Shar

Shar was the Faerûnian goddess of darkness and night, the malevolent twin counterpart to the goddess of the moon, Selûne. She was also the creator of the Shadow Weave, a dark counterpart and attack upon the Weave of Mystryl and her successors, before both of the Weaves fell into ruin during the Spellplague. The domain of The Mistress of the Night was not only that of dark places, including caverns, dungeons, and the Underdark, but of deeds done under darkness, of secrets, loss, hidden pain, and the ability to forget.

"Blessed Nightsinger, witness our adoration. See how we serve you, only you. We have emptied our hearts of falsehoods. We have vanquished your foes. In darkness, we see your truth. Embrace us, your loyal warriors. Cloak us in your shadow. Guide us to your victory. Shar's will shall be done. As sure as night will fall."

- Shadowheart's prayer to Shar

Description
Shar was described as a tall, beautiful humanoid with dark black hair. When visiting mortals in dreams, her dark hair would move and swirl regardless of gravity or outside forces, such as wind.

Personality
The very existence of Shar was paradoxical; the Nightbringer was brought into existence by the creation of Realmspace, but was the living embodiment of the void, the perfect nothing that existed before she was born. The emptiness that she originally reflected had itself been erased at the start of time, and she longed to return to the ancient calm of nonexistence. By her very nature, Shar was defined by loss, the foolishness of hope, and the basic principle that life was a joke.

The depths of Shar's evil were too extreme to be described by words. She was deeply twisted and perverse, a being of ceaseless, petty hate and envy. She plotted from the shadows to undermine all creation, reveling in the hidden and never to be revealed. Though she was not chaotic herself, like her sister was, Shar nonetheless sought to destroy all order. Even her own devoted worshipers were simply pawns in her overarching scheme against everything there ever was and ever would be.

"Dahl told me once you worship Shar when grief overtakes you. You give her a little honor so that she eases the sadness through your life. That the evil of Shar is that she'll try to pull you down into that darkness, to make you stay."

- Farideh.

Although Shar purported to be a healer, soothing the grief-stricken by letting them forget their woes, she was in truth a sadist, and enjoyed inflicting the pain of loss on her worshipers. Her alleged help was not release from that pain, but numbness to it, the acceptance of it as normal and the removal of any expectation otherwise. The Lady of Loss did not truly believe in healing grief, not even her own, but in harnessing it, in nurturing spite, nursing indignity, and reinforcing regret until minor slights, at least in her mind, become transgressions worthy of bitter vengeance.

Powers
Among her array of twisted powers was the ability to see everything that lay or happened in the dark.

Divine realm
Shar's realm was originally on the Plane of Shadow and was a tower that had no obvious entrances called the Tower of Loss. She would trap those who enjoyed their freedom inside, savoring their despair at their loss, though she would allow petitioners and visiting worshipers to freely come and go (perhaps to further torture the trapped ones).

When she created the Shadowfell, Shar abandoned the Tower of Loss and created a new realm in the Astral Sea, larger than any of the others there. Among the dark scenery, with its black sand and shadowy natural features, lay the Towers of Night. Her new abode, a more palatial one than her old home, was built atop the tallest mountain of this realm. Access to the Shadowfell was easy from here and she shared the realm with Talona, Sseth, and Zehir.

Relationships
The creation of the Shadow Weave made Shar the eternal enemy of the goddess of magic, Mystra. This resulted in the brewing of a terrible war between these two powerful deities. This fight escalated shortly before the Second Sundering, when Shar sought to usurp the Weave, and thus become the new Goddess of Magic.

By her very nature, however, Shar was opposed to powers of light, the unsecretive Shaundakul, and her own sister, Selûne. Her only frequent ally was Talona.

"Shar won't bother us here. She's far too busy writing poetry and crying about how much people prefer her sister."

- A hag insulting Shar

Shar enjoyed a working relationship with Vhaeraun. Vhaeraun was the drow patron of shadow magic and Shar was the owner of the Shadow Weave. They worked together in projects that concerned this magic, like the School of the Shadow Weave, which had followers of both Vhaeraun and Shar among them. When Vhaeraun died, Shar was also one of the prime choices to whom his followers might convert.

