Lolth
Queen of Spiders
Lolth, or Lloth, known as the Queen of Spiders as well as the Queen of the Demonweb Pits, was the most influential goddess of the drow, within the pantheon of the Dark Seldarine.
History
Dawn Age
Lolth was formerly Araushnee, the lesser elven goddess of destiny and artisans. She was Corellon Larethian's consort, and the main goddess of the dark elves. They had twins together, the elder Vhaeraun, the younger Eilistraee.War of the Seldarine
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 Moonbow'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. Later, Araushnee agitated Malar into attacking the wounded Corellon, after she witnessed the Beastlord killing the orc god Herne on Faerûn, but even that failed, as the elven lord managed to chase his aggressor away. Araushnee's next move was to gather a host of gods on hostile footing with the Seldarine, forming an army to assault Arvandor and overthrow Corellon. The army itself was so badly organized, that she was confident that they would fail. Her true plan was to give the cursed scabbard back to Corellon, as during the battle that would later unfold, the item would cause arrows shot by Eilistraee to hit his chest instead. According to Lolth's plan, that would have killed Corellon while turning her daughter into a scapegoat. Before the attack by the anti-Seldarine faction was ready, Sehanine confronted Araushnee about her betrayal (as mentioned above, she knew Araushnee to be a traitor), but Araushnee struck first and imprisoned her with the help of her son Vaheraun. Together, they also made sure that Eilistraee would find and deliver the scabbard to Corellon, and that she would be in his vicinity during the battle. Once the battle started, the Weaver's plan almost went as she expected, supported even further by Ghaunadaur's entrance. When an ogre god charged Corellon, who had been immobilized by the Elder Eye, Eilistraee swiftly fired a few arrows to save her father, but the scabbard drew the projectiles towards the Protector instead, nearly slaying him. Despite all, the anti-Seldarine army lost and retreated as expected, and after the battle Araushnee tried to finish Corellon with a dose of poison crafted by Eilistraee to aid her followers in the hunt, pretending it to be water from Elysium with healing qualities gathered by her daughter. However, her plan ultimately failed due to Sehanine's intervention, as the Lady of Dreams had managed to break out from Vhaeraun's prison, albeit at immense cost to herself. Sehanine, Aerdrie Faenya, and Hanali Celanil joined into the triune goddess Angharradh, and used their combined magic to save Corellon's life. When the elven lord awakened, a trial was called in, Vhaeraun and Eilistraee became members in exile of the Seldarine—in the case of Eilistraee willingly, as she had foreseen that the dark elves would have needed her light and hope in the future—while Araushnee was made into a tanar'ri and sentenced to banishment. Furious for her defeat, she attempted one last time at her lover's life, by turning into a spider monster and attacking him. Despite all, the Protector still loved her and could not bring to finish her off, letting her escape.Divine Domains
Drow, Spiders
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Spider
