Ashen Dragon

Lolth (pronounced "LOLTH") is the goddess of the drow race and drow society. She is the cause of the nature, customs, laws, and survival of most drow communities. Through her clergy, who tirelessly hunt for all traces of dissent, disobedience, rival faiths, or sacrilege and destroy them, the Spider Queen maintains her absolute rule over drow cities. The Spider Queen incites endless chaos in drow society, plunging the drow race into eternal internal warfare to amuse herself and prevent complacency, runaway pride, or the rise of rival faiths. Lolth is also worshiped by chitines, a small spidery race cast off by the drow.

As Araushnee, Lolth was once a lesser deity of the Seldarine and the consort of Corellon Larethian. She was the patron goddess of artisans and elven destiny, and later, by Corellon's decree, the protector of those elves who shared her beautiful features. The Weaver of Destiny bore Corellon twin godlings—Vhaeraun and Eilistraee—before she turned against her lover and betrayed him. Initially, she aided Gruumsh One-Eye, chieftain of the orc gods, in his perennial battles with the Creator of the Elves; then, after observing the Beastlord defeat Herne on Faerûn, she set Malar on the trail of the weakened Corellon. When her plots failed due to Corellon's martial skills and Sehanine's interference, Araushnee rallied a host of hostile powers—the anti-Seldarine—to assault Arvandor. Despite Araushnee's treachery, and to a lesser extent, Vhaeraun's disloyalty, the assault failed and the betrayal of Corellon's consort and son was uncovered. By the order of the Coronal of the Seldarine, Araushnee was transformed into a spider-shaped tanar'ri and exiled to the Abyss.

As an Abyssal Lord, Araushnee took the name Lolth and conquered a significant portion of that vile plane, in the process driving out Ghaunadaur and subjugating Kiaransalee. The Spider Queen then focused on corrupting the mortal children of the Seldarine and restoring her divinity. Lolth's attention was once more drawn to Abeir-Toril when her divine realm was intruded upon by the moon elf heroine Kethryllia Amarillis, prompting the Spider Queen to begin cultivating followers among Corellon's cruelest and most corrupt children on Faerûn. Over the subsequent centuries, Lolth made significant strides among the warlike Ilythiiri (who, long ago, began to spread throughout the South, guided by the careful counsel of Vhaeraun and Ghaunadaur). Lolth's schemes came to fruition in the Crown Wars, ultimately resulting in the drow being banished to the Underdark. By then, she had already ensnared most of the dark-skinned Ilythiiri (now drow) in her web, leading to the death of countless elves and the destruction of numerious elven cities on Faerûn.

Since the Time of Troubles, Lolth has adopted two additional aspects as part of her numerous schemes to expand her follower base and thus enhance her own power. In Menzoberranzan, the drow city located beneath the North, the Spider Queen—also known as Lloth (the name she used when she manifested there during the Time of Troubles)—allowed rumors to spread of a new demigod of chaos and assassins, "the Hunted" Zinzerena. Although Zinzerena was once a legendary drow assassin and later an emerging demigod on another world rather than Abeir-Toril, the Spider Queen has recently slain Zinzerena—or at least expelled her influence from the Realms—and assumed her aspect; she did so to test whether additional divine aspects would increase or decrease the total available (albeit divided) divine power. On the Lands of Light, Lolth had long encountered a deep-seated racial hatred from surface elves for the Spider Queen, hindering her attempts to corrupt those among the surface elves who were most susceptible. With the demise of Moander, a malevolent force easier for nature-loving surface elves to understand (and accept) than the Spider Queen, Lolth has begun assuming the aspect of the Darkbringer and its rotting death, decay, and corruption portfolio, working to revive its cult and recruit elf, half-elf, and human worshipers into her following.