Those who believed in the Dark Moon heresy believed that Shar and Selûne were two faces of the same goddess.

Worshipers


The clergy of Shar were a secretive organization that pursued subversive tactics rather than direct confrontation with its rivals. In many cities where worshiping Shar is barred, these churches and temples are hidden due to their illegal nature. In addition to her clerics, Shar maintained an elite order of sorcerer monks who could tap Shar's Shadow Weave.

Among her worshipers were the Shadovar of Thultanthar, who fled into the Plane of Shadow before Karsus's Folly. Shar also held power over all who used the Shadow Weave.

Creation
According to one of the most ancient myths of the creation of the world and the heavens, after the universe and its crystal sphere were created by Lord Ao, there was naught but the primordial essence, the protoplasmic raw stuff of existence. Described as chaos and timeless nothingness, the sphere was filled with no more than dim misty shadows, neither light nor dark, for such things had not yet separated. (All that moved here were the shadevari, the thirteen lords of shadow, whose origin, whether from elsewhere or from the shadow itself, is unknown. ) In time, Shar coalesced from the primordial essence, alongside her twin sister, Selûne. The goddesses were beautiful, identical but polar opposites, raven-haired and silver-haired, one representing the dark, the other the light in the manner of yin and yang. Yet they were so close they saw themselves as one being, known later as the Two-Faced Goddess or the Sisters-Who-Were-One. They complemented each other and brought order out of the chaos.

Together, they created from the cosmic ether Abeir-Toril and the other heavenly bodies and infused these worlds with life. In the process, they formed the goddess Chauntea (at that time, the embodiment of all matter in Realmspace, later only of the world of Abeir-Toril), whom they worked with to bless the worlds with life. This universe was darkened by the hair and welcoming embrace of Shar and illuminated by the cool radiant face of Selûne. However, there was no fire or heat on any of these bodies. Desiring to nurture life on the worlds that formed her body and limbs, Chauntea asked the Two-Faced Goddess for warmth. Then, for the first time, Shar and Selûne were divided, being of two minds on whether they should let there be more life on the worlds or not.

The War of Light and Darkness
The two goddesses then fought over the fate of their creations. From the residues of these struggles emerged the original deities of magic, war, disease, murder, death, and others. Seizing an advantage, Selûne reached out of the universe altogether and into a plane of fire and, though it burned her painfully, brought forth a fragment of ever-living flame. She ignited a heavenly body—the Sun—in order to give warmth to Chauntea.

This greatly enraged Shar; she renewed her assault on her injured sister and began to blot out all light and warmth in the universe, or the lights of Selûne, gravely weakening her. To protect the early life, Selûne tore out some of her own divine essence, though it nearly killed her, and hurled it at her sister. Selûne's essence tore through Shar, bonding with some of Shar's essence and pulling it loose. This magical energy combined to form the goddess Mystryl, the original goddess of magic. Although Mystryl was composed of both light and dark magic, she initially sided with Selûne, her first mother, giving her the upper hand. Mystryl balanced the conflict and mediated an uneasy truce. Shar was cast into her darkness for centuries, enabling light and warmth to bathe Abeir-Toril and the other worlds.

The battle left Selûne deeply wounded, and thereafter her power would wax and wane with the ages, though she would gain strength from alliances with her daughters and sons, as well as interloper deities from other planes. Meanwhile, Shar, who'd retained much of her might, once again grew strong, and was aided by the shadevari. Consumed with bitterness and loneliness, she vowed revenge and lurked in the darkness until her time to strike. The war between the sisters would go on forever more, but life struggled and flourished on the worlds, watched over by Chauntea.

The Dawn War
When the primordials began to attack the newly born worlds of Realmspace, Shar and Selûne set aside their differences temporarily and moved to defend those worlds against the threat. Other gods were born from the conflict or were summoned from other universes to aid the native gods in their struggles against the primordials and their servants. This conflict was later known as the Dawn War.

