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Playable Races
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The secretive and stealthy races of the Underdark have a bewildering variety of gods, some of whom take on forms which are utterly alien to the human (or demihuman) mind. They have an equally broad range of creation and racial-history myths, and few generelizations can be made about them. But there is a broad division between races banished to the Underdark (duergar, derro, and drow) and those which have always had their being there (aboleths, illithids, and myconids). The former often have a mythic history in which they were driven from the surface world by their surface cousins (elves and dwarves), a tale always couched in terms of the deepest bitterness of recollection. These Underdark races consider themselves cheated of surface territories rightfully theirs, when all they wanted was a share of these lands, their surface cousins waging a war of banishment so that they could have everything for themselves. The dark dwarves and elves consider themselves to have been undeserving scapegoats, victims of greed and arrogance. For this reason, they rarely pay homage to the traditional gods of their races, instead turning to their own pantheons.
Drow Pantheon/Dark Seldarine
The history of the Drow is defined by Lolth's betrayal of her husband Corellon and the ensuing civil war. The first drow elves were her supporters, who followed her into the Underdark when the Seldarine kicked her out for being a power-hungry backstabbing bitch. Lolth still exercises near-total control over drow society, but she is also attended by a slew of lesser gods, survivors of the original primal elves who aided her attempted coup. These entities are also worshipped, but both the gods and their worshippers honor Lolth's place as the supreme drow deity if they know what's good for them. The drow call these deities the Dark Seldarine in mockery of the original elf pantheon.
Lolth (pronounced LOHLTH or LOALTH) is the goddess of the drow race and drow society. She is responsible for the nature, customs, laws, and survival of most drow communities. The Spider Queen maintains her absolute rule over drow cities by means of her clergy, who tirelessly seek out and destroy all traces of dissent, disobedience, rival faiths, or sacrilege and who ruthlessly enforce the Way of Lolth. The Spider Queen foments unending chaos in drow society and sets the drow eternally at war with each other both for her own amusement and to prevent complacency, runaway pride from asserting itself, or the rise of other faiths. Lolth is also venerated by chitines, a small spiderlike race that are castoffs of the drow.
As Araushnee, Lolth was once a lesser goddess of the Seldarine and the consort of Corellon Larethian. She was the patron of artisans, the goddess of elven destiny, and, later, by Corellon's decree, the keeper of those elves who shared her darkly beautiful features. The Weaver of Destiny bore Corellon twin godlings, Vhaeraun and Eilistraee, and another daughter, Vandria Gilmadrith, before she turned against her lover and betrayed him. First she aided Gruumsh One-Eye, chief among the orcish gods, in one of his perennial battles with the Creator of the Elves, and then she set Malar on the trail of the weakened Corellon after observing the Beastlord defeat Herne. When these plots failed as a result of Corellon's skill at arms and Sehanine's interference, Araushnee raised a host of hostile deities, the anti-Seldarine, to assault Arvandor. Despite the treachery of Araushnee, and to a lesser extent, Vhaeraun, the assault failed and the perfidy of Corellon's consort and son were revealed. By order of the Council of the Seldarine, Araushnee was transformed into a spider-shaped tanar'ri and banished to the Abyss and her adherents exiled to the Underdark.
As an Abyssal Lord, Araushnee assumed the name Lolth and conquered a considerable portion of that foul plane, driving off Ghaunadaur and subjugating Kiaransalee in the process. The Spider Queen then turned her attentions toward corrupting the mortal children of the Seldarine and reclaiming her divinity. It was Lolth who first spread evil among the elves and led the drow away from the rest of the elves thousands of years ago. Now she focuses on using the drow to conquer the vast cavern-realms beneath the surface of the earth. Lolth relishes the chance to test her followers by pitting them against each other. She claims she does it to cull the weak and make the race strong enough to deal a harsh lesson to the surface elves, but it seems just as likely that she does it because she likes to see pain and suffering. She is careful to prevent open or widespread strife among the drow. She does not tolerate campaigns of harassment or attrition among groups of drow, but she does sanction well-planned, swift, and overwhelming attacks.
Lolth is a cruel, capricious goddess, thought by many to be insane. She delights in setting her worshipers at each other's throats, so that the strongest, most devious and most cruel survive to ser her. Lolth roams the Realms often, appearing in answer to the rituals of her drow priestesses, and working whatever harm she can to the enemies of drow. The Spider Queen secretly wants to be worshiped by humans and elves of other races on the surface Realms, and sometimes journeys among their communities, whispering of the power Lolth can bring. Lolth is malicious in her dealings and coldly vicious in a fight. She enjoys both personally dealing and causing death, destruction, and painful torture. Even more, Lolth enjoys corrupting elves and humans to her service. Lolth can be kind and render aid to those she fancies, but she really cares only for herself; her favor and aid can never be relied on. The Spider Queen enjoys the company of and can converse with spiders of all sorts.
Her realm, called either Lolth's Web or the Demonweb Pits, depending on who a person's talking to, sits in the 66th layer of the Abyss. It's a tangled loopy mass of tunnels and web strands; if it could be seen from above, it'd look like a huge spiderweb. Lolth's great iron fortress, in the shape of a gigantic spider, is a mobile thing, crawling across the web to feed. Some say that the fortress has its own will, while others swear that it's powered only by Lolth's desire. Whatever the truth, if a person sees it coming, they'd best get out of its way.
Lolth's Web opens onto a multitude of planes, wherever she has a stronghold of worshipers (though her priests must be female, anyone can swear their loyalty). The queen's yochlol servants watch over each of the gates; only the worthy or the condemned can travel through them with Lolth's consent. All others are food for the spiders so common in her realm.
- 0% Approval Rating: Nobody seems to actually like her. Not even Selvetarm, who serves as her champion. The other gods (especially elven ones) know she has Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, and won't even give her the time of day, even if they're also evil. Most drow realize that Lolth is a complete bitch, and revere her out of fear and cultural indoctrination. The only ones who can be said to genuinely like Lolth are the Chitines, because she set them free from their drow masters — although Lolth didn't do that for them specifically; she only did it to punish the drow for being "ungrateful" for not crediting her for creating the Chitines in the first place. Once the punishment was enacted, Lolth by-and-large forgot about them.
- Abusive Parents: Both literally and theologically.
- She has three children, Elisraee, Vandria, and Vhaeraun. She wants all three dead; Elistraee because she wants to be a good influence on the drow, Vandria because she's a goddess of surface elves, and Vhaeraun because he had the audacity to sugges that maybe all the backstabbing was hurting the drow and they should work together instead.
- She essentially acts as an abusive mother to the drow as a whole, with her chaotic and hypocritical whims keeping them both in constant fear and utterly dependent on her (to the point that her getting distracted for a bit usually means the rampant backstabbing nearly kills them all), minimizing the chances of any drow realizing that maybe it would be better to worship a sane god that actually cared about their well-being instead of a batshit-crazy spider demon.
- Ambition Is Evil:
- This is what led her to betray her ex-husband, Corellon. She wanted to overthrow Corellon and take his place as the leader of all elves by blaming a failed assassination attempt on their own daughter, Eilistraee. But Lolth was exposed and defeated, and banished to the Underdark along with those who aided her in the attempt.
- Lolth encourages her followers to be ambitious and rise to the top among their enemies, which is basically "every other drow" according to the tenants of her worship. In Lolth's mind, if you were cunning, crafty, evil, and just plain murderous enough to take power from someone else, you deserved that power and the victim deserved to die. This had led to a drow society where Chronic Backstabbing Disorder is not just allowed by Lolth, but actively encouraged.
