| Lolth | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Title |
Demon Queen of Spiders, Mistress of Lies, Lady of Shadows |
|
Alignment |
Chaotic Evil |
|
Domains |
Spiders, Shadows, Lies, Darkness, Trickery |
|
Dominion |
No Astral Dominion (Resides in The Demonweb and the Court of the Spider Queen, which are the 66th and 65th levels of The Abyss) |
|
Children and Worshipers |
Drow, Driders, Draegloth, Yolchol, Chitines |
The goddess of the drow and the queen of spiders, Lolth is a capricious god of lies and shadows as well as the demon lord of two abyssal layers.
Description[]
Lolth's favored appearence is that of a lithe drow woman dressed in a gossamer gown woven from the silk of spiders. Her long silver hair hangs down her back and frames her exquisitly beautiful face. This is not her only form though, and many speculate it is far from her true form, that of a massive black widow. She can also appear as a drider with three massive horns sprouting out through her silken hair.
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Lolth in her Drow Form
Lolth is a vile goddess. She subverts and manipulates those in her service and treats them exactly the way she views them, as expendable pawns, and nothing more. Her cruelty is legendary and is part of the way that she scares cultures into worshiping her, she then feeds on the misery of her subjects, all the while propagating betrayal and deceit.
Origins and Exploits[]
Lolth is an ancient god who came into being long before the time of the mortal worlds creation. Sehanine is her sister and Corellon was once her lover. Back in this age before time, Lolth, her sister and Corellon ruled from their dominion, Arvandor; seperate from the other gods. When the middle planes were discovered Lolth became one of the four deities of the feywild which also included: Corellon, Sehanine and Sagawhen. They abandoned the other gods and Arvandor and lived with their creations in the feywild. Back then, Lolth was a goddess of humor, lust, and the necessary darkness of nature.
The Trihune Harmony[]
After this, but long before the Dawn War or the rise of the Ebon God, Lolth ruled alongside Sehanine and Corellon during a time now refered to as the Time of Trihune Harmony. During this time elvenkind was birthed from the tears of Corellon: Eladrin came from the tears of beauty that came to him when he first layed eyes on the feywild, the wood elves came from tears of laughter caused by a dark jest from Lolth, and the drow came from the tears of sorrow caused by Corellon partaking in the first funeral of the feywild. The drow immediately became Lolth's favored. During the Time of Trihune Harmony Lolth met the primal spirit, Grandmother Spider. She was fascinated with her form and the intricate webs of fate that she wove. Lolth and Sagawhen worked together to create the first spiders, based off the primal spirit's form. Lolth loved her spiders, being the only race she ever created. Then Lolth mimicked Grandmother Spider's technique and learned to weave the strings of fate, creating an artifact called The Loom of Fate. This knowledge made her a goddess of fate, she then taught sewing and weaving to the mortal races. Lolth, Sehanine, and Corellon with the help of Avandra tried to complete Arvandor and fuse it with the feywild, in such a way that it would be in that plane and the Astral Sea at the same time.
The Ender's War[]
The three gods of elvenkind had long ago disassociated themselves from the other gods and their crude children, and do to their displacement in the feywild, and the way that time moves strangley there, they were unaware of the introduction of evil into the universe and the First War happening back in the Astral Sea.
Suddenly this was all made real, when Corellon's long-time rival, Gruumsh, invaded Arvandor before it was finished. At the time he was aligned with the Author of Wickedness, so he brought both orcs and demons with him in his conquest against Corellon and introduced evil into the feywild. Though Gruumsh was defeated, some scholars believe that the demons that invaded Arvandor laid a seed of evil in Lolth. Regardless, this event severed Arvandor from the plane of farie and made the Trihune Harmony realize that the forces of the other gods would need the assistance of the fey gods if there was to be any hope for the universe. After eons of fighting the Ender, he was finally bound, and most scholars agree that this act was finally carried out by Lolth. These believers also point out that if Lolth is ever slain it will unleash The Chained God and bring the end of existence with him. Maybe it was her close proximity to the author of wickedness that made Lolth go mad, but whatever it was, whether Gruumsh, or The Chained God, or something else entirely, the fact is undeniable, Lolth was corrupted.
The Fall of the Drow[]
After the binding of The Chained God the three gods of elvenkind went back to Arvandor, in order to heal the damage done by Gruumsh. Meanwhile the second war of the Dawn Wars raged far away and the fey gods were unaware. Then when the primordials realized how to breach planar boundries they broke through into the Astral Sea and destroyed the Lattice of Heaven . During this battle in the Astral Sea, Lolth made her move in the Feywild.
A depiction of Corellon doing battle with Lolth in her drider form.
Lolth corrupted her priestess' and they in-turn ordered their underlings to revolt against Sehanine and Corellon. Lolth attacked Corellon first, who did not realize that his fey-sister was not joking. The drow poisoned the mind of many elves who joined the forces of Lolth and the drow killed every eladrin and elf that did not revolt with them, they razed the cities and shadowed forests of the feywild. Sehanine interevened just a moment before Lolth killed Corellon and the two gods drove her and the drow from the feywild into the mortal world. Even with the power of demons on their side the drow were forced to eventualy retreat underground and Corellon faced off against the Spider Queen on the land above. When, finally the battle was over, The Demon Queen of Spiders and her demonic servitors were cast into the Abyss.
Commandments[]
She demands that her followers:
- Do whatever it takes to gain and hold power.
- Rely on stealth and slander in preference to outright confrontation.
- Seek the death of elves and eladrin at every opportunity.
Exarchs Allies and Followers[]
Lolth has many exarchs, but due to their guile, almost none of their names are known.
Eclavdra, Exarch of Lolth - Lolth's exarch of Cunning and Cruelty.
Rivals and Enemies[]
References[]
- Monster Manual 3 (Wizards of the Coast - 2010) by: Mike Mearls, Greg Bilsland, Robert J. Schwalb; pages 126 - 129
- Dungeon Master's Guide (Wizards of the Coast - 2008) by: James Wyatt; pages 162, 163
- Dragon Magazine 394: Channel Divinity - Corellon's Devoted (Wizards of the Coast - 2010) by: Robert J. Schwalb