SHARESS
Cleric Alignments: CG, CN, NG

SHARESS, The Dancing Lady, Mother of Cats (Faerunian Demigod)

Symbol: Feminine Lips
Home Plane: Brightwater
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Portfolio: Hedonism, sensual fulfillment, festhalls, cats
Worshipers: Bards, Hedonists, sensualists
Cleric Alignments: CG, CN, NG
Domains: Chaos, Charm, Good, Travel, Trickery, Lust

Favorite Weapon: A great cat's paw (claw bracer)

haress (shah-ress) is a radiantly beutiful goddess, rivaled only by Sune. Her voice is said to be a throaty purr and to give the listener the feeling he or she is being brushed by the softest fur or velvet when she speaks. She is a fickle, flighty deity, who prevents anyone from getting too close to her true spirit. She has the willful independence and pleasure-seeking nature common to felines and is constantly preening and grooming to maintain her appearance. She is often depicted (especially in Mulhorand, where she is known as Bast) as a voluptuous human female with the head of a cat. Sharess enjoys toying with beautiful mortals and she cannot resist casually flirting with anyone she encounters. However, when her ardor cools and her passion is sated, Sharess is easily distracted and quick to move on to new pleasures. She dislikes snakes intensely. The church of Sharess is casually organized, although its members often work and play together.

The clergy of Sharess often run festhalls in large cities or directly serve decadent rulers. These festhalls cater to all the senses and include fantastic feasts, heavenly baths and massages, and every other pleasure imaginable. Wealthy festhalls often employ one or two mid-level Sharessan, and some Sharessan wander the countryside with Sharess's blessing seeking new pleasing sensations to add to their repertoire.

Clerics of Sharess pray for their spells at dusk, when the lure of the night first beckons. The church of Sharess celebrates more festivals than possibly any other faith in Faerun. They are known collectively as the Endless Revel of Life. The daily rising and setting of the sun, the yearly passage of seasons, the appearance of a full moon, or nearly any other event is cause for a celebration and wild revel to which the general populace is always invited. Each such festival has several outlandish titles and new festivals are added all the time as old ones are forgotten. Without comparison, however, Midsummer's Eve is the time of greatest rejoicing among Sharess's faithful and an occasion for the most extreme pursuits of boundless pleasure. Many clerics multiclass as bards.

HISTORY/RELATIONSHIPS: Bast was a Mulhorandi deity who served as patroness of cats and Anhur's lieutenant in the eternal struggle against Set. At the height of Mulhorand's second empire, when many beast cults were popular, Bast subsumed the portfolio of Felidae, a beast cult deity of felines, sensual pleasures, and nomads. Struck by wanderlust, Bast traveled across Faerun, leaving numerous cults in her wake, many of which knew her as Sharess. Sharess eventually began to experiment with the darker side of pleasure and fell under the sway of Shar. She would have undoubtedly been wholly subsumed by the Dark Goddess if Sune had not freed her during the Time of Troubles. Since that time, Sharess has restored her ties of friendship with Anhur, Hanali Celanil, Liira, Milil, Nobanion, Selune, and Sune. She now works to oppose the evil of Set, Shar, and Loviatar, and Shar has never forgotten that Sharess escaped her clutches.

DOGMA: 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.