- Ax-Crazy: Despite her expertise being in trickery, Lolth is completely insane when all is said and done. Her Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, tendency to treat her own followers like dirt, and treat everybody else even worse stems from Lolth being incredibly and impulsively violent, backstabbing and betraying people for no reason other than believing that she should be in charge.
- Animal Motifs: Spiders, which are part of her domain and serve as her symbol. Her true form is a Giant Spider. Even her Matriarchy is based around spiders, with females being treated as more powerful and deadly than males. Harming or killing a spider is punishable by death and sacrifice.
- Beauty Is Bad: Is often depicted as a beautiful drow woman with a spider's body, or a tall drow woman with a humanoid form. However she's depicted, she's usually gorgeous to look at. But the beauty with her is only skin-deep, as she is one of the most vicious gods in all of D&D.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder:
- During a war with the Seladrine, Lolth betrayed her husband Corellon by planning to kill him, betrayed her daughter Eilistraee by having her shoot an enchanted bow to do the deed and trying to frame Eilistraee for it, then betrayed the evil deities she had gathered to fight Corellon. Her betrayal of all sides led to Lolth being exiled to the Underdark, since nobody could trust her.
- Lolth has three children — Eilistraee, Vhaeraun, and Vandria. All three of them eventually grew to hate Lolth's guts, because Lolth backstabbed them all in some way. Eilistraee was tricked into trying to kill her father Corellon, Vhaeraun was a male drow, and so subjected to the same persecution under Lolth's rule that all male drow face in spite of being her son, leading him to eventually rebel when he got fed up with it. And Vandria was so pissed off at Lolth stabbing everybody in the back during a war with the Seldarine that she became a war goddess of surface elves.
- She enforces this behavior among the drow, constantly turning one drow against another. They vie for money, for prestige, and, more than anything else, for power over others, the surest sign of Lolth's approval.
- Control Freak: Lolth is a constant presence amongst the drow, constantly directing their actions, testing their faith, and enforcing her preferred behavior. This obsessive micromanagement is often pointed to as the reason the drow haven't backstabbed themselves to death yet, as any drow who are too disruptive towards drow society, often through the behavior she usually encourages, get either told to knock it off (if she's in a good mood) or just killed (if she isn't).
- Dark Is Evil: The most influential dark-skinned elven deity is a
Chaotic Evil monster who encourages her followers to be just as bad as she is. - Depending on the Writer: She's always had the ability to transform drow into driders, which are half-drow and half-spider monsters. But various editions of D&D and books that include Lolth have flip-flopped on whether the transformation is a good thing or a bad thing. In Third Edition, it was treated as a bad thing in-universe, and a way for Lolth to punish an unworthy drow, but it suffered from Gameplay and Story Segregation due to driders being more powerful than standard drow. In Fourth Edition, being turned into a drider was seen as a sign of Lolth's blessing, seen by the drow as a good thing due to the power it brought and the fact that Lolth's favorite form of her Voluntary Shapeshifting was a half-drow, half-spider form. In Fifth Edition, becoming a drider was turned back into a punishment from Lolth in spite of the aforesaid favorite appearance, which was noted as the things Lolth does not making much sense beyond causing chaos and misery for its own sake.
- Does Not Like Men: An all-powerful goddess has a rather misandrist clergy and society. Male drow are treated as slaves and servants to the female-dominated drow elite, and that's if they're lucky. Mostly, drow men are used as sacrifice fodder to Lolth and treated as worse than the monsters that roam the Underdark. The only thing that drow men have in their favor is at least they're not a non-drow race, which would be even worse for them.
- Evil Matriarch: Lolth has three children — Eilistraee, Vhaeraun, and Vandria. All three of them hate Lolth's guts for one reason or another.
- It's most prominent in the rivalry with her daughter Eilistraee, who is the complete opposite of Lolth in every way. Eilistraee wants to encourage the drow to do acts of good, both to earn their place among the surface and to undermine Lolth's agenda. Not only that, but Lolth has made worship of Eilistraee outright illegal in the Underdark, even having a few drow dedicated to finding and destroying materials related to Eilistraee in Menzoberranzan so that Eilistraee remains an Unperson and can't get more followers easily.
- Lolth's son Vhaeraun wants to see Lolth's rule and matriarchy destroyed. He detests seeing his people wither because of the pointless infighting and division that Lolth promotes. His plan towards this goal is to undo the Spider Queen and her idea of "society", replacing it with one where the drow would be united and both genders treated with equality. Albeit, one where the drow rule over the entire surface world as the masters of creation, but it's still better than what Lolth would do.
- Lolth's other daughter Vandria became an ever-vigilant war goddess of the surface elves in response to her mother's betrayal during the war with the Seldarine and trying to kill her father Corellon.
- Face–Heel Turn: Was originally allied with Corellon, her ex-husband, but gathered an alliance of evil deities against him because Lolth wanted to be the one in charge.
- Foil: To her children. Both Lolth's daughter Eilistraee and Lolth's son Vhaeraun ended up quite different from her.
- Vhaeraun promotes both gender equality, unity, and surface conquest. Lolth favors females over males, and promotes a chaotic and violent matriarchal society full of Chronic Backstabbing Disorder both for her own amusement and because strife and deceit give her power and keep the status quo unchanged.
- Eilistraee wants to redeem all drow into goodness and promotes peaceful coexistence with all surface races. Lolth believes she should dominate and destroy all other races, and encourages the drow to give into their more twisted and dark desires.
- For the Evulz: Besides this and petty revenge, there's not really much else to her. If Lolth isn't tricking, cursing, torturing and killing out of vengeance or social Darwinism, then she's doing it because she thinks it's funny. And no one, not even the Drow that worship her, are spared from her sick sense of humour.
- Forced Transformation: She inflicts this on every drow whose spirit fails their test in the Demonweb Pits, transforming them into a drider for the rest of their lives.
- Giant Spider: Her true form. It varies between a centaur-like form (i.e. a beautiful drow female from the waist up; spider from the waist down) or a gigantic spider with a drow woman's face.
- Godzilla Threshold: At one point she was forced to command the drow of Menzoberranzan to stop killing eachother for petty reasons - something she otherwise encourages - because the recent war with Mithral Hall had devastated their leadership and the fighting over the resulting power vaccuum was in danger of destroying their entire society.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Of Out of the Abyss, the Fifth Edition module. Lolth is responsible for why the module occurs thanks to her actions in inadvertently summoning many of the Demon Lords into the Underdark, allowing her to claim their territory whilst they are on the material plane. When asked why Lolth would do all of this, a drow wizard who opposes Lolth says her goal is "chaos", hoping that the ensuing rampage of the Underdark would end with Lolth in an advantageous position over the Demon Lords. She isn't the Big Bad and cannot really be confronted, though; the closest anyone can get is one of the heroes scrying her in the Great Library, which will get them a level of madness for trying. The only reason it isn't worse is that the magic of the library protects them.
- Hot Goddess: Lolth can appear as a tall, exquisitely beautiful female drow. In this form, Lolth can, if she wishes, charm a human or demihuman of either sex by directly physically embracing them.
- Hypocrite:
- Lolth encourages cruelty and Chronic Backstabbing Disorder levels of treachery on the grounds of Social Darwinism. But whenever such behavior proves to be a terrible foundation for a society, she'll rein her followers in until they're stable enough to start backstabbing each other again. It's said that she raises her followers to do one thing, then openly punishes them for doing what they were raised to do. It's one of the many reasons that nobody actually likes Lolth, since it's impossible to know where you stand with her if you're a drow.
