Mystra (/ˈmɪstrə/ MIS-trə)[1] is a fictional goddess in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
She is believed to be the embodiment of the Weave and of magic herself, her veins the ley lines, her breath the mists and her body the pulsing, thrumming earth.
Her divine realm is Dweomerheart, and her Third Edition D&D domains are Good, Illusion, Knowledge, Magic, Rune, and Spell.
She appears as a source of light (like a prismatic will-o'-the-wisp to ethereal and astral view, some say) which uses all spells at maximum level ... Mystra is constantly Shape Changing as far as an observer on any Prime Material plane is concerned.
She is said to have given the first teachings that unlocked the forces termed “magic” to the races of the Prime Material plane (and, some say, has forever after regretted the deed).
[17] Originally called Mystryl, the goddess of magic was a Chaotic Neutral greater power of Limbo within the domain Dweomertor, born during the battle between Shar and Selûne in the dawn of time.
She provided and tended the Weave, the conduit that enabled mortals to safely access the raw magic force.
[20] Mystryl was depicted as a beautiful human female with rainbow-colored hair, radiant skin, and burning blue eyes.
She distrusted but didn't hate Shar, who had sought to seize control over her for centuries, and she also rebelled occasionally against the good-intentioned suggestions of Selûne, who she regarded as smotheringly maternal at times.
[13]:47 When reincarnated as Mystra, she used the form of a peasant girl learning the basics of cantra magic but with the capacities for archwizardry.
[21] The Goddess of All Magic accordingly appeared to a few mortals she considered suitable, first in dream visions and then directly, and ultimately invested part of her divine power (known as the Silver Fire) in them.
Thus Mystra proceeded to breed her own children, known as the Seven Sisters through the possessing of the Half-Elf Elué Shundar and mating with Dornal Silverhand.
[13] Murdered by Cyric in the Year of Blue Flame (1385 DR), Mystra is no longer a part of the Forgotten Realms pantheon.
The Simbul gifted all of that energy to Elminster, who in turn freely returned it to Mystra in a cave within the King's Forest of Cormyr.
Mystra's return was highlighted as part of the Dungeons & Dragons Encounters adventure War of Everlasting Darkness by Wizards of the Coast in 2012.
She assisted the adventurers in defeating Lolth and her efforts to plunge Faerun into everlasting darkness, which would have allowed the drow to invade and conquer the surface realms.
She was served directly by the Lesser Power Azuth (who was killed during the Spellplague), and indirectly by demipowers Savras and Velsharoon.
The Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (2015) states, "in two senses, both the metaphorical and the real, the goddess Mystra is the Weave.
Such complexities are often beyond the interest of many players, but those who choose to unravel them face a historiography and an archive-building challenge of great magnitude.
[26]: 107 Mystra was #12 on The Gamer's 2020 "Dungeons And Dragons: 15 Most Powerful Gods, Ranked" list — the article states that "Mystra is more lawful than her predecessor, and in her reordering of magical law, she outlawed the use of all spells above 9th level, introduced limited access to magic (spell slots), and made spellcasting harder to perform in every way".
[32] Curtis D. Carbonell, in the book Dread Trident: Tabletop Role-Playing Games and the Modern Fantastic, highlighted that major events in the Forgotten Realms occur around Mystra's various deaths such as the fall of Netheril "because archmage Karsus attempts to become a god and kills Mystryl" who is then reincarnated into the first iteration of Mystra.
[26]: 106 In the Io9 series revisiting older Dungeons & Dragons novels, Rob Bricken described Midnight in Shadowdale as "a mage who wakes up one day with a mysterious silver pendant grafted to her skin" and notes that " When a young waif named Caitlin begs for help rescuing her mistress, Kelemvor, Cyric, and Adon accept, but Kelemvor refuses to allow a woman on the team until Caitlin sees Midnight’s pendant and insists the sorceress come along.
[34] Ari David, for CBR, emphasized the multiple trials Mystra puts Elminster through before picking him as her Chosen.
David wrote, "He was taught many lessons, including Mystra turning him into a woman in order to gain a greater understanding of the world and a stronger connection to the Weave.
[23] Academic Aidan-Paul Canavan highlights that the Chosen of Mystra, such as Elminster, act as an in-game mechanism to protect the status quo of the Forgotten Realms.
Canavan wrote, "the Chosen of Mystra act as enforcers that protect the polder, inhibit progress and entrench the boundaries of the fantastic realm.
Alternatively the Chosen of Mystra could be considered avatars of the game creators and designers, who themselves actively protect the Forgotten Realms from progress and normally evolving time in order to keep the setting static and stable, with the appearance of tumultuous change and chaos".