Lolth

(a.k.a. Queen of Spiders, Queen of the Demonweb Pits)

Lolth patterned her life and the lives of her worshipers on a regimen of chaotic acts and the veneration of spiders. The way that new-born spider broods tore each other apart to survive especially appealed to her. She promoted this by encouraging her worshipers to kill their rivals, thus ensuring that they were the strongest of the “brood”. Her love of chaos often made her appear mad but the wise saw her as a calculating individual who was always several steps ahead of those who believed that they could anticipate her. She was cruel and domineering, forcing her will upon her followers and her enemies, a will that instructed the strong to crush the weak in the most torturous way imaginable.

Station is the way of Lolth, the ambition she bestows to further the chaos, to keep her drow "children" along their appointed course of self imprisonment.

— Drizzt Do'Urden

Lolth was a goddess of cold cruelty not out of place in the darkest depths of the endless Abyss, reveling in betrayal and bloodshed and toying with everyone from her minions to her victims. She not only enjoyed, but thrived upon torture, destruction, and death, whether personally performing it or causing it. Every interaction was ultimately done with malice, ill will seething from her every move, and even those who knew her well could be surprised by just how deep her viciousness went. Her malevolence could be compared to the rage of the brutal orc deity Gruumsh, but where his fury was as mindlessly violent as a force of nature, her malice was complicated and deliberate. Furthermore, Gruumsh could at least be said to be steady and constant in his hate, whilst Lolth's was utterly capricious.
Lolth demanded absolutely featly and obedience from all drow, and questioning her motives or wisdom was considered a sin. This applied even to male drow despite her considering them to be unclean, and she took vengeful notice if one abandoned her faith. She also secretly desired the worship of other types of elves, as well as humans, and enjoyed corrupting them into her service even more than torment and devastation. In contrast, she fomented unending chaos amongst the drow, eternally setting them against each other. Ostensibly this was to weed out the weak and complacent, leaving only the strongest, cruelest, and most devious to serve her, and to some degree she believed this, but it was also simply for her own amusement and supremacy.
Despite her demands for loyalty, those who blindly obeyed Lolth's demands would find themselves quickly led to their deaths. In truth, Lolth's capricious nature meant that there were few hard-and-fast rules, and much uncertainty as to her desires. The successful had to pay attention to her ever-changing wants, for her favor was fickle, and those who she played favorites with (a frequent occurrence) would inevitably find her turning on them without warning. The Spider Queen was technically capable of displays of kindness and aiding those she fancied, and would always give one chance for the disfavored to redeem themselves, but this usually meant a dangerous mission and in others might just mean silently watching their next move. She could never be relied on and her ultimate motivation was almost always manipulative.

Children? Pawns, more likely, dancing dolls for the Spider Queen, puppets on the imperceptible but impervious strands of her web. All climb the Spider Queen's ladders; all hunt for her pleasure; and all fall to the hunters of her pleasure.

— Drizzt Do'Urden

Lolth's promotion of infighting amongst her worshipers led many to believe she was insane, and this assessment was not baseless. Indeed, ever since her fall from grace her sanity had frayed and fractured until she became the petty, conniving monster she was commonly known as. Her will was not merely fluid, but often times contradictory, although even if she was mad, the drow placed more importance on a deep and devious sense of cunning than mental stability. Ironically, for all her demands for obedience, nothing demanded her attention and admiration more than treachery, even towards herself (if only temporarily). Guile and political ruthlessness were the signs of her favorite servants, and she ultimately admired ambition more than she did loyalty.

Divine Domains

Spiders, Drow, rot, corruption, decay, trickery, war, dark

Divine Classification

God

Religions

• The Church of Lolth

Alignment

chaotic evil

Church/Cult

The Church of Lolth

Pronouns

She/Her/Hers

Gender

Female

Aligned Organization

Markova Enterprises