- The thing Lolth most consistently demands from her followers is absolute loyalty to her, but she's been known to grant favor to people who openly oppose her on top of her own Chronic Backstabbing Disorder which causes her to impulsively betray anyone and everyone with even the slightest amount of loyalty to her at the drop of a hat.
- I Have Many Names: Downplayed since her other name is just a small anagram, but in the drow cities of Menzoberranzan and Uluitur, she is known as Lloth in the drow dialect.
- Jerkass Goddess: Lolth is an Ax-Crazy megalomaniacal tyrant, and not even her worshipers and high priestesses love her. They fear her, and they revere her, but they'd never love her. What they love is the power she gives them and the promise that she'll watch over them. She sometimes tests her most faithful by drawing their spirits to her in the Demonweb to undergo her judgment. Followers never know when or if they are to be tested. One who claims to have undergone the test and passed it is rewarded with respect and elevated status. Even someone who successfully lies about having taken the test can earn the rewards, since lying is something Lolth's followers should be doing. Lying and conniving can't save those who fail the test, because the evidence of such an outcome is immediately obvious: a drow whose spirit has failed its test in the Demonweb Pits becomes transformed into a drider. A newly-created drider is shunned by its house and exiled from the community, with nothing but a few meager supplies and its knowledge of the Underdark to protect it.
- Manipulative Bastard: She was responsible for her grandson Selvetarm's Face–Heel Turn by tricking him into absorbing the essence of the demon lord Zanassu, whose domain was spiders, under the guise of impressing Eilistraee (whom Selvetarm was formerly quite fond of). Zanassu's evil influence weakened Selvetarm enough for Lolth to bind him eternally to her will, turning him away from Eilistraee.
- Matriarchy: She's very much associated with spiders, and builds drow society around their nature. Spider females are usually bigger and stronger than males, so Lolth's church sees female drow as better in both physical and emotional aspects to men, and more favored by Lolth. Males, on the other hand, are viewed as spiritually, intellectually, and physically inferior to females, useful primarily as consorts or cannon fodder. A male drow is seen as superior to a member of any other race, but inferior even to female drow of lower social status.
- Offing the Offspring: Her Brainwashed and Crazy servitor supposedly managed to kill her daughter, Eilistraee. Unluckily for Lolth, both Eilistraee and Vhaeraun (her son) would later return to life in 5e, allied against her
. - Our Elves Are Different: In fact, she's the reason why drow elves are different than other elves. She tried some numerous power-hungry schemes to usurp her husband's place at the pantheon's head. Corellon became furious, divorcing her by transforming her into a spider and banishing her children and supporters from Arvandor. As such, the drow have strong darkvision and powerful magic, but can't stand the sunlight. All because of Lolth.
- Religion of Evil: Her religion promotes favoritism towards females and subjugation of males, as well as Chronic Backstabbing Disorder. More than any other deity, Lolth delights in perpetual tests of her exclusively female clerics, often pitting them against each other or members of their own families. Every cleric of Lolth knows that the path to promotion involves stabbing superiors in the back, and every cleric is likewise alert that her underlings are plotting to do the same to her.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The Silence of Lolth, a period of months when Lolth stopped granting divine spells, would not respond to communions of any type, and stopped all physical planar travel to the Demonweb Pits in the Abyss. By the time Lolth came back, drow society was in an even bigger mess than before. She basically had to whip every drow into shape to get things back on track.
- Seductive Spider: Terrifying as she is, Lolth is a beautiful spider woman with the same Beauty Is Bad trappings as most of the Drow.
- Sneaky Spider: Lolth is a spider goddess of deceit and trickery. Thanks to her influence, Drow society pretty much runs on Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, which is just how Lolth wants it.
- Spider People: One of her most common forms she takes is a centaur-esque creature with the upper body of a Drow and a huge abdomen and legs of a spider, referred to as a Drider. Lolth's Drow worshipers who failed the rite of passage called The Test of Lolth would be transformed into Driders by her and were considered outcasts in Drow society.
- The Social Darwinist: Lolth relishes pitting her followers against each other supposedly so that the strong may cull out the weak, although it's just as likely that she does it because she likes to see others suffer. However, whenever there's Drow infighting which will them vulnerable to all the other nasties in the Underdark, Lolth will rein them in until their position is secure enough to go back to the status quo.
- The Sociopath: She has no empathy whatsoever, is a monstrous sadist and is such a Manipulative Bitch that the deceit part in her title is well-earned. Out of all the Gods in the Drow Pantheon, she is perhaps the very worst of them.
- Spiders Are Scary: She's the god of spiders; she should know. Spiders are a huge motif with Lolth, spiders frequently follow in the Underdark, and her true form is that of a giant spider. And messing with her is a chaotically bad idea.
- Stupid Evil: In case you're wondering where the Drow got their own lessons in moronic behaviour from, look no further. While very competent at what she does, Lolth has a tendency to foil her own schemes simply because she chose that moment to indulge in her double-crossing bloodlust to the point of blatant stupidity. She's been described as this in-universe, and it's the reason why her schemes generally don't go as far as she wants them to. Lolth is Ax-Crazy and has Chronic Backstabbing Disorder something awful, which means that it's impossible to trust her. Any plans she makes might be abandoned on a whim simply because it indulges in her bloodlust or need to inflict pain and suffering on people, if only just for a moment. She's burned every bridge she's ever walked on with other gods (including her own offspring, who are actively trying to bring Lolth down thanks to the aforesaid tendency of betrayal). She has no empathy or compassion whatsoever, and is such a monstrous sadist that she would find wrecking everything out of spite to be a perfectly rational idea. And the only people who worship Lolth do so out of fear rather than genuine love. Lolth's goals of sowing as much chaos and anarchy as possible, as well as basing a society on intentionally culling the weaker members of it, mean that her cities in the Underdark are always just a stone's throw away from falling apart due to enforcing betrayal and scheming among everyone there. Combine all this together, and you have a god that is seen by most non-drow races as a violent psycho, at best.
- The Theocracy: The Church of Lolth rules over drow society and is heavily ingrained in their life and culture. Religious practice is not a voluntary activity among the drow. Because the priestesses rule drow society (to the extent that any one institution can be said to do so), they ruthlessly enforce the worship of Lolth, demanding participation in her rites and often punishing failure to take part by making the transgressor their next sacrifice. The priestesses rarely find themselves forced to take such steps, however. Worship of Lolth is so heavily ingrained in the culture that most drow participate willingly, out of a mixture of reverence and terror for their goddess.
- Top God: As the original patron of the dark elves, the Queen of Spiders has established herself as the unchallenged ruler of the drow pantheon. There are other Drow gods, but they're mostly defined by their relationship with Lolth (Keptolo is her consort, Selvetarm her champion) or rebellion against her, and Lolth demands that she be paid the most respect.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Lolth can appear as a giant black widow spider with crimson eyes, a beautiful female drow, or as a giant spider with a female drow's head. She can change forms at will.
- Whip of Dominance: Her favored weapon is the whip, fitting with her image as a diabolical Control Freak who seeks total domination of the dark elf society.
- Woman Scorned: One of the reasons she hates Corellon and wants to ruin his life is because he divorced her. Mind, he divorced Lolth because she set up a conspiracy to kill him and make it look like their daughter Eilistraee was responsible, and did so in the name of power. Even so, Lolth considers this act of "betrayal" unforgivable.
