Lolth

### The Queen of Spiders

The goddess of secrets, mysteries, and risk. Lolth is known by many titles, *The Queen of Spiders, The Lady of the Underdark, The Keeper of Secrets, The Maker of Lies,* and *The Daughter of Corellon*, to name but a few. She is the patron to the drow, that race of elves who forsook Corellon’s sky to plumb the mysteries of the underdark.

A goddess of both blessings and curses, she is often seen a mercurial and capricious diety, said to be more willing than most to let her chosen fall if they fail to meet her expectations. However, famous followers of the Lady of the Underdark are known for world changing discoveries and succeeding in endeavors thought impossible by others. After all, the Veil is said to have been conceived by one of her champions.

### Domains

The Mistress of Shadows has three domains.

**Arcana**. The domain of those who wish to learn the best kept secrets of magic, and, in doing so, make new discoveries.

**Knowledge**. Being a goddess of mystery and the unknown, many who follow the Keeper of Secrets do so in search of--often dangerous--knowledge.

**Trickery**. The Maker of Lies is someone who encourages misdirection and schemes, and so many of her followers embrace those qualities with this domain.

### Origin

The origins of the Queen of Spiders are as mysterious as she, for there is a disagreement between her adherents on whether the Lady of the Underdark was created by the Knowledgeable Fate, or if she created herself.

In the first tale, the goddess' origin is generally ascribed to be similar to that of the other Old Gods; one of eleven beings created by the Fate of Knowledge to populate the planes of existence. They say that she fell in love with the darkest and most shadowed places in the planes: the Underdark, the Shadowfell, the Nine Hells, and the Abyss. In her travels across those realms, she was the first being to create a falsehood, giving birth to both lies and secrets.

From there, the story goes, she brought these creations to the Fates, earning the ire of Order and Knowledge even as she became the Whim's favored child. The Whimsical Fate, charmed by the goddess' creation, made her a gift in turn. A creature who spun beautiful traps, almost invisible to the eye, catching the unwary in webs that spelled their doom. These spiders, beloved by both the goddess and the Whimsical Fate, became her symbol, and she took up the mantle as the goddess of secrets and mysteries.

The other origin of the goddess states that she is the Daughter of Corellon, birthed as a fragment of that chaotic and ever-changing deity. This shard of the god gave herself a singular form, and developed her own distinct consciousness and identity.

Corellon, rather than attempt to subsume this part of themselves, encouraged this separation. The being that was then created held echoes of Corellon's personality, but no more, and the goddess quickly distinguished herself in creating many creatures and races, including spiders, drow, devils, and abberations.

The goddess has remained silent on this point of disagreement. Most devout followers of her agree that, should the truth of her origins ever be found, it will not be through a declaration by the Keeper of Secrets.

### Worship

Much like Moradin, Lolth's ultimate aim is to encourage progress amongst her followers. However unlike him, she counsels her followers to take calculated risks for greater rewards. Interestingly, Lolth's followers are often secretive about their worship of her as a celebration of her shadowy nature. Amongst Lolth followers, it is often seen as rude to refer to her by name and it is not unheard of for her clerics/paladins to openly pretend to be followers of other deities.

### Iconography

Lolth's symbols are varied, however a common one is of the Black Widow spider. The species' reputation for females eating their mates is used as an allegory for how true accomplishment only comes with risk and sacrifice. Other common symbols for the Lady of the Underdark include webs, evil eyes, and caves.

Due to the nature of the goddess' faith, there are few orthodoxies and canons. Even within families, it is normal to encourage children to develop their own unique relationship with the goddess. Many zealous followers of her craft their own personal euphemisms for the Queen of Spiders to show their devotion, as well as their understanding of their goddess' tenants.

### Notable Followers

* Adelaide Underhill
* Ruadhan
* Duanalla
* Maeve
* The creator of the Veil

### Known Artifacts

* The Ring of the Staring Abyss
* The Twin to the Staring Abyss