The followers of the Dark Maiden Eilistraee are often misunderstood, because of the constant feuding of the Drow with rest of humanoid societies. Church is mostly fractured in tiny sects with very little connection to one another, further causing confusion on the outsiders.
Eilistraee's church stand for redemption of drow and against the tyranny of Lloth, but Lady Silverhair and her followers are raely interested only on blight of the drow. Church will welcome anyone from any race to goddess' grace. Most important things for followers of Eilistraee is promoting harmony, joy, nurturing, curisity and defending the weak, making the religion also visible around several drui cultures, specially among the elves.
Tenets of Faith
The dogma of Eilistraee speaks of unity, merriment, self-improving, and kindness towards all beings, without shying away from the battle when necessary. It can be best summarized in 7 tenets:
- "Promote joy and happiness everywhere, was it with song, dance, jest, or kind words."
- "Learn to hunt and prepare your game. Learn to make and playing instruments, learn songs, dance, and pass it forward. Learn the art of the sword."
- "Defend those who are weak, share from your wealth to aid them. Wealth is for getting the tools you need to live and help others."
- "If you can't purchase or receive food, you should hunt it on your own. Feed yourself with your crops and game. Safe food for a rainy day or those in need."
- "Strangers should be met with compassion and curiosity. Offer them your kindness."
- "Repay rudeness with kindness, repay violence with swift violence. Promote harmony, protect others on evil. Burn the corpses of evil creatures as offerings."
- "Aid the drow back to the light, take them away from evil and bloodshed. Their rightful place is under the sky at night above."
Ethics
Followers of Eilistraee generally are very welcoming to unthreatening strangers. They feel an obligation to show some hospitality to anyone, even when they have their reservations to a certain race or ethnicity. Obvious distaste towards any given race is considered shameful and against the will of the goddess. Showing charity is seen as a great virtue. Eilistraeens are also strictly against slavery.
While Eilistraeens promote peaceful existence, practicing skills with swords is considered important, and warriors and hunters are known to have good standings among the followers. Artists, especially those who play or create music or dance, are highly regarded, and the ability to show any skill in at least one such task is almost socially mandatory. Artisans, gardeners, and farmers are seen with respect too, weaponsmiths being particularly revered. In most Eilistraeen communities, it is almost harder to get recognition by being a scholarly type unless you have something useful to show from all that learning, like being a healer or a talented teacher.
Eilistraee does not show blatant favoritism towards any sex. In general, males and females are often treated equally. Still, her followers have, in more than one occasion taken the number of female priests and goddesses silence of the matter as a sign of female supremacy. This had made some of the communities have more matronal than egalitarian structure.
Worship
Eilistraeens have several different practices to worship their goddess. Full moons are sacred for the followers, and they gather to sing and dance for the goddess or arrange hunts, lead by the clergy.
In daily life, followers will respect their goddess by living by their tenets, but the more direct form of worship would be the Eilistraeen prayer, Evensong. For Eilistraeens, Evensong is a prayer, often performed intimately at the end of the day, where the follower will sing and dance for the goddess, by sending his or her thoughts and experiences to the goddess in this form. While a common follower might leave Evensong only for special occasions, clergy would practice these prayers daily.
Priesthood
Clergy of Eilistraee mostly consists of priestesses, male priests being far more rare and even more rarely in positions of power among the clergy. In it's purest form, Eilistraaen communities often are lead or closely advised by clerics, but do not have a clear clergy hierarchy. Hierarchies often form anyway but tend to be loose.
It is very common for Eilistraeen clergy to be formed from paladins and clerics with talents on swordsmanship. Knowledge of how to wield a sword is pretty much mandatory, and the rituals of the Dark Maiden often require dancing, many times while wielding one's sword. Clergy also trains in playing instruments, flutes, horns, and harps being the favored of the goddess.
The clergy often grow their hair long as a tribute to the goddess, wearing as little as possible during their rituals. This might mean being fully nude or wearing minimal, airy, and unrestricted garments, often in white and silver. Holy symbols of the clergy will often present the moon, a sword, or both. Blades, especially swords, are considered as part of the ceremonial dress.
Granted Divine Powers
When granting her blessings to her followers, Eilistraee offers abilities to heal, protect, bring light, charms, and ways to control plants or animals. She would also grant them abilities to fight against the undead. She has also been known from gift inspiration for bards and poets so that they could spread joy and beauty around them.
Those who would fight for righteous causes for the goddess might get blessed with moonlight eminating from them, smiting their enemies, or to guide their path.
In the game terms, a follower of Eilistraee would likely be cleric of Light-, Nature- or Life Domain, Paladin with Oath of Redemption, Ancients or Devotion, OR be a flavored from druid or even from a bard. They would likely find themselves particularly interested from spells from schools of Enchantment, Evocation, Abjuration, and Transmutation.
Sects
The most well-known sect of Eilistreean believes is Children of The Dancer, with relatively massive following among the Silver Shore Island's population.
The sect has been often critizised of it's inability to cut itself off from it's Llothian roots, and has been divided from the inside to smaller schools of thought. Some of these schools take approach closer to the primary church's stance, but more radical wings have even started to lean to the side of the Ring of Brothers, and worship Eilistraee's twin brother Vhaeraun as her balancing counterpart.
"Your rightful place awaits in the Night Above,
in the Land of the Great Light.
Come in peace
and live beneath the sun again,
where trees and flowers grow."
Primary religious organization
This is an article about the primary religious organization of given Deity or other religious figure. It displays the most commonly occurring themes and customs for the religious communities dedicated to a certain object of worship. Some of these organizations are very robustly constructed or only exist in a small area and thus, differences in practices of the faithful have very little variations. But it is very common for many religions to have their own local sects that have their own believes and practices that might even contradict the stance of the primary organization.
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