The Time of Troubles
During the Time of Troubles of the Year of Shadows, 1358 DR, magic went awry and the gods were forced to dwell in the mortal world. The avatar of Shar came to the city of Waterdeep in the guise of her sister Selûne. One evening, she called the faithful of Selûne to her. The next, she descended from the sky and onto the steps of the House of the Moon temple, greeted the faithful, promised her grace and protection, and encouraged them to proclaim her to be Selûne. Priests and common folk alike did so eagerly. When Luna (the true avatar of Selûne) and Vajra Valmeyjar approached, she called them unbelievers and roused the mob against Vajra while Luna confronted her. The false Selûne called her deluded, and used a sink spell to trap her, but Luna escaped with blink and flew. However, her prismatic spray failed and Shar used the Wand of the Four Moons (given to her by the temple priests) to knock Luna out. The temple guards took Luna prisoner, and Shar declared she would drive her mad before killing her.

Now posing as Selûne, Shar became mistress of the temple and enjoyed its hospitality, residing in high priestess Naneatha Suaril's own quarters. Meanwhile, her true identity unknown, Luna was also kept as a "special guest"—prisoner— for a dozen days. Shar had her completely under her control, using her stolen identity to confuse Luna and make her doubt herself. Shar broke her spirit and bent her to her will. Forgetting who she really was, Luna was reinvented as a faithful servant of "Selûne" and a member of the Lunatics, a fanatic Selûnite order.

Later, a party was held at Castle Waterdeep in honor of the supposed avatar of the goddess Selûne. It was attended by Lord Piergeiron, Khelben Arunsun, Tertius Wands, Mirt and Asper, and Fenn Estelmer and Kyriani, a friend of Luna who came to investigate the avatar. However, a trio of the Dark Army of the Night—ironically, a cult devoted to Shar—crashed the party and attempted to kidnap the avatar, believing she was Selûne. She freed herself and caught them with a bind spell before they were arrested by the City Guard. Afterward, Shar retired to the kitchen to compose herself and be alone, but Kyriani confronted her, declaring she would expose her and save Luna. Shar attacked Kyriani with minute meteors, lightning bolt, and magic missiles, while Kyriani fought back with her ring of telekinesis. Lord Piergeiron intervened and, though Kyriani was overcome, she'd revealed the avatar's reckless temper, sowing doubts among the nobility. Piergeiron ordered Kyriani arrested by the City Guard, but later escaped.

One night, Luna's friends Timoth Eyesbright and Onyx the Invincible infiltrated the temple and eavesdropped on the false avatar speaking with Naneatha and assuaging her doubts and concerns, before they were surprised by the Lunatics. Vajra and Kyriani came to their rescue, caught Luna thinking she was Shar, and unmasked her, shocked to find Luna. Luna continued to fight until Vajra tackled her and convinced her of the truth. Meanwhile, Naneatha also began to question the false Selûne, who soon revealed her murderous intent. Learning that Luna was truly Selûne and that the false avatar was in fact Shar, Naneatha defiantly shoved her off the temple balcony, falling over herself. However, both were saved by Shar's featherfall spell. Shar took out her rage on Naneatha, hurling a meteor swarm; Naneatha somehow diverted the spell, but not before both were knocked unconscious. Her near self-sacrifice bought time for Luna and her friends to escape. Armed with the Rod of Oblivion, Shar went ahead and destroyed Luna's inn, the Selûne's Smile, and ambushed the returning adventurers. Shar was determined to revenge herself on the heroes for ruining her scheme to break Selûne's spirit and to finally slay Selûne herself. Powerless, Luna fell victim to the rod. Kyriani pleaded with Shar to leave Luna alone, and hurled an ice storm at the goddess when she could not, but Shar deflected it with a wall of force. Kyriani valiantly held Shar off while Timoth, Vajra, and Onyx struggled to open the dimensional doorway to Luna's inner room, where her godly power was stored, and released Selûne's godly power to Luna. She transformed into the true avatar of Selûne and with her light blasted away Shar's darkness and Rod of Oblivion, reminding her of their unceasing battle and the balance they must uphold, a balance restored by her friends. Shar vanished, and Selûne became Luna once more.

Also during the Time of Troubles, Shar's power increased when she killed Ibrandul, though she lost the opportunity to also kill Sharess, whom she had been slowly corrupting.

The Godswar
Nevertheless, in the wake of the Godswar, Shar was revitalized in a way she hadn't been before and began actively subverting Selûne and the new goddess of magic Mystra. Shar eventually made allies of Bane and a patsy of Cyric in 1374 DR. Together, their followers attempted to conquer Myth Drannor while the Church of Shar attempted to wrest control of magic away from Mystra through various means.

