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Player > Setting > Deities > Lao Shu Po
Starfinder Core Rulebook p.487
NE goddess of assassins, rats, spies, thieves
Centers of Worship: Absalom Station, Akiton, the Diaspora
Symbol: A curled and emaciated rat
Legend has it that long ago, Lao Shu Po was simply a rat,
skulking in the shadows. After gnawing on the corpse of
a dead god, however, she absorbed some of that deity’s divine
power and became a goddess herself. Originally a goddess of
night, Lao Shu Po has turned her focus more to those who prowl
under cover of darkness. Hers is the poisoned cup, the dagger
in the back, and the starship power core rigged to explode. She
keeps her eyes and ears always open, for an incautious moment
or a careless word might reveal a secret that she can later turn
to her advantage.
Lao Shu Po remembers her humble beginnings, and she
teaches that those who have nothing should do whatever they
can get away with or whatever it takes to survive, be it murder,
sabotage, or theft. The universe gives away nothing for free,
and it’s up to the individual to take what she needs or wants and
jealously hide it away. It may sometimes be advisable to band
together with others for strength and protection, like a pack of
rats, but in the end, you can rely on no one but yourself. There
will always be betrayal and lies; the key is to lie and betray
before someone else does it to you.
Assassins, smugglers, spies, thieves, and all who wish to hide
their activities under cover of darkness and escape the notice
of the authorities worship Lao Shu Po. She is widely regarded
as a patron of the ysoki race, but most of the ratfolk pray to
Grandmother Rat only to placate her and avoid her notice, rather
than embracing her values. Nevertheless, a majority of her priests
are ysoki, who use their ubiquity to foster underworld contacts
for their congregations. Lao Shu Po’s temples and shrines are few,
always small and unassuming, and often hidden in plain sight—a
back alley apothecary where poisons are sold, a dark chamber in
the rear of a drug den, a disused corner in a space station’s waste
reclamation level, or a cramped warren of maintenance tunnels
just beneath the streets of a bustling marketplace.
While many societies root out and destroy cults of Lao Shu Po,
further strengthening the faith’s verminous association, there are
always those in power who appreciate her followers’ ability to get
things done. Completely trusting one of her followers—who refer
to themselves as “grandchildrenâ€â€”is foolish, but Grandmother Rat
has no problem with her followers staying loyal to an employer or
cause so long as it serves their ends. Some of the most upstanding
governments quietly employ Po spies and assassins, while
corporations pay them handsomely for industrial espionage. In
some areas, they can even operate openly—it’s hard to decry one
who sabotages enemy warships or retrieves hostages from a
secure facility, regardless of their reasons.
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