Eilistraee (pronounced Eel-iss-TRAY-yee) is the goddess of good drow, those rare dark elves who yearn for a return to life on the surface Realms, existence akin to that enjoyed by elves of the woodlands, left behind by the drow long ago. She is a goddess of song and beauty, goodness and light, worshiped through song and dance, preferably in the surface world, under the stars of a moonlit night. Eilistraee aids her faithful in hunting and swordcraft, and worship of her is usually accompanied by a feast. Eilistraee also has worshipers of human, elven, and in particular, half-elven stock. She is usually seen only from afar, but her song (of unearthly beauty, driving many to tears) is heard whenever she appears. She's also the only Good-aligned god in the Underdark and of the Dark Seldarine.
The Dark Maiden is the sister of Vhaeraun and Vandria and the daughter of Araushnee (who was cast out to become Lolth), and Corellon Larethian. After Eilistraee nearly slew her father with an arrow during a great battle between the Seldarine and a host of evil deities bent on conquering Arvandor, the Dark Maiden forswore the use of ranged weapons (although she permits them to her followers). Although her arrow went astray because of Araushnee's treachery, Eilistraee chose banishment from Arvandor (and the Seldarine) along with her mother and brother, foreseeing a time when she would be needed to balance their evil.
Eilistraee is a melancholy, moody deity. She is greatly angered by the evil of most drow but glad that some have worked their way free of the Spider Queen's web. Eilistraee is a lover of beauty and peace but is not averse to striking back against those who would harm her followers. It is not her way to act openly, but she often aids creatures she favors (whether they worship her or not) in small, immediately practical ways. Eilistraee is happiest when she looks on bards singing or composing, craftsmen at work, lovers, or acts of kindness.
She rules the realm of Svartalfheim on Ysgard, some say with Erevan Ilesere at her side. It's a realm of caves and drow, but there's a feeling of peace and love that permeates the tunnels, even in the heart of Ysgard.
- Antagonistic Offspring: Lolth, her mother, is also her greatest enemy. The animosity between the two is mutual — Lolth tried to trick Eilistraee into killing her father Corellon with an enchanted bow. It was only by luck that Corellon wasn't killed, so the betrayal caused Eilistraee to hate her mother.
- Anti-Mutiny: An odd case in that she was tricked by her mother Lolth into helping with the coup, then turned back, atoned and began to convert the dark elves (now turned into drow) back to the old path as she saw it. And succeeded with a lot of them.
- Back from the Dead: Restored to life in the Fifth Edition version of the setting, alongside her brother Vhaeraun, after the event known as The Sundering (not the elven one, but the one that happened during the 1480s DR). She is also mentioned as a currently active deity in Ed Greenwood's novels Spellstorm and Death Masks, and in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide.
- Cain and Abel: Shared this dynamic with her older twin brother Vhaeraun before 5e, with her as the Abel to Vhaeraun's Cain. After that, they decided to put aside their differences and work together against Lolth. Though the Masked Lord is Chaotic Evil and the Dark Dancer is Chaotic Good, they both hate their mother enough that they're willing to work together if it means taking Lolth down a few pegs.
- Classified Information: Most drow don't even know that Eilistraee exists, thanks to a decree from Lolth that all information surrounding her daughter be destroyed. Matron mothers of the most powerful houses in Menzoberranzan closely guard the scrolls that chronicle the Dark Dancer's existence. They retain them for the sake of remaining aware of the enemy they describe: a drow goddess who would spirit away all of Lolth's worshipers to the surface world. To that end, there are drow dedicated to finding and destroying materials related to Eilistraee in the Underdark, all to keep her as an Unperson among the drow. As such, Eilistraee has to be very subtle with guiding drow to the surface — a sign of her helping drow up through the Underdark is a moonlight-touched butterfly that serves as a guide through the caverns up to the surface.
- Cool Sword: Her favored weapon is a bastard sword called the Moonsword. It's even in her official symbol.
- Dance Battler: Dance is a form of worship as well as combat. Paladins of Eilistraee are said to be very quick on their feet.
- Dark Is Not Evil: She's the only non-evil member of the drow pantheon. Despite reveling in moonlight and shadow, Eilistraee encourages her followers to do good, spread her word, and re-earn their place among those who live on the surface.
- Defeat Means Friendship: After Vhaeraun was defeated by her, and after their return to life, they have become allied.
- Dual Wielding: Eilistraee also wields twin singing swords of dancing, each with all of the powers of a bastard sword of singing.
- Full-Frontal Assault: Averted. While nudity is a common element among Eilistraee and her worshippers, this doesn't extend to combat or hunting. Despite their ritualistic nude dances, the followers of Eilistraee are not nudists. They wear the most practical garb for a given occasion, including wearing armor in battle.
- Godiva Hair: She's usually depicted in the nude, with her long silver hair covering her breasts and her crotch. Even her official symbol does this, frequently showing the Dark Dancer with hair long enough to go past her feet.
- Good Samaritan: Enforced. It's written in her dogma that her sword dancers have to help people as much as they can. They're to lend their help to all those who fight for good whenever there are ways to do so. Except when fighting evil, they're to be always kind, even to those who show rudeness, and to aid others in acts of kindness. Hungry travelers are to be fed and the homeless given shelter, under their own roof if needed. When traveling and while adventuring, they're to feed, help, and protect all those in need they meet along the way as a prayer and offering to the goddess. Eilistraee has her followers do all of this not just because she loves life and beauty, but because she believes that the surface drow doing these acts of kindness will eventually earn them their place among surface dwellers again.
- Good Shepherd: She willingly took the exile and punishment cast on all drow gods, even though she was given a pass by the Seldarine. This was because Eilistraee had foreseen that the drow would need her light in the times to come. Known to help her people in practical matters, or to manifest to them (in various ways) when they need her comfort.
- Heroes' Frontier Step: Choosing self-imposed exile with the rest of the Dark Seldarine earned Eilistraee a lot of respect among the elven pantheon. Even though Eilistraee was found to not be at fault for Lolth's betrayal, and even though her father Corellon said she could stay, Eilistraee left anyway to give the drow a beacon of hope when things got tough. It's for this reason that Eilistraee is the only god even remotely connected to the Dark Seldarine that the other elven gods are willing to ally themselves with.
- Hot Goddess: She's a goddess of beauty who is frequently depicted in the nude. Eilistraee is described as "the answer to that question which every soul felt, but no words could frame" in terms of how beautiful she is.
- Magic Music:
- If you're a Sword Dancer, priestess, or follower of Eilistraee, you have to learn how to play a musical instrument as part of your faith. The goddess and her worshippers can make the sounds of flutes, harps, or horns appear at will with magic. Her music also has the power to repel evil beings and undead, briefly stun a creature, and unlock things as if using the Knock spell.
- The Spellsong, practiced by her priestesses and Sword Dancers,could replicate any spell of Level 4 or lower, as long as it was a Cleric or a Paladin spell. It could be used to heal or grant limited spell immunity as well.
- Eilistraee's own song, frequently played on a harp, is described as so beautiful as to drive people to tears, and to elicit deep emotions even in creatures that are normally immune to such effects.
- Matriarchy:
- Communities where the faith of Eilistraee is predominant tend to be matriarchies. That does not mean, however, that males are treated as inferior. Males are valued and treated equally, as the priestesses are meant to be an extension of Eilistraee's own motherhood of the drow, acting as teachers, protectresses, nurturers, and artists. They empower the drow to thrive and forge their own path in a world that is their rightful home, but has become hostile to them. Her clergy used to be restricted to females, due to Eilistraee's nature being tied to female fertility, and to this reflecting on her clergy. Starting in the 1370s DR, Eilistraee put an active effort in trying to include male priests, culminating in the late 1480s DR, when her clergy was fully opened to all genders.
