Lolth, Queen of Spiders

Lolth was once the most beautiful of all the Elves and consort to Corellon. Before the First War with the Orcs, she was known as Araushnee, goddess of destiny. She led the Elven forces in helping the Dwarves defend Kildrakeep, and was lost in the Underdark when the city vanished after the Cataclysm. The Elves and their gods on the surface could not detect their brethren deep underground, and wrongfully believed them dead. While the Dwarves searched for their lost kin and city, the Elves decided to move on and rebuild their civilization devastated by the Orcs. Araushnee and many of her Elves survived, however, and struggled to survive against the horrors that dwelt beneath the earth. Originally coexisting with the trapped Dwarves, a schism formed when the Dwarves were infiltrated and subjugated by the Illithids, the Mindflayers. The Elves in the Underdark were subsequently betrayed by every perceived ally they made. Their society became more harsh, militaristic and xenophobic. Lolth, who originally held hope her lover would search for her, became cruel and callous, creating a matriarchal society dominated by subterfuge and cruelty. Still she and the Drow, as the Elves came to call themselves, hoped to reintegrate into Elven society when they reunited. When the Drow finally made contact, the Elven gods had mostly retreated to the Outer planes and the Elven leaders shunned the much corrupted Drow. A war broke out amongst the subterranean and surface Elves. Araushnee discarded her persona and became Lolth, Mistress of Lies. She tricked Eilistraee, her and Corellon’s daughter, into an assassination attempt on the lord of the Elven gods. The plot ultimately failed, and when Lolth and her former lover confronted one another, the Lady of Chaos took on her new form: that of a massive Drider, a monstrosity combining an Elf and a giant Spider. Corellon and his retinue were barely able to hold off Lolth’s onslaught, but managed to banish her to the Abyss, where Lolth carved out a demesne for herself, the Demonweb Pits. Lolth still rules the Underdark Drow from afar, through her constantly quarreling Drow matriarchs. She encourages betrayal and upheaval amongst her people, pitting them amongst one another, professing to harden them and make them stronger, while she delights in the discord and dismay. Lolth often appears as a beautiful Elven maiden, sometimes a surface Elf, but most often a Drow, attempting to seduce and corrupt not just her Drow, but all Elves, reveling in the chaos she sows. When expressing her anger, her avatar may also appear as its Drider form, or that of a massive black spider.

Related Links:
Elves 
Corellon Larethian, Father of Elvenkind 
Eilistraee, Lady Silverhair 

Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Symbol: Black Spider
Domains: Trickery, War