Zane's Journal

Notes concerning the Underdark Pantheon
From the Journal of Zane the Grey, servant of Lady Eilistraee:

Following my recent run-in with the dread disciples of Descent, I thought it prudent to transcribe the knowledge which I have gathered concerning the races of the Underdark in the event that my voice should be silenced forever by that most wicked of groups. Only through understanding the religious motivations of these denizens can we fathom the depths of their souls.

In my travels in that most dark and wicked of places, I came upon an ancient tome written by the great sage, Cunningham*, concerning the creation of the Dark Goddess, Lloth, and her dark mortal children.  Hers is an undying hatred of everything dealing with the surface elves... I believe these notes help to explain some of the ancestral evil which the drow have perpetrated upon their surface cousins for millenia.

May the surface races come to learn the folly that endless jealousy breeds.  May we all come to understand that to forego intervening in the scheming mechanations of the insidious group, Descent into Darkness, would precipitate the ultimate spiral of our society  into chaotic oblivion that the Spider Queen has ever desired.

The Origin of the Drow Gods
Within the elven forest heaven of Arvandor, the mighty warrior god, Corellon Larethian rules over a collection of elven deities known as the Seldarine. 

Mysteriously a new goddess, known as Araushnee, appeared on Arvandor. Araushnee was different from the other elven gods in that her skin was dark as night and her hair was as white as new fallen snow. Corellon became captivated with Araushnee and made her his consort. The couple soon became the parents of the twin gods, Vhaeraun and Eilistraee, both of whom shared their mother's mysterious traits. Corellon lovingly granted Araushnee dominion over all mortal elves which shared her beauty -- the drow. 

Araushnee and Vhaeraun were not content with the powers which they had received. Conspiring with Corellon's arch-nemesis, the orc god Gruumsh, Araushnee laid a web of lies and deceit to trap and destroy Corellon. The moon goddess, Sehanine, was able to discover the treachery and rescue the wounded Corellon before Gruumsh could utterly destroy him. 

Unswayed, Araushnee made additional unsuccessful attempts to seize control of the heavens. Finally, Araushnee formed an alliance of evil gods - including Malar the Beast Lord, Kurtulmak of the kobolds, Maglubiyet of goblinkind, Hruggek of the bugbears, and Ghaunadar elemental god of pure evil - to bring war upon the Seldarine stronghold. Eilistraee was able to discover the approaching army in time to warn her father and join the forces of good in vanquishing the evil menace. 

Corellon and the Seldarine transformed Araushnee into a form more befitting her wicked nature, a giant spider tanari, and banished her to the Abyss, forever barring her entrance to Arvandor. Vhaeraun was cast upon the mortal plane until such a time as he proved himself worthy of return to Arvandor. In order to balance the evil which was soon to be unleashed upon the peoples of the world by her evil brother, Eilistraee chose to sacrifice her life in heaven to join Vhaeraun in his banishment. 

To this day, Araushnee, (or Lloth, as she now calls herself) wages a continuous and bitter struggle to destroy the mortal children of Corellon - namely the green, sea, moon, and gold elves.* 

*For the indepth story check out Evermeet, Island of Elves, Forgotten Realms, by Elaine Cunningham, 1999.

Gods of the Drow

Lloth (Spider Queen)
     Undeniably the greatest and most feared god in the Underdark... Lloth is a chaotic evil deity.  Inhabiting the abyss, she grants her female followers horrifying powers to increase her domain and further the cause of chaos.
     Llothites follow the precepts that true power is not given... but is taken by force.  The favor of the goddess is only granted to her female priestesses, thus ensuring rule by matriarchy in many drow cities.		 Vhaeraun
     Vhaeraun is a chaotic evil demi god that serves as the drow god of thievery. 
     He has since gathered many drow followers, mainly males that are uncomfortable with the iron fist control of the Lloth matriarchy (though like their god - these followers hold no reservations in allying with Lloth followers to get what they want) 
     He intensely hates his twin sister, but fears his father's wrath should he raise a hand against her.
Eilistraee (Dark Maiden)
    Eilistraee is a chaotic good demi goddess whose realm of control includes the hunt, dance, music, and moonlight. Her followers have been seen in the underground city of Skullport as well as on the surface.		 Kiaranselee
     Kiaranselee is the chaotic evil goddess of the undead. She resides in the Abyss and delights in using her undead army to wreak havoc upon any that stand in her way.  She often amuses herself by witnessing Lloth's many schemes.

  Other Gods and Minions of the Underdark

Yochlols servants of Lloth, deliverers of her direct wrath and pleasure 
Kurtulmak leader of  the kobold pantheon
Maglubiyet  leader of  the goblin pantheon
Moradin the soul-forge, god of dwarves
Segojan god of the svirfneblin (deep gnomes)
Entemoch prince of earth elementals, servant to Segojan
Ogremoch evil prince of earth elementals