Lolth

**Lolth,** also known as the Queen of Spiders or the Queen of the Demonweb Pits, was the most influential goddess of the drow, within the Alceon Pantheon.

She drove the drow into heavy infighting under the pretense of culling the weak, while her real goals were to hold absolute control over the dark elves, prevent the rise of alternative faiths or ideas, and avoid complacency (even though she found amusement in the strife that plagued her followers' communities). [18]However, in the long run her influence proved to be an obstacle to the growth and success of the drow, preventing them from unifying against common enemies or for a common cause.

## Description

Lolth usually appears in two forms: drow and arachnid. In drow form, the Spider Queen appears as an "exquisitely beautiful" female dark elf, sometimes covered in clinging spiders. In her arachnid form, Lolth takes the appearance of a giant black widow Drider.

## Realm

Lolth dwells in her divine realm of the Demonweb Pits, a demonic realm formed entirely of a single great fractal web, where she is served by legions of powerful mystical slaves. Lolth's residence in this realm is a mobile iron spider-shaped stronghold.

## History

Lolth was originally known as Araushnee, the goddess of destiny and artisans. She was Correllon's wife was the main goddess of the Drow.

At some point, Araushnee grew ambitious and started to plot against Corellon. During her first attempt, she aided Gruumsh in trying to kill her husband by imbuing the scabbard that he had crafted for his sword with magic that would cause the weapon to shatter during the fight. However, this plan failed due to Sehanine's interfering with it: she knew that Araushnee had tampered with the scabbard, because the Weaver had conducted this very first step of her betrayal during the night, when Sehanine's sight could reach her.

## Relationships

Lolth and Correllon have been enemies for as long as the two gods have existed. In a previous conflict Lolth was defeated and lost control of the domain of fate. It was given to The Raven Queen for her help in defeating Lolth. Since then Lolth has held a deep hated for the goddess of death.

## Worshipers

Lolth’s follower base was varied. It mainly consisted of drow but also included aranea, chitine,draegloths and deep dragons. She gained a few elven followers due to promises of power.

### Clerics

Lolth’s clerics were almost exclusively female (although there were a few males). They represented the rulers of most Lolthite communities, and strictly followed the Spider Queen's will, forcing the drow into extreme subservience to their deity, and into the constant state of conflict that dominated their lives. Each priestess strove for the favor of the Spider Queen and was ready to anything in order to gain status in her goddess' eyes. Their vestments were normally adorned with spider motifs. Her rituals required them to wear darker clothes or no clothing at all. Her clergy sacrificed the living and treasure for her glory

## Rites

Like all religions, the worship of Lolth involved a number of rituals and rites. Many of them included sacrifice. As an example, what follows was a secret sacrificial prayer in Abyssal typically  known only to high priestesses:

"Great Goddess, Mother of the Dark, grant me the blood of my enemies for drink and their living hearts for meat. Grant me the screams of their young for song, grant me the helplessness of their males for my satisfaction, grant me the wealth of their houses for my bed. By this unworthy sacrifice I honor you, Queen of Spiders, and beseech of you the strength to destroy my foes."