Eleven years later, Mystra was dead at Cyric's hand and Shar combined the plane of Shadow with the Negative Energy Plane to create the Shadowfell, where she ruled over darkness ever since.

Shar's plots were defeated but she did absorb most of the divinity of her son Mask, but not before he managed to secret a portion of this power to his Chosen, Erevis Cale, using the Black Chalice. This portion was, however, absorbed not only by Erevis but also by Rivalen Tanthul and Drasek Riven.

Attack on Cormyr
Around the, the Shadovar were attempted to conquer the nearby kingdom of Cormyr. Shar's agents infiltrated even some noble ranks, such as the then-princess Raedra Obarskyr's husband Lindon Huntcrown, and her lady-in-waiting, Sulue Thundersword. The combined efforts of the War Wizards, Harpers, and Farideh lead to many an agent's capture or demise.

A Shadovar army led by Yder Tanthul laid siege to Arabel, and succeeded in relieving Wheloon - a prison city that was once cordoned off due to its many Shar worshippers. The same army marched on Suzail, rumoured to be accompanied by the fabled Black dragon Thauglorimorgorus. Murders and explosions rocked the city, enacted by the Shadovar looking to weaken the defenses and lull the morale. With the Shadovar at their doorstep, King Irvel Obarskyr mounted a charge, in which he would perish. The subsequent charge led by Raedra and her allies was highly successful, routing the Shadovar and cementing her popularity as the new Monarch.

Draining of Mythals
On the cusp of the Second Sundering, in the, Shar acted through her servants - the Netherese empire of Thultanthar and its vassal state, Sembia. She sought to usurp the Weave before the Tablets of Fate could be renewed, an act that would forever seal her as the new Goddess of Magic. She manifested herself before Telamont Tanthul, whose Shadovar agents spread across the land, hunting Chosens of all other gods, and draining locations where the Weave held strong.

This put her at odds with Elminster and his allies, who were likewise looking to strengthen the Weave. They came to a head when Elminster infiltrated Candlekeep, looking for instructions left by Khelben Arunsun for repairing the Weave. He discovered that several monks had been replaced by agents of the Shadovar led by the highly skilled Maerandor. By an error of judgement, Elminster helped Larloch drain the Mythal of Candlekeep. Even so, Shar's plans here were thus foiled, and all her agents at Candlekeep perished.

Meanwhile, the Shadovar assisted by mercenaries hired from Sembian coin were laying siege to Myth Drannor. The Elves therein were powerful, and assisted by their Mythal, their magical prowess was fearsome as well. But the deluge of mercenaries and Shadovar arcana slowly but surely wore them thin. Their defensive line was pushed back with each passing day. Another skilled agent of Telamont, Helgore Ulitarathulm, infiltrated the crypts below the city. He destroyed several Baelnorn, draining the tombs of magic before being slain by the Srinshee. The concerted efforts of the Chosen of Mystra and Elves of Myth Drannor mounted significant casualties onto the mercenaries and Shadovar, even if it were at the cost of the city.

Telamont brought the floating city of Thultanthar to Myth Drannor, and after a failed attempt on his life by a Thultanthan rebel, rallied several arcanists to collectively drain the Mythal of its power. Soon after, Larloch crippled their minds, and set to work to draining the Mythal himself. His attempt was foiled, when Elminster accepted that to preserve the Realm, this last remaining Mythal had to be sacrificed. As the Elves escaped via portals, the floating city was dragged off course by Elminster, and brought to crash upon the now ruins of once mighty Myth Drannor.

Shar attempted to intervene herself, but retreated when Mystra manifested to stop her. The aftermath of these events left Shar shorn of some of her greatest assets - Thultanthar, control over Sembia, most of the Tanthuls, and a large number of Shadovar.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Mistress of the Night &bull; Shadowrealm
 * The Council of Blades
 * Comics
 * "Selune Rising" &bull; "Dark of the Moon" &bull; "Lunatics" &bull; "Total Eclipse"
 * Card Games
 * Spellfire: Master the Magic
 * Spellfire: Master the Magic

Connections
Shar