Ishtar Savonis

Official portrait of Ishtar in the Palace of Dragons

### Titles

Nebiris, Demon-Slayer, Matron-Mother, Grand Matron, Second Pontiff, Lady Asp, Eurydice (a jab at her position)

## Physical Description

### Eyes

Golden

**Ishtar Savonis** is a lady of the House of the Asp, a Niocletian, and the current Grand Matron managing and ruling the Papetral Pontifect. She is the only other person apart from the High Pontiff Velzar to operate as the head of the Papet. She comes from the Savonis genus, a higher tier of Aspis that have historically been soap-merchants.

Ishtar was born a sorceress due to the nature of her birth, born in the ghost circle at the top of Ismantova. There are also apocryphal stories involving her conception being a part of a magic ritual, though this is often discredited. Her birth name, Astarte, was abandoned when she was sixteen when she chose the Infernal form of her name, Ishtar, as opposed to the Dwarvish version.

Her affinity for beasts led to her nurturing and raising a lion cub when she was ten, and then taming a tiger when she was in her forties, both of which have acted as her mounts. For this, she is sometimes called **Nebiris**, the "leopard woman."

Though originally meant to help the Savonis clan attain status among the House of the Asp, Ishtar's betrothed was brutally killed by the demon Mahasure when she was just fourteen. Ishtar sought the tutelage of Xhu in the Misty Mountains, and studied with the monks of Mim Kapal in Selendor until her return six years later. Having now taken the name Ishtar, she was able to track down and destroy Mahasure, after which she was proclaimed as the Demon-Slayer and heralded as a demigoddess by the House of the Asp.

Ishtar is recognized not simply for her feats as a warrior, but as a philosopher and the Matron Mother of the Niocletians. She was the primary conspirator in the murder of Velzar, and took the seat of the Papet as Grand Matron, rescinding many laws of the Pontifect and thereafter becoming a serendipitous ruler of the Niocletians.

Her philosophy draws heavily from stoics like Black Cato, though she is also clearly inspired by the cult of Mim Kapal given her years serving as a monk in the Misty Mountains.

## Early life

### Birth and allegations of sorcery

Ishtar's mother and father were of the Savonis genus, which is somewhat higher and were heavily involved in the Niocletians. The occult connotations of the Niocletians have implied that Ishtar acquiring inherent magical abilities was no accident, especially given the seemingly out-of-place circumstance that resulted in her birth upon a monadnock over one hundred miles from their alpine estate.

On a new moon in early March, Ishtar was born within a ghost circle upon the holy mount of Ismantova. The monadnock, a lonely hill rising over 3,000 feet, is covered in hazel trees and at its highest point is a ghost circle. Born as Astarte, her parents claimed that her birth upon this mount alone granted her sorcerous potential, yet eager parents wanting to replicate the results have resulted in their disappearance.

### Education and betrothal

Ishtar was given a classical education by Oliphian elders and unlike many women of alpine Gantelusia, was expected to become a tutor in addition to a role as a mother. Little is known about her childhood, but it's unlikely her sorcery was overlooked when she was young. Ishtar has claimed that she spent most of her free time traveling the Long Heavens, and became a skilled trailswoman and hiker as a result.

As part of her classical education, Ishtar was brought to multiple Dinamid ruins across Arborea and traveled into Arcadia as well to observe the Saskens. It is here that the following account is given on how she acquired and tamed a lion cub:

> It was two hours until dusk, and we had journeyed several miles in the keel of Carasgas [Death Mountains] on our trail to return home. The ascent into the Long Heavens was ever perilous, but having still many days until such a steep walk was expected, we decided to camp early to avoid the harsh wave of cold typical of early autumn. As the only woman in company, I was expected to prepare food, but on this day we had more time than anticipated and I was finished early; I walked about the sandy ridge cast by Cascadian winds. Here, I encountered a grisly sight by a crescent ridge. Carrion slumped against a wall in the shape of a large feline, and at its side, trembling and shivering, the silhouette of what could be seen as a house-cat. I stayed for what felt like hours approaching it out of pity. It took a liking to me, and my maternal touch was refreshing for a Princess without her Queen [...] I returned to the camp and the Little One snarled but made not effort to harm my company. After I washed her mother's blood from her matted fur, and it was here our unshakable bond was formed.
>
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Ishtar was given the nickname Nebiris after this, and the lion cub, Durges, often sat at her feet during her lessons. Ishtar's education continued for four more years, and upon its conclusion, she was arranged to wed one of her fellow students, a Nepthis man named Mecheles. The young man was third for the title of Patriarch of Aspis, and Ishtar anticipated their marriage at the end of the year in early winter.

### Mahasure and the journey north

The method in which the buffalo-demon Mahasure came into the Long Heavens is based on conflicting accounts. Ishtar has claimed that a vengeful suitor of hers studied gothic arts and attempted to summon a demon to force her to marry her; the prevailing theory however is that Mahasure was likely summoned by a Pontifect agent.

Regardless of how he came into being, Mahasure destroyed most of the Aspis families in line for the rule of *Zaoria*. Following this, the demon defiled the temple outside the tomb of Gaius Olivius, and finally began a rampage across the Long Heavens destroying ever tribe it could find in totality. Ishtar barely escaped with her life, as her tribe was among the first to be destroyed.

Ishtar wandered Neuphany on her own for several years, and this period of her life is a mystery. In her admission to Xhu, she met an elf from the Misty Mountains while traveling in *Madelia*, her blood having tainted him, and told her that the monks of Mim Kapal at the Speartip Spire knew how to banish demons. While this information was not correct as she learned when she ascended the Misty Mountains in CE 951, she still joined their temple, as she had no other leads to go on and had nowhere else to go.

## Monastic tutelage in Selendor

### Influence on appearance

Given her time spent in the Misty Mountains, Ishtar is often believed to have deliberately modified her appearance to seem more elven. Her ears are pointed, a trait that does not appear in Oliphians, and she is much more pale as she has aged than she was when she was younger.

Members of the House of the Asp are often tan with chestnut-colored skin; however, most portraits of Ishtar in her later years portray her as fair, even pale. This is sometimes correlated to simply her age; despite this, many Oliphians who abandon their alpine lifestyle for other humanoid civilizations perform similar modifications ascribed to Ishtar to appear of Jade descent rather than explicitly Oliphian.

This change took place sometime *after* her tutelage, as artistic depictions even going into her time in the Papet are consistent with her previous descriptions. It also took place *before* she became Grand Matron, as the official portrait in the Papet is of her with the modifications. This is a period of about one year, and what transpired in this time is not clear.

### A monk of Mim Kapal

Ishtar served for most of her adolescence in isolation in the Misty Mountains, learning High Elvish and gaining the ability to fast for weeks at a time. Her time as a monk helped her develop proper focus to engage her innate sorcerous abilities. Prior to her tutelage with Xhu, Ishtar could create light and small illusions and occasionally unlock doors; her connection with her lion is also likely a product of her sorcery. However, in her decade of monastic practice, Ishtar was irrevocably transformed.

Ishtar concluded her time in Selendor by giving up her lion companion Durges to Xhu as her mentor's protector. She was given the alternative title **Xiu-Ah-Bo [Xiuahbo]**, or "Xhu's Tears Have Ended."