Shekinester

Shekinester was the greater goddess of the nagas, a deity whose many personas paralleled the concept she represented: multiplicity of being. The Naga Queen embodied the process of "magical life", her many aspects each representing a stage of life from childhood to old age. She also embodied transcendence, each aspect acting in the service of wisdom; Shekinester was wisdom's seeker, its sharer, its keeper, its creator, and ultimately wisdom itself.

Description
The appearance of the Naga Queen's avatar depended on what aspect of her being was being manifested, though they were usually about in length.

The Seeker appeared as a child-like naga. The Empowerer appeared as a young and attractive female water naga, but could also appear ugly, with pitted skin and limp, greasy hair. The Preserver appeared as a middle-aged guardian naga with beautiful features. The Acquirer appeared as a harsh-faced naga struggling to hold on to her fading youth. The Weaver appeared as a spirit naga crone with a crystalline heart.

Personality
Shekinester was a truly complicated deity, her complexity paralleling her great wisdom. She was highly pragmatic but simultaneously unpredictable, adhering to no fixed sense of morality or ethics. She was, at once, an inquisitive explorer and harsh hoarder, sometimes guiding the unwise and utterly destroying them at others. This was because Shekinester was a multi-faceted deity, and there was no telling which part of herself would be expressed when one went to her. Despite this divided nature, however, Shekinester's many aspects were not several separate beings but the reflections of one, each an undeniable part of the overarching intelligence that was the Naga Queen.

It was difficult to say what alignment, if any, Shekinester could be said to fall into. The mere existence of her Seeker and Acquirer aspects was not always evident, although whether known as the Three-Faced or Five-Faced Queen, her overall, gestalt alignment was considered to be truly neutral. Also confusing matters was that, while it was clear what alignment the Seeker, Weaver, and Acquirer represented (chaotic good, chaotic evil, and lawful evil respectively) it was debatable whether or not the Empowerer represented lawful good while the Preserver represented true neutrality or vice versa. Furthermore, even the evil aspects of the Naga Queen could be said to serve higher purposes; the Acquirer hoarded knowledge in danger of being lost and the Weaver advocated destruction for the purpose of clearing room for new creation.

Further complicating the nature of the Naga Queen was that it wasn't clear where some of her aspects ended and others began. The Empowerer for example (already sometimes confused with the Preserver) could also be bi-aspected, possessing both beautiful and ugly forms which served different roles. Conversely, the Weaver was a singular aspect that could serve two very different functions, both destroying and giving gifts and lessons in her own extreme way. Existing outside this system altogether was the aspect of Ssharstrune, a serpent god of megalomania and acquisitiveness, as well as curiosity and destruction, absorbed by Shekinester long ago.

Aspects
The child-like Seeker was filled with curiosity.

The Empowerer was generally seen as merciful and kind, if forceful in her delivering of wisdom.

The Preserver was seen as a mother figure, protecting the dead and giving succor to non-evil peoples in extreme peril.

The Acquirer was shrewish and coveted wisdom.

The Weaver sought to destroy those unable to use their strength and wisdom (or the gifts and wisdom she concealed) to overcome her.

Powers
The combat attributes and abilities of Shekinester's avatars were just as diverse as her personality. However, each form shared many of the same traits: immunity to poisons, paralyzation, dangerous gases, mind-controlling magic, and death magic. Her avatars were significantly powerful in that they could access every single sphere and school of magic. However, different forms were suited to different sub-schools of magic and used them as they felt appropriate.

The Empowerer-Maiden was more charismatic, though not as intelligent, as the other aspects. She could charm any young creature (young being defined as not having gone through a tenth of their lifespan yet) without fail. This form was very proficient in usage of the Power, and somewhat proficient in the Art, and she preferred to use abjuration, enchantment, and transmutation spells. In this aspect, her bite could paralyze her opponents. As the Empowerer, Shekinester could force others to see reality, granting any creature within truesight for ten minutes whether they wanted it or not. Restoring lost wisdom (such as that lost to a lamia) was also within her purview, as was the power to take wisdom away, doing both through her touch.

The Preserver-Mother was more robust than other aspects and highly resistant to magic. This aspect had exceptional divine powers, and used spells from all spheres (except those of war and chaos). The Preserver-Mother could cast wall of force at will, forbiddance and dispel evil once every ten minutes, and cast a special form of create food and water every ten minutes, vomiting out bread, fruit, and water. Her bite could act as a symbol of persuasion.

