Zahre

Woeful, selfish, victimized, pitiful and relatable are all terms that can be used to describe the goddess of darkness, sorrow, and envy. Zahre is a dark being, one who lures in those who face injustice or loss and offer them a chance to either recover what they have lost or turn the pain of it onto others. While her seemingly caring demeanor and frequent connections with the down and disenfranchised paint her as a compassionate being, make no mistake: Zahre is a obsessive celestial who only wishes to lessen her own suffering by moving unto other beings.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Zahre is her (relative) emphasis on solitude. She has not the dragooning mobs of Lucentius's devils or Garrosh's orcish armies. She is a personal god, whose few followers are more likely those few who made deals with her, but were more useful to keep alive for her own designs.

Divine Domains

Envy, Sadness, Obsession, Darkness

Divine Symbols & Sigils

A weeping face, orb clutched by clawed hands

Tenets of Faith

Desire and envy motivate action. Let your wants and needs guide any and all action.
Sadness and despair are the greatest shackles to ever be forged. When used properly, anything can be contained with it.
I can give you what you need to attain your greatest desires; you, in turn, must give me what I need for my own.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

In the few depictions that exist of Zahre, she is always shown as a pale female form, with claw-like hands and eyes that seem to eternally hunger. Exact appearances vary from here, meaning that all forms existing among slight and rotund, young and aged, short and tall seem to have appeared at least once. Certain accounts even make mention of a "broken" visage, with skin like smashed pottery or stained cloth and hair thinned or non-existent.

Body Features

If there is one common feature to all whom encounter Zahre, it is her eyes. Large, sunken, irritated eyes that are devoid of all emotion and light. She is often resembles one who has been weeping for an extended time, save that any "tears" that exist are just as jet and inky as the eyes from which they come. It is these eyes that all who encounter her remember most, almost as if their image is seared into the back of their own eyes.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

Not much is known of Zahre from the time before the Withdrawal, and her lack of a constant form of clergy mean that accounts of her actions and mannerisms are few and far between. However, one of the few tales gleaned from other deities and ancient beings relates to her dark, solitary nature, despite lacking many concrete details. It remains, however, her most well-known and widely spread myth. 

It is said that, during the time when the Caelan and Baatan gods walked upon Genaeth, there existed a pair of gods who did not partake in the violence; the sisters Zahre and Sanys. The sisters came from opposing sides, but refused to fight out of their love for each other. The other gods also seemed to share this non-violent connection, as even the cruelest or most evil beings allowed them to work in tandem. However, this changed when Sanys died, and some form of cosmic balance was upset. The death of her sister drove Zahre into a pit of despair and depression, taking from her any form of happiness and replacing it with a well of hatred and lust for revenge. While many specifics are unknown, sages believe that this is one of the reasons why the gods' number waned and they were forced to leave the mortal world, though exactly why this caused the Withdrawal no-one knows. In any case, Zahre's actions since then would appear similar to someone in deep mourning or depression, furthered by the fact that she only seems to offer aid to those who are victims or victimized.

Gender Identity

All tales cast Zahre as a female, though the exact specifications vary from one to another.

Mental Trauma

Zahre is so consumed with her own loss and depression that many scholars speculate her to be a god gone mad; with all the violent mood swings and obsessive compulsions befitting a mortal in a similar situation. The exact reason for her mental state is a matter of constant debate, though what few stories of her that remain from before the Great Withdrawal seem to infer that she was not always this way, furthering the induced-insanity theory.

Intellectual Characteristics

Despite her mental trauma and unpredictable emotions, Zahre's ability to scheme and manipulate scenarios to force her "followers" into succumbing to her influences is something to be feared. As often is the case, she has proven wise enough to entrap those who thought they could out-wit a living god.

Morality & Philosophy

With wild shifts between cold resentment and faux-compassion, Zahre is a goddess whose morals seem to change from instance to instance. What is known is that, at the end of the day, she is always attempting to pull in those she aids to ensure that, when their death becomes final, she has claim over their eternal souls.

Social

Contacts & Relations

When the Withdrawal occurred, Zahre refused to create mortal Saints in favor of secluding herself in a dark recess within Hell to wallow in her own pity. However, as time passed she found that such seclusion could not function for an eternity, so she began to contact those mortals in scenarios similar to her own. After a time, she began to grant certain mortals the ability to make deals on her behalf, allowing her to expedite the process. Not quite the same level as true saints, these middle-men are referred to as Ancillars.
Livor: Seeking to attain what is possessed by others and make it their own, Livor is a kleptomaniacal kobold whose rampant thefts left her on the wrong side of individuals of note. She was approached by Zahre and offered the means to escape her binds and continue her thievery. She, in turn, gifts shadowy cloaks or slippery forms to similar thieves, allowing them to sneak through any security and pilfer any treasure.
Merle: Infiltrator and spymaster supreme, Merle is a doppleganger who once held thousands of faces and personalities, to the point that their own began to fade away. Zahre slowed this process, in return for Merle's services. Merle gives individuals the ability to change their shapes and faces, taking the identities of others and twisting them to serve whatever foul purpose the individual feels necessary.

Ruide: Not much is known about the Keeper, as he is sometimes called, save that he is one of the largest offenders regarding existing holy codes and beliefs. He makes deals with mortals dead or dying to give them more time in their mortal shells, a form of undeath that skirts the line between officious resurrection and unlawful necromancy. The price for Ruide's deals are usually staggering, making him a very rare Ancillar to find.
Songbird: A kenku of ancient form, the Songbird is believed by many historians to be the first kenku to succumb to their now race-wide Curse of Mimicry. Many further believe that this event is the primary reason for the Songbirds presence as an Ancillar, whether Zahre was the cause of the curse or the answer is unknown. Songbird offers means to reclaim something stolen from individuals, from material trinkets to nonphysical emotions and ideals.

Divine Classification

Greater Deity

Alignment

Neutral Evil

Realm

Carceri

Church/Cult

Prime Pantheon

Honorary & Occupational Titles

Woe, the Broken Soul, Tormentor