Beshaba
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| Beshaba the Deceiver | |
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| Domains | Hate, lies, treachery, Spies, Saboteurs, Scorned lovers, Nightmares, Feuds, Volcanoes, Poisonous Vapors. |
| Subsidiaries: |
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| Additional Symbols | Stylized torn stitches, broken circle |
| Colors or Aesthetics | Yellowish Green and black |
Basic Overview
Beshaba is the patron goddess of hate, lies, and treachery. Further, she is seen as the goddess who inspires treacherous people and their actions, or the darkly malevolent reactions people take in response to treachery and the proliferation and perpetuation of violence and hatred. In the earliest days of the Thracian Empire she was sacrificed to in an effort to keep her appeased, but with the turning away from blood sacrifice of Thracian religion she fell entirely out of favor and is at best one who is routinely cursed by other cults. Beyond the borders, however, she is often very popular with those who see her in a different light. Goblins in particular see her story as an inspiration to make the most of their strengths and let no one tread on them without consequences. When the tales of this Goddess were heard by peoples beyond the borders of the Empire, there were many such peoples who embraced her as a powerful sort of war goddess worthy of their highest respect. Beshaba additionally has a bit of nature in her purview, particularly volcanoes and the fumes and gasses that arise from volcanically active places. This arises from the story of her upbringing, and also from the way volcanic eruptions are seen as particularly spiteful and less random than other sorts of natural disaster. The gaseous effluvia of volcanic areas is seen as her poisonous whispering into the ears of the other gods, seeking their complicity in her schemes.
Mythology
Beshaba was born of the seduction of Jadira by lusty Thorin. After her birth, Jadira cast her aside out of anger, having no love for the child and wishing to keep her provenance a secret so that none would know that the lady of seduction had herself been conquered at her own game. Beshaba, being a Goddess, was not a vulnerable infant but a true Power in her own right from birth, and so this casting aside was an act of harshness but not one of neglect, from Jadira's point of view. Beshaba was raised by impish creatures of fire and cunning in the heart of a volcano, where she brewed her discontent to a fiery passion, all her days consumed by the simple indulgence of her hatreds. She did not hold Jadira singularly responsible for her solitude, but instead felt that the world was such a place that deserved to be exploited and abused, and found such abuse deeply satisfying. She indulged her hatreds as they gave her great power, and recruited to herself like-minded others who would help her with her scheming, spying, and scorn. Belleon, Demigod of discord, she took as a lover and sends forth to carry out the whisperings that create fertile ground for chaos to take root. Aita, Demigoddess of ruin she also took as lover, and together they feast upon destruction and celebrate accomplishments. She also undertook to seduce and capture the heart of Beryl, as part of a larger scheme, and bore him the child Sordos, her greatest follower, who she raised with the whispers in his ear to make him a force of great power and malevolence. She has one other child, Invida, product of her union with either Aita or Belleon or both, who is Demigoddess of Envy. Second child and lesser than Sordos, less beloved, less cared for, less indulged, she has been steeped in envy for all of her existence and is wielded as a blade by her heartless mother for that proclivity.
An ancient king of the city called Epirus was a tyrant and despot and much despised by his people. Many had tried to overpower him, claim the throne from him, or even assassinate him with no success. He was too powerful and aware, and kept them in a brutal thrall with the help of his loyal soldiers. A noble of his court named Juranthanes was aware of this troubling state of affairs but felt powerless to do anything about it, when he was beset by a series of frightening nightmares showing him a terrible war that the king would lose because of the hatred of his people who would welcome a conqueror. He resolved to act, and wished for guidance. Beshaba, who had sent Juranthanes the nightmares, came to him in the night and told him the only way to save his kingdom from conquest was to slay the king and take power for himself. "But so many have tried and failed!" he protested, but Beshaba soothed him with praise for his wisdom and leadership and assurances that her plan would help him succeed. She would disguise herself as a white doe and appear before the walls of the city, then flee into the forest, the king would be sure to insist on a hunt, and she would lead him into a deep thicket where Juranthanes would leap from a branch of a tree, knock him from his horse, and smash his head with a rock. Juranthanes would then escape back to the city and be waiting when word of the king dead of a fall from his mount returned later in the day, whereupon he could seize control. It sounded perfect, and Juranthanes agreed for the sake of his city to do this deceitful thing. Beshaba demanded of him a price for her aid: he must tear down the temple of Cyra in his city, and replace it with one to her. "But who are you, Goddess?" he asked, and she told him she was to be honored as a faceless figure of mystery and power. He agreed to this also. Everything went according to plan on the next day. The white doe appeared, the king demanded a hunt, was led into the thicket where Juranthanes awaited him and was duly knocked from his horse and bashed on the head with a rock. Juranthanes hastened back to