The Weaver-Crone aspect was far less strong or charismatic than the others, but had various traits to compensate for this. Her bite, for example, was a lethal poison capable of instant death if her enemies couldn't resist. Unlike the Empowerer, the Weaver was just as capable a wizard as she was a priest, and preferred the use of evocation, illusion, and necromantic spells. She could cast web thrice per day, the strands of which, if collected and spun into a cloth using mending or a careful application of major creation, could allow the wearer to commune with the goddess for an hour once every 2-8 weeks. The crone's crystal heart could also be used to cast divination once per week and legend lore once a day, but the user had a one in one hundred chance of turning chaotic evil each day. Males could not use the cloth and were twice as likely to suffer a change in alignment.

Possessions
Shekinester, particularly her Preserver aspect, was the guardian of the Arching Flame, kept within the innermost chambers of her domain. According to myth, the fire was supposedly the fuel by which all the workings of the multiverse ran on, though various other "eternal flames" belonged to other powers on other planes.

The Flame was also allegedly the "light of the dead", and regardless of whether it was true the light did not harm the undead, and indeed they fed off its energy and the more dangerous ones seemed pacified by it. The Flame served as Shekinester's final test, the means by which the spirit was burned clean, purging survivors of all injury, insanity, disease, mental compulsions, and even the "sins" of their past. Failure meant being disintegrated, which was more likely to happen the more times one had strayed from their chosen alignment.

Despite all this, it was hard to say that the Arching Flame was really Shekinester's possession. None, not even she, could quench its fire, for in reality it was just another aspect of herself. Preserved within the eternal flame was the knowledge and wisdom originally held by the World Serpent, the Naga Queen fragmentation being the guardian of secrets and a personification of the very concept of wisdom.

Divine Realm
Shekinester's realm, located relatively close to Yen-Wang-Yeh,'s Palace of Judgement, was the Outlands domain known as the Court of Light. There were few things of value to be found there, and its many unpredictable tests and trials deterred visitors. Still, the realm offered several immaterial treasures, including self-revelation, the purging of one's spirit, and potentially alluring mysteries capable of granting unique insights. Unifying the concepts of the Rule of Threes and Unity of Rings, the Court of Light was divided into a trinity of concentric circles, representing Shekinester's conception as the Three-Faced Queen.

The outermost ring was the Loom of the Weaver, a forest maze of thorns tied together by thread-like paths. All visitors had to find their way through, but more trail markers than a traveler left mysteriously manifested in the Loom when they didn't simply vanish. Nothing went in a straight line, with the paths intertwining, merging, and ending without rhyme or reason. The dark gloom might suddenly give way to an open clearing or one might see a place that they will never actually reach. There were no secret routes because the forest always changed; the only way to find one's way through the Loom, as it was said, was not to try, to forget one's past whereabouts and future destinations.

One who manages to stumble out of the Loom would make it to the Hall of Tests, Shekinester's palace and the area surrounding it. This was the Empowerer's domain, and while not large, the palace did have its own mystical feature. The rooms within the Hall of Tests, transformed to match both the expectations and fears of its visitors, confronting those within with their personal demons. From offers of temptation, buried regrets come back as dinner guests, or visions of what might have been if things were just a little different, the Hall of Tests could make it impossible to distinguish one's own reality from its own myriad trials.

The innermost chamber of the Hall, and the innermost circle in the realm, was the actual Court of Light, the one which the realm was named after and wherein the Naga Queen was coiled. There the Preserver maintained the Arching Flame (and thus supposedly all existence) and where her final test of purification was performed.

Shekinester's realm was remote, lonely, and almost deadly still, a small domain not particularly populated by petitioners nor planar beings and not somewhere visited for the conversation. The closest thing to a town was some scattered nests, the home of some of her proxies, most of which were nagas or other. Most of them were not to be trusted, not due to wickedness (necessarily) but because any of them might be part of the Naga Queen's tests.

