Istus the Colorless and All-Colored is the Greyhawk goddess of fate and destiny from the crystal sphere known as Greyspace.
"Everything is connected to everything else by invisible strands that push and pull over time. The choices a person makes in life affect the pull of some of these strands, allowing one to alter fate in a small way, but some of these webs of fate have a strong and inevitable pull that cannot be escaped. The perceptive can come to understand these strands and watch them to predict the future. Accepting your destiny is the greatest service you can make to yourself , for dishonesty about yours role in the world leads to ruin and disaster."
- Doctrine of the Church of Istus.
Overview
Istus is a powerful deity who takes an abstract interest in mortals and immortals alike. She carries a golden spindle with which she weaves the strands of fate together, spinning the future into the present. An aloof deity, Istus concerns herself solely with the fate of the universe and its inhabitants. While she has relatively few devotees, most people will call on her in times of want or need. None know for sure whether she will heed their call, for fate will decide.
Description
Istus appears in many forms, including an old crone, a noble dame, a lovely lady or a young shepherdess.
Abilities
As long as Istus possesses her golden spindle, all times and places and planes are known to her, and she may move freely from one moment to another. If she ever loses her spindle, she will immediately return to her own plane, and the lost spindle will crumble into dust. Istus can never be surprised. She can also move into the future and back again, instantly, which has a curative effect on her.
Holy symbol
Istus' holy symbol is a golden spindle with three strands.
Favored weapon
Istus wields a mystical golden spindle which she uses to weave strands of fate, known as the web of Istus. Istus is able to use these strands offensively, as a weapon. Her priests have selected the dagger as their favored weapon.
Possessions
Istus possesses a mystical golden spindle which she uses to weave strands of fate. She uses these strands of fate in various ways:
- the Strand of Binding is used to confine a creature as if they were wrapped in chains.
- the Strand of Cancellation is used to annihilate non-living objects, as if they never existed.
- the Strand of Death reduces whatever it strikes into dust, forever.
- the Strand of Hostility causes the person it strikes to feel hostility towards whoever or whatever opposes the will of Istus, including their own family and friends.
- the Strand of Passage instantly connects the current plane with any other that Istus wishes, allowing whoever touches the Strand to be instantly teleported to the connecting plane.
- the Strand of Sending transports whoever it touches through time and space to the moment in the near future which poses the greatest risk to their freedom or continued existence. Alternatively, a willing subject may be sent to their moment of greatest opportunity in the near future.
- the Web of Enmeshment traps all caught within it in a maze-like pocket dimension. The web appears to have no internal boundaries although those trapped within can only see 10 feet (3 meters) in any direction due to dense mist.
- the Web of Entropy drains all magical energy from magical items caught within it, and counters all spells cast from within (or into) it.
- the Web of Stars transports Istus and all who stand near her into an unbounded space of an unknown type. Within is an infinity of star-speckled space draped with silken strands. This web is an ultradimensional pathway to virtually anywhere and anywhen.
Realm
In the Great Wheel cosmology, Istus possibly resides within a pocket dimension or a demiplane within the web of fate that only she can reach. Alternatively, she resides within her realm known as the Web of Fate, located within the Concordant Domain of the Outlands.
Worship
Most priests of Istus are female. Because they will have born witness to the extremes of fate, from innocents dying horrible deaths to sadistic torturers ruling vast kingdoms, most of her priests are cynical and stoic. However some of them have embraced kindness after some fateful encounter has brought joy into their lives. Her clerics are called upon to make predictions and divinations for important personages across the world.