Shar
Type: Deity — the Lady of Loss, the Mistress of the Night; neutral evil; the Forgotten Realms goddess of dark, of secrets, of metaphorical darkness, of pain-as-strength Status (latest): Off-screen but architecturally present in the campaign world as of session 035; her temple is at the bottom of The Dread Ring in the Neverwinter Wood First Reference: Session 035
In This Campaign
Shar is the evil twin of Selûne — goddess of moonlight and silver light. They were among the older gods of this world's mythology, more primordial, part of the original creation. Their war seeded the campaign's light-and-dark axis under the surface of the Sword Coast pantheon. (Per Greg's on-screen lore exposition in session 035.)
Shar embodies darkness, but also metaphorical darkness — despair, pain, loss, emotional turmoil, the secret kept too long. She is not a goddess of physical pain alone. Her doctrine is strength through suffering — the only way to brave through pain is to become strong; you gain power by suffering and by causing suffering. (Greg's table-side framing: "Think of it like the Sith, kind of. Or the Navy Seal mentality — the only way to get tough is by absolute suffering, and only the strong make it through.")
She is portrayed in the Forgotten Realms canon as darkly beautiful, shrouded in black attire.
She stands in direct opposition to Helm — Helm the Vigilant One, the Watcher, lawful neutral protector; Shar the Mistress of the Night, neutral evil mistress of secrets. Their opposition represents the struggle between light and dark on the Faerûnian Pantheon's foundation.
What the Party Knows (as of λ-035)
- Existence: Yes. Everyone in the world knows of Shar — the way everyone knows of Selûne, Helm, or The Raven Queen.
- Doctrinal core: Loss. Suffering. Strength. The secret kept. Most members of the party can articulate the broad strokes without rolling.
- A temple location: Yes. Beneath the Dread Ring in the Neverwinter Wood — Sharran sites are normally hidden, but this one is now known to Ubys via the Raven Queen and to Ravi via the Queen's network. The temple's location is not widely known outside the Raven-Queen-aligned and Sharran-clergy circles.