State of the gods

Rildriina Melath was an ambitious priestess from Ched Nasad. Having worked her way up the ranks in the temple to the rank of archpriestess, she still desired... more. Lolth demanded more. Deciding to eschew the obvious and cliche path of becoming a matron, she began planning a most ambitious plot.

*She would kill lolth and take her place.*

Traveling to T'lindhet and V'eldrinnsshar, Rildriina sought the assistanc of Lolth's rivals, the Cult of Aunyrr and the Church of Kiaransalee. The fall of house Xun'viir to Lolth's influence decades ago had left the cult of Aunyrr eager to strike back at lolth for corrupting one of their most powerful houses, and they readily agreed to assist, dispatching the divine champion Akortana Baenlyl, armed with an artefact blade known as the savior's wrath. Kiaransalee's church was more hesitant to make such a direct move against Lolth, but ulimately agreed, dispatching her champion, Naeriza Auvry'ndal, to the task with an artefact, The Bone Orb, a sphere of pure ivory, thrumming with power. Her allies chosen, Rildriina set out for the demonweb pits in 1372DR, where the trio cut their way through petitioner of lolth and spider alike in a bid to find lolth, and put an end to her. Lolth, in her hubris, allowed them to reach her, hoping for some amusement. When lolth attempted to slay the champions of her rivals, she found her powers blocked by the bone orb, absorbed by the negative energy plane as the orb opened portals as though they were shields. Sensing his moment, the blade 'Savior's Wrath', was revealed to be Vhaeraun in disguise, having used the champions to get close to his mother so he might finally have a chance to kill her.

It was a tragic miscalculation; Selvetarm turned from the champions he had been fighting, and set upon the masked lord, intercepting his bull rush and tackling him into the mass of webs beneath lolth's throne. Mortally wounded in the battle, Naeriza sacrificed herlife essence to the bone orb to sustain it long enough for Lolth to be slain. Her efforts were not in vain. Though she died in the process, Lolth was weakened enough that Rildriina was able to drive a blade into her heart. In that instant, Rildriina kissed the dying goddess, absorbing her divinity into herself and stealing her power. Lolth was slain; With a scream echoing across the cosmos, she was gone.

Akortana strode over to Naeriza's lifeless corpse, and took up the Bone Orb, turning on Rildriina, the newly minted goddess weakened from the transfer and at a disadvantage. Threatening her with the Bone Orb, the champion of Aunyrr forced her to yield her mantle as queen of the drow to Aunyrr, taking from her the domain of the drow, and elevating Aunyrr to her equal. Had she the power, had the orb not been completely depleted, she would have killed Rildriina right there, but in their moment of triumph, all she had was an empty threat and a nearly powerless artefact, and the good luck that Rildriina did not know it and was not in the mindset to call her on it. Akortana used the last of the orb's power to teleport back to T'lindhet. Thus marked beginning of the silence of Lolth. The first thing Rildriina did upon recovering from the transfer of power was to utterly destroy house Melath on the prime. Her family knew her; they knew her weaknesses, and a goddess must have none. Next was the process of making her ascention to Lolth's throne known to her predescessor's worshippers. In 1373DR she made herself known to the drow, and the next decade saw a systematic dismantlement and replacement of Lolth's iconography, written record, and memory in the conciousness of the drow. Rildriina, now Rildriina the Webspinner, was the new queen of spiders. Lolth was not the only casualty of the conflict.

Out of sight of the main battle, Selvetarm slew his father, Vhaeraun, and suffered mortal wounds in the doing. Saved from the brink of death by Eilistraee, the spider that waits has absorbed his father's power, serving alongside his aunt, though some widely believe he serves beneath her. His followers are split along the same lines, torn between believing in service and independence.(edited)

Vhaeraun's followers, bereft of a patron, have seperated into three camps, those who have turned to the worship of Aunyrr, who seeks to unify the drow under her banner... those who have turned to Selvetarm, the new patron god of male drow... and those who have turned to the worship of Ghaunadaur. Unexpectedly, Zinzerena has re-manifested herself as a minor goddess, fed power by Vhaeraun's death to become the true goddess of assassins and chaos. She is now worshipped somewhat openly in some corners of the underdark, though she is still weak enough that she keeps herself hidden.

Having gained nothing but a true claim on 'magic' among the drow, Kiaransalee is now an equal power to Aunyrr and Rildriina.

All three goddesses are now bitter rivals over who will control the drow. Cooperation between the Aunyrra and the kiarans has broken down, with anger simmering over the loss of the kiaran champion and the artefact, with foul play suspected of their Aunyrran ally in the moment of triumph, given how not only did Lolth merely get replaced, but the other champion returned, whole and hale. The worship of Selvetarm has been widely banned by those in power everywhere, particularly as rebels under his banner are now known to be supporting the moondancer. They are considered to be allied, and thus hostile to the powers that be.