Lolth
| Lolth | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Portfolio: | Spiders, evil, darkness, chaos, assassins, drow |
| Home: | Demonweb Pits |
| Alignment: | Chaotic Evil |
| Gender: | female |
| Class: | Cleric 20/Fighter 10/Wizard 10 |
| Superior: | None |
| Rules items | |
| Domains: | Chaos, Darkness, Drow, Evil, Destruction, Spider, Trickery |
Lolth, the Demon Queen of Spiders, is the chief goddess of drow elves in the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy role-playing game. She is also known as the Spider Queen and the Queen of the Demonweb Pits.
Lolth was created by Gary Gygax for the World of Greyhawk campaign setting.
Description
Lolth is a demon lord and a goddess worshipped by the drow (some myths propose that she was originally a goddess who was transformed into a demon). She displays formidable power and great cruelty with an affection for arachnids. Goddess of Darkness, Drow, Evil, and Spiders, Lolth has, through deceit and domination, garnered the ears of the dark elves and eventually established herself as their foremost deity, keeping them under her thumb by creating a society in which only the strong survive and her priestesses are strongest.
Lolth is a chaotic evil Intermediate Power. Her symbol is a black spider with the head of a female drow.
Lolth's appearance has remained the same with small changes and modifications throughout the game's three editions. Lolth usually appears in two forms: drow and arachnid. In drow form, the Spider Queen appears as an "exquisitely beautiful" female dark elf, sometimes covered in clinging spiders. In her arachnid form, Lolth takes the appearance of a giant black widow spider with the head of a female drow or human peering from between the eight spider-eyes. Sometimes, the two foremost pair of her spider-legs are actually humanoid arms.
Realm
Lolth dwells in her divine realm of the Demonweb Pits, a demonic realm formed entirely of a single great fractal web, where she is served by legions of powerful mystical slaves. Lolth's residence in this realm is a mobile iron spider-shaped stronghold. In the World of Greyhawk cosmology, the Demonweb Pits are located on the 66th layer of the Abyss (although in the Queen of the Spiders supermodule, author David C Sutherland locates her realm on layer 65, and the 1st edition Manual of the Planes said she ruled both the 65th and 66th layers).
Relationships
Lolth has sworn vengeance against Corellon Larethian and his people. She has her own rivalries with the various demon lords of the Abyss, noticeably with Zuggtmoy, the Demoness Lady of Fungi. Lolth's re-ascension to true godhood has basically elevated her above competition from the Lady of Fungi, but the two still harbor hatred for one another.
Lolth opposes at every opportunity the deities of the surface elves, and loathes Corellon with an unparalleled passion. She is hated by Fenmarel Mestarine and Tarsellis Meunniduin, who she seduced (according to varying myths) to gain entrance to the elven pantheon. She also considers among her major foes Vhaerun, Gruumsh and Ilsensine. She is served by Keptolo, who is too lazy to oppose her, and by Kiaransali since her return from madness. She is resisted by Zinzerena and her cult.
History
Lolth was once an elven goddess of weavers and destiny known as Megwandir, dwelling with the other gods of the Seldarine in the plane of Arborea, where her worshippers produced the best silk in the multiverse. After trying to usurp the throne of Corellon Larethian, she was transformed into a demon and cast into the Abyss. There, she slowly regained her lost divinity by corrupting the dark elves.
Lolth was, along with Iuz and the demoness Zuggtmoy, one of the entities involved in the plots centered around the Temple of Elemental Evil.
Later, she attempted to invade Oerth via the city of Istivin in Sterich, but her plans were foiled by a band of heroes. These events are assumed to have occurred in the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons supermodule GDQ1-7 Queen of the Spiders.
In Paul Kidd's novel Descent into the Depths of the Earth, Lolth's plans to conquer the Flanaess are foiled by the Justicar and Escalla (thanks to a magical bottle of fairy wine, vintage sixty-three); a few months later, in the Queen of the Demonweb Pits novel (also by Kidd), Lolth and her allies try to have their revenge on the adventurers, however, at the end of the novel, Lolth is destroyed in her native plane, supposedly for good.
Worshipers
Servants who fail Lolth (and there are many ways to fail the capricious goddess) are usually either slain or transformed into creatures called driders: centaur-like creatures that have spider-like bodies below their waists instead of a centaur's equine features. Lolth is also served by a race of shapeshifting demons called the yochlol. In their natural form, yochlol resemble molten blobs of wax with large, glaring red eyes.
Clergy, temples, and rituals
Lolth's clerics are usually female, although there are rare male clerics, but none of which are allow to achieve the rank of high priest. Her clerics wear red and black, and drow tunics and helms. The Spider Queen's sacred animals are (naturally) arachnids. She is worshipped on the full moon in underground marble temples. Enemies and riches are sacrificed to her monthly.
Lolth in other media
Lolth makes an appearance in the episode "Hall of Bones" of the 1983 Dungeons & Dragons animated series. Lolth initially appears as a beautiful elven woman who offers to lead the series' heroes through an underground passage to escape a horde of monsters. Having lured the heroes into her subterranean trap, Lolth transforms into her demonic spider form and drops her victims onto a giant web. She is then joined by the series' main villain Venger, with whom she is apparently allied, who introduces her as "Lolth, Demon Queen of Spiders." The animated version of Lolth appears far weaker then her depictions in the Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk settings, as she is quickly and easily defeated when her web is cut, causing her to fall helplessly down a bottomless pit.
Imitations
Velma Green from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy seems to be based on Lolth; she appears as a female drider and is able to control spiders by singing. At her wedding she had dark elves do the catering, further connecting the two.
Creative origins
Lolth was created by Gary Gygax.
References
- Baur, Wolfgang, and Lester W. Smith. Planes of Chaos. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1994.
- Baur, Wolfgang, and Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel. Expedition to the Demonweb Pits. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2007.
- Boyd, Eric L. Demihuman Deities. Renton, WA: TSR, 1998.
- Boyd, Eric L, and Erik Mona. Faiths and Pantheons. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2002.
- Conforti, Steven, ed. Living Greyhawk Official Listing of Deities for Use in the Campaign, version 2.0. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2005. Available online:[1]
- Greenwood, Ed. The Drow of the Underdark. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1991.
- Grubb, Jeff. Manual of the Planes. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1987.
- Gygax, Gary. Vault of the Drow. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1978.
- Gygax, Gary and David C. Sutherland III. Additional material by David Cook and Jeff Grubb. Queen of the Spiders. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1986.
- Jacobs, James, Erik Mona, and Ed Stark. Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2006.
- Marmell, Ari, Anthony Pryor, Robert J Schwalb, and Greg A Vaughan. Drow of the Underdark. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2007).
- McComb, Colin. On Hallowed Ground. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1996.
- Noonan, David. Complete Divine. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2004.
- Redman, Rich and James Wyatt. Defenders of the Faith (Wizards of the Coast, 2000).
- Redman, Rich, Skip Williams, and James Wyatt. Deities and Demigods (Wizards of the Coast, 2002).
- Reimer, David S. "In the Frost and the Snow." Dragon #155. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1990. Available online:[2]
- Sargent, Carl. Monster Mythology (TSR, 1992).
- Sutherland III, David C, and Gary Gygax. Queen of the Demonweb Pits (TSR, 1980).
- Turnbull, Don, ed. Fiend Folio (TSR, 1981).