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gaeleth:divinities:samis

Samis, the Shadow Goddess

“Everything costs.”

Symbol: two intertwined triangles

Alignment: Neutral Evil

Portfolio: theft, darkness, languages

Worshippers: rogues, linguists

Cleric Alignments: NE, LE, TN

Domains: trickery, knowledge, evil, law

Favored Weapon: short sword

Animal Totems: praying mantises, bats

Dogma

The followers of Samis believe that darkness is an ally, and the Shadow Goddess is the greatest ally a man's soul can have in the darkness of the afterlife. In the meantime, Samis helps those who help themselves – to wealth. The accumulation of wealth is very important for followers of Samis, often by any means necessary. Followers tend to believe that wealth exists in many forms, and that only one adept in its many languages can find the wealth hidden in plain sight. The church helps those that help themselves, encouraging 'acquisitions' and offering its services for fees.

Physical Description

Samis is always portrayed as a very tall, lithe woman of ebon black skin with a hint of stars in it. Smooth and sculpted, as though made of liquid onyx, she appears faintly elven with the thin lips and nose characteristic of that race. Her ears are just pointed enough to indicate elven heritage, but not pointed enough to be called truly elven. Her eyes are portrayed in ground diamond, as though the stars themselves were caught there. In paintings and in sculpture, she wears only a long tunic of woolen blue or light lavender, reaching to her thighs.

History

During the Age of Survival that occurred after the initial Prism Wars, a burglar in the ancient town of Ethlienne stole what he thought was the Relic of Galanus stored in Karmen. Instead, he infused a blank Relic with purpose, accidentally creating the goddess Samis. The burglar became her first Chosen, and slowly, through the underground and the thieves' guilds, Samis rose to power. She supported bandit kings and nomadic raiders, evil tyrants and river pirates, for millennia. During the Shaping Wars, her priests and followers sewed chaos, stealing artifacts from thieves and sometimes even returning artifacts to rightful kings and rulers.

In the Age of Peace that rose from the Shaping Wars, the Shadow Goddess' minions and priests went deeper underground, becoming a closely knit society of dark emperors and power hungry guilds. As the times changed, so did she, but throughout it all, her word was her bond. Throughout the Age of Peace, her followers amassed power in the form of guilds and merchants that dealt with assassinations, acquisitions, and less-than-moral endeavors. When the Storm Wars erupted, Samis spurned Nathel's advances and promises of power, using her considerable resources to operate clandestine missions against the Dark God. Though evil, she and her church were honorable, and earned the favor of the Karatikan Alliance. Staying in the shadows, she continues to amass power, being even more formidable in the aftermath of the War of the Undead than ever before.

Relic

Samis' Relic was embedded in an amulet, and hidden with an undetectable guise of illusion. Stolen and restolen thousands of times, its current whereabouts are unknown, and it could be anywhere.

Church

The Church of Samis is organized in secrecy, operating out of the sight of the common people. Priests and clerics perform their services only inside the powerful guild houses, or in other hidden places. Their mission is to promote the accumulation of capital in any way possible. Because the word of a priest of Samis is his bond, and as good as law, the priests are experts in language, as well as accounting. They help thieves illegally gather wealth, and they help less daring thieves wisely invest their money in more legal pursuits. To the church, Samis appears as a powerful matron, with her whimsical appearance a misdirection.

The Chosen of the Church of Samis is always a female, as are her disciples, though the priests and clerics may be of any gender. Because of the matriarchal position of the church, it is also a powerful proponent of women's rights, and the first to fight for women's rights when they are trampled upon.

In its ruthless secrecy, though, the Church of Samis has had to forego the use of mages since the Inquisition. The aspect of hiding the mages would bring too many Seekers down upon the church. Several monasteries, however, working outside of the guilds and even outside of the Disciples or the Chosen, have maintained the books and works of the forbidden magics. Their monks and the heads of their orders have even helped the rare mage escape the Inquisition – though at the price of losing their magic, or being forever banished by the most powerful underground in existence: the Church of Samis.

gaeleth/divinities/samis.txt · Last modified: 2021/09/28 15:48 (external edit)