Handmaidens of Lolth

"Great Goddess, Mother of the Dark, grant me the blood of my enemies for drink and their living hearts for meat. Grant me the screams of their young for song, grant me the helplessness of their peoples for my satisfaction, grant me the wealth of their houses for my bed. By this unworthy sacrifice I honor you, Queen of Spiders, and beseech of you the strength to destroy my foes." - Priestess of Lolth

The handmaidens of Lolth are exclusively female. 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 strives for the favor of the Spider Queen and is ready to do anything in order to gain status in her goddess' eyes. Her clergy sacrifices the living and treasure for her glory. Their vestments are normally adorned with spider motifs. Her rituals require them to wear darker clothes- or none at all.

Structure

The handmaidens of Lolth have no official hierarchy; to have an official hierarchy would be directly against the teachings of Lolth. There are only three official titles within the priesthood, though these vary greatly; Older, more experienced or more powerful priestesses are usually called “Revered Mother”, priestesses of moderate age or power are entitled “Revered Daughter” and all other priestesses are simply entitled “Revered”.

Divine Origins

The handmaidens of Lolth are known to originate from the first Drow who swore alligience to her, and have been entrenched as the upper echelon of Drow society ever since.

Tenets of Faith

The handmaidens of Lolth only have two official duties, both of which are strongly interrelated.

The first duty that priestesses must perform is similar to the main duty of most priests and priestesses of other relations; namely that of leading worshippers of Lolth in prayers, ceremonies and rites. Only priestesses have both the right and the knowledge of how to perform the various ceremonies and major rites.

The second duty that all priestesses of Lolth must perform is enforcing the religious practices of Lolth; in cities where Lolth’s clergy is dominant, worshipping Lolth is compulsory. Failure to worship Lolth is punishable by anything up to death.

Lolth’s priestesses have no other official duties, though many perform certain ceremonies or funerals (for a price…). In times of war, priestesses often serve as leaders of the actual battle, alongside favoured Drow generals, who are ultimately subordinate to them.

Priesthood

The priesthood of Lolth is unusual compared to the priesthoods of other deities in that the priesthood does not revere Lolth any more than the ordinary citizens of Lolth-worshiping societies.

Lolth’s clergy is often seen as a path to power; clerics of Lolth hold much power in Lolth-worshiping societies and the priesthood is the easiest way of working up to a position of power. The priesthood rarely accepts a cleric of low station into its ranks, although the drow houses do so even more rarely, so for drow of low station the priesthood is the easiest way to power.

The life of a priestess is not an easy one; the easiest method of advancement is through murdering priestesses of higher station and taking their place. This essentially means that a priestess has to constantly watch her back, while constantly scheming to overthrow priestesses of higher station. In addition to this each priestess must consider the church of Lolth as a whole over her own schemes; if a priestess’s schemes threaten the church of Lolth she will find herself severely punished by Lolth herself.