Pantheon Elfico

[DM Artemis]

Deep Sashelas

Lord of the Undersea, the Dolphin Prince, the Knowledgeable One, Sailor s Friend, the Creator
Intermediate Power of Arboreas
CG
PORTFOLIO: Oceans, sea elves, creation, knowledge, underwater and sea elven beauty, water magic
ALIASES: None
DOMAINNAME: Olympus/Arvandor and Ossa (Aquallor)/Elavandor
SUPERIOR: Corellon Larethian
ALLIES: Cyrrollalee, Eadro, Eilistraee, Istishia, Persana, the Seldarine, Surminare, Syranica, Trishina, Valkur, Water Lion, various Animal Lords
FOES: Blibdoolpoolp, Demogorgon, Sekolah, Panzuriel, Umberlee, the drow pantheon (except Eilistraee)
SYMBOL: Dolphin
WOR. ALIGN.: LG,NG,CG,LN,N,CN
Deep Sashelas (DEEP SA-sheh-lahs) is the Lord of the Undersea and the patron of sea elves, whom he created long ago by modifying Corellon's land-bound creations. Sashelas is a powerfully creative deity who is forever changing the environments below the sea, creating islands and reefs by altering continental rifts, tinkering with undersea volcanoes, and the like. He is also said to create the deep undersea caverns that the sea elves can use for air-breathing when they wish. Sashelas is known as the Knowledgeable One, for he provides advice as to where food can be found or the enemies are hidden. The sea elves also claim that Deep Sashelas is the author of the Chambeeleon, a resplendent spell tome held in the royal vaults of Thunderfoam an age ago but since lost. Followers of other aquatic gods make similar claims.

Deep Sashelas is a member of the Seldarine and remains on good terms with the other elven deities, but he directs most of his efforts toward maintaining an alliance of nonhuman sea powers known as the asathalfinare. While he does not explicitly lead the group, the Lord of the Undersea occupies a pivotal role and mediates many potential conflicts and disagreements.
Other members of the asathalfinare include Trishina, the dolphin goddess (who is Sashelas's consort), Surminare, goddess of the selkies, Syranita, goddess of the aarakocra (whose membership is somewhat of an anomaly), Persana, god of the tritons, Eadro, leader of the merfolk and lo-cathah, and the enigmatic Water Lion.
The Lord of the Undersea opposes the machinations of all evil powers of the seas, including Abyssal lords such as Demogorgon and Dagon, as well as those whose followers long ago retreated to the Underdark, such as Blib-doolpoolp.
Sashelas has a special enmity for Sekolah the Great Shark, the sahuagin god, and for Panzuriel the Enslaver, a dark power worshiped by kraken and other sentient, evil denizens of the ocean depths. The Lord of the Undersea helped banish and weaken power, and the Lord of the Undersea considers carefully what steps can be taken to restrain and bind that evil power of the sea bed. Likewise, Sashelas works to contain the evil of the human sea goddess Umberlee, and of late has lent his aid to the human god of sailors, Valkur, as a natural counterweight to Umbcrlee's burgeoning influence over the seas of Abeir-Toril.
The Lord of the Undersea is a charismatic leader and an inspired creator whose art is everchanging. Unlike the other Seldarine, Deep Sashelas is rarely satisfied with what he's done and always seeks to improve it. Deep Sashelas can be fickle and flighty, and there are many myths that involve his amorous exploits with such creatures as mermaids, selkies, mortal sea elven maids, human females, and even one demigoddess, it is rumored. Trishina has some tolerance for such straying, but not too much. Sashelas's fellow Seldarine derive great amusement from Trishina's ability to spot Sashelas's wandering attentions and stymie him, usually by warning off the object of his desire.
Deep Sashelas is very active on Abeir-Toril. His avatars often terraform the undersea environment, although he does not undertake such actions without first consulting other deities with an interest in such matters. He does not overinvolve himself by dispatching avatars to help sea elves in battles, but he will do so if he scents any involvement by Sekolah, and his avatars keep a watchful eye on any unexplained activities that might involve Panzuriel (unusually organized raids by merrow or koalinths, for example). His avatar is 50% likely to be accompanied by an avatar of Trishina unless the avatar has been sent to woo or seduce some pretty female who has attracted his eye.
Rarely the avatar may accompany an avatar of another member of the asathalfinare.
The Church
CLERGY: Clerics, crusaders, druids, specialty priests
CLERGY'S ALIGN. : NG, CG, N (druids only), CN
TURN UNDEAD: C: Yes, Cru: No, D: No, SP: Yes
CMND. UNDEAD: C: No, Cru: No, D: No, SP: No
All clerics, crusaders, druids, and specialty priests of Deep Sashelas receive religion (elf, aquatic) and reading/writing (Espruar) as bonus nonweapon proficiencies. Priests of Deep Sashelas must be aquatic elves, aquatic half-elves, or malenti.
