Ishtar

This article is about the goddess Ishtar. You may be looking for the ender dragon, Ishtar (dragon).
“	"Ishtar is the goddess of life. May her blessing guide your path."	”
 	—FlyingPokemon, High Priest of Ishtar 	—FlyingPokemon, High Priest of Ishtar
Ishtar was the goddess of life and war in the Pantheon of Halfast. She became known to the public through the efforts of the Knights of Ishtar, a military order of warrior priests dedicated to her worship.
She was popular in Novigrad and Majora, where many Temples of Ishtar were raised in her name. Unlike some deities who demanded offerings at their places of worship, she was charitable and provided donations to visitors of her temples to aid in their travels. Of particular value was the Blessing of Ishtar.
Her twin spheres of life and war were intertwined such that her priests claimed she required a constant flow of blood and souls, leading the Knights of Ishtar to wage a crusade against infidels, heretics, blasphemers, and apostates during the Eleventh Era. The heaviest battles of this so-called Ishtari Conflict were fought against the non-believers who lived in the Unbroken Chain. Her knights provided for her needs with weapons like Blood for Ishtar and Souls for Ishtar, while their enemy Gabault wielded the Sword of Ishtar in ironic mockery.
Ishtar was mentioned in the Ishtarion, a book of parables that bore her name.
According to One Bird, Two Bird, Red Bird, Dead Bird and the Harbormaster's Log, there existed a potentially lethal game of chance known as "Ishtar, Wishtar" where players could either be granted great gifts by Ishtar or be brutally murdered by her priests.
Ishtar's goddess of war title was apparently either shared with or disputed by Bellona, an ancient deity worshipped on Dragonhollow whose dragon aspect was defeated on Halfast at the First WeekEnd event during the Eighth Era. Some felt these were different names for the same divine being, but the Knights of Ishtar rejected this association.
Some confusion arose over the existence of the ender dragon Ishtar, defender of the Novigrad Nest. The Heirarch HyperSilence, godly father of Halfast, heavily implied this was the dragon aspect of Ishtar herself. However, the High Priest of Ishtar FlyingPokemon declared this idea to be blasphemy and named the dragon a false pretender. On 11E:37, Poke led a raiding party of his fellow knights in slaying the dragon Ishtar, the first of many deaths the beast would ultimately suffer.
=Known Ishtar Worshippers=
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	FlyingPokemon
	Kingkauw
	KingOfDaWild
	Dr. Tech
	Stumpjumper
	Dutchchannel
	2G3TH3R
	Grinsepaule
	TraumaticWheel
	Henry
	Tox
	Acid
	Milian
	AC1DCL4NPancke
	DirtArmor69
	Cursed_Shadow
	Gh0stMonkey21
	JustSpookie
	Cookiemonsturrr
	Zlatnik
	Mijn7
	Da_Cooky
	Rawnblad
	DokterPapflap
	Sneakyeric
	Mickdm
	Unknown Cold Comfort builder
=Behind the Scenes=
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The following is out-of-universe information about real-world Halfast.
	Mclairddd: whos ishtar exactly<BR>FlyingPokemon: Ishtar is the goddess of life, passion and war :)<BR>Mclairddd: but like tho why ishtar lol<BR>FlyingPokemon: Why Ishtar? Cuz with her blessing we thrive my friend, she is in all life<BR>Mclairddd: is ishtar an actual god<BR>FlyingPokemon: As real as it gets, worshipped since the dawn of civilization	
	—FlyingPokemon educates the ignorant 	—FlyingPokemon educates the ignorant
Ishtar was the Mesopotamian goddess of love, sexuality, and fertility—and thus, of life itself—but also of war and divine justice. She was worshipped by the Assyrians, Akkadians, and Babylonians, and was known to the Sumerians as Inanna and greatly influenced the Phoenician and Canaanite goddess Astarte.
FlyingPokemon introduced Ishtar into the lore of the Halfast server when he began building the Temples of Ishtar, a side building project that allowed him to redistribute some of the fantastic wealth that his United Provinces faction had accumulated. Not long thereafter, they officially rebranded as the Knights of Ishtar, though he later regretted choosing Ishtar over Astarte as he felt the latter sounded more feminine as befitting a goddess. However, he had done so to avoid comparisons with the Astartes space marines because Lex's love of the Warhammer 40K universe heavily influenced her own Greywatch organization.
HyperSilence supported the effort to expand his server's lore by creating Ishtar's Blessing and naming one of the respawning dragons of the Novigrad Nest after her.
Category:Ishtar
Category:Pantheon
Category:Gods and Goddesses
Category:Lore
Category:Religion