- In Lisa Smedman's books about the drow, the morality of the actions of the priestesses of Eilistraee is dubious, and the matriarchy devolves into a Lady Land. They are supposed to be the good guys, but they as a whole are associated with misandrism, militarism, lack of mercy, and dictation of faith. This is, however, in stark contrast with all the previously established lore about Eilistraee (and with the very core of her character), which portrays her priestesses, as a whole, in a definitely positive light. It has also been retconned.
- Communities where the faith of Eilistraee is predominant tend to be matriarchies. That does not mean, however, that males are treated as inferior. Males are valued and treated equally
- Monster and the Maiden: She's on friendly terms with Rillifane Rallathil, the Leaflord... who is frequently depicted in-universe as a giant oak tree. A divine giant oak tree, but a tree. It helps that Eilistraee and her followers are lovers of nature and natural beauty, so the Leaflord and the Dark Maiden are known to be on good terms. This friendship extends to followers of the two gods, who frequently assist one another in various ways, like protecting each other's temples and the forests that they call home.
- Nude Nature Dance: The main veneration ritual and one of her manifestations is dancing naked at night around a small light called the Evensong. It's meant less as fanservice (though that's probably the Doylist reason why it was created), and more about letting one's guard down. When a drow comes from a world of secrets and lies, exposing oneself and letting emotions flow in a dance is meant to show that they trust the Dark Dancer to protect them and that they have nothing to hide.note
- Only Mostly Dead: Supposedly slain by Lolth's Brainwashed and Crazy Champion during the War of the Spider Queen. The novels never show Eilistraee dying to the reader or the characters, leaving uncertainty if she was dead or not. Instead Qilué Veladorn — Eilistraee's and Mystra's shared Chosen One — is killed while being used by the Dark Maiden as an avatar (a physical manifestation on the material plane). And since deities can only be Killed Off for Real if they die in their Divine Realm, Eilistraee may have very well survived, even though she took one hell of an ass-kicking if she did. Ed Greenwood embraced this hypothesis in his version of what happened.
- Plucky Girl: She suffered many defeats and setbacks (including the collapse of her power and influence, with the death of the vast majority of her people during the Crown Wars), and constantly fights an uphill battle against deities much more powerful than her. But that doesn't make Eilistraee give up on her cause. She can be moody and melancholic (acting recklessly and lashing out when her people are harmed), but remains a lover of beauty and life, enjoying and teaching to spread joy whenever possible.
- Retcon: In the "Lady Penitent" series, hundred of her Drow worshippers have been turned to the original Dark Elves. In 5e it's stated that her followers are drow, completely ignoring the transformed worshippers. Although this could very easily refer to the fact that not all her followers were transformed, since the stated number of transformed followers is far smaller than the number of followers than she—as a lesser power—has.
- The Sacred Darkness: She's a drow, so she has connection to darkness, night, and the moon. Even so, Eilistraee and her followers are the only good-aligned drow in the Forgotten Realms, as the Dark Dancer wants her followers to be charitable, kind, and forthcoming.
- Small Steps Hero: She believes that the drow on the surface doing small acts of good will spread their better reputation far and wide, thus making them more accepted among the Forgotten Realms and eventually regaining their rightful place on the surface. However, Eilistraee openly admits that this is an uphill battle. Lolth is constantly breathing down Eilistraee's neck, there's no guarantee that her plan of growth in small steps is going to work, and the greater threats to the world at large are something that Eilistraee and her followers are, by and large, not concerned with.
- Token Good Teammate: She's the only Good-aligned deity in the drow pantheon. She was offered a chance to stay in the Seldarine after Lolth's betrayal was uncovered, but Eilistraee chose to leave anyway to give the drow a guide and a beacon of hope in the darkness. Eilistraee's father Corellon, the leader of the Seldarine, was sad to see her go but admired her conviction and ultimately accepted her decision. Whether Eilistraee eventually rejoined the Seldarine or has remained in self-imposed exile is unclear — the moving of her divine realm from Ysgard to Arvandor suggests she might have been brought back into the Seldarine, since Arvandor is where every other Chaotic Good elven god resides — but nothing's been confirmed. In any case, she's definitely on friendly terms with rest of the Good-aligned elven pantheon.
- Unperson: Eilistraee's very existence is Classified Information among the drow; only the matron mothers of various drow houses even know of Eilistraee at all, and only on the basis that she is Lolth's enemy who would spirit away drow to the surface. There are even drow in said houses of Menzoberranzan who have a duty to find and destroy all materials relating to Eilistraee in the Underdark. As such, Eilistraee has to be very careful and very subtle when trying to guide a drow to the surface. A common form of her guidance through the Underdark to the surface is a butterfly made of moonlight.
- Why Can't I Hate You?: The Dark Maiden is on the receiving end of this from Shevarash, the elven god of vengance and hatred of the drow. Shevarash despises the drow over what Lolth did to his family. Yet after the Dark Dancer demonstrated that her followers were trying to do good in the world, including preventing other drow from carrying out Lolth's evil agenda, Shevarash no longer considers Eilistraee and her sword dancers to be among his targets. The disciples of Shevarash, on the other hand, think that the only good drow is a dead drow, full stop; therefore, this truce is precarious.
Ghaunadaur (pronounced GONE-ah-door) is an ancient and mad deity, said to have emerged from the primordial ooze, that has plagued the darkest reaches of the Realms since the dawn of time. That Which Lurks appears as an amorphous, dark purple blob with many tentacles. It is venerated by the largest slimes, oozes, slugs, and other crawling things, some of which are said to possess intelligence, albeit alien. Once all such beings worshiped Ghaunadaur, but it struck most of them mad in a fit of fury for some transgression, said by some to involve its failure to defeat Lolth shortly after her banishment from the Seldarine, and stole their intellects. As a result, many of its worshipers, and most of its power, ceased to exist. That Which Lurks and its giant roper servants have been venerated for eons by various creatures of the Underdark, particularly lone or subintelligent monsters and other outcasts (whom it occasionally aids, in return for adulation), as well as the few intelligent amorphs that remain. Only in recent millennia have evil beings seeking an alternative to established deities begun to worship That Which Lurks, and it is only the veneration of drow dissatisfied with the rule of Lolth that places him within the drow pantheon.
Ghaunadaur is unpredictable by human standards. It may aid worshipers who merely pay lop service to its rituals, even expending great power to grant permanent magical boons, but may also devour or maim them without warning. Ghaunadaur enjoys watching the hunting and devouring activities of large horrible monsters, and the suffering they cause. Ghaunadaur is silent terrible when outside the Inner Planes, but old records tell of gibbering, bestial language spoken in the deity's great court of mingled mud and gelatin pools. Ghaunadaur only communicates telepathically with blunt and simple communications.
Ghaunadaur once coexisted with Lolth in the Demonweb Pits, but got fed up with the machinations of the drow goddess and slunk away into the darkest corner of the cosmos it could find in order to rebuild its worshiper base. It's current dominion is the Dismal Caverns. This great subterranean maze of natural caverns is illuminated only by phosphorescent fungi and flows of lava. Other powerful entities share the desolate gloom, and foul and fiendish creatures abound, but any that wish to survive either serve or avoid the master of the Dismal Caverns.
- Abhorrent Admirer: Once, to Lolth, who rejected him. He reacted by destroying much of his own worshiper base in a tantrum.
- Blob Monster: Strongly resembles the slimes and oozes that worship him. Some theorize that he himself is a slime that somehow ascended to godhood.
- Deity Identity Confusion: Although Ghaunadaur is a distinct deity unrelated to the tanar'ri lord Juiblex, the Faceless Lord, or the otherwise unnamed Elder Elemental God, neither of the latter two deities is active in the Realms, and Ghaunadaur has assumed both of their aspects within the crystal sphere of Realmspace. Gormauth Souldrinker may have once been the name of a separate deity, but if so, it has long been totally subsumed by That Which Lurks.
