The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed

Belishtim (The Dark Seducer)
Symbol: A heart impaled on a black blade. This symbol
ranges from delicately-crafted gold, ruby and onyx in the
greater halls of worship to a simple oval with a line through
it among the poorest drow.
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Governs: Ambition, desire, lust
Domains: Air, Chaos, Trickery
Favoured Weapons: Darts, rapier
Requirements for Priesthood: A character must have a
minimum Charisma scor e of 15 to be accepted as a priest
or priestess of Belishtim.
Background
Belishtim lurks in the heart of every drow. She is the Dark
Seducer, the whisper in the ear that drives the baser desires
of the dark elves. She is always regarded as a
feminine deity, yet she has nothing to do with
reproduction (that aspect falls to either the
Dark Mother or Polshoath). She is, however,
given full credit for spurring on the urges that
lead to reproduction, except within the church
of the Dark Mother, which gives no credence to
any other drow god.
Belishtim is the epitome of carnal lust,
of thoughtless desire and of the driving
ambition that spurs the drow to control and dominate one
another and all those other races around them. She is most
often portrayed as a lithe drow female, her face obscured
and her body clad in little but shadow.
The Dark Seducer occupies an unusual place in the drow
pantheon, as there are few concrete aspects of drow society
that falls under her direct control. However, her influence
is felt everywhere, from the wanton lusts displayed in the
slave flesh pits of a drow city to the ruthless ambition that
drives the Game of Bones or Sheathed War. To hear her
clergy tell it, all drow worship Belishtim, even those who
do not know it.
Religious Observances
Though she is not merely the goddess of lust and desire,
these aspects are most predominant in ceremonies
worshipping Belishtim. Dozens, even hundreds of priests,
priestesses and selected worshippers engage in drug-fuelled
orgies that can last for days on end. Each moment of that
act is considered a sacrifice to the Dark Seducer. It is not
uncommon for a drow to die of exhaustion, privation or
even overdose during these orgies and those deaths too are
considered sacred to Belishtim.
Of course, since lust unfulfilled is also part of the worship
of the Dark Seducer, this too must be included. One male
and one female worshipper are chosen arbitrarily by the
clergy and taken into the temple’s sanctuary where the orgy
is to take place. There, they are secured to a pair of pillars
within a few feet of one another with ties of looped wire.
Once securely in place, the two worshippers are fed a diet
of drugs, alcohol and aphrodisiacs and forced to watch as
the orgy rages on in front of them. Some drow, maddened
beyond tolerance, have literally torn themselves apart
trying to break free of the wire ties.
Aside from these elaborate and lengthy orgies, there are no
formal religious observances for Belishtim. However, her
temples are frequented often by drow
coming in search of a prayer or something
more powerful to satisfy a certain lust or
obsession, be it for a person, a substance or
even something intangible.
Temples
The temples of Belishtim the Dark Seducer are
graceful, flowing structures built of red marble or
granite, their angles and corners carefully softened to
35