Category:Asharra, the Dark Lady

Name: Asharra Valar, the Dark Lady. AKA: Lady Ashe

Divine Rank: 5

Classes: Sorcerer 10 / Alienist 10 / Nightmare Spinner 5

Holy Symbol: A bloody eye amidst a writhing mass of black tentacles.

Home: The Abyss

Domains: Madness (Primary), Lust, Corruption, Evil

Portfolio: Aberrations, Lust, Corruption

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Description: Asharra's most commonly used form is that of a human woman, tall and voluptuous, with long, dark hair, pale skin, and mis-matched eyes of blue and green. If she does appear clothed, she wears tattered black robes that do little to cover her. Mortals, and even several gods, seem to find her form intoxicating. She breeds feelings of lust, obsession and possessiveness amongst those she comes into contact with, leading them along like addicts seeking a fix. Considering the beings she is associated with as a goddess, and believe that her true form is something far different.. As most of her followers are either dangerously insane or alien monstrosities that are difficult or outright impossible to communicate with, this theory is difficult to verify... but it is true, in part. Those who have seen her Abyssal form have described it as a huge writhing mass of tentacles and piercing red eyes that seems to stretch for miles in the endless, lightless sea. To date, only several gods and her own alien children have seen her in this form. It is believed that the sight of it would drive a mortal utterly mad.

Origin: None of this world know of the dark goddess' true story.. not even she. None know that there was another world before this one, and that in it dwelt many of the same being and creatures that now dwell here. One of them, a powerful human magus, succeeded in a ritual that joined her with something so far divorced from the god's reality as to be anathema to it. If creation was all that was... she joined herself with that which could not be. As this unfathomable thing was abhorrent to reality, so too was reality to it... forcing it to interact with all that is with a shape and thoughts that existence itself did not rail against. Thus, it was bound into the woman's form and guise... unable to return to it's true form outside of existence itself.

In truth, Asharra is not a true god. As a merging of a mortal woman and the formless essence outside of creation, she has no natural place in existence itself. She can only interact with the real world by taking on the aspects of something that should belong in it... by imitating her former mortal form. Only in the Abyss is she able to take on a form even vaguely close to her true being. Even then, the miles-long mass of eyes and tentacles that she becomes there is merely the closest she can become to what she truly is. Ironically, her morta side limits her powers greatly, while also being the only tether that keeps her a part of creation at all.

As a side effect of her dual-nature... and the fact that she was not created of worship or the natural world itself like other gods, she is much different than them in several ways. She gains little power from worship, no matter how many followers revere or fear her... meaning she cannot grow in power by expanding her influence, or as a result of the ebb and flow of power in the natural world. She has learned that she CAN take on these aspects of a god by consuming their essences... in much the same way that she achieved her current power by absorbing the discarded essence of creation long ago. However even then, she cannot improve in power naturally... she must steal the essence of other gods to continue her ascent.