- Dirty Coward: Justified; he knows his power pales in comparison to rest of the Dark Seladrine, so his approach to things is extremely underhanded. Even when he becomes a Greater God Post-Spellplague, he's still very cautious around Lolth.
- Expy: Of Tharizdun. The Greyhawk version moreso than Nentir Vale version.
- Eldritch Abomination: He's positively Lovecraftian in appearance, behavior, and age. Its actual form, if it even has one, is unknown; it's most often represented as an ooze-like creature with many tentacles or a purple pupil surrounded by black instead of white.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: None of the other Dark Seldarine like Ghaunadair. Not other Ghanaudaur likes Ghanaudaur.
- Not Good with Rejection: He reacted to Lolth's rejection of him by destroying a large and intelligent portion of his worshiper base in a tantrum.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He leaves the drow pantheon following the War of the Spider Queen series, thoroughly fed up with Lolth.
- Stupid Evil: Had an episode of this in the backstory. There used to be many more intelligent slimes, oozes, jellies, and such. Then he threw a tantrum over Lolth and burned out their minds, trashing his own worshiper base.
- Time Abyss: According to Lolth, "Ghaunadaur was old even before Ao's time". He is a very ancient deity, rumored to have emerged from the primordial ooze itself.
Keptolo (pronounced kep-TOE-low) is the drow male ideal: elegant, quickwitted, attentive, and eagerly debauched. He normally appears as a young nobleman dressed in well-tailored silks of red, purple, jet, and amber. He is armed with a thin but sturdy poinard and a filigreed longsword. He affects a twohanded fighting style, using both weapons at once. Otherwise he appears dressed for the hunt, velvet-cloaked and armed with a magnificent crossbow. His relationship with other drow deities is one of insincere amity, save for Zinzerena, whom he openly despises. His symbol is a stylized mushroom, which in drow culture is associated with both strong drink and fertility.
Shrines to Keptolo are found throughout the underworld, for many male drow worship him as their patron, mostly due to his association with drinking. Tales of his sexual exploits are quite popular, and there are groups of performers who act them out for festivals and private gatherings. His greatest temple is in the drow city of Erelhei-Cinlu, but only his most attractive or wealthy worshipers are permitted to participate in services there.
Clerics of Keptolo are found as advisors, critics, philosophers, and politicians: essentially, any role that does not require actual work. They seek to emulate their deity in all ways, and as such number among the most handsome and charming of the drow race. However, followers of Keptolo remain very dangerous, for many of them are skilled dirksmen, poisoners, or spies. Utterly capricious and completely untrustworthy (even by drow standards), worshipers of the Eager Consort are deferential to priestesses of Lolth and attentive to the matrons of the powerful noble houses. In other relationships, they are manipulative and abusive, particularly with fellow clerics lower in the hierarchy.
Keptolo resides in the Demonweb Pits alongside Lolth, whom he serves as consort, more than a plaything but much less than an equal.
- The Ace: Keptolo is worshipped as the epitome of traditional drow masculinity; he's the wittiest socialite, the sexiest lover, the sneakiest backstabber, and the most perfectly loyal to Lolth. If there's any trait the drow admire in men, Keptolo has it and excels in it.
- Arch-Enemy: Keptolo is a bitter enemy of Zinzerena, a drow demigoddess whom he had sponsored to divinity, but was subsequently deceived by her when she executed a cunning plan and stole a fragment of his power.
- Canon Immigrant: Was originally only worshipped on Oerth and had no connection to the Forgotten Realms. 5th edition retconned him into the Realms, and made him part of the "multiversial" drow pantheon.
- Cool Sword: His favored weapon is a keen longsword.
- Dual Wielding: He promotes a two-handed fighting style, using both weapons at once.
- Faux Affably Evil: He's polite and flattering to other drow deities, but really only so that he can ride on their coattails. His clerics reflect this by being servile to priestesses of Lolth and other higher-ranked drow, but abusive in any relationship involving a lesser.
- Hot Consort: Keptolo is Lolth's consort and is considered the ideal of what a male drow can become, as he's handsome, stylish, witty, hedonistic, an outrageous flatterer, and sought after as a lover.
- Malicious Slander: Keptolo is dangerous in his aspects as a subtle assassin and a whisperer of rumors. He teaches his followers the importance of gossip as a weapon against their rivals.
- Opportunistic Bastard: He preaches opportunism in social situations - every sentence is a potential source of slander, every opening is to be leapt through, and if a high-status lady takes a liking to you, you do whatever it takes to get into (and stay in) her good graces. In the abusively matriarchal drow culture, the menfolk really need any advantage they can get.
- Rule-Abiding Rebel: Like most drow gods, Keptolo encourages subverting rules for personal power - but unlike Vhaeraun, who seeks gender equality, the power Keptolo embodies is entirely within the bounds of the matriarchy; Keptolo preaches that male drow should seek to suck up to an influential female drow and make use of her power, instead of possessing such influence themselves.
- Trickster God: A very dark version, as expected of the drow - Keptolo is a deity of social duplicity and opportunism, and thus grants his clerics access to the Trickery domain.
- The Vamp: Male example, as drow society largely reverses gender expectations. Drow men are supposed to be sexy, smart, and manipulative, but to largely confine themselves to soft skills, such as intrigue and debauchery, with combat being somewhat of a last resort (though not actively discouraged, and Keptolo is very good with those swords of his).
Kiaransalee (pronounced KEE-uh-ran-sa-lee) is the drow deity of both vengeance and the undead. She is called upon by those seeking retribution, the dark arts, or to prolong life. Kiaransalee is also the divine sponsor of the drow slave trade in all its varied aspects. She appears as a sinuous drow female wearing only silver jewelry and black silk veils. Her only obvious weapon is her curved dagger, but her long, sharp fingernails are just as dangerous, and her touch is said to be as cold as that of a lich. This goddess has flirted with madness, even thinking to defy her queen. But Lolth's power is inexorable, and Kiaransalee has taken of the queen's venom, returning once more to sanity and servitude. The symbol of Kiaransali is a hand of a female drow with three silver rings on each finger and one on the thumb, with the entire image surrounded by the silver strands of a spiderweb.
Kiaransalee's ascension as a dark goddess of evil predates even the banishment of Araushnee from the Seldarine, but the Lady of the Dead has long been an unwilling vassal of the Queen of Spiders, capable of only small acts of rebellion (such as assisting the elven herione Kethryllia in rescuing her beloved from Lolth's demesne). Kiaransalee was once mortal, a powerful dark elven necromancer-queen on a world known as Threnody. The Revenancer was named drow and banished by her husband, the king of Threnody, for her unholy experiments on the once-living. Kiaransalee fled with a small group of followers who she then transformed into undead servitors to ensure their loyalty. The Lady of the Dead continued her unholy experiments in secret for centuries before raising an army of undead to exact her vengeance. In the wake of the Revenancer's army, Threnody was a dead world, and the architect of its destruction fled with her unthinking servants into the Abyss, where she eventually assumed a measure of divine power herself, to escape the wrath of the Seldarine.
Only in recent memory has Kiaransalee achieved a measure of independence from the Spider Queen, a result of a successful attack on a rival deity long resident in the Abyss. Not too many years ago, Kiaransalee wrested Thanatos, a cold plane of ice, thin air, and a black, moonlit sky known as the Belly of Death, from Orcus, the former Abyssal lord of the undead, in revenge for some long-forgotten slight. Although she lacked the power to eliminate the very memory of Orcus from the minds of the multiverse after killing the Prince of the Undead, Kiaransalee magically erased the name of the late Abyssal lord wherever and however it had been recorded. With her foe slain and his corpse adrift in the Astral Plane, the Lady of the Dead slew all the servants and proxies of Orcus (save one, whom she accepted into her own service) and hid the legendary Wand of Orcus where none could ever find it, or so she thought.
