with making three of their friends miserable. Miss Fortune risked Lae'zel's ire refusing to bow to Vlaakith, nearly got themselves smote by Shar for impertinence in the Gauntlet, and would for sure have choice words for Mystra if they ever met her. Seeing their friends suffer because of their gods only solidified Miss Fortune's views on gods in general.

Sharess: What a letdown. There was a shrine to Sharess in their brothel and at the beginning of their career they would often leave offerings or pray to her, at first beseeching her to protect them from the abusive customers and keep them safe from STIs, and eventually to let them escape. She never answered, and they quickly gave up.

Bane: Of the Dead Three, Bane is by far the most repugnant to Miss Fortune as they vehemently oppose tyranny and slavery. I could see them continuing to be a thorn in this cult's side post-adventure.

Bhaal: Facing off against Bhaalists was harrowing since they are such skilled, sneaky fighters, but Bhaal and his cult as a concept are kind of laughable to Miss Fortune. Murder for murder's sake, bathing in blood and ritual cannibalism? Groooss. Dirty. Uncouth. HARD pass. Also a bit of a self-defeating mission, in their opinion; if they actually take themselves completely seriously they would in theory eventually run out of people to murder. (Whether they're correct or not is irrelevant, this is the conclusion they've come to and they're not gonna reflect on it further.)

Myrkul: Another situation where having to fight Ketheric in the form of Myrkul's avatar was harrowing and scary af, but Myrkul as a concept was kind of laughable. Amassing power by people's fear of death? Oh, honey, Miss Fortune has stared down death countless times, they're old friends by this point. And while they finally want to live after finding friends, love, and purpose, outside of being in an active panic attack death as a concept doesn't scare them.

Tymora: Now here's a goddess Miss Fortune can sort of get behind! Lady Luck, sharing their nickname (no, darlings, it's not the other way around 😉) is fun and it doesn't take much dedication to interact with her. Miss Fortune doesn't balk at the idea of good luck as a deity because whether it's divine or not, their good luck and survival speaks for itself so it doesn't matter if she directly answers or not; surviving is good enough of a response for them.

I imagine their relationship kicking off because so many people who were clearly not her followers kept "invoking her name" by calling MF Lady Luck that her curiosity was piqued, like "let me have a look at this Lady Luck MFer...oh! Oh they're chaotic and reckless and frequently getting into situations, I kind of love them! I will adopt this little mortal as a pet, sure." She just spoke for MF in my most recent chapter to prevent Shar from smiting them, but MF didn't make the connection just yet. They will eventually :)

drawing your favorite hottie

Sharess and Eilistraee the front seat, Milli in the back seat, Illmater stuck in the trunk.

SHARESS IS THE SEX GODDESS

Stop mixing them up

Edit: I should probably clarify with more details.

Sune

Sune is a goddess of love, which can include sex. The issue is people are mistakenly thinking she focuses on the sex side of love, when typically she focuses on the emotional side more. She even has some doctrine relating to platonic love, in addition to romantic love. Sunite clerics are supposed to make FRIENDS with the lonely as part of their quest to spread love

Her dogma is as follows

Beauty is more than skin deep. It issues from the core of one’s being and reveals one’s true face to the world, fair or foul. Believe in romance, as true love will win over all. Follow your heart to your true destination. Love none more than yourself except Sune, and lose yourself in love of the Lady Firehair. Perform a loving act each day, and seek to awaken love in others. Respond to love at least once a day. Encourage beauty wherever you find it. Acquire beautiful items of all sorts, and encourage, sponsor, and protect those who create them. Keep your own body as comely as possible and as attractively displayed as situations warrant. Let hairstyle and clothing best suit your personal appearance, striving to stir and delight others who look upon you. Moreover, hide not away, but always seek to present yourself to those around you in a pleasing variety of garbs and activities so as to move them with love and desire. Love those who respond to your appearance, and let warm friendship and admiration flower where love cannot or dares not.

Her doctrine is mostly about following your heart. If your heart says have a sex with some people you love, THEN you go for it. If not, then you don't go for it.

Sharess

SHARESS is the one who focuses on all manner of pleasure, particularly (but not exclusively) sexual pleasure. Her doctrine is as follows

Life is to be lived to its fullest, in decadent sensual fulfillment of yourselves and others. That which is good is pleasurable and that which is pleasurable is good. Pleasure is to be sought out at every opportunity and life is to be lived as one endless revel. Spread the bounty of Sharess so that all may join in the endless revel of life and bring joy to all those in pain. Infinite experiences await those who would explore, so try the new as well as savoring the old.

Sharess is more focused on the "pleasure" side of things than Sune. Followers of Sharess focus on spreading pleasures of the senses to ease suffering in the world, but focus much less on the emotional side than Sune. Also, she's a cat lady. As in in addition to her having cats, she also is sometimes Bast from the Egyptian Pantheon.

...and perhaps the fragment of remaining goodness from both evil goddesses, with all three being possibly originally the same entity? (At least in late 1st and early 2nd edition AD&D lore)

Depictions (from left to right) of Shar, Sharess and Lolth, from 2003's Faiths and Pantheons

It might be a bit obscure, but rather than Bast merging with/absorbing the goddesses Felidae and Zandilar the Dancer; Sharess was originally intended to be a Chaotic Good aspect of Shar, as seen in her very first description in the original 1987 "Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting": "Sharess, a CG aspect of Shar worshipped in Calimshan, Waterdeep, and by idle rich or decadents all over the Realms. Sharess is a goddess of lust, free love, and sensual fulfillment, and is worshipped in prolonged fests with scented baths, music, good food, dancing, and other gratifications."