The DM is encouraged to allow Deep Sashelas's clergy access to the underwater spells detailed in Of Ships and the Sea.
As Lord of the Undersea and de facto leader of the asathalfinare, Deep Sashelas is well regarded by most nonevil races who reside beneath the surface of Toril's oceans. Whereas aquatic elves generally venerate Sashelas to the near exclusion of the other members of the Seldarine, elves of other races view him simply as one god of the pantheon of nature- and magic-oriented deities who compose the Seldarine. Some sailors (particularly land elves) sacrifice to Sashelas for their safety and aquatic elven clerics take these offerings and trade with other mortals for the gain of the entire race.
Temples of Deep Sashelas are found in most aquatic elven communities, including lumathiashae, off the coast of Evermeet, Fhaoralusyolkiir, located near the mouth of the Vilhon Reach, and Adoivaealumanth, located off the coast of Telflamm in the Easting Reach. The Dolphin Prince's temples usually serve as the spiritual, physical, and social centers of aquatic elven communities. Those found in the Sea of Fallen Stars are typically undersea coral temples, carefully grown and tended, while those found in the Great Sea are typically sprawling constructs of natural stone and sea materials resembling spiraling shells. Inside all such temples are a network of small and medium- sized caves and passages lit by continual light magics of varying shades and intensities. Some chambers are air-filled and are used to examine items plundered from the sunken ships of air-breathers, but most are filled with sea water and artwork Grafted by sea elves. A wide variety of stone statues, mosaics made of shells, scrimshaw, air fountains, and a motley collection of artifacts from the Waterless Void above are scattered throughout Sashelas's temples for the use and enjoyment of the inhabitants of the surrounding community. Central chapels are usually grand vaults characterized by three-dimensional radial or spiral symmetries.
Sashelas's numerous temples are managed by an organized clerical hierarchy collectively known as Delphions. The clergy of each temple are locally autonomous, but they provide each other with information about the movement of the sahuagin and other enemies. Novices of the faith are known as the Impure, while acolytes of the faith are known as the Bathed.
Titles employed in most temples of the Great Sea include Sea Otter, Seal, Walrus, Sea Lion, Delphinus, Narwhal, and Balaenas. Titles employed in most temples of the Inner Sea include Clam, Oyster, Nautilus, Argonaut, Trophon, Cowrie, Abalone, Conch, and Pearl. High priests of the faith are collectively known as Delphites but always have unique individual titles. Almost all Delphions are aquatic elves (99%), with the remainder (1%) aquatic half-elves. According to legend, a handful of malentia type of sahuagin that is externally identical to an aquatic elf-have renounced their evil heritage in ages past and become priests of Deep Sashelas. Specialty priests come into two varieties: sea druids and aquarians. Aquarians (50%) and clerics (35%) make up the large majority of the clergy and are strongly affiliated with a single community. Crusaders (10%) make up the militant arm of the faith and tend to migrate from community to community in response to increasing tensions with neighboring communities of sahuagin. Sea druids (5%) have little to do with their kin, tending to the vast unsettled reaches of the Undersea and leading largely solitary lives. They are organized into at least two druidic domain hierarchies, the Circle of the Great Sea and the Circle of Fallen Stars.
The clergy of Shashelas is pretty evenly split between male (51%) and female (49%) members.
Dogma: Swim the great currents and the shallow seas. Exult in the everchanging beauty and life of the bounteous Undersea.
Revel in the joy of creation and increase its myriad aspects.
Seek not to hold that which is everchanging, but instead love the change itself. Seek out fellow swimmers who honor the ways of the Lord of the Undersea, and ally with them against those who see only the darkness of the deeps. Follow the way of the dolphin. Promote the use of the seas by all reasonable folk for all time to come; fight those who would hoard its riches or pollute its depths.
Day-to-Day Activities : The clergy of Deep Sashelas are more organized than most elven priesthoods because of their role as mediators and befrienders of nonaquatic races. Delphions interact regularly with dolphins who inhabit the region surrounding their home communities, and senior priests are almost always accompanied by their dolphin companions. Sashelan priests establish and maintain contacts with land-dwelling elves, if feasible.
As a result of their extensive networks of contacts, Sashelas's priests have prevented many sahuagin incursions from succeeding, gaining the latter's undying hatred. Delphions also conduct ritual shark hunts and attack sahuagin communities.
Delphions expend a great deal of effort on the creation of beautiful works of art in homage to the Creator. Individual priests of Deep Sashelas create fabulous sculptures of living coral in and around their homes and in their communities. Others sculpt extraordinary jeweled and pearled living coral works of art or train fish to perform spectacular and delightful maneuvers and dances.
