Church of the Spider Queen

Official Church of Lolth, The Spider Queen

Mythology & Lore

In the beginning, when the world was fresh and new from its inception, the three Primordial Gods were the first born among all the Divines, having sprung forth from the dying body of their father, the Progenitor God Atlas. These three Primordial Gods, having come into being before all other life in the Planescape, were special beyond compare. Moradin, The youngest of brother gods, was given domain of the Ground, Law, and all that lays on and beneath the earth. Bahamut, the second eldest of the three brother gods, sprung forth and took domain of Sky, Morality, and Justness, while the eldest of the three brother gods, he who came first and he who ruled above all his brothers, was given the divine right to rule over Water, Life, and Creation itself. In time, as the Eldest of the Primordials sculpted Reality and the Planes on the anvil of creation, he soon turned his attention back to the Material Plane and using his mighty hammer, sculpted and pounded the natural world into existence as he carved great forests with his chisels, carved mighty rivers and deep oceans with his fingers and hands, and painted a glorious natural world to go alongside the rocky ground and airy sky. As he finished sculpting this natural world, it is said that as breathed life into it to grant it color, he watched as the rocks and wood scraps animated and became all the creatures of the forest that filled the ancient world with noise and vibrancy.
Looking upon this vast world he had given life to, the Eldest Primordial knew that he would need a pair of twin guardians to watch over this world of natural bounty, to serve as the watchers of all the animals and creatures that called such places their home...and, using his mighty tools, carved out two humanoid shapes in his very own image out of wood, dirt, water, and clay to serve as his children, and watchers of nature. Once he finished carving them, it is said he breathed divine life into this carvings, one becoming a man, tall and lithe with pointed ears who was so innately in tune with primordial nature that his very mood could cause trees to wither, grow, or twist and bend, and a woman, taller, darker, and with similarly pointed ears who was also innately tuned in to nature, but who was to serve as the lawful warden to the man's chaotic whimsy...one to bring order to the chaos of the natural world. These two, it is spoken, were the twin deities that formed The Elven Pantheon, Gregaia, Lord of the Wild and his wife, who's original name has been lost to time.

Divine Origins

The Church of the Spider Queen can trace its roots all the way back to the beginning of time, when Gregaia and his wife, the Elven deity of Lawful nature who in time would become Lolth, The Spider Queen. Back in the days of yore, the two Deities were a couple, and together represented and formed the perfect balance that all nature lived in...chaos and wild anarchy balanced by natural laws and a unique brand of order.
Back then, The Church of the Spider Queen was known by a different name which has long since been lost, both by the modern Church's own efforts and those of Lolth herself...suggesting it is a history many would prefer forgotten...and though its form may have changed, its origins are nonetheless roughly known. In the days of yore, the two Elven Deities went about their duties for a time, balancing the natural world as the man soon gave life to the High Elves by breathing life into raw primordial chaos, all the while his wife balanced his efforts by bringing order and law to an otherwise chaotic world...though, in time it is said she grew increasingly disillusioned with this work, and the constant irony of trying to bring order to nature, which constantly unraveled and undid her work by its very nature...a task which was said to drive her into anger and possibly even madness.
Soon, having grown angry with her counterpart for his work that constantly rivaled and undid her own with its chaos and whimsy, She declared that order must be brought, life must be controlled, and law must be bestowed...no matter the wishes of mortals or nature itself, this would be done. Believing herself to be right and the one Law that the natural world should ever need, She soon committed the first act of betrayal and turned on her Husband, rallying his creations and her own creations against him to usurp her husband to become the one and only Goddess of Nature...yet, though her rebellion came close to victory, she was defeated by her husband and those of his creations that spurned her teachings, and cast out from the Pantheon to live in darkness forever...during this time, countless High Elves and her own creations followed her into exile as she found her new home in the Abyss, becoming Lolth, The Spider Queen and granting her followers her teachings in the form of a book carved of solid darkness...The Nox Liber. With this, she teaches those who followed her to always scheme, and plot, and connive while carrying out her will...in this way, she keeps them under her thumb and pliable to her divine will.

Cosmological Views

The Church of the Spider Queen believes that as the world was birthed from the sacrifice of the first and greatest Overdeity, Atlas, their Goddess was born alongside her mate Gregaia in the most ancient age...and while the Eldest Primordial sculpted Reality and all within it he left the two Elven deities in charge of the natural world. This, they believe, was when their Goddess first realized that the world could not exist without order, and though she tried to bring enlightenment to the surface and teach them of the folly of their ways, her teachings were ignored by many and she was exiled disgracefully, labeled under false monikers of "betrayer" and "deceiver" as she tried to teach the surface of the truth.
In this way, she had a great war with her counterpart in The Elven Pantheon for the right to rule and control the surface...though she came close, she was eventually defeated and her teachings were labeled heretical as she was cast out of the Pantheon. This, The Church of the Spider Queen believes, is how their Goddess came to abandon her more lawful ways, seeing the races of the mortal world as unruly and incapable of dictating their own futures...and as she led the remaining faithful down far below the world, she enlightened them with the true ways of the world and taught them the ways of paranoia, vigilance, and the value of plotting and scheming. In this way, they believe, they maintain order while simultaneously stirring up stagnation to keep their society in balance.
It is also from this tale that The Church of the Spider Queen takes it belief that females are innately more worthy than males, as Lolth herself was forced to rebel against her husband and yet was still cast out for her attempt to teach him and the surface the truth of her dogma. Males, the Church believes, represent the ignorant and the unworthy, and are often barred from entering the Church's priesthood...though there are exceptions.

Tenets of Faith

Never tell a whole truth, and do nothing overtly or selflessly. Fool everyone but yourself, and trust no one.

Patience and planning leads to power. Lay your schemes unseen and advance your plots in silence.

Spread terror and suffering unseen. Let every death and victory be heralded by fear and suffering.

Kill often, and kill well. Kill to honor The Spider Queen, and ensure every murder and kill is done perfectly and professionally, to not dishonor her name.

Spread darkness and snuff out the light. Do so in her name, to receive her favor.

Ethics

Within the Church of the Spider Queen, due to the intrinsic beliefs of the faithful there is almost always internal strife and debate within the ranks of the faithful of this church, especially within Drow Society far beneath the surface. The faithful constantly scheme against each other and debate unending about the meaning of her dogma. Often, the debate rages around the level of cruelty that is acceptable under various circumstances...while certain covens of faithful may believe in strict adherence to their goddesses' tenets and ensuring that their victims are dispatched cleanly and securely, and that letting a victim suffer and agonize when they have not earned such a punishment is sacrilege and an affront to the ways of Lolth's teachings, other groups may believe the opposite, claiming that because their victims have dared go against them, they HAVE in fact earned the punishment of torture and agony and that by inflicting such agony and torture, efficiency is maintained through the fear such an act instills in others, thus preventing others from rising up as the victim did.
Similarly, there is an ever-raging debate among the faithful as to how literal their Goddesses' tenets should be interpreted. While all agree that scheming and backstabbing is simply a way of life to them, there is much debate as to the literal meaning of some of the tenets they ascribe themselves to...some may argue that the tenet of "never stop moving, scheming, or plotting...." implies that even the act of sitting still is therefore a sin against The Spider Queen, while others would argue that obviously the meaning of such a tenet is not meant so literally, and refers to political scheming and plotting...
What is universally praised within this church is the act of betrayal, of scheming and plotting, and backstabbing one's allies to rise in power within the ranks of society and in the eyes of The Spider Queen. Similarly praised is the raising of spiders, which are seen as divine conduits of The Spider Queen herself, and finally, the act of living sacrifice. To sacrifice living creatures to The Spider Queen, especially those of surface elves or unwilling captives, is considered the highest and most pious act one can achieve within the Church. Similarly, the act of corrupting a surface elf or an unfaithful is especially praised. Likewise, within the more organized guilds of the surface the act of a clean kill is by itself considered a most pious act, and the act of assassination and death done without trace or trail is the most worthy prayer that can be offered up to Lolth.
Regardless, The Church of the Spider Queen is unique in that it is simultaneously incredibly divided yet also very united at the same time, its faithful arguing unending about interpretation while at the same time looking for a way to one-up and discredit their opponents almost in perfect unison.

Worship

Like all religions, the worship of The Spider Queen involves a number of rituals and rites. Many of them include sacrifice of some variety, and even the most assassination or killing-focused organization of the faithful considers the act of sacrificing, killing, or in some way offering up the body of a dead(or even better, a still living) creature the easiest, best, and most pious way to worship The Spider Queen.
As an example, what follows is a secret sacrificial prayer in Abyssal known only to high priestesses:
"Great Goddess, Mother of the Dark, grant me the blood of my enemies for drink and their living hearts for meat. Grant me the screams of their young for song, grant me the helplessness of their males for my satisfaction, grant me the wealth of their houses for my bed. By this unworthy sacrifice I honor you, Queen of Spiders, and beseech of you the strength to destroy my foes."

Priesthood

Lolth's clerics are almost exclusively female (although there are a few males), and these clerics represent the rulers of most Lolthite communities, and strictly follow the Spider Queen's will, forcing the drow into extreme subservience to their deity, and into the constant state of conflict that dominates their lives. Each priestess strives for the favor of the Spider Queen and is ready to do anything in order to gain status in her goddess' eyes, and it isn't uncommon for her clergy sacrifice the living and treasure for her glory. Their vestments are normally adorned with spider motifs and her rituals require them to wear darker clothes- or none at all.
Simultaneously, among the faithful that exist elsewhere or even on the surface, the Priesthood of The Spider Queen sometimes take on a more different form than traditional female-dominated clergy. In places where action is prized over talk, where there is no place for common clergy and even the common faithful must hide their faith to survive, or even places where worship of The Spider Queen is carried out by killers or assassins, it is often the very same killers or assassins that form the basis of these slaughter-heavy churches. These churches, which are more common on the surface world where Drow society has no reach and is even unheard of, are more easily categorized as guilds, groups, gangs, or similar organizations that band together in Lolth's unholy name to carry out ritual killings, murders, and assassinations in her dark name.
These groups have no organized clergy and are organized more like a guild where all members of such a group are considered the clergy, each paying homage to their Goddess by carrying out their contracts with clean, lethal efficiency while leaving no trace or trail rather than in a traditional church to The Spider Queen, where female clerics serve as a conduit to their Goddess that the faithful must deal with and go through to pray and venerate.
These groups venerate The Spider Queen more as the perfect assassin or most deadly killer that they themselves pay homage to so that she bless their work with even a small fraction of her infinite talent, or simply with the mindset of her as the "ideal assassin" they themselves strive to one day become. In this way, The Spider Queen herself is more of an ideal or goal to strive towards than a cruel, overbearing goddess as is common elsewhere, and such organizations lean towards the more lawful side of morality than not, due to the nature of their work.

Granted Divine Powers

Other than the blessings and boons granted to her paladins, clerics, and other divine servants, Lolth often hands out blessings in the form of magical effects that often take the form of blessings that hide one's presence or grant them greater ability for stealth, blessings that shield one's mind and soul from prying either mundane or magical investigating, scrying, or otherwise, and even blessings that grant one limited insight into the future that they might foresee an attempt on their life, or visions of their foe's scheming and planning that they might retaliate before their plans came into actions.
Otherwise, the blessings of The Spider Queen can take the form of blessings of battle for her assassin or contract killer faithful that guide their blades to their target or assists them in the killing of their assassination target.
Rarely, when she deigns to grant her blessing to the fleshcrafters of Drow society, her blessings can take the form of especially powerful Driders or other fleshcrafting mutations.

Political Influence & Intrigue

For followers of The Church of the Spider Queen, Politics and Intrigue are nearly a way of life. Due to the teachings of Lolth, followers of her faith often seek out political structures and intrigue to get involved with when they exist outside of an organized church and often strive to elevate themselves ever higher within its ranks through vicious backstabbing, assassination, or any other number of methods no matter what they are so long as they are benefited in some way. To the faithful of The Church of the Spider Queen, politics and intrigue go hand in hand with faith, and thus organized churches in her name often become highly political games where the faithful within it constantly seek higher ranks, statuses, and other things through betrayal, backstabbing, intrigue, assassination, and many other dark methods.
Even the lower ranking members of the faith often strive to get involved in politics if it means destroying a stagnant or rigid system, and all faithful delight in introducing conflict, betrayal, and motion into a political machine that until then had been boring and stagnant.
Only the more assassination and killing-focused congregations of Lolth's faithful are the exception to this rule, as the guilds, organizations, or groups that kill or assassinate in her unholy name are relatively uncaring of politics, as they focus instead on death and action rather than betrayal and lip-service, though they still believe in paranoia, awareness, and never taking trust for granted no matter the person.

Sects

Militant Myrlochar, AKA Order of Soul Spiders

Description: The Militant Myrlochar, sometimes known as the Order of Soul Spiders, is an elite fighting organization comprised exclusively of male crusaders, and found in the dark elven cities where Lolth is worshiped and males are allowed entrance into her priesthood. They directly serve the reigning Matron Mothers of the city and are employed to kill their targets. They are usually used without pause until they get killed.

Handmaidens of the Spider Queen

Description: The Handmaidens of the Spider Queen are an order of female crusaders. They have no ties to specific cities, and are often used when Lolth wants an entire city to brought back into line. Several times in recorded history have the Handmaidens of the Spider Queen destroyed entire drow cities to prevent them from straying too far from Lolth.

Move always, scheme forever.

Type

Religious, Organised Religion

Alternative Names

The Spider-born, The Betrayers

Demonym

Lolthite

Divines

• Oa'chai, The Gloam-Eyed Queen

Controlled Territories

• The Demonweb Pits

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