This when asking one of the writers/editors, Matt Sernett about this, he confirmed that Sharess was actually meant to be a benevolent aspect of Shar, and this not being a misdirection as presented later in lore.

This was basically repeated in 1988's "Empires of the Sands", as well as in the 1993 2nd edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, though the latter further suggesting Sharess' benevolent nature might be an act, or that Sharess became a separate being from Shar by this point: "The true nature and identity of Sharess is unrevealed. She may he a direct part of the evil Shar, preparing her following for despair and loss. Or she may be a new thing entirely: a goddess of excess."

This starts to become even more interesting with 1991's "Drow of the Underdark", in the section with the short dictionary of Drow language. There "valsharess" is explained as meaning "Queen", and "Quarvalsharess" "(the) Goddess" in Drow language, specifically and only meaning Lolth (other goddesses are are written as quar'valsharess, and not starting with a capital letter).

The same sourcebook, details the syncretic She-Spider cult - who seemingly consider Lolth and Shar to be the same goddess. The cult was opposed by both goddesses, which is curious, seeing Shar's eagerness to subsume other deities. Though Lolth did latter possibly send her priestess (Malabeth Tr'rudena) to infiltrate the cult.

A card from TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Trading Cards, depicting Malabeth.

This is a proof (along with the mention Shar worship is relatively popular among Drow), of such syncretic cults between the two goddesses existing, as well as one of the hints Shar and Lolth are or were to a degree aspects of each other. Similarly how Sehanine Moonbow in both 2nd edition and 4th edition, was stated to be aspect of Shar's sister, Selûne, most notably first in the above mentioned 2nd edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting: "Sehanine: Sehanine is an intermediate power among the elves of the Realms, for they refer to her as an elven version of Selûne, the mortal goddess of the moon."

Indeed, Sharess herself might had been a hint at the connection between Lolth and Shar.

There appeared more hints overtime, like similar antagonism between the 2 pairs, Shar and Lolth becoming both connected to the New Moon, and even more in late 3.5 edition and 4th edition/Nerath lore. For example, it was stated at the very end of 3.5th edition that the god Mask is Shar's son, mirroring Vhaeraun being the son of Lolth. The two gods are very similar, both being gods of thievery connected to shadows, as well as Vhaeraun being called the "Masked Lord", "Masked Mage", "Masked God of the Night". Furthermore, both gods share near identical titles - Vhaeraun being called the "Lord of Shadow" and "Shadow Lord"; Mask being known as the "Lord of Shadows" and "Shadowlord". Both having a similar to near identical symbols. With there being theories, and hints before this reveal, Mask and Vhaeraun might be connected, maybe even aspects of each other, Mask even kinda hinting in one novel (1998's "Crucible: The Trial of Cyric the Mad" by Troy Denning) he is the same as Vhaeraun.

Symbols of Vhaeraun (left, from 1998's "Demihuman Deities") and Mask (right, from 1996's "Faiths and Avatars")

Pictures of Vhaeraun battling his son, Selvetarm (left, from 2004's "Player's Guide to Faerun"), and of Mask (right, from 2003's "Faiths and Pantheons") On Nerath, in turn Lolth and Sehanine are described as sisters, like Shar and Selûne are. So the (at least initial) opposition to the She-Spider cult from both, being possibly from not wanting for their connection to be revealed; or alternately be merged back by the power of belief.

Though to be clear, this could work either way if Shar and Lolth are or were aspects of each other, or not. As Sharess, in her original lore, possibly sprung into existence from the worship of the syncreticism of Shar and Lolth, that arose among drow, and then spread to other races/species, possibly originally named "Quarvalsharess"; before the name became shortened/corrupted among non-drow into just "Sharess". Or even started out named already Sharess among even drow, shortening from Quarvalsharess, to emphasize the "Shar" part.

It's probable Shar at least had more control over the Sharess aspect than Lolth (seeing Sharess was directly stated to be connected to her), and possibly the new goddess, in part absorbing or mirroring whatever benevolent aspects the two goddesses had, became an independent being. This quite probably being at least in part also caused by "Time of Troubles", when gods were forced into singular avatars, this event would have cut-off Sharess from both Shar and Lolth. Especially seeing the possibility of Sharess being an independent entity, was first mentioned not long after the Time of Troubles (ie when 2nd edition Forgotten Realms setting was set).

Depiction of Sharess, from 1995's Polyhedron #109

Soon though, Sharess was given a different origin (first in 1995's “Forgotten Deities: Sharess” in Polyhedron #109, then further developed with some changes in 1997's "Powers and Pantheons" and 1998's "Demihuman Deities") , if still being connected to Shar, and (more indirectly) to drow, and being an amalgamation of aspects of multiple goddesses (but different ones); it's still though an interesting possibility/alternate origin for home campaigns.

Mom, I saw a man so beautiful I started crying.

.

.

.

My boy Casmeros! A cleric in love with his goddess, a sensationalist who favors hedonistic pleasure, a man with big dreams--all packed into a 5'4 body.

.

.

.