Unfortunately for Kiranslee, Orcus had Joker Immunity, and as the shadowy undead-god Tenebrous, he still schemed to return to life, and eventually retrieved his wand. While his attempt to return to life as a full-on god was foiled by a band of meddling adventurers, he was eventually resurrected once more as the Demon Lord he once was, and promptly reclaimed his throne. Kiranslee is remembered mostly as a temporary seat-warmer for the layer, but be warned that she still isn't dead, and nobody holds a grudge like Kiranslee.
- Deity of Human Origin: Or rather, Deity of Drow Origin. Kiaransalee was once mortal, a powerful dark elven necromancer-queen from another plane, who achieved godhood after fleeing into the Abyss.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: In her mortal life, Kiaransalee was a queen on a world called Threnody who performed unholy experiments on her subjects until she was discovered and banished by her husband.
- Mad Goddess: Drow believe that Kiaransalee was driven mad by returning from death as a god so many times, but her followers aren't discouraged by this assessment. Despite her madness, her actions are guided by a deep and devious cunning, a trait that drow attach more importance to than they do to sanity.
- Meaningful Rename: On the world of Oerth, after the drow civil war, Kiaransalee's name was changed to Kiaransali. The final glyph of her name was altered in all texts and inscriptions, and her liturgy was abridged to conform to more acceptable doctrines.
- Necromancer: Kiaransalee is the drow goddess of the undead and necromancy. Kiaransalee can command absolute loyalty from any undead creature within 100 yards of her that is not of semidivine or divine status, and she can animate any corpse she touches. Drow who practice necromancy turn to Kiaransalee for guidance and for protection from undead. Some of her most fervent followers seek out the secret of attaining undeath for themselves. Kiaransalee favors them by bringing them back as undead, but unlike other gods of similar sort, Kiaransalee doesn't offer the undeath of lichdom but a lowly existence as a banshee, a revenant, or a wight. She also took over Orcus's layer of the Abyss while he was dead for a while in 2nd edition.
- I Love the Dead: A major requirement for joining her (female-only) priesthood is to perform sexual acts with the undead.
- Resurrective Immortality: The Revenancer is believed to have returned from death over and over again. Drow see Kiaransalee as the patron of vengeance because she is said to have died and returned from death to get her revenge, bringing an army of the dead back with her. However, her numerous resurrections are believed to have been the cause of her madness.
- Revenge: Kiaransalee is the drow goddess of vengeance and is consumed by thoughts about it. She retains a clear memory of every slight or insult done to her, realm or imagined. Vengeance is the aspect of Kiaransalee that appeals to most drow, because it becomes a necessity in every ambitious drow's life, usually more than once.
- Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Kiaransalee, at least in her identity of Kiaransali, is also the drow goddess of slavery and the divine sponsor of the drow slave trade in all its varied aspects. Clerics of Kiaransalee often work as slavers, and occasionally as torturers or executioners. They commonly work their slaves to death and then animate the corpses so they may continue to serve. They keep their other servants in a state as close to slavery as they can manage, and withhold wages for the slightest offense.
- The Starscream: The Lady of the Dead has long chafed under Lolth's suzerainty, and only the Spider Queen's overwhelming strength has kept Kiaransalee's long-planned vengeance in check.
- Where I Was Born and Razed: Kiaransalee destroyed all life on her home world of Threnody to exact her vengeance against her husband for banishing her.
Malyk was a growing power in the Underdark, having appeared during the Time of Troubles following the destruction of Mystra. It is believed Malyk was a drow lich of great age and power who managed to steal some of Mystra's power when he stumbled across a powerful wild magic region deep beneath Castle Crag. This apparently occured a short time before Mystra's position was filled by the human sorceress Midnight. Before Malyk could consolidate his power, he was slain by Tempus who desired a fraction of Mystra's power for himself. No one save Mystra is currently aware that Malyk was an aspect of Talos.
Malyk embodies rebellion and chaos. Drow know of his influence from the appearance of wild mages among their number. Such an individual, possessed of sorcerous powers seemingly bestowed at random, is often seen as a threat to the established order. Many drow, especially males and even females of low station, try to attract Malyk's attention by secretly making sacrifices to him. Meanwhile, house matrons and others steeped in the faith of Lolth attempt to purge Malyk's worship from drow society, at the same time that some of them pray to him for power.
Malyk is associated with rebellion because when a wild mage's true nature is revealed, the individual often has no recourse but to openly attack others and create chaos. Most other drow vie to receive Lolth's blessing by being the one to bring such a blasphemer to justice. In order to survive, a wild mage must defeat or elude all attackers and forge an alliance with those who can be threatened or bribed to provide a safe haven. Most wild mages who are discovered are put to death, some survive as outcasts, and a rare few rise to positions of status, declaring their allegiance to Lolth, or at least pretending to.
- Back from the Dead: Malyk was killed by the war god Tempus, who wanted to acquire the fraction of Mystra's power that Malyk had stolen. However, Malyk managed to return to life during the event known as the Second Sundering.
- Literal Split Personality: Malyk was originally the Underdark aspect of the human storm god Talos created in the wake of the Time of Troubles to take advantage of areas of wild magic, created after Mystra's death at the hands of Helm. In his aspect as Malyk, Talos had few worshipers, but his cult was growing, particularly among younger drow mages who had experimented with wild magic. Many sages believed Malyk/Talos was using his new-found powers to destabilize drow cities ruled by priestesses of Lolth. However, after the Second Sundering, Malyk appears to have become a separate, independent deity.
- Our Liches Are Different: Malyk is believed to have originally been a drow lich of great age and power who managed to steal some of Mystra's power when he stumbled across a powerful wild magic region deep beneath Castle Crag.
- Related in the Adaptation: In older editions, Malyk and Zinzerena had no connection to each other. In 5th edition, they share a portfolio as patrons of rebel drow, and may be either siblings, lovers, or both.
- Wild Magic: Malyk is the drow god of wild magic and sorcery, and considered a god of rebellion because drow don't like magic they can't easily control. Most drow sorcerors worship him because he might help them survive when others realize that they have magic and come after them.
Selvetarm (pronounced SELL-veh-tarm) is the Champion of Lolth and the patron of drow warriors. He is portrayed as an eight-armed drow that represents the epitome of fighting prowess. But Lolth rarely looses her champion to do her bidding, keeping him snared by unbreakable webs that she removes only in times of direst need.
Selvetarm is the offspring of an ill-fated tryst between Vhaeraun and Zandilar the Dancer, a demigoddess once venerated by the elves of the Yuirwood. When the Dancer's elven followers began to falter in the face of relentless assaults by Lolth's minions, Zandilar sought out the Masked Lord and seduced him in an attempt to either gain information or elicit his direct assistance in battling the Spider Queen. The Masked Lord betrayed Zandilar and imprisoned her, and only the timely assistance of Bast, an errant Mulhorandi demigoddess, allowed the Dancer to escape. Selvetarm was birthed shortly thereafter when the weakened Zandilar voluntarily merged her essence with that of Bast, creating the goddess now known as Sharess.
