ALISHAZ

(THE UNLOOKED FOR) 

Lesser god, CN(E) - Chance, Randomness, Bad Luck, Misfortune, Madness 

Ralishaz is the deity of chance, ill-luck, and misfortune. He is looked to as the one who causes unforeseen events, which bring woe more often than weal. He is also the deity of chance and randomness and so is regarded as the patron of gamblers and those who take unusual risks (although his intercession is unlooked for). 

Ralishaz most often appears on the Prime Material Plane as an ancient and oddly dressed mendicant - sometimes male, sometimes female. Ralishaz will beg or gamble in this guise. At other times he will appear as a jester or idiot. In his (or her) true form, Ralishaz is quite awful to behold, for at one moment the face and body of the deity are handsome, the next wrinkled and ugly, then that of a scabby beggar, next that of a beautiful maid. During all, however, an aura of unease pervades, for the randomness of Ralishaz is most disturbing to all. 

The only weapon Ralishaz ever uses is of wood - sometimes a club, other times a staff; both are actually the same item. 

In addition to the powers normal to a High Priest (18th level) and a Spellbinder, Ralishaz has the following powers: 

- The power to put a person to sleep with his gaze 
- The power to age a person with his touch 
- The power to curse a person 

Few formally worship Ralishaz, although there are a handful of small shrines and temples in large cities and out-of-the-way places. Clerics of Ralishaz wear varicolored robes of differing materials. It is noteworthy that these clerics never seem to stiffer misfortune or ill-luck - unless it is very, very bad indeed. The ceremonies of worship of Ralishaz involve random notes on musical instruments, babbling paeans, the frequent casting of augury devices, and wildly varying conditions of light and darkness, noise and quiet, heat and chill.