> [!infobox]+ Lolth > > <div class="infobox-coat-of-arms"> > <div style="text-align: center; padding: 5px;"> > <div class="character-name-container"><div class="character-main-name">Lolth</div><div class="character-epithet">the Spider Queen</div></div> > </div> > </div> > <div style="text-align: center; padding: 0.2em;"> > <img src="LolthSymbol.png" alt="Lolth" style="max-width: 250px; height: auto;" class="internal-image"> > </div> > <table class="infobox-table"> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Province</td><td class="infobox-data">Goddess of Spiders, Deceit and the Drow</td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Alignment</td><td class="infobox-data">Chaotic Evil</td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Symbol</td><td class="infobox-data">A jewelled spider</td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Holy Day</td><td class="infobox-data"><em>Not Known</em></td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Type</td><td class="infobox-data">Greater <a href="Deities.md" class="internal-link">Deity</a></td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Home Plane</td><td class="infobox-data">Sealed within the <a href="Demonweb.md" class="internal-link">Demonweb</a>, her layer of the <a href="Abyss.md" class="internal-link">Abyss</a>, since her banishment at the end of the <a href="Dawn-War.md" class="internal-link">Dawn-War</a></td></tr> > <tr><td class="infobox-label">Divine Champion</td><td class="infobox-data"><em>Not Known</em></td></tr> > </table> ### About Lolth, the Spider Queen, is the greater goddess of spiders, deceit and the [[Elves|drow]]. Once the bride of [[Corellon]] and the mother of [[Vhaeraun]] and [[Eilistraee]], she was driven to madness by the death of her son and turned against the Pantheon, becoming one of the [[Betrayer Gods]]. She weaves a complicated web of schemes and treachery through her worshippers, deceiving allies and enemies alike in pursuit of power, and it is said that she can see through the eyes of every spider, and that she is truly all-knowing. Though she has been sealed within the [[Demonweb]] since the end of the [[Dawn-War]], her worship remains entwined with the society of the [[Elves|drow]] across much of the [[Underdark]], and her corrupting poisons and whispers still reach the faithful from her prison. ### Depiction Most of Lolth's icons and idols show an alluring [[Elves|drow]] woman with dark purple skin and silver hair, her abdomen swelling into the body of a monstrous spider. Her holy symbol, a jewelled spider, is often worked into the jewellery of her priestesses and the architecture of the cities that serve her. It is said that before her fall, when she stood as [[Corellon|Corellon's]] counterpart, she appeared as a female Dark [[Elves|Elf]] artist of great beauty, a form her followers now rarely depict. ### Divine Domains Many of the Spider Queen's clerics are granted powers of Trickery, Death or Knowledge. ### Holy Day Lolth has no known holy day. ### Commandments of Lolth - It is better to be loved than feared, but you may certainly try to be both. - Misdirection, slander, and shadowed steps have more function than direct conflict. - Death to the elves who live under the sun, and death to all their allies! ### Enemies of Lolth Lolth holds a searing grudge against [[Kord]], whose Thunderspear pierced her heart at the end of the [[Dawn-War]], banishing her to the [[Demonweb]] and leaving her [[Elves|drow]] armies leaderless. Her hatred for [[Corellon]] burns just as fiercely, for she blames her former husband for the loss of her son and for driving her children below the earth, and she has never forgiven her daughter [[Eilistraee]], her son's killer, who has spent millennia leading her [[Elves|drow]] away from her. Though both are [[Betrayer Gods]] who share a hatred of [[Corellon]], Lolth counts [[Gruumsh]] as no true ally. It was while hunting [[Corellon]] alongside the Ruiner that [[Vhaeraun]] met his death, and Lolth has never forgiven [[Gruumsh]] for failing to protect her son. Instead, she manipulates his followers into attacking her enemies, using them as expendable weapons so that her [[Elves|drow]] may remain safe. Lolth does not understand the [[Luxon]], and she hates it as she would any rival god. Above