The general emptiness  of the Court of Light was not to imply that Shekinester lacked worshipers, but rather that her beliefs didn't encourage them to stay. They were either reincarnated and sent back to their world on the Prime Material Plane or given a near-impossible task and sent to wander the Outlands until they were finished as part of Shekinester's test of character and resolve. Those who succeeded got to transcend and merge with the plane while those that failed were deemed unworthy.

Planar denizens of the Court of Light were generally nagas, imperious and disinterested in others. Nagas were also the primary petitioners of the plane, though the best and worst nagas found themselves on other planes. Most naga petitioners lived in the Loom, some seeking the heart of the forests and others acting as guardians and agents of Shekinester's will. Petitioners performed the few household tasks required in the realm, but the Naga Queen didn't surround herself with servants and advisors. The naga petitioners contributed to the risk of coming here because they might decide that someone must be put through the potentially unpleasant process of being "initiated" into a mystery.

Activities
Shekinester had a fascination with trying to improve and purify those that came to her land and always tested the character of strangers who wound up there (whether they meant to or not). She was not interested in martial skill or raw intellectual prowess, but rather their moral qualities, the traits that made individuals act as they did, and her tests ranged from the subtle to the heavy-handed. She might call an old enemy to let it even the score, show two old loves and force a choice to be made between them, or promise power for a price.

Passing Shekinester's tests could be difficult in part because one first had to figure out what quality was being tested. She might unleash a pack of hell hounds on someone, not to see if they could fight them, but whether they had the courage to do so or perhaps the sense to run if they couldn't. More often that not the price for failure was oblivion, but with lavish rewards to match the risk. However her tests manifested however, there was always more to them than was immediately apparent.

Aspects
The curious Seeker aspect of Shekinester drove her need for exploration and learning.

The Empowerer served many roles; she was a guardian of the young and unlearned, asker of riddles, granter of safe passage, and initiator who bestowed wisdom. She actively sought to share her secrets, even to those that didn't realize they needed them, but her unannounced and startling appearances sometimes made her an unwelcome messenger, forcing unwanted understanding that caused students "growing pains". The Empowerer did help with accepting the truth and changes she pushed upon others; compensating for her forcefulness was her uglier aspect, which acted as a kind of herald. They would first draw the attention of the young, naïve, unwary, or uninitiated to opportunities for growth and understanding, guiding the new seekers of knowledge to the actual Empowerer.

The Preserver was seen as the great maintainer of existence, the keeper of light and knowledge and guardian of the dead. If allowed, she would protect the deceased souls under the jurisdiction of other gods in addition to those of her own nagas, and also recorded the dead spirits that passed by her. She greeted the dead with sustenance typically symbolized as water, fruit, and bread, but was also a preserver of the living. Non-evil mortals of the Prime Material Plane threatened by overwhelming forces, mass starvation, extinction, or similar level threats would be provided with sustenance.

The Acquirer represented Sherknister's desire for control and urge to possess, and in this aspect sought to collect information and insight in danger of being forgotten or otherwise lost.

The Weaver embodied the principle of active destruction, making room for the new by clearing away the old. She was a guardian of lost and decaying places who would destroy trespassers unless they could overcome her, whether by using their own wisdom and capabilities or that which she hid from them; for example, her magical webs could be a blessing in disguise. In contrast to the Preserver, who simply maintained what already existed, the crone-faced aspect of Shekinester was both destroyer and creator. She was the Weaver in the sense that she embodied connections, weaving new understandings in the minds of the unenlightened by tying together disparate strands of information.

Relationships
The Five-Faced Queen was such an all-embracing and multi-faceted goddess that she could have a number of interrelations among other gods on different worlds, cooperating with a deity on one and opposing him in another as a matter of pragmatism. She did not actively seek out strangers to interact with, instead brooding in her realm, testing and guiding the fates of her children.

She had many allies among the gods, mostly in the Outlands but also scattered across the planes. She was an ally of the elemental water deity Istishia and it was said that she was slowly building an alliance with Labelas, elven deity of time, philosophy, and important decisions. Most of all, she valued her friendships among members of the Mulhorandi pantheon. Sseth, who was venerated by a few spirit nagas that turned from Shekinester's worship, had a long-standing hatred of the Naga Queen stretching far back to the fragmentation of the World Serpent.

