Semuanya

In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Semuanya is the deity worshipped by the lizardfolk race in many campaign settings. The symbol of Semuanya is a single reptile egg. Its sacred animal is the alligator.

Publication history

James M. Ward created Semuanya for the 1980 D&D supplement manual Deities and Demigods.

Semuanya was detailed in the book Monster Mythology (1992), including details about his priesthood. His role in the cosmology of the Planescape campaign setting was described in On Hallowed Ground (1996).

Semuanya was described briefly in Defenders of the Faith (2000). His priesthood is detailed for 3rd edition in Complete Divine (2004). His role in the Forgotten Realms setting was detailed in Serpent Kingdoms (2004).

Description

Semuanya appears as a large lizardfolk warrior of indeterminate gender wielding a great club with sharp shells at the tip. During times of peace, lizardfolk call her the Breeder; during times of hardship they call him the Watcher or the Seeker.

Relationships

Semuanya is an aspect of the "World Serpent" deity worshipped in different forms by the various reptilian races. His worshippers are enthusiastically slaughtered by the cultists of Sess'innek, but to date Semuanya has not elected to care.

Realm

The great bog where Semuanya dwells can be found on the neutral plane of Concordant Opposition. Semuanya's Bog lies at one end of the great sea Tir fo Thiunn, spireward of the gate-town of Curst. The bog is an untamed, primordial place and is filled with lizardman petitioners, reptiles of all types and what will eventually be their meals. At its center lies the lethargic Semuanya itself.

Dogma

Semuanya is solely devoted to the survival and propagation of the lizardfolk race, and is completely neutral in alignment. If something is not directly related to survival or propagation, Semuanya considers it irrelevant.

Worshipers

Clergy

Lizardfolk tribes often contain shamans and clerics who derive power from the worship of Semuanya. Semuanya's priests are unorganized, acting as general caretakers for their tribes. They are required to breed every season, and those who become infertile lose their spells and generally commit suicide. New shamans learn at the feet of the previous generation, and replace them when the older shamans grow infertile. Semuanya's priests distinguish themselves from their fellows with kilts of blue-green hide.

Temples

The lizardfolk do not normally build temples to this god, worshipping him instead at stone shrines.

Rituals

In times of strife, prayers to Semuanya take the form of efficient hisses and reptilian barks. In times of peace and plenty, lizardfolk take the time to intone longer chants and epic poems in the Draconic tongue. Hunting prizes are sacrificed to Semuanya monthly, when Luna is full.

Holy days

Semuanya's holy days are the times of the full moon.

Myths and legends

Kecuala

Before the dawn of history, in the time of myth, it is said that Semuanya had a mate, Kecuala by name. Both were hermaphroditic entities, both filling every social role. While Semuanya was concerned only with survival and propagation, however, Kecuala was distracted by more abstract and cerebral matters. Eventually it grew so distracted by its disparate thoughts that it split in half, becoming two entities, male and female. These were the first lizardfolk. Semuanya watches over the lizardfolk to this day, hoping one day they will eliminate their abstract thoughts and become Kecuala again.

Forgotten Realms

In the Forgotten Realms campaign world, Semuanya is an aspect of the "World Serpent" deity worshipped in different forms by the various reptilian races.

Additional reading

• Conforti, Steven, ed. Living Greyhawk Official Listing of Deities for Use in the Campaign, version 2.0. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2005. Available online: [1]
• Scott, Amber E., and F. Wesley Schneider. "The Ecology of the Lizardfolk." Dragon #335. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2005.