all, she despises the [[Elves|Grey Drow]] of [[Muxnir]], who turned from her to follow both her daughter and its light. ### History - #### The Age of Founding When the gods first arrived in [[Aeborhia]], Lolth became the bride of [[Corellon]], a female Dark [[Elves|Elf]] artist to his male High [[Elves|Elf]] warrior, and he gave her dominion over the Dark [[Elves]]. Together they had twin children, the elder [[Vhaeraun]] and the younger [[Eilistraee]]. During the [[Age of Founding|Schism]], [[Vhaeraun]] betrayed his father, causing [[Corellon|Corellon's]] blade to break in his battle against [[Gruumsh]], and hunting him alongside the Ruiner as he fled for [[Arborea]]. It was then that [[Eilistraee]] faced her brother in battle and killed him. The death of her son drove Lolth to madness. She retreated into the [[Underdark]] with the [[Elves|drow]] who remained loyal to her, swore vengeance on her husband and daughter, and turned against the Pantheon, joining the [[Betrayer Gods]]. Before the end of the [[Age of Founding|Schism]], [[Pelor]] and [[Eilistraee]] fought side by side in the [[Crusades of Dawn|Crusade of Dawn]] to drive the maddened Spider Queen deep into the [[Abyss]]. - #### The Age of Arcanum Though imprisoned in the [[Abyss]], Lolth's worship endured among the [[Elves|drow]] of the [[Underdark]], whose cities grew into cruel matriarchies ruled in her name. Throughout the [[Age of Arcanum]], her daughter [[Eilistraee]] made quest after quest into the [[Underdark]] to free those who wished to escape her mother's cruelty, and many of those freed would go on to become the [[Elves|Grey Drow]] of [[Muxnir]]. - #### The Dawn-War The [[Dawn-War]] began when the [[Betrayer Gods]], all save [[Tharizdun]], were released from their prisons, by means that remain unknown to this day. Freed from the [[Abyss]], Lolth returned to the [[Material Plane]] at the head of her [[Elves|drow]] armies. Her final battle came in the northern regions of [[Zeshana]], where she caught [[Eilistraee]] guiding [[Elves|drow]] out of the [[Underdark]]. Unleashing her full power on her daughter, Lolth took out thousands of years of grief and madness on her son's killer, and would have slain her had [[Kord]] not arrived with his warriors and faced her in single combat. The two fought for what seemed like hours, with thousands of [[Elves|drow]] and warriors perishing around them, until [[Corellon]] arrived and, letting go of his love for her at last, pinned Lolth to the ground. [[Kord]] pierced her heart with his Thunderspear, banishing her to the [[Demonweb]], her layer of the [[Abyss]] formed after the [[Age of Founding|Schism]]. - #### Post Dawn-War Lolth has remained sealed within the [[Demonweb]] since the [[Divergence]], yet her influence over the [[Elves|drow]] of the [[Underdark]] has barely waned. Her priestesses continue to rule in her name, and her followers still raid the surface and hunt those who have fled her worship. In the 31st century PD, the adventuring group [[Group 8274]] wiped out House Larethian, the ruling house of [[Athivae]], the largest of her cities. Rule passed to the city's second house, House Le'Bronn. The same group also cleared out the ruins of the Old Palace in [[Brazenthrone]], near [[Rexsall]], which her [[Elves|drow]] had been using as a forward base for their patrols on the surface. ### Modern Worship of Lolth Most of the [[Elves|drow]] of the [[Underdark]] still follow Lolth. Her cities are matriarchies, ruled by noble houses whose priestesses scheme endlessly against one another for the Spider Queen's favour. The largest of these is [[Athivae]], in the part of the [[Underdark]] reached from [[Zeshana]] in [[Stacia]], a region also home to a large population of surfaced [[Elves|drow]] who once called [[Athivae]] home. On the surface, the worship of Lolth is outlawed almost everywhere. The only open place of worship is a shrine within the Temple of the Stars in [[Khorathi]], where the walls are painted with every god of [[Aeborhia]]. Elsewhere, her faith survives only in hidden cults. ### Known Worshippers of Lolth #### Champions #### Other Worshippers - House Le'Bronn - The ruling house of [[Athivae]], formerly its second house. - House Larethian † - The former ruling house of [[Athivae]], wiped out by [[Group 8274]].