Lolth

Lolth (pronounced LOALTH ), sometimes Lloth in the Drow dialect, the Queen of Spiders or Queen of the Demonweb Pits, is the goddess of the drow, a chaotic evil deity who revels in chaos. She patterns her life and the lives of her worshipers on a regimen of chaotic acts and the veneration of spiders. The way that new-born spider broods tear each other apart to survive especially appeals to her. She promotes this by encouraging her worshipers to kill their rivals, thus ensuring that they are the strongest of the 'brood'. Her love of chaos often makes her appear mad but the wise see her as a calculating individual who is always several steps ahead of those who believe that they can anticipate her. She is cruel and domineering, forcing her will upon her followers and her enemies, a will which instructs the strong to crush the weak in the most torturous way imaginable.

Worshippers
Lolth's clerics have no set uniform, but spider motifs and darker clothes are the norm. Some rites require the worshipper to wear no clothing at all. Her sacred animals are arachnids. Lolth is worshiped almost exclusively by drow, though other sentient races (See: Quaggoth) venerate the Lady of Spiders as well. Her clergy sacrifice the living and treasure to her glory.

Orders

 * Militant Myrlochar, Order of Soul Spiders
 * The Militant Myrlochar, also known as the Order of Soul Spiders, is an elite military order composed solely of male crusaders and found in the few dark elven cities where Lolth is revered and males are permitted to enter her priesthood. The Militant Myrlochar directly serve the ruling Matron Mothers of the city in which they are based as agents of uncontrolled destruction, tirelessly hunting any creature designated as their quarry or who interferes with their pursuit and wreaking havoc until recalled, which rarely happens, or destroyed, their most common fate.


 * Handmaidens of the Spider Queen
 * The Handmaidens of the Spider Queen is an order of female crusaders with no permanent ties to any individual city. Also known as the Daughters of the Yochlol, the Handmaidens serve as instruments of Lolth's will in times when the Spider Queen needs to bring an entire city into line. At least three times in recorded history the Handmaidens of the Spider Queen have assaulted and destroyed an entire dark elven city that threatened to drift from Lolth's web of chaos. When not assembled into an army of chaos and vengeance, the Handmaidens work in small companies scattered throughout the Underdark, harassing merchant trains that look to other deities for protection and conducting hit-and-run raids on cities ruled by the clergy of other deities.



Relationships
Lolth is a fervent enemy of the Seldarine, especially Corellon Larethian, Sehanine Moonbow and Fenmarel Mestarine for the parts they played in foiling her scheme to overthrow the Seldarine. She is also an enemy of both her children Vhaeraun and Eilistraee, though she appreciates all the effort her son puts into his plans to get rid of her. It is in accordance with her views on the chaotic nature of the drow.

Gruumsh was a former ally, now her enemy. He blames her for the failed attack on his arch-nemesis Corellon.

Lolth shares an enmity with Ghaunadaur, another former ally who went mad with rage when she refused his romantic interests. She also opposes every non-drow Underdark deity.

Lolth does have tentative alliances with Loviatar, Malar and several tanar'ri lords, including Errtu who was the caretaker of Menzoberranzan, her favorite city during the Time of Troubles. The only alliance she's ever had that could possibly be described as solid would be the one she had with Selvetarm. He was her consort and although he was not hugely enamored of that fact he guarded her vigilantly. In 1375 DR however, Selvetarm was slain by a worshipper of Eilistraee wielding the Crescent Blade (with the help of the transformed Halisstra Melarn), leaving her alone to fend off external threats.

History


Lolth was formerly Araushnee, elven goddess of destiny, artisans and dark elves. She was the lover of Corellon and had him completely smitten by her grace and beauty but she grew power-hungry and a sense of never-before seen greed and cruelty entered into her mind. She began by aiding Corellon's enemies. In a fight with his nemesis Gruumsh, Araushnee aided the orc god and Corellon had to flee. She then sent her new ally Malar to hunt her weakened lover but through sheer skill of arms Corellon, with the help of Sehanine Moonbow, managed to defeat the Beastlord.

