Church of Eilistraee

The primary religious organization of the followers of the goddess Eilistraee, the Dark Maiden.

The worshipers of Eilistraee were mostly drow: either born into her society, or hoping to escape the Underdark and Lolth's evil, taking back their place in the surface world and living at peace with all other races. However, in line with her ideals, Eilistraee would welcome and accept beings of all races who desired to see all people living in harmony, without pointless discrimination or wars, and worked towards that goal.

The main work of the church of Eilistraee was reaching drow trapped in Lolth's web, aiding them, and providing them with a new life and future on the surface. The followers of the Dark Maiden also strove to offer kindness, help, and protection to those in need and they nurtured beauty and arts, spreading joy whenever and wherever possible and showing that the drow could create, rather than merely destroy.

> *"A rightful place awaits you in the Realms Above, in the Land of the Great Light. Come in peace, and live beneath the sun again, where trees and flowers grow.”*
> — The message of Eilistraee to all decent drow.
>
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### Eilistraee's Teachings

#### On helping others

Eilistraeens were bidden to aid and protect all folks in need, of any race, whether weak or strong, kind or rude, and to promote harmony and acceptance among all races. They were to lend their help to all those who fought for good whenever there were ways to do so. Except when fighting evil, they were to be always kind, even to those who showed rudeness, and to aid others in acts of kindness.

They were to treat strangers as friends. Hungry travelers were to be fed and the homeless given shelter, under their own roof if needed. When traveling and while adventuring, they were to feed, help, and protect all those in need they met along the way as a prayer and offering to the goddess. They were also to patrol the lands around them, especially in cold winters, so that all those who were lost, hurt, or suffering the cold could be given appropriate treatment and shelter.

#### On promoting joy, arts, and beauty

Eilistraeens were advised to bring happiness and merriment everywhere they went, lifting people's hearts with kindness, gaiety, songs, jests, and revelry. They were to nurture and create beauty, promote and practice music and dance, learn new songs and dances, and learn how to play, craft, and repair musical instruments. They were to pass this learning on whenever possible, and use it to bring joy to friends and strangers alike. It was said that feasts should always be joyful events and that food should be eaten with the accompaniment of music, save for sad occasions. The faithful were also told to practice swordwork, learning new techniques with the blade.

#### On drow

The faithful were meant to encourage drow to return to the surface world whenever and wherever there were ways to do so. They were to promote peace between them and other races, thus helping the drow forge their own place in the world and become part of its rightful, non-evil inhabitants. They were also to aid all drow who were in danger or in need of help. If they were in combat, the fighting had to be ended as soon as possible, with as little bloodshed as possible. All drow met, when not working evil on others, were to be given the message of Eilistraee.

#### On food

Food could be a source of joy; the faithful were advised to learn how to best cook it and to gather new recipes and spices whenever they could. They were to feed themselves by their own gardening and hunting skills, and assist hunters when possible. If food was aplenty, part of it was set aside and given to all those in need (especially outcasts and individuals of other races); thus, Eilistraeens were advised to carry some food for this purpose. Any remaining food was given to priestesses of the Dark Maiden, as they would give it away in turn and none would go hungry.

#### On conflict

Eilistraeens were commanded to repay violence with swift violence, thus quickly removing dangers and threats, so that the fewest might be hurt. The bodies of evil enemies were to be burned as an offering to the goddess, unless they were edible and non-sentient and hungry people were near. When faithful, friends, and allies fell in battle, priestesses of the Dark Maiden were to comfort and sooth those who were mourning the loss, and provide a funeral song and burial.

#### On possessions

Wealth was to be used to buy food, swords, armor, and musical instruments and to assist the work of the goddess. When helping others, their price should be no more than a single tool or favor, or a good sword or armor, that could be used to serve the goddess' will.

#### On slavery

Eilistraee and her church detested slavery and actively fought it whenever possible. Followers of the Dark Maiden were forbidden to take slaves. Prisoners of war (mostly Lolth-worshiping drow or untrustworthy individuals who had acquired too much knowledge and were held for some time so such knowledge couldn't be used against the followers of Eilistraee) were usually made to work for food and shelter, but they weren't owned and couldn't be commanded by anyone (only supervisors assigned by the decision-makers among Eilistraeeans could give them orders, in selected cases).

#### Adventuring

Clerics were allowed to go adventuring, as long as they kept following Eilistraee's teachings, while aiding, feeding and defending the needy on the way.

### Orders

#### Sword Dancers

Specialized clerics of the Dark Maiden were known as Sword Dancers. They were excellent dancers and spellsingers, known to use an agile and acrobatic fencing style resembling a dance. The sword dancers led missions to find, assist, and protect any drow looking to return to the surface (or that could be made to return) and embrace a different life. They were skilled diplomats, especially active near the settlements of elves and other races, working to establish peace and cooperation between drow and surface dwellers.

#### Silverhair Knights

The Silverhair Knights were an order of clerics of Eilistraee completely dedicated to the redemption and subsequent protection of drow followers of Lolth, Vhaeraun, and other deities of the Dark Seldarine. They fully embraced the teaching of Eilistraee about showing mercy and compassion, and fought these dark elves only using non-lethal means, hoping to make them understand the error of their ways and choose a different life. Like the Sword Dancers, they often embarked on missions within Lolthite settlements, aiming to find and rescue drow who were in danger or seeking an alternative.

### Rituals

 File:Aethia Relax 2.jpg
Her worship was not bound by hard rules; it was free-form expression through dance and song, and all that was needed to celebrate her was a moonlit glade (or some kind of light, if in places that couldn't be reached by moonlight). The faithful disrobed and started dancing, seeking their goddess's blessing.

The most important rituals are described below.

#### Circle of Song

Besides free-form dancing and singing, the main form of ritual worship was a hunt for food followed by a feast and a Circle of Song, in which the worshipers sat in a circle and danced by turns, leading a song. If possible, the ritual had to be celebrated in a wooded area and on moonlit nights.

#### The Sword Dance

The Sword Dance was a ritual held when a new sword was forged or acquired by a worshiper of Eilistraee, in order to ask her blessing on the blade. It was performed by planting the weapon in the ground (the point turned down), and then dancing, drawing a drop of sap from four limbs of an evergreen tree by momentarily moving against the blade. If the ritual was successful, the sword would gleam with silvery light, and for three months it wouldn't rust and would be able to harm creatures that could only be wounded by magic.

#### The High Hunt

The High Hunt was a nighttime ritual led by clerics of Eilistraee, in which the faithful hunted a dangerous monster that was a threat to local people as an offering to the goddess. Tradition allowed the use of any kind of bladed weapon and armor, but the priestesses were required to wear as little as possible. It was usually held once per season and ended with a circle dance for the goddess if the quarry was slain (and a feast if the quarry was edible). A Hunt could also be called by a senior priest when Eilistraee warned her followers of powerful monsters or foes approaching the area (through visions, dreams, or the sound of her hunting horn). In this case, the Hunt was held to neutralize the threat, rather than for ceremonial value. (However, hearing the Dark Maiden's hunting horn could also simply mean that someone nearby was in need of help.