Lao Shu Po

Lao Shu Po

(Deity)

Titles

Old Rat Woman

Adjective

Laoite

Realm

Awaiting-Consumption, Abaddon

Alignment

Neutral evil

Areas of Concern

Night
Rats
Thieves

Edicts

Work quietly toward your goals in the shadows, steal what you need, keep an ear among the ignored and downtrodden

Anathema

Work honestly for something you could steal instead, risk too much for another creature

Cleric Alignments (1E)

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Domains (1E)

Animal, Darkness, Evil, Luck, Trickery

Subdomains (1E)

Curse, Daemon, Fur, Loss, Night, Thievery

Cleric Alignments (2E)

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Domains (2E)

Darkness, luck, swarm, trickery

Favored Weapon

Dagger

Symbol

Emaciated rat

Sacred Animal

Rat

Images of Lao Shu Po

Source: Dragon Empires Gazetteer, pg(s). 61 (1E)
Gods & Magic pg. 132f.
Tian Xia World Guide pg. 35

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The Tian Xia goddess Lao Shu Po began her life as an ordinary rat, and stole her divinity by feasting off the corpse of the slain god Tsukiyo.

Appearance

Lao Shu Po commonly takes one of two forms, either that of an aged hag or an enormous six-legged black rat.

Religious symbol and animal

Her religious symbol is an emaciated rat curled into a circle, and the rat is her sacred animal.

History

Originally, according to legends, Lao Shu Po was merely a normal rat. This changed after the traitorous Fumeiyoshi slew his brother, the moon god Tsukiyo. The rat Lao Shu Po somehow found her way to the moon god's grave and feasted upon his divine flesh as he lay buried, absorbing some of his divine power. Tsukiyo was resurrected by the goddess Shizuru and, when they took vengeance on the vile Fumeiyoshi, Lao Shu Po ascended to full divinity and usurped Fumeiyoshi's previous role as deity of the night: she became goddess of the night, rats, and thieves.

Home

Lao Shu Po has long dwelt in Abaddon. She is content with the alleys and sewers of the Slave City of Awaiting-Consumption and has never felt the need to claim her own domain.

Church of Lao Shu Po

Lao Shu Po prefers not to draw attention to her schemes and expects the same from her followers, who often inscribe her religious symbol on the soles of their shoes rather than display it more openly. Her worship is common throughout the Darklands of Tian Xia, and her cults frequently fester beneath the city of Goka. She is also worshipped in the tengu nation of Kwanlai, and her other centres of worship include dark, monster-haunted lands like Shenmen, Wanshou, and the lawless Wandering Isles of Minata.

Lao Shu Po is commonly worshipped across, and in turn has heavily influenced, the ratfolk realm of Diguo-Dashu. The Diguo-Dashun Underminers of that empire have been inspired by Lao Shu Po's theft of divinity to take what they want from life with little regard for who they hurt in the process. However, many of these ratfolk claim her as an ancestor rather than worship her, a decision made more to avoid the attention of those who oppose her since Lao Shu Po herself does not consider the act to be a slight.

An aspect of Lao Shu Po known as "Lor Shan" is also worshipped in Avistan by the Belkzen Creeper ysoki who dwell in the harsh, orc-dominated lands of the Hold of Belkzen.

References

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