Zinzerena

Zinzerena was the drow goddess of chaos and assassins. She lost her portfolio to Lolth after being killed during the Time of Troubles, but managed to return as the drow goddess of lies, assassins, and illusion after the Second Sundering.

Description
Zinzerena appeared as a cloaked and masked drow rogue in height.

Personality
Reports of Zinzerena's character varied over time between true malevolence, mere amorality, or some combination of the two. While she did teach her followers the value of being cruel, she was an advocate of survival by any means necessary.

Powers
As a mortal, Zinzerena was said to be an illusionist and assassin of unmatched skill, and as a deity was still adept in the arts of illusion and roguery, moving with astounding agility.

Possessions
Zinzerena possessed an enchanted shortsword magically imbued with a paralyzing venom, the level of enchantment, strength of the poison, and its duration (between 5-25 minutes) randomly fluctuating every minute. She also owned a cloak with powers of protection and displacement, which similarly varied in potency. Her black-handled crop, which she used to stun her victims, was a potent artifact with the powers of a wand of wonder.

Relationships
Zinzerena was a master deceiver in the mythology in the drow, with no member of the pantheon totally immune to her duplicity. Even Lolth, despite being otherwise impervious to her manipulation, was sometimes tricked when she shifted the blame for her deeds onto others.

Zinzerena's sponsor to divinity was Lolth's consort Keptolo, who Zinzerena deceived and used as a tool in many stories regarding the Dark Seldarine. The Eager Consort hated Zinzerena for stealing a fraction of his power in a ruse and remained her bitter enemy, with her being the only drow deity he openly despised.

History
Zinzerena was born on a world other than Toril. Her mother hid her from the priestesses of Lolth by faking her death when she showed a natural aptitude for illusions. She taught herself magic over several decades after acquiring several spellbooks and settled into the life of an assassin. She proved to be an exemplary assassin and gained a great reputation over many centuries, as she was never caught and her victims never survived.

Stories told of her exploits caused many drow to see her as a hero. The Oerthan deity Keptolo sponsored Zinzerena's apotheosis, after which she stole a fraction of her benefactor's power, earning his enmity. Pursued by several members of the drow pantheon for her activities, Zinzerena came to the city of Menzoberranzan on Toril, where, in the wake of the Time of Troubles of 1358 DR, Lolth found and slew her, subsuming Zinzerena as one of her aspects in order to attract the worship of drow who would otherwise rebel against her and to see if the act would increase her own divine power. Post Second Sundering, Zinerena managed to return and gain back the portfolio of assassination, lies, and illusion.

Rumors & Legends
Tales of Zinzerena's exploits were many, and often tailored so that the events occurred in the locality where the tale was being told.

One tale told of how she obtained her magical cloak and sword. While contracted to assassinate a beholder, it was attacked by a slaad. She waited until the battle between them was over and the slaad defeated before killing the weakened beholder and taking the sword and cloak that the slaad had brought with it to the fight.

A second, more famous tale, presented Zinzerena as an entity much older than she actually was. Having been contracted to murder the matron of a drow house by the matron's younger sister, she studied her target for days before making her move. Once she had infiltrated the house, she was betrayed by her employer who, with her sister, wished to start their own guild of assassins but felt that they had to destroy their most powerful competition first. Once she had been torn apart by web golems, her remains mysteriously disappeared. The tale said that the day after this event, drow discovered their magical abilities of darkness and faerie fire.

Interpretations of the legends suggested that Malyk and Zinzerena were either lovers or siblings.