Corellon still had no idea that his beautiful consort was behind the attacks but Sehanine Moonbow had found out the truth after discovering that Araushnee had started an affair with Fenmarel Mestarine in an effort to make him aid her in an upcoming rebellion. Although at first entranced by her advances he eventually spurned her. Sehanine confronted Araushnee and was imprisoned as a result. With her subtle plans failed, she instead organized an attack on the entire Seldarine with her "Anti-Seldarine" consisting of Vhaeraun, Malar, Ghaunadaur, Gruumsh, Auril, and a host of other gods of goblinoids, orcs, giants, and kobolds, as well as Eilistraee, who was only an unwitting participant in her schemes. Sehanine escaped from her imprisonment and warned Corellon of the impending attack. Despite their force of numbers, the anti-Seldarine were defeated. While her allies fled, Araushnee directly confronted her former lover but then Sehanine, Hanali Celanil and Aerdrie Faenya came to the rescue, merging their powers together to become a single deity, Angharradh. Araushnee was defeated and cast into the Abyss along with both of her children (despite the fact that Corellon knew Eilistraee had been tricked). Araushnee's banishment also involved Corellon turning her into a bloated spider demon so that he could not be persuaded to reconsider his decision due to her beauty.

Araushnee took the name Lolth and turned the 66th layer of the Abyss into her new home. Without another home Vhaeraun, Eilistraee and Ghaunadaur took up small residences there, though Vhaeraun and Eilistraee rarely visited them, preferring to wander in the Plane of Shadow and Arvandor respectively. Ghaunadaur took the opportunity of living in the same realm as Lolth to announce his love for her but Lolth prized physical beauty, an attribute Ghaunadaur did not have and rejected his advances. The Drow demi-power Kiaransalee created a tower of bones in the realm and was thusly subjugated by Lolth's will into becoming her reluctant vassal. Also, Lolth learned of the demon prince Zanassu who claimed divine dominion over spiders. Considering her new body, she thought it was her sole right to own such a portfolio and angrily tricked Selvetarm into attacking the demon prince, killing him. She gained a divine portfolio and a new consort. She used her regained divinity to turn the 66th layer into the Demonweb Pits, morphing it into a giant funnel-shaped web to fit her spidery appearance.

Some time afterwards the moon elf Kethryllia Amarillis intruded into the demonweb, reminding Lolth of a way to regain more of her divinity by having the surface elves worship her once more. She began corrupting the surface elves, especially the dark-skinned and warlike Illythiri of whom she used to be the sole patron. It was her actions during the second Crown War that ended up causing the Illythiri to turn to darkness when she sent the balor lord Wendonai and other demonic servants to offer corrupting power to the dark elves. Just before the Illythiri were turned into drow they had begun openly worshiping Lolth and, over 11,000 years later, she still holds dominion over them.

Although she has attempted to inspire a couple of invasions of Evermeet Lolth seems to have been content to sit and watch her worshipers killing each other in the Underdark at least until the Time of Troubles. She spent most of her time as an avatar tracking down the new drow demi-power in the realms, Zinzerena. She killed Zinzerena easily and became more chaotic in nature as a result, actually spreading the faith of Zinzerena (who wanted to rebel against Lolth) in Menzoberranzan, and granted spells in her name seemingly just for the sheer irony. When the Time of Troubles ended, Lolth also began granting spells to the followers of Moander after he was killed by Finder Wyvernspur.

Then came the Silence of Lolth. Clerics suddenly could not receive spells, throwing the entire theocratic drow society into turmoil. Two great drow cities were destroyed, while others were taken over by Vhaeraunites. Lolth emerged again though. She had moved the Demonweb Pits from the Abyss to its own separate plane where spiders destroy each other day-by-day and Lolth weeds out the weak even from her dead as they have to traverse the plane's barren, mad spider-infested lands to get to the Demonweb itself.

Lolth has taken the soul of a drow, Danifae Yauntyrr, and added her as the eight aspect of her divinity. Whether this was a replacement or addition to Lolth's combined mind is not clear.

After Eilistraee defeated and subsumed Vhaeraun and an uncooperative joint effort between Lolth and her daughter destroyed Kiaransalee (both in a cosmic game resembling the drow version of chess, Sava), and the lost of Ghaunadaur's drow worshipers, Lolth became the only "drow" deity in the drow pantheon.