Lolth, the Spider Queen

D&D: Monster Manuel Expanded II Second Edition Cover by Joshua Raphael

Lolth is a wicked goddess known by many titles but most commonly referred to as the Spider Queen of the Demon Web Pits. Cold and cruel, Lolth thrives on chaos and demands her followers emulate her twisted values through acts of betrayal and bloodshed. Her cruelty is a calculated one, with every move she makes ultimately dedicated to spreading suffering to others.
She is the chief deity of the drow and demands fealty from every last one of them. It is by Lolth's decree that the matriarchal society is built as a theocracy around worship of herself. Lolth views her doctrine of betrayal as a way to weed out the weak, ensuring that drow leaders are always the strongest and most devious members of their communities. But the Spider Queen's favor is fickle and those who rise to power can quickly find their legs cut out from under them should the idea tickle her fancy.

Early History

Long ago, she was Araushnee, the elven goddess of artisans and destiny as well as consort to Corellon Larethian, the elven god of magic, and the chief deity of the dark elves. But Araushenee harbored a dark heart and grew ambitious, seeking to eliminate Corellon and further her own power. Her first attempt involved cursing Corellon's weapon before his battle against Gruumsh, orc god of war. But despite Araushenee's efforts, Corellon proved victorious in the famous battle that resulted in the elf god cutting out Gruumsh's left eye.
She made many other attempts to betray Corellon, culminating when she formed a loose army out of deities that opposed the elven pantheon to attack them. On the eve of this battle, she arranged for a cursed scabbard to be delivered to Corellon that would cause arrows to fired to Eilistraee to strike Corellon rather than their intended target. This action did not go unnoticed; Sehanine Moonbow, Elven Lady of Dreams and rival to Araushenee for Corellon's affections, discovered her betrayal and attempted to stop her. But Araushenee managed to imprison her rival and carry out her plan despite the interference. Though this plan succeeded, Corellon was merely injured rather than killed as the army of elven enemies was driven back.
Under the guise of providing him with a healing draught, Araushenee attempted to poison Corellon and finish him off. But before the potion could touch his lips, Sehanine Moonbow arrived. She told the rest of the elven pantheon of her escape from Araushenee's prison and of her rival's treachery. The other elven gods used their magic to save Corellon's life and shortly after a trial was held, expelling Araushenee from their pantheon. As punishment for her crimes, Araushenee and her followers were banished from the pantheon with Araushenee herself also transformed into a demon. Along with those forcefully banished, Eilistraee chose to join the exiled willingly in hopes of protecting the dark elves from the exiled deities' corrupt influence.
Araushenee no more, the banished goddess took a new name for herself: Lolth. Seeking a new home befitting of her new demon nature, Lolth conquered the 66th layer of the Abyss, the Demonweb Pits, and destroyed many enemies who mistakenly believed that her banishment would make Lolth easy to destroy. Since that ancient time, Lolth has spent much of her existence corrupting the ancient dark elves into modern-day drow, following her worshippers exile into the Underdark as part of the punishment handed down from Corellon. The rest of the time, she plots her revenge against Corellon and the rest of her former pantheon while managing her own followers, the Dark Seldarine.

Uncovering the Underdark Campaign

Journey Into the Underdark Arc

Lolth became aware of the adventurers of the Thaig Expedition just before they entered the Silken Paths, when they met an ettercap and the giant spiders the monstrosity shepherded. She was disgusted to learn of the existence of Leh'ct, a good-hearted drow boy in the company of surfacers who had the audacity to ride a giant wolf spider despite his abhorrent existence. She used some small, insignificant part of her great and glorious power to observe these travelers. It was later speculated that something caught her eye at this time, for soon after the Thaig Expedition left the Silken Paths, Leh'ct received a vision.
He saw himself, dressed in drow robes and holding one of Lolth's sacrificial daggers, standing before an altar to the Spider Queen. His friend Elycia Mirais was chained to the table and vision-self put the dagger to use against her. It was at this moment that Leh'ct felt the hand of Lolth (either literally or metaphorically, he couldn't be sure in his state of shock) on his shoulder. She spoke to him then, telling the boy that this scene would come to pass. Whether he was the one holding the dagger or the one upon the altar was his choice, and it was the only choice he had in this matter. This experience unnerved Leh'ct greatly in the weeks that followed, his mind filled with worry as he fearfully wondered what the Spider Queen had in store for him, and why.

Titles
Queen of Spiders
Demon Queen of Spiders
Queen of the Demonweb Pits
Queen of Darkness
Dark Mother
Mother of Lusts
The Lady of Shadows
The Lady of Chaos
The Mistress of Lies
Weaver of Destiny
Weaver of Webs
The Weaver
Fleshcarver
Spider Bitch
Divine Classification
Deity, Lesser
Home Plane
The Abyss
Realm
The Demonweb Pits
Alignment
Chaotic Evil