the city to await word of the hunt, but Beshaba crept from hiding after he had gone and gave just a touch of godly healing to the fallen king, enough to wake him. She bargained with the dying man, saying she could save his life, if only he would swear to change his ways and become a just and righteous ruler of his people. The king swore vehemently to be the best king his people had ever known, and she gave him a drink from a vial of healing waters that restored him somewhat to health. The king was found by his men and carried back to the city on a litter. Juranthanes was astonished to see the king alive on his litter, and cried aloud how he had sworn to destroy the temple of Cyra, how could the nameless goddess of have betrayed him? The king had him seized and tormented before a gruesome death, but remembered his promise to the nameless savior in the woods. He set about a being a kinder king, less harsh with his people, less demanding of his soldiers, less merciless with lawbreakers, but he never fully recovered his health. He was plagued with headaches that would lay him low for days on end, and his formerly terrified loyal court became restless and fractious. When the invasion came there was no strong leader, the city was sacked, burned, and looted. The Temple of Cyra was destroyed in the battle and all her priestesses came to a terrible end at the hands of the invaders. The few survivors remembered Juranthanes's cry and understood that he had foreseen the destruction of the temple of Cyra at the will of a nameless goddess. They built a temple to this nameless goddess, a shadowy figure, hooded and unseen, and prayed for her protection. Beshaba, having got what she wanted, guarded the ruin jealously, but the tragedy she had wrought left such a stain on the place that while those few who dwelt their stayed under her protection, it was never rebuilt. Epirus faded into memory, and the other gods mocked Beshaba's hollow victory.
Worship
Simple Devotions
Those who worship Beshaba openly are almost exclusively outside settled lands where the worship of Beshaba would be considered blasphemous or even criminal. Those who worship her might decorate themselves in subtle tribute, as with a mark that has the appearance of clumsy stitches on the arms, or in some cases with actual scars of stitches undertaken in self-mutilation for just such a purpose. There is also the symbol of the broken circle, which may appear as tattoo or brand. These are in addition to her most commonly perceived symbol of the broken dagger, and any of these may be left in place to indicate to other worshippers that potential allies are nearby. Or rivals. As far as ordinary devotions, in civilized lands and in secret it is hard to spread a uniform pattern of well-recognized worship, but aspects of the traditional goblin worship do filter back in. Goblins who worship Beshaba extend sacrifices for her blessing, but are not in the school of "first and best" for sacrifice. They would sacrifice intestines and stomachs, particularly, as an emblem for the place where hate resides, preferably the stomach or intestines of a thinking enemy thrown red into the fire, but acceptable from a food animal as well because making do is what goblins do. So, in settled lands a discreet worshiper might quietly sacrifice parts of the offal of their food to her in tribute. An additional Goblin practice is the gathering of ears as trophies, which is derived from Beshaba worship. Goblins often believe that their pointed ears are a gift of Beshaba to make them sharper at picking up on deceit, so by defeating a fellow goblin and taking his or her ear, the victor declares that the gift was insufficient, and each collection of ears makes the victor more essentially gifted. Settled versions of this take the form of tallying victories in other more subtle ways, marking tallies on the body or by collections of another sort. More benign aspects of Beshaba worship include imbibing special concoctions (or huffing volcano gasses) to gather strength from battling nightmarish visions, placing a sharpened nail in such a way that it protrudes slightly from the bottom edge of doorways to murder fairy spies, and spreading malicious gossip. There are special Beshaban ceremonies invoked for plans relating to specific kinds of betrayal and to get even for the same. Before breaking a vow of confidence, a Beshaban would is likely to cross their fingers while undertaking the vow - a practice so time-worn it is employed by children everywhere in the Thracian world, by now. Before betraying a friend or ally unto their anticipated death, a Beshaban is likely to bury the wing of a dead bird (or an emblem thereof) and a broken stick or bone in the same shallow hole to signify the death of the allegiance. A betrayed lover might seek out a Beshaban to hold a kind of séance conducted around a fire wherein the diligent worshipper asks Beshaba to send her fiery (and ill-defined) fiends to burn the bowels and destroy the happiness of the transgressor. To avoid being targeted by exactly this situation, a good Beshaban who knows they have wronged someone likely to respond thusly will eat certain foods, wear amulets, and enact certain childish-seeming rituals to ward off the curses. Hemorrhoids are perceived generally amongst Beshaba worshippers to be evidence that the goddess has punished someone who not only behaved deceitfully but also failed to kill the victim and wasn't good enough at avoiding the Goddess's curses.
Formal Orders
There are not formal priesthoods or temples to Beshaba in the lands of the former Thracian Empire, but she does receive some amount of formalized worship in the lands of Ruslav and Osterland, where a highly modified amalgam of imported and local beliefs has resulted in a variation on Beshaba worship. For more information, see Ruslav and Osterland.
Presence in Alba
Stuff
