Eshebala
| Eshebala | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vixen | ||
| Alignment | Chaotic Evil | |
| Divine Rank | Lesser Goddess | |
| Pantheon | Therianthrope | |
| Portfolio | Foxwomen, Vanity, Charm, Greed, Cunning | |
| Domains | (Speculative) 3E: Chaos, Evil, Trickery, Bestial, Corruption, Demonic, Greed, Temptation, Avarice, Envy, Lust, Pride, Seduction, Elf, Illusion, Glamour (Speculative) 5E: Trickery, Arcana, Ambition, Beauty |
|
| Home Plane | Vulgarea (197th Layer of the Abyss) | |
| Worshippers | Confirmed: Foxwomen Speculative: Kitsunes, Elves, Drow, Actresses, Bards, Vain Women, Hedonists, Youth Seekers, Beauty Seekers |
|
| Favoured Weapon | Longsword | |
Eshebala is one of the many minor deities governing the monstrous races in the Great Wheel of Dungeons & Dragons - specifically, she is the goddess of the Foxwomen, the all-female variant strain of Werefox characterized by their silver fur and association with the elf race. Introduced in the splatbook Monster Mythology for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition, alongside the other therianthrope deities, she never appeared again, outside of a brief mention in the Planescape splatbook "On Hallowed Ground", which identified her place of residence in the multiverse and left it at that.
Sadly, this leaves her with very little to go on, which is a shame because there's a lot of untapped potential in her subordinate race and thusly herself - especially her potential connection to the Seldarine, or her presence amongst non-foxwomen worshippers. Let's face it; her strain of therianthropy is basically a guaranteed hit of great beauty and practically eternal youth, since it turns women infected by it into beautiful elf-maids, with all the longevity that entails. That should be a major temptation to any woman who feels vain or desires to preserve her youth - which is deliciously exploitable for Chaotic Evil purposes, to say the least!
Official Lore Transcript
This is literally the entirety of canon information ever written up for Eshebala in Monster Mythology.
Eshebala is the wily and supremely vain goddess of Foxwomen, although she also favors wolfweres because of their hatred of werewolves. A denizen of the Abyss, she loaths and detests tanar'ri and other infernal inhabitants of other Abyssal planes because of their ugliness, stupidity, brutish nature, or any combination thereof. She has a collection of fine gems, jewellery, furs, skins, objets d'art, and the like, which are actually rather vulgar and flashy. She dwells alone and has no allies. She regards her brother, Daragor, as an oaf, although she does not actually hate him; her primary object of loathing is Ferrix. Two vain goddesses who preen and strut do not tend to get along well together.
Roleplaying Notes: Eshebala's avatars visit the Prime Material for hunting and sport when she grows bored and haded. She prefers to overcome victims through subtlety, not direct force. She especially enjoys capturing handsome males through illsions and charm, immobilizing her victim, and then dispelling the charm before she kills and eats the unfortunate, carving off flesh with a silver dagger. She sometimes visits females whom she has infected with lycanthropy for a gossip session, and demands to be the center of flattery and attention during such visits.
Eshebala's Avatar: (Fighter 8, Illusionist 12) The avatar appears in the hybrid (vixen) foxwoman form or as a charming, lovely young elven maid. She always wears rich jewellery and finery, and invariably carries a decorated silver mirror for self-admiration.
The avatar is immune to poison, paralyzation, nonmagical weapons, and all enchantment/charm and illusion/phantasm spells. She can pass without trace in a rural environment, and if she escapes into the undergrowth is 95% undetectable when seeking to hide or evade pursuit. She can sing and create lethargy as a wolfwere for 3d4 rounds 3/day, and can charm person at will. She employs a Longsword +2.
The avatar is always accompanied by 1d4+1 charmed male servitors. Determine their nature from the Monstrous Compendium entry for "Lycanthrope, Werefox", but these sidekicks will be of levels 1d6+3 and will all be 90% likely to possess a magical hand weapon, 70% likely to possess appropriate magical armor, and be 1)% per level likely to possess 1d2 suitable minor miscellaneous magical items (DM's choice).
Alternative Views
The heroically crazy bastard known as AuldDragon has presented a vastly expanded Deities & Demigods style writeup of Eshebala, complete with specialty priests, unique spells and a much greater look at who she is and how she's worshipped, as part of their ongoing efforts to improve upon Monster Mythology.
You can read the results here: http://blog.aulddragon.com/2019/05/eshebala-the-vixen-queen/