Drow Gods
Lloth/Lolth
Lloth,
the Spider Queen, is cruel and malicious. The only person in her world is
herself. She is constantly plotting to keep her loyal minions in a state of
turmoil. This way she can find the strongest and most cunning of her followers
to serve her. Drow, being brought up under this religion, are all but perfectly
suited to this arrangement. With the drow's instinctive distrust and wit, all
but the wiliest of opponents will be thrown into disarray. Seeing that Lloth is
the goddess of chaos, this seems all but fitting. The main object of affection
among Lloth worshippers is the spider. It is an offence punishable by death to
kill or even maim a spider. Lloth gives unto her most loyal henchmen a poisonous
spider to aid, guard, but also to watch in their furtherance of the religion. It
has been known that a follower be killed by the so gracious gift from Lloth.
Lloth is most frequently found in the form of giant black widow spider.
This form can be changed to an extremely beautiful drow female. These two forms
can also be combined to produce a giant spider with a lovely female drow head.
In any form Lloth is a presence to be feared. Instead of using her material form
Lloth will more likely just show that she is watching by having a pair of
smirking female lips appear on the nearest spider seen. If her help is needed
more directly then she will imbue a follower with great fighting prowess like:
always hitting first, weapons never breaking, and an improvement of armour
protection. These followers are almost always surrounded by flickering black
mauve edged radiance. The clergy of Lloth are all women. The priestesses of Lloth
are the only subjects of Lloth to hold any real power in drow society. If a
priestess of any rank says to do something there better not be any hesitation.
Punishment for disobedience is usually swift and destructive. Killing is not
their style, maiming is more reward for slow wits and procrastination. A
priestess has the feeling that they are the judge, jury and executioner of the
society at their feet, and the power given to her by Lloth as justification for
any action that she may take. A priestess’s sole purpose in life is to weed
out the weak and sanctify the strong.
Eilistraee
Eilistraee
is the goddess of the good drow. She is the Matron goddess of all the drow that
wish to return to the surface. Her trademarks are song and beauty. Not much is
known about Eilistraee except that she is quick to anger over the evil that most
drow do. Eilistraee will more likely lend aid to a creature she favours instead
of appear personally. She will grant favours, small ones, which give the most
practical answers. If the situation warrants her appearance she usually will
appear as a tall drow female with long glowing hair down to her ankles. The
clergy of Eilistraee are female from any race. These priestesses much further
the cause of beauty and song. They must always carry one of their goddess’s
favoured instruments, the horn, flute, or harp. Their lot in life is to persuade
drow to return to the surface world and work to improve surface relations
Ergosal
This
is the drow god of lies, deception & betrayal. Ergosal's avatar appears as a
noble drow male, clad in rich looking clothes, beneath which he has a drow chain
mail. His avatar usually carries spells from illusion, enchantment, alteration
and abjuration, but when angry will carry spells intended for destruction. He
dwells in the caverns of Pandemonium and his palace is moved every once in a
while and is cloaked from detection and location so that no one he doesn't want
will find it. He schemes a lot and has many plots both in motion and waiting so
that he always has a surprise up is sleeve and he is a very unpredictable and
undependable god (even to his priests). He is very involved in the drow life,
hatching many plots and creating mayhem whenever possible. He sends omens to his
priests but they can be interpreted in 2 ways or they can be outright false, for
his own amusement. Beware of dealings with this god since he will use every
thing he can to change the bargain or he will simply dismiss the bargain as
non-committing. Duties of the Priesthood
They
foment the internal wars through the use of deceptions, lies and betraying their
"allies" secrets to the highest bidder. They work from behind the
scenes to move events to their will, and purpose. His priests must never cast
the spell true seeing or even use it from a device lest they'll become insane.
Forbeo
The
Arch-God, Forbeo, God of Death and Law was the creator of the world. He is
worshiped by the drow as the incarnation of pure evil, and as their saviour and
protector in the war betwixt the drow and the surface elves. Worship of Forbeo
usually requires the sacrifice of living souls to the god. Forbeo is not the
patron god of the drow, but is worshiped more fervently by the drow then many of
the other races. Drow will often sacrifice souls to him in order to win his
favor in an upcoming battle.
