Ishkur God of storms and rain. In some respects positive (rain is good). Analogue to the Coyote/Loki./trickster figure. A relatively minor god, but one that takes an interest in humans, and that interest is not comfortable. Child of Utu and Ninnanna.
Symbol: A fox with chaos in his tail; a cloud with gentle rain.
Chaotic good to Chaotic neutral; followers can be of any chaotic alignment.
Specialty priest spells/abilities: Chaos or chaotic commands, once per day, starting at 3rd level; greater malison once per day, starting at 7th level.
Ishkur is a trickster god; there are both conventionally “good” and “evil” aspects to him. He was the one who tempted Martu-Amaru to destroy the Tree of Life, the first thing created on earth by Ki, and thus caused Martu-Amaru to fall and change sides in anger and resentment against his father, Enlil. However, he is also the god who thought of creating men, elves, and dwarves, and was the one who lead Ninurta to the battle with Anzu, and who actually did play a strong part in that battle. He’s is noted for his silver tongue, shapeshifting abilities, and capricious nature. The best way to please him is not unquestioning obediance, but a questioning attitude, curiosity, a sense of humor, and respect. Not unquestioning obedience, but respect, absolutely.
Ishkur was also the inventor of gambling. When a two groups of humans claimed a forest for their own, and quarreled, he had them kill an ox, and created dice from the beast’s bones. He taught the respective leaders how to play, and of course, won every throw himself. By the time he left, he’d won the forest as a sanctuary, all of the groups’ animals, all of their gold, all of their wine. . . and the two groups were so irritated with him, and so enchanted by the fun of the game, that they completely forgot about fighting each other.
When humans, elves, dwarves, and all the other goodly races were created, the dark races were created at the same time, reflecting that the younger gods were not as perfect creators as An had been; the dark races were flawed vessels cast by Ninkarrak on her potting wheel, or cracked by the fires of the forge. They turned to Anzu and his allied gods, crying out that they had been ill-treated, and wanted revenge. Thus, Anzu and Tiam warmed them with fire and gave them weapons, and taught them to hunt the goodly creations of Ninkarrak. Enlil forbade the other gods to get involved, but Ishkur, as always, found a way around it. He changed into a fox, his favorite shape, and came to the leaders of the goodly folk as they roamed far and wide, and whispered secrets in their ears. To the elves he gave the secret of living in such harmony with Ki and her creatures, they could never be found unless they wanted to be; to the dwarves he gave the secrets of the stone; to humans he gave the secret of fire. And he told them that the other races had other secrets, and that to survive, they would need to share those secrets and work together.
When Enlil found out that the dark races and the light races were now evenly matched, he rejoiced, but was angry that his order had been disobeyed. “Who did this deed?” he asked. “Who brought them weapons, who brought them fire?”
“No one,” replied Ishkur. “They made the weapons themselves; they scraped the flint themselves to make the fires.”
Enlil went to earth, and asked the people himself, who was responsible. “A fox spoke to me in a dream,” all the people answered.
And Enlil knew who had been behind it, and he told Ishkur to change into a fox shape. Ishkur obeyed, and then Enlil chased him with hounds, carrying bolts of lightning with which to singe his tail. The chase lasted three days, and lead them all over the earth, under the sea, and above the clouds. Finally, Enlil returned to he home of the gods, exhausted. . . only to find Ishkur had been there for two days already, and was now asleep. Enlil raged at first, but then Ishkur opened his eyes and made a joke, and Enlil laughed so hard he wept, and forgave his cousin. . .
Ishkur is also unique in his parentage; he is the only child of Utu, and only one of two godly children of Ninnanna, the other being Ereshkigal. He has a bitter hatred towards Nirgal-Erra for the kidnapping of his sister, and there are many stories, mostly lost, of confrontations between the two, which Ishkur usually wins through wit, rather than deeds.
Ishkur frequently acts as the messenger of Enlil, bringing orders from the Lord of the Heavens to other gods, or even to mortals. Of course, he frequently says things in tones or ways that get people to do things exactly the opposite of the way they were supposed to, but always in the spirit of harmless fun.
In some areas, his name is the one cursed by housewives when the milk goes sour (like Puck/Robin Goodfellow), in others, he is so feared as to be considered almost a dark god himself. In other areas, his trickster nature is almost unknown, but he is venerated as the god of gentle rains, and as the god who flirts with Ashnan when he husband is away.
He can take any shape he wants, but most often prefers the shape of the fox.
The Orthodox Church of the humans, in an effort to stamp out the pagan beliefs, actually incorporated Ishkur into its mythos, using his name as that of a demon-scourge, usually sent by the Evil One to corrupt true believers.