Lolth

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Queen of the Drow, the Spider Goddess, the Spider Queen, the Black Queen, Queen of Spiders, Demon Queen of Spiders, Demon Queen of the Abyss, Queen of the Demonweb Pits, Weaver of Chaos, the Mother of Lusts, Dark Mother of All Drow, Lady of Spiders
Lolth
Lolth, Demon Queen of Spiders, as depicted in Deities and Demigods (2002).
General information
Portfolio:Drow, Spiders, Evil, Darkness, Chaos
Home:Demonweb Pits
Alignment:Chaotic evil
Gender:Female
Class:Cleric 20/Fighter 10/Wizard 10
Superior:None
Rules items
Domains:Chaos, Destruction, Domination, Evil, Oracle, Pestilence, Trickery

Lolth, the Demon Queen of Spiders, is a demon lord and the chief goddess of 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. Her symbol is a black spider with the head of a female drow.

Description

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.

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 Vhaeraun, Gruumsh, and Ilsensine. She is served by Keptolo, who is too lazy to oppose her, and by Kiaransali. She is resisted by Zinzerena and her cult.

The Spider Queen slew Abrogard, Guldor's god of evil, and is currently assuming his aspect on that world.

Servants and minions

Lolth is personally 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.

Ranking just below yochlols are the myrlochar or soul spiders, arachnid-shaped demons who glow with a greenish hue.

Greatest among Lolth's servants are the Proxies of Lolth, spidery monstrosities with the heads of beautiful drow maidens. They are granted the powers of demigods.

Realm

Lolth dwells in 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. 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).

Dogma

Lolth teaches her children that fear is strength, while love and respect are weakness. She demands that those drow who will not worship her must be converted or slain. She seeks to kill the weak and reward the strong. Disobedient males and non-drow must be sacrificed to Lolth. Spiders are a holy animal in Lolth's faith, and those who to kill a spider is a cardinal sin. Lolth is so chaotic, however, that her commands are ever-changing and often contradictory, so that those who seek to follow them blindly may meet with destruction.

Worshipers

Drow who fail Lolth are usually either slain or transformed into driders: centaur-like creatures that have spider-like bodies below their waists instead of a centaur's equine features. Other aberrations that Lolth transforms her victims into include the aracholoth, spiderleg horror, and brood mother.

Lolth is also worshipped by spidery creatures called chitines and araneas, and by some human cultists such as Lareth the Beautiful.

Clergy

Lolth's clerics are usually female. There are rare male clerics, but no male is allowed 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.

During rituals, clerics of Lolth are nude or clad in black robes with purple and deep red trim. Lesser clerics wear dark red or purple robes, trimmed with black. Ornate spider-shaped helms may also be worn.

Temples

Lolth is worshipped in underground marble temples or fanes.

Holy days

Ceremonies to the Spider Queen are held on the nights of the full moon as a deliberate affront to Sehanine Moonbow.

Rituals

Surface elves are sacrificed to Lolth monthly. By custom, only females are permitted to attend these rituals, which take place in a sacred room. Some rituals, however, involve extraordinary power or require public display, and these may be performed in the open, in mixed company. When Lolth's aid is required, the blood of enemies of the faith and/or the faithful is spilled with a spider-shaped knife. Gems or other treasures may be sacrificed by casting them into burning braziers while the appropriate prayers are incanted.

History

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.

Myths and legends

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 in other media

Television

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's 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's 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.

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.

Fiction

In Rose Estes' novel The Eyes Have It, Lolth is slain by Kathryn Fern-Clyffe, Queen for Life of the Yeomanry, with the aid of a magic gem called the Eye of Tiros, stolen from the drow.

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 on her native plane, supposedly for good.

Creative origins

Lolth was created by Gary Gygax.

Bibliography

  • 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.
  • Cagle, Eric. "The Punishments of Lolth." Dragon #298. 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]
  • Estes, Rose. The Eyes Have It. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1989.
  • Greenwood, Ed. The Drow of the Underdark. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1991.
  • Redman, Rich, and James Wyatt. Defenders of the Faith. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2000.
  • Reimer, David S. "In the Frost and the Snow." Dragon #155. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1990. Available online:[2]
  • Stewart, Todd, and the Paizo Staff. "1d20 Villains." Dragon #359. Bellevue, WA: 2007.
  • Turnbull, Don, ed. Fiend Folio. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1981.
  • Wyatt, James, and Rob Heinsoo. Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faerun. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2001.
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