Shekinester has a servitor deity in her errant child Parrafaire. Like his mother, the Naga Prince was a protector of hidden secrets and wisdom, but these were not secrets of his own being, like those of his mother, but rather those of various other deities (his mother included). He was willing to allow mortals peeks at the secrets his mother guarded since his role was not preventing access entirely but rather to test wisdom, resourcefulness, and skill so that only the worthy could receive them. Parrafaire was only a demigod, but his ability to create, replace, and send avatars was governed by his mother's power rather than his own.

Worshipers
Each of Shekinester's aspects were generally venerated as a separate goddess, and though individual naga worshipers of Shekinester gave homage to all her guises, they typically embraced one of the aspects completely. Shekinseter's Ssharstrune aspect was primarily worshiped by evil nagas. The Naga Queen lacked an organized church and largely eschewed the use of clerics, but allowed some nagas to access divine power through arcane spellcasting by embracing the magical nature of their bloodlines. Besides nagas, cultures which accepted reincarnation often revered the Naga Queen as a guardian and initiator.

Conversely, the pterafolk (whose worship of the World Serpent transferred to the Naga Queen, since she was the deity of their spirit naga chieftains) revered Shekinester in her aspect as the Weaver. Their veneration of Shekinester revolved around the idea that the ultimate agents of creation were those of destruction. Such chaotic forces were constantly at work in their society, making it easy for them to worship her, but they themselves spent little time worshiping, the spirit nages being the center of religion in their culture. Instead they acted as agents of the Naga Queen's will, sowing destruction wherever they happened to be. Generally they only prayed before or during a battle, or when requesting divine intervention (which was almost never given).

The favored weapon of Shekinester was either the bite, the dagger, or the tail scythe, and her signature weapon was the +1 sure striking tail scythe. The signature weapon of the Ssharstrune aspect was a +1 ghost touch tail scythe

History
The nagas were created by the ancient, serpentine creator race known as the sarrukh, but in a strange way (depending on who was asked) it was Shekinester who created the nagas and the nagas who created Shekinester. When the sarrukh made the nagas, their society was monotheistic, only acknowledging and venerating the World Serpent. In time however, the Great Scaled One divided itself  to better suit the complicated, contentious, and contradictory demands of its many followers. The World Serpent had always been a multi-faceted deity, but through this process had actually separated into several less potent powers.

The multi-faceted nature of the World Serpent had intrigued the sarrukh less than it did their naga creations (who by nature were more curious). Theologians argued over whether the nagas were simply the first to recognize this impending fragmentation or were the instigators, breaking it apart through their ceaseless questioning. If this was indeed true, then the nagas were responsible for the creation of Shekinester, the aspect charged with holding the World Serpent's wisdom.

In addition to Shekinester, another naga deity had emerged from the World Serpent's fragmentation: Ssharstrune. After the fall of Mhairshaulk, Ssharsthrune began vying for the attention of the Naga Queen, but found a rival in the Jazirian (represented in naga mythology in his male aspect rather than the hermaphroditic aspect held up by couatls). Of her courtiers, Shekinester eventually chose Jazirian and bore his child, a decision which resulted in an enraged Ssharstrune attacking the one who spurned him.

Ssharstrune's attack forced Shekinester to swallow him, but in doing so she inadvertently threatened her own stability. Ssharstrune embodied the principles of curiosity, possessiveness, and most of all, destructiveness that had caused the World Serpent's fragmentation in the first place, and Shekinester had taken those same elements into herself.

Eventually Shekinester gave birth to her and Jazirian's child, Parrafaire, upon which she expelled the remains of Ssharstrune and instructed Parrafaire to hide away the destructiveness the corpse embodied forever so that she could not be divided into five separate goddesses. The Naga Prince complied with the wishes of the Naga Queen, and the two became venerated the guardians of the nagas.

Accompanying and paralleling the splitting of the Naga Queen was the division of the naga race. Originally the naga race consisted solely of the neutral water nagas, bred by the sarrukh to explore both land and water. Since Mhairshaulk's fall however, different naga bloodlines began favoring certain inherent traits. Just as there were five guises of the Naga Queen, nagas had evolved into five major subraces, each of which morally and ethically aligned with one of her aspects: the original water nagas, the lawful good guardian nagas, the chaotic good iridescent nagas, the lawful evil dark nagas, and the chaotic evil spirit nagas.

Appearances

 * Card Games
 * Blood Wars