Ghaunaduar
That
which lurks. Ghaunaduar is even less known than Eilistraee. His nickname is That
Which Lurks. He is unpredictable. When he appears he is seen as purplish ooze
with tentacles. His "followers" are mostly drow that have fallen from
the grace of Lloth or sub intelligent monsters. He has been known to aid
followers that just talk highly of his eminence. The chances of his coming, when
called, rise if blood has recently been spilled. All that is required of his
priesthood is a steady supply of sacrifices. Aid given by Ghaunaduar is usually
in the form of combat effectiveness and regenerative healing of harms.
J’imasro
Goddess
of order
Represented
by a black mist or the form of a scorpion, her following is made of a small band
of nomadic drow known as the order of shadow. Little else is known except a
hatred for Lloth and her followers.
Upon
the coming of age the young drow of either gender has the image of a scorpion
within a triangle burned upon their left hand. Another interesting ceremony is
known as the cleansing of the earth, in which a priestess in service of Lloth is
eaten (while still alive). This holiday falls on every 3rd new moon. Her
followers are prone to inter breed with nondrows especially humans and trolls.
Kiaransalee
Mistress
of Vengeance
Overlord
of the undead and all of Thanatos
Swords
& Sorcery
Originally
the drow god of vengeance, Kiaransalee plotted and slayed Orcus the Abyssial
Lord of the Dead. Now possessing his portfolio she seeks to rival Lolth in power
and ultimately reign as the supreme drow goddess over Tenebrous, Lolth, and
Eilistraee.
Lothlonglathe'
Deity
to Justice, Bravery, Truth
An
outcast for most Drow, this deities name is only whispered in the Underdark, but
enjoys a decent following above the caverns below. Major temples to this god
exist in Thal'katkhact and in Winterstone. An order of Holy knights serves this
deity directly, upholding the virtues for which he stands. Lothlonglathe' is a
deity apart from all circles, he is not one of the seldarine and is in fact a
being closely related to the Aasimon known as Solars. Lothlonglathe' is a
constant foe of the Spider queen and will readily aid those in danger from her
or her more powerful minions. Rivals include Lloth, Vhaerun, Orcus,
He
has a special dislike for the undead and grants his paladins special powers to
combat them.
Lualyrr
Seeing
the rise of many upstart gods in the drow pantheon, Lolth decided it is time
that she had an ally or the other gods would band together and overthrow her.
She searched among her yochlols and found Lualyrr to be the most loyal.
She used her power to elevate her into a demi-goddess. Since then Lualyrr
priesthood works closely with Lolth's priesthood, always on the look out for
drow who do not pay homage to Lolth, and extracting secrets from the most
adamant of people. She only accepts males to her priesthood, and they are
considered to be married to her, so they cannot marry. Every time the priests
get their hands on another "non-believer" or a renegade drow, they
hold a rite to their goddess, so that Lolth would see they do their work. All
the gods of the drow pantheon are sworn enemies of her, since her priests seek
to kill or convert all of their believers. While cruel and mean, the priesthood
as well as their goddess, live in constant fear. They fear the other
priesthoods, even while they hate them, for they are weaker in combat when
compared to them. And they especially fear Lolth and her priesthood, for the
power they have on them.
Ma'azbert
Drow
goddess of disease, decay and poison
Ma'azbert's avatar looks like a decaying drow female in
tattered clothes with all manner of diseased wounds visible on her flesh the
drow goddess of disease, decay and poison is a very ambitious goddess and her
plans are nothing short of becoming the head of the drow pantheon and rising to
greater goddess status. She makes her home in the abyss. The palace is in an
advanced decay state and all manner of her favourite pets are present: spiders,
snakes, poisonous toads, rot grubs, rust monsters, dark weavers, retrievers and
other such hideous creatures. Like the other drow gods she wants the drow to
become the masters of the Underdark and so she helps them by sending her
avatars, secretly of course, to spread diseases, to poison their enemies and to
bring her decaying touch to their cities and homes. She doesn't send omens to
her priests but will send them prophetic dreams if a powerful enemy approaches a
state where he must be weakened fast or to do other such shadowy plans. They
must spread diseases, decay, poisons and other weaknesses in the lines of their
enemies and of the enemies of the drow race (namely the surface elves) so that
the drow could prosper and grow. Note that this is a very violent priesthood and
the priests will use whatever means available to destroy and weaken their
enemies and will do so in the cruelest way they can find and use to make an
example of that enemy. Priests of Ma'azbert walk around clothed from head to
toe, with masks and a heavy scent of incense to hide their hideous look and
smell due to the diseased wounds they have on their skins (Ma'azbert's gift) but
are unaffected by.