Holy Days/Important Ceremonies : Deep Sashelas is honored individually through the creation of works of art and other wonders, and prayers are given to the Lord of the Undersea upon initiating and after completing such projects. Daily observances by Sashelas's clergy thank Deep Sashelas for his benevolence and the beauty of the undersea world, but the most important rituals are timed to coincide with especially high and low tides, known as the High Flow and the Deep Ebb, respectively.
During such ceremonies, the Delphions make offerings of precious natural objects and items of great artistry. Meanwhile, acolytes swim in complex patterns accompanied by dolphins, and sing deep, reverberating songs of praise to the Lord of the Undersea and his creations. While both ceremonies are similar in form, the High Flow is a joyous celebration emphasizing beauty, creativity, and artistry, while the Deep Ebb is a grim, martial ceremony emphasizing the remembrance of those who are lost and vigilance against the everpresent enemies of the Undersea.
Major Centers of Worship: The great city of Thunderfoam is located beneath the waves of the Trackless Sea atop a submerged plateau due north of Evermeet and due west of Uttersea. Steam from great rents in the sea floor warms the frigid waters, rendering the region habitable to the Alu- Tel'Quessir. The scions of Alaer have long ruled the aquatic elves of Aluchambolsunvae from the Dolphin Throne at the heart of the submerged capitol city under the benevolent aegis of Deep Sashelas and his clergy. The Caldera of the Dancing Dolphin is a natural amphitheater located atop Mount Delphion on the eastern outskirts of Thunderfoam. On the northern slope of the great crater is the Dome of the Dancing Dolphin, a massive volcanic dome that has been transformed by the clergy of Sashelas into an aquatic cathedral of stunning beauty and size. From the Dolphin Dome, as the temple is commonly known, Sashelas's priests oversee the spiritual, artistic, and martial needs of the aquatic kingdoms populace.
The clergy of the Dome of the Dancing Dolphin have grown particularly concerned of late by the emergence of the Kraken Society as a power in the Trackless Sea. Despite reports that Slarkrethel serves Umberlee, the priests of Aluchambolsunvae fear that the kraken secretly serves the banished Panzuriel as well as Umberlee by aiding that dark power's efforts to reestablish his malign influence in Abeir- Toril's seas. In response to this perceived threat, Delphions of the Dolphin Dome have extended their network of allied beings as far east as the shores of Faerun, and they are said to be recruiting agents among the land-dwellers to extend their influence into the cities of the North where the Kraken Society has established a presence.
Affiliated Orders: The Knights of the Killer Whale are an order of Sashelan crusaders dedicated to the destruction of the evil races of the sea, including ixitxachiti, koalinth, krakens, merrow, scrags, and sahuagin. The order is based in the Citadel of the Seven Seas, a great hollowed-out undersea volcanic plug encircled by the Mintarn archipelago in the Sea of Swords The Lances of the Sea Unicorn are an order of clerics, crusaders, and aquarians who garrison a series of nine undersea citadels and numerous smaller redoubts that stretch across the floor of the Sea of Fallen Stars from Delthuntle to Airspur. The order seeks to largely contain the sahuagin of the Alamber Sea to the eastern reaches of the Inner Sea, as most sea elven communities of the Sea of Fallen Stars are located to the west of that border.
Deep Sashelas also sponsors several loosely affiliated pods of sea elven rangers, but they are not considered part of his clergy (that is, the church's hierarchy).
Priestly Vestments: Priests of Deep Sashelas wear either loose-fitting sea green robes or armor created entirely from shells hut eschew any form of headdress. Shell mail, as it is known, effectively serves only an ornamental role for sea elves, as it provides a base Armor Class of 9. The holy symbol of the faith is a lustrous pearl at least one half inch in diameter.
Adventuring Garb: Sashelas's clergy generally eschew armor, even when entering dangerous situations as they find it impedes their underwater movements and adds little to their defenses. Only a few Sashelan priests possess sea elven scale mail (described below), but those who do generally employ it in combat situations. Clergy of Deep Sashelas favor the traditional weapons of the sea elves-nets, spears, and tridents-and rare is the Delphion who is proficient in anything else (aside from underwater crossbows). The most intricately constructed demihuman scale mail is found in the undersea kingdoms of the sea elves. More as a matter of appearance and ceremony than for additional protection-it provides protection equal to that of normal scale mail, the sea elves adapted the idea of scale mail to their own peculiar designs. Their armor can be worn underwater, as it is made of metals that do not rust, and the scales are affixed to the backing of eel-skin, which does not disintegrate as leather does in salt water. Brought forth only in times of war or great ceremony, this expensive armor is worn only by the noble elven elite. This scale mail is unique among others for its beautiful silver coating. Some surface armorers wonder whether this coating is silver, platinum, or even mithral. It is generally agreed that the rare scale mail of the sea elves is nearly as valuable as elven chain mail.