Selvetarm walked a solitary way for many centuries, spurning both his parents, for he was not wholly given over to evil but neither was he aligned with the forces of light. Eventually his path crossed that of his aunt, Eilistraee, and he began to appreciate the goodness of the Dark Maiden, as exhibited in her teachings and deeds. By way of Selvetarm's redemption, Eilistraee hoped to begin to heal the breach between the majority of dark elves and the Seldarine. The Dark Maiden's hopes were dashed, however, by the insidious plotting of Lolth.
The Queen of Spiders had long resented the existence of Zanassu, a minor Abyssal lord with pretensions of suzerainty over spiders, nearly as much as she disliked the possibility of Eilistraee winning an ally, Selvetarm, among the pantheon of the drow. When the Spider Demon lost much of his power after a conflict on the Prime (against Qysara Shoon V of the Shoon Empire), Lolth convinced Selvetarm to destroy Zanassu and seize the Spider Demon's burgeoning divine power. She did so by suggesting to Selvetarm that a victory would increase his personal power and win him favor in the eyes of Eilistraee, whom he greatly admired. While Selvetarm prevailed in battle over the Spider Demon, the absorption of Zanassu's wholly evil and chaotic nature overwhelmed Selvetarm's nascent beneficial aspects and weakened him sufficiently that he could not escape the traps by which the Spider Queen bound his will tightly to her own.
Cruel and malicious by nature, Selvetarm cares only for battle and destruction. The Champion of Lolth harbors a deep hatred for all living things, including his dominating mistress, and the only beauty he can appreciate is a well-honed and deadly fighting style. Selvetarm can exhibit a great deal of patience while waiting for prey to fall into an ambush he has set, but he prefers the wild abandon of battle frenzy to a careful and deliberate attack.
- Antagonistic Offspring: After he became Lolth's servant, Selvetarm became enemies with his father Vhaeraun, regularly hindering his father's goal to unseat Lolth. Vhaeraun deems his son an idiot and Selvetarm's submissiveness is a source of rage for the Masked Lord.
- Back from the Dead: Restored to life in the 5th edition version of the setting, after the event known as The Sundering. He is mentioned as a currently active deity in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide.
- Beleaguered Assistant: He's very devoted to Lolth and willing to defend her, but he isn't fond of her either. In this case, Lolth is a lot more evil and cunning than incompetent.
- The Berserker: Enraged by Lolth's duplicity, Selvetarm is an engine of destruction, an eight-limbed maestro of slaughter. If allowed to operate unchecked, he could rend his way through an entire drow city in a berserk rage. Keeping him restrained is one of the few acts of Lolth that can be described as merciful.
- Blood Knight: Selvetarm teaches his followers that war is the ultimate expression of individual power, and that only through battle and death could they realize the respect of their comrades. He also advocates that they should never give or receive quarter, and hope to die amid the bloodlust of battle against overwhelming odds.
- Church Militant: The church of Selvetarm largely serves as the military arm of the church of Lolth. Selvetarm's faithful spend most of their days guarding fortifications and honing their fighting skills. Many spend much of their time training other warriors in the art of war.
- Death by Childbirth: Was born at the same time his weakened mother merged with another goddess.
- Dual Wielding: In his right hand, Selvetarm wields Venommace, a footman's mace that continuously oozes a noxious sludge of acid and venom that poisons enemies. In his left hand, the Spider Demon wields Thalack's Velve, a long sword.
- Face–Heel Turn: He was tricked by Lolth into killing and absorbing the life force of Zanassu, a demon lord whose domain was spiders, under the guise of impressing Eilistraee, whom he was formerly quite fond of. Zanassu's influence warped him, but Lolth enforced the trope by binding her own grandson eternally to her will during his moment of vulnerabilitiy.
- Giant Spider: Selvetarm appears as a large black spider, sometimes with the head of a drow male.
- Godzilla Threshold: Lolth only looses him during times of utmost need, as he's a raging berserker who would destroy the drow just as soon as their enemies.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Strictly speaking, a Neutral Face Door Slam. He wasn't actually evil at first, but his attempt to move toward good went horribly wrong.
- Missing Mom: His mother was the elven goddess Zandilar, who was initially imprisoned by Vhaeraun who tried to sap her strength for himself, and then fused with the goddess Bast who saved her to create a new goddess, Sharess.
- Off with His Head!: Decapitated with the Crescent Blade.
- The Resenter: While he's devoted to his grandmother and mistress, Lolth, he's aware that he was coerced into serving her against his will, and hates Lolth for it.
- Spanner in the Works: He foiled Vhaeraun's plan to assassinate a severely weakened Lolth during War of the Spider Queen.
- The Starscream: In the last days of 3rd Edition, he attempted to build his own worship base and break from Lolth. This went about as well as everything else he's tried.
- Strong Family Resemblance: He's usually depicted as a spider with the head of a drow male. Just like Lolth.
- Tragic Villain: Selvetarm never wanted to serve Lolth, and in fact he hates her for tricking him and binding him. But those bindings he hates so much compel him to protect her to the best of his ability, even stopping his father Vaerun from killing the weakened Lolth, no matter how much he wants her dead. His constant berserk rage is because he was driven mad from being forced into loving and serving the person who ruined his life.
- You Kill It, You Bought It: Previously neutral, he killed a spider demon to take its power and impress Eilistraee, and was unable to handle the force of the evil that came along with it. Lolth's interference cemented it.
Vhaeraun (pronounced Vay-RAWN) is the god of thievery and the furthering of drow aims, interests, and power in the Night Above, as the surface world is known to the faithful. He is also the god of drow males opposed to the matriarchy of Lolth, teaching that males are as skilled and valuable as females, and thus passively opposing the teachings of Lolth's priesthood on this point. He believes that drow should work with the other elven races for common advancement and never associate or trade with duergar, svirfneblin, or other dwarven and gnome races (humans and halflings can be tolerated).
Vhaeraun is vain, proud, sometimes haughty, bears grudges of legendary length, and never forgets slights or deceptions. Any underhanded means and treachery is acceptable to him if it furthers his aims or is done in his service, but if others so treat him or his people, it is a deep sin that cannot go unpunished. He actively involves himself in drow affairs and moderately often sends an avatar to assist the work of his priests if the proper rituals are performed and the need is genuine.
Vhaeraun is the brother of Eilistraee and Vandria and the son of Araushnee, who was cast out and became Lolth, and Corellon Larethian. The Masked Lord was cast out of the Seldarine and banished from Arvandor, along with his mother and sister, when his complicity was revealed in Araushnee's plot to destroy Corellon. While he hates all of the Seldarine, Vhaeraun harbors a particular enmity for Sehanine Moonbow, who escaped the Masked Lord's prison at great cost to herself and unmasked the culpability of both Vhaeraun and Araushnee. Likewise, the Masked Lord nurtures an abiding hatred of Eilistraee. Vhaeraun reserves his greatest hatred for the Spider Queen who gave birth to him long ago. 'Course, as he's just a lesser god, Vhaeraun's afraid of the Spider Queen, and steers well clear of her machinations, at least openly. Instead, he tries to work against her in shadow, to undermine her in silence. Meanwhile, from his realm on Carceri (Lolth's faithful'd call it a hiding place), Vhaeraun looks to unite the other drow deities against her. Thus, his priests move quietly through drow cities and the surface lands, slowly gathering power for their deity's ends.
Vhaerun is also the god of thievery and territory, and this is keenly demonstrated whenever a person stumbles into his realm. Ellaniath is forever unknown to any planewalker, because the god wipes the memory of the place from the minds of all who visit it. Some say that's his ultimate form of theft, stealing a person's very essence.
- Antagonistic Offspring: Vhaeraun is this towards both of his parents. His father Corellon practically cut him off after exiling him from the Seldarine and gave up on the idea of trying to turn his son to abandon his ways, even