Neeloc
Raye
God
of Death and Law
When
a drow draws some particular interest from the Lady of Chaos and is due to come
of age, the Queen of Spiders often sends her sister to give the right of passage
test. This nefarious apostle is Neeloc Raye. While generally she is a behind the scenes presence, like her
sibling she is a demigod and she holds a scattered following of her own.
More often, however, another deity shares her follower's devotion. Lloth
imprisoned Neeloc Raye for eons in the statuesque form of a silver spider with
about a 1-2" diameter, because she was jealous of her hair.
She was released merely a millennium or so ago upon two conditions.
First, that she swore her loyalty to Lloth, and second, that her head
remain bald for all time. To further remind Neeloc Raye of her life pledge, her colour
remained the same and so did the extra sets of arms. Her skin is as silver as
polished steel, clear and smooth. Her
entire body is free of any blemish or hair and she has six arms and silver
covered eyes. Looking like a
perfected, though hairless, metal sculpture, she is unclothed and unadorned.
In this form she is mysteriously attractive, however, Neeloc Raye's
favoured form on the Prime Material Plane is the "Silver Spider" shape
that she held for so long. Because the drow dislike everyone, and moreover are
utterly paranoid, it is surprising that they hold such the strong will for
dominance over each other and that of other beings alike.
It might be suggested that this be due to a matter of greed and of
vengeance. These are the ideals
that Neeloc Raye proliferates. Most
often referred to as "The Silver Spider," Neeloc Raye has her hands
deep in the mix that makes up the drow psyche. All followers must have a tattoo
of a small, web-less, silver spider on their right shoulder and must be shoeless
while within her temple. Piety must
also be hairless and wear sleeveless, silver-clothed frocks. Although betrayal
is one of the more common factors in drow society, it is unaccepted within the
priesthood of the silver spider. Upon
joining these ranks, a drow is a member until death...there is no turning back.
"...Lest the spider bite!" The Abbot, as both males and females
are referred to, is an equal among his peers and wants for nothing.
Abbots are not restricted to the temple and may roam freely, as they see
fit. As they do the bidding of
their goddess and hold her favour, too, they hold the favour of Lloth.
Nocticula
Drow
Goddess of Pleasure in Pain
Nocticula
is a Demon Drow Goddess. She is the Mistress of Pleasure through the Giving and
receiving of Pain. Her symbol is a
barbed whip. No specific holidays but the night of the full moon is considered
sacred, Lolth is her main rival. She
has the belief that the Drow are destined to one again take the surface world
and is actively attempting to reunite her Drow followers with any evil Surface
elves
Sestihaculus
Shadalun
The
Grandfather
Sestihaculus
(Grandfather) Shadalun was originally one of the greatest practitioners of High
Magic in the realm of Miyeritar on the prime-material world of Aber-Toril. Just
before its destruction during the Crown Wars, Miyeritar was the Elven centre of
Arts and High Magic. Sestihaculus, witnessing the ultimate fate of his dark and
green elven brethren, used his vast powers of magic to travel backwards in time
to the point just before the Dark Disaster.
Then, in concert with the greatest practitioners of High Magic at time,
he proceeded to cast a High Magic version of the spell Estate Transference. An
immense portion of the original Miyeritar was then transported to the Ethereal
Plane, leaving behind nothing but a vast smoking crater. Returning through time,
Sestihaculus spent the next thousand years gathering the crushed remnants of his
people. In what was later referred to as the Passage of Sorrows, Grandfather
Shadalun spent another three hundred years leading his people across the planes
to their new home N'Miyeritar. In the days following the Dark Disaster, most of
the surviving Miyeritarii had turned to the worship of the Spider Queen Lolth,
who offered guidance and the power to survive in the dangerous Underdark in a
time of upheaval and weakness. With this worship inevitably came the chaos,
violence, and domination of the priestesses that are the hallmark of the Spider
Queen. The refugees settling in N'Miyeritar immediately began to feud amongst
themselves in petty bids for power over their fellows. Seeing this, and
realizing the need for enforced stability if his people were to survive,
Sestihaculus dubbed his people the Phaer Tel'Quessir and himself the High King
of the Phaer. He then proceeded to ban the worship of both the Seldarine (who
were seen to have deserted the Miyeritarii in their time of greatest need) and
the "Great Deceiver" Lolth. In due course, he hunted down and
destroyed all clerics of these faiths instead encouraging the worship of the
most ancient Fairy Queen and her Seelie Court (with this worship naturally came
the insidious worship of the Queen of Air and Darkness and her Unseelie Court).
N'Miyeritar, by this time, had become a full-fledged Demi-Plane of the Ethereal.
In order to maintain the stability of the plane, Sestihaculus merged a large
portion of his already ancient spirit with the substance of the plane itself.
While this feat of High Magic grants him immortality, it also binds him to the
plane (similar to the magic involved in the creation of a Shade) Sestihaculus
Shadalun may leave N'Miyeritar only 11 days out of each millennium, else the
plane itself will dissolve into ethereal protomatter. Sestihaculus is not a god
in the sense that he is not dependent on worship for power and the fact that
those who revere him do not gain priestly spells. In the event that Grandfather
Shadalun was ever to perish, his rise to godhood would be assured by the
adoration of the Phaer. , Any
appearance of The Grandfather is seen as cause for great celebration by the
Phaer Tel'Quessir. His last appearance was recorded 111 years past.
Skiasca
The
Night Bringer, Sun Stealer, Bringer of Darkness, Lady of Night
Skiasca (ski-AHS-ka), as most
deities in this sphere, were originally mortals, or monsters in Skiasca's case.
She was one of the greatest human champions for evil during the time before the
Great Cataclysm. When the lands of Orphidia were in their peak, there arose
three great champions, each representing the great philosophies Good,
Neutrality, and Evil. For each philosophy, there were mortals who not only lived
their beliefs, but also had the capacity to take that belief to a higher level.
Many people followed Skiasca into war after war. As the body count and the
number of worshippers grew, so did her powers. Eventually, the three sides
clashed in a titanic battle. So great were the powers that were used during the
fight, which all three champions transcended into immortality. When that
happened, the Great Cataclysm occurred which changed the face of world. Once
life started to reach some semblance of normality, Skiasca sent her avatar to
the surface to find her new audience. She was warmly received in the Underworld,
which was created during The Cataclysm. The Goblin Hordes worshipped her with
such fervour and abandon, that she was the first deity to reach the status of
Greater Power. Because of that, her specialty priests and special worshippers
are effectively immortal. Their physical bodies can be destroyed, but they will
return after a time to a form that is equivalent to their power. Since the last
Underworld Invasion, Skiasca and the other evil deities have changed their
preparations for the next Invasion. They've been slowly subverting the powerful
and the influential among Angorian society. So far, a lot of the rich, idle
youth have embraced some of the belief of Skiasca, but very few have made their
way into the true faith. Skiasca’s greatest following is among the races of
the Underground. The Orcs, Trolls, Drow, and most other intelligent evil races
venerate her to some degree. Some just give her lip service while other go so
far as to worship her above racial deities. Skiasca teaches her followers that
murder and chaos are a natural part of life. They are told that to truly
venerate her is to commit murder and other vile unspeakable acts.
Skiasca tells her followers, "To cause death to others is the
greatest joy one can feel. Each act of violence brings you closer to me. Do what
you can to put out the light and sway the masses to the darkness. There, my
caress falls upon those who would follow me." Today, most sacred spaces are
deep underground in special temples built by the Underground races. In the
largest Drow cities, there can be found several temples and shrines dedicated to
her. Also, among the Illithid,
several large temples are known to exist. Her priests among the Illithid are
known to possess mental powers far beyond those normally known to their kind.
Vhaerun
Thievery, Territory, Drow males
Vhaerun
is the god of thievery and the furthering of drow power on the surface world.
He is also the patron deity of drow males, teaching a heresy (according
to Lloth) that drow males are the equals of drow females. Vhaerun is haughty and
proud, like all drow deities. He favours underhanded means and treachery to
achieve his goals. His priesthood is exclusively male, and priests usually hide
their true vocation in drow communities. Vhaerun has hair and eyes that change
colour with his emotional state (red when angry, blue when amused, gold when
triumphant, etc.) Vhaerun is passively opposed to Lloth.
He knows he is not powerful enough to oppose her directly...
Yet. Vhaerun wishes to re-unite the elven people.
He considers all elves to be superior to all other races, however, and
wishes only to have elves dominate all other races. Vhaerun's loyalty is to all
elves, but primarily the drow race. He
would like to see the surface elves serving as the enforcers of the "true
masters", the drow, who would rule from the depths of the earth.