Sharess

Sharess (pronounced SHAH-ress) is the deity of hedonism, festhalls and sensual fulfillment. Sharess is often depicted as a beautiful, voluptuous woman with the head of a cat (especially in Mulhorand). She has the individualistic and hedonistic personality of a feline and she is constantly grooming herself to ensure her appearance is always up to standards. Sharess is an innate flirt and loves toying around with beautiful mortals; once she has had her fill, she swiftly moves on to other sources of pleasure.

Church of Sharess
The Church of Sharess is of casual nature, and her clergy are responsible for the running of many festhalls found throughout large cities in Faerûn. These festhalls seek to indulge every pleasure imaginable. Privately owned festhalls usually employ at least one or two Sharessan clerics.

The Church of Sharess probably celebrate the most festivals out of all the faiths of Faerûn. These revels are known collectively as the Endless Revels of Life. Even daily events present a chance for Sharessan to revel; sometimes even the rising and setting of the sun. Their most beloved festival is the Midsummer's Eve festival, where the pursuit of pleasure has no boundary. Sharessan clerics pray for their spells at dusk.

Affiliated Orders
Sharess doesn't have any Orders as such but a group of werecats devoted to both her and Selûne and calling themselves the Eyes of the Evening hunt down Sharran cultists on nights of the full moon.

History
Sharess was once Bast, a Mulhorandi power who was the patroness of cats, and Anhur's lieutenant. During the Second Empire, she subsumed the portfolio of Felidae, a beast cult deity of felines, nomads, and sensual pleasure. Struck by wanderlust, Bast traveled across Faerûn leaving many cults in her wake. During these travels, she also subsumed the divinity of Zandilar the Dancer, a goddess of the Yuir elves, so that she gained the elvish goddess' portfolio of intense passionate love. After Myth Drannor fell, she began to experiment with the darker side of pleasure and fell under the sway of Shar. She began to become known as Sharess, but before she was completely subsumed by Shar, she was freed by Sune, during the Time of Troubles. Shar had tried to assassinate her as she had Ibrandul due to her reluctance to be completely dominated by the goddess of shadow, but Sune doused her with a chalice filled with waters from Arvandor's Evergold that restored Sharess' beauty and willpower, giving her the will and the edge to rebel against her mistress. Since then she has spent much of her time in Arvandor, frolicking and pursuing pleasure in all of its forms, despite the warnings of her deific allies and the offers made by Shar. Now she holds on tightly to her independence, fostering a wider worship while at the same time guarding herself from Shar and Loviatar.

Relationships
Sharess has restored alliances with Selûne, Sune, Milil, Hanali Celanil, and Lliira. She now opposes both Loviatar and Shar, who has never forgotten that Sharess escaped from her clutches. She also remembers her Mulhorandi roots, and opposes the evil Set along with the other good-aligned gods of that nation. She has a close relationship with Nobanion, who shares her interest in felines, though Sharess does as much to annoy him as she does to entice him. She also has a romantic relationship with Anhur, though their opinion of each other varies wildly from absolute love to indifference depending on how many fights that they have.