Ralishaz (RAL-ih-shaz) is the Power of chance, ill-luck, and unexpected misfortunes. He is also the patron Power of gamblers and those who take unusual risks. Most often, Ralishaz will not reward the latter, but if he does, the rewards may be great indeed.

Ralishaz is portrayed in a variety of forms. He may appear as an idiot or dolt, a hideously wrinkled old man, a scabby beggar, or even as a beautiful maiden. He employs only wooden weapons, usually a staff. He is a formidable purveyor of curses and magical aging, and has a gaze that can cause sleep. He is also the power of insaity; many debate whether his appearance and whims are truely random or just madness. He shuns other powers, although he does not seem hateful towards them.

Order does not exist, only randomness and chance, and the odds are stacked against you. While you may have a good run against the odds, eventually the universe will balance itself out against you. Randomness and insanity go hand in hand, and somethimes those who are the most insane are the ones who are cloest to the true nature of the universe. Kindness and prosperity are illusions, as misfortune comes to all sooner or later.

Victims of misfortune may try to placate Ralishaz; gamblers invoke him; those in peril beseech him; those planning speculative, high-risk adventurers will make offerings to him. His cult grows and ebbs with the misfortunes of the world. Services to Ralishaz include playing semi-random note sequences on musical instruments, babbling paeans, the casting of augury spells, and wild interplay of light and darkness, heat and light, noise and quiet.

Clerics of this Power are said to suffer misfortunes only rarely, but when they do, they are grave indeed. The clerics tend to alternate between stoicism and wild endeavor, depending on how they feel their place is in the world at that moment. Casting augury spells plays a great role in their lives. They are often mean-minded or deceitful folk, not seeing the point of friendliness to someone who will eventually be doomed by bad luck.