Lolth

Lolth (pronounced: /lɑːlθ/ lalth34 or: /loʊlθ/ lolth34 or: /loʊɑːlθ/ loalth1), or Lloth,353637 known as the Queen of Spiders as well as the Queen of the Demonweb Pits,12238 was the most influential goddess of the drow, within the pantheon of the Dark Seldarine.

Description

Lolth could appear either as a 12 feet (3.7 meters) diameter, crimson-eyed black widow spider, or a 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall, beautiful female drow often garbed entirely in clinging spiders or sometimes in artful, drow chainmail dresses or tunics. The form most commonly found in the Abyss however, thought to be her true form, was a combination of the others, a giant spider with the head of a coldly beautiful female drow.15

Personality

Lolth was a goddess of cold cruelty not out of place in the darkest depths of the endless Abyss,22 reveling in betrayal and bloodshed40 and toying with everyone from her minions to her victims.22 She not only enjoyed, but thrived upon torture, destruction, and death, whether personally performing it or causing it. Every interaction was ultimately done with malice,1526 ill will seething from her every move, and even those who knew her well could be surprised by just how deep her viciousness went.41 Her malevolence could be compared to the rage of the brutal orc deity Gruumsh, but where his fury was as mindlessly violent as a force of nature, her malice was complicated and deliberate. Furthermore, Gruumsh could at least be said to be steady and constant in his hate, whilst Lolth's was utterly capricious.42

Lolth demanded absolute fealty and obedience from all drow,2240 and questioning her motives or wisdom was considered a sin.43 This applied even to male drow despite her considering them to be unclean, and she took vengeful notice if one abandoned her faith.22 She also secretly desired the worship of other types of elves, as well as humans, and enjoyed corrupting them into her service even more than torment and devastation.36 In contrast, she fomented unending chaos amongst the drow, eternally setting them against each other. Ostensibly this was to weed out the weak and complacent, leaving only the strongest, cruelest, and most devious to serve her, and to some degree she believed this, but it was also simply for her own amusement and supremacy.154445

Despite her demands for loyalty, those who blindly obeyed Lolth's demands would find themselves quickly led to their deaths. In truth, Lolth's capricious nature meant that there were few hard-and-fast rules, and much uncertainty as to her desires. The successful had to pay attention to her ever-changing wants,43 for her favor was fickle,40 and those who she played favorites with (a frequent occurrence) would inevitably find her turning on them without warning.43 The Spider Queen was technically capable of displays of kindness and aiding those she fancied,264143 and would always give one chance for the disfavored to redeem themselves, but this usually meant a dangerous mission and in others might just mean silently watching their next move.43 She could never be relied on and her ultimate motivation was almost always manipulative.264143

Lolth's promotion of infighting amongst her worshipers led many to believe she was insane, and this assessment was not baseless. Indeed, ever since her fall from grace her sanity had frayed and fractured until she became the petty, conniving monster she was commonly known as.46 Her will was not merely fluid, but often times contradictory,43 although even if she was mad, the drow placed more importance on a deep and devious sense of cunning than mental stability.47 Ironically, for all her demands for obedience, nothing demanded her attention and admiration more than treachery, even towards herself (if only temporarily). Guile and political ruthlessness were the signs of her favorite servants, and she ultimately admired ambition more than she did loyalty.41

Powers

Lolth could readily transform at will between her drow, drider, and giant spider forms,26323348 with some sources claiming that certain powers of hers were tied to specific forms,3233 but during the transformation process she could not utilize any of her spell-like powers.48 She was capable of moving between places almost instantaneously, by means of being able to cast plane shift, teleport without error,26 and dimension door at will.48 She could also communicate telepathically,323348 out to a range of 90 feet (27 meters).48

At will Lolth could cast comprehend languages, confusion, darkness, 15' radius, dispel magic, summon spiders, tongues, true seeing,323348note 1 charm arachnid, and detect thoughts (though was only able to target drow with it).48 When she used summon spiders it could conjure forth around nine to sixteen large spiders, seven to twelve huge spiders, two to eight giant spiders, and/or one to four phase spiders.323348

Once per day each, Lolth could use the spell-like powers change self, clairvoyance, domination, Evard's black tentacles, and mind blank.48 Derived from her divine domains, Lolth had the power to cast command plants, rebuke plants, and smite fifteen times per day.49

Lolth's others spell-like abilities that were neither tied to a specific form nor limited to a certain number per day were as followed:

animate objects, armor of darkness, blacklight, blasphemy, blindness/deafness, chaos hammer, circle of doom, clairaudience/clairvoyance, cloak of chaos, cloak of dark power, contagion, create undead, creeping doom, darkbolt, desecrate, discern lies, disintegrate, dispel good, dispel law, earthquake, false vision, gate, giant vermin, greater dispelling, greater planar ally, harm,49 heal on herself three times per day,323348note 1 implosion, inflict critical wounds, inflict light wounds, insect plague, invisibility, magic circle against good, magic circle against law, mislead, nightmare, nondetection, obscuring mist, phantom steed (took the form of vermin, like spiders),49 phase door,323348note 1 polymorph any object, power word, blind, power word, kill, protection from good, protection from law, prying eyes,49 read magic,323348note 1 screen, shatter, spider climb, spider curse, spider shapes, spiderform, stone spiders, suggestion, summon monster IX (as chaos or evil spell only), summon swarm, time stop, unholy aura, unholy blight, and word of chaos.49

She could also cast a number of divine and arcane spells,32334849 though only while in her drow form.323348 While she typically drew from the chaos and evil domains for her divine spells,49 she was said to be capable of drawing from any sphere or school of magic.48 While in her drow form, Lolth had access to the innate drow abilities dancing light, darkness, and faerie fire,49 and she could enact an effect similar to charm person upon a human or demihuman by physically embracing them.48

Prior to the Time of Troubles, her spider form was said to be capable of gating in one or two vrock, hezrou, or glabrezu to aid her, and had access to all psionic attack and defense modes, as well as a number of disciplines and major sciences. These included body equilibrium, clairvoyance, dimension walking, domination, mind bar, molecular rearranagement, and probability travel.3233 Beyond these powers, her spider form was noted for its poisonous bite and ability to produce webs from its abdominal spinnerets, equivalent to the web spell.32334849 Some claimed this was limited to eight times per day.49 She could spin her spinnerets around to fire webbing in any direction.48 She could produce these webs in the form of nets or sheets of webbing,49 that were 30​ to ​60 feet (9.1​ to ​18 meters) in length.32334849 All webs produced by her were toxic493233 to all but Lolth and spiders49 due to a poisonous excretion upon the strands.3233

She could not be harmed by weapons that weren't magical,323349 specifically of a +2 or greater enchantment,49 and was resistant to harm from fire.26 Once believed to be wholly vulnerable to acid and all manner of poisons,3233 it was later determined that she was wholly immune to both.49 Sources also differed on whether she was merely resistant to harm from cold and electrical-based attacks,48 or immune to them. She was additionally immune to diseases, death magic effects, being paralyzed, being disintegrated, transmutation spells, mind-affecting effects, and the spells banishment, energy drain, and imprisonment49 The one Lolth was especially susceptible to was holy water.3233

In any form she took, all of Lolth's senses operated outward at a distance of 15 miles (24 kilometers). Her vision could even penetrate the haze of magical darkness.49 In addition to the normal vision and darkvision of drow,493233 she could perceive the world through ultravision.3233 Unlike drow, she was neither harmed nor discomforted by light.48 And like many other deities, she could perceive anything within 15 mi (24 km) of her worshipers, holy sites, sacred objects, and location where her name or one of her many titles had been spoken in the past hour.49

Lastly, Lolth was capable of creating magic items that generated darkness, provided divination, or granted the user a disguise. Some examples of these included a wand of deeper darkness, a crystal ball, or a hat of disguise. She could also create magical items from simple weapons, martial weapons, and light or medium armor.50 She customarily left a magical item with the poisonous spiders she left to aid, guard, or watch over those who served here.

Worshipers

“I spin thy web of chaos, Mother, I spin it in your name - let not the threads unravel.”

— A basic prayer to Lolth.75

“Children? Pawns, more likely, dancing dolls for the Spider Queen, puppets on the imperceptible but impervious strands of her web. All climb the Spider Queen's ladders; all hunt for her pleasure; and all fall to the hunters of her pleasure.”

— Drizzt Do'Urden39

Lolth's follower base was varied. It mainly consisted of drow,38 but also included aranea, chitine, draegloths and deep dragons.76 She gained a few elven followers,38 and tried to gain more worshipers by assuming the aspect of Moander, a deity of rot.36

Lolth drove her worshipers into heavy infighting under the pretense of culling the weak, while her actual goals were to hold absolute control over the dark elves, prevent the rise of alternative faiths or ideas, and avoid complacency (even though she found amusement in the strife that plagued her followers' communities).77 However, in the long run, her influence proved to be an obstacle to the growth and success of her drow followers, preventing them from unifying against common enemies or for a common cause.6178

Any attempt by the drow to emulate Lolth was doomed to fail, for unlike other humanoids, their arachnid deity was without their form or psychology. They were ashamed that they could not fully live up to her demands, and in truth, the Spider Queen was one they could never truly please.79 Any boon she granted to them was only in service to escalating conflict and causing further strife, and in the end, she cared nothing for them.46

Clerics

“Ascension to power in drow society is a simple process of assassination. The Spider Queen is a deity of chaos, and she and her high priestesses, the true rulers of the drow world, do not look with ill favor upon ambitious individuals wielding poisoned daggers.”

— Drizzt Do'Urden39

Lolth's clerics were almost exclusively female (although there were a few males). They represented the rulers of most Lolthite communities, and strictly followed the Spider Queen's will, forcing the drow into extreme subservience to their deity, and into the constant state of conflict that dominated their lives. Each priestess strove for the favor of the Spider Queen and was ready to do anything in order to gain status in her goddess' eyes.385980 Her clergy sacrificed the living and treasure for her glory. Their vestments were normally adorned with spider motifs. Her rituals required them to wear darker clothes or none at all.5980

Orders

Militant Myrlochar, Order of Soul Spiders

The Militant Myrlochar, sometimes known as the Order of Soul Spiders, was an elite fighting organization composed exclusively of male crusaders, and found in the dark elven cities where Lolth was worshiped and males were allowed entrance into her priesthood. They directly served the reigning Matron Mothers of the city and were employed to kill their targets. They were usually used without pause until they got killed.81

Handmaidens of the Spider Queen

The Handmaidens of the Spider Queen were an order of female crusaders. Also called the "Daughters of the Yochlol", they had no ties to specific cities, and were used when Lolth wanted an entire city brought back into line. At least three times in recorded history did the Handmaidens of the Spider Queen destroy entire drow cities to prevent them from straying too far from Lolth. One of their usual tasks was to terrorize merchants who took Vhaeraun as their patron, as well as settlements run by the followers of Vhaeraun or Ghaunadaur's (or where those faiths were prominent).