Scahrossar

In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Scahrossar is the goddess of Pain, Torture, Sadism, and Cruelty. Her favored weapon is the whip.

Publication history

Scahrossar was mentioned in third edition in Book of Vile Darkness (2002).^[1]

Description

Scahrossar is depicted as a woman wearing tight black studded leather that conceals even her face. She holds a whip and a hook. She is selfish, domineering, and cruel.

The Book of Vile Darkness says the deities described in that book are "fairly minor," in comparison to Erythnul (an intermediate god) and Vecna (a very recently ascended lesser god). Because their counterparts in the Book of Exalted Deeds are explicitly of demigod level, it seems likely that Scahrossar is as well.

Relationships

Scahrossar is the sister of Olidammara, but the two deities have nothing to do with each other. Their relationship is only noted in the most obscure of religious texts.

Worshippers

Worshippers of Scahrossar are as cruel, selfish, and domineering as their goddess.

Clergy

Scahrossar's clerics dress as their mistress does, preferring to hide their identities with leather or iron masks. They are all sadists who prefer to cause pain rather than actually kill, and most are masochists as well. They devise new torments and devices in their spare time.

Temples

Temples to Scahrossar are hidden behind false facades, often businesses such as bakeries, dairies, or curiosity shops used as fronts, with the inner sanctums accessible through secret doors, soundproofed so that the screams of agony are not heard by the uninitiated. Though the priests tend to be scrupulous about cleanliness, their duties are so messy that it is almost impossible for spots of blood, stray teeth, and the like not to be missed in their daily housekeeping.

Altars to the Mistress of Exquisite Pain are baroque affairs made of spikes, spines, clamps, and chains.

Rituals

Scahrossar's sacrificial victims often take days to die as they're slowly tortured to death. Scarhossar's priests often use healer's arts to prolong their suffering.

Creative origins

Scahrossar was created by Monte Cook in his 2002 book, Book of Vile Darkness. She is very similar to the Finnish/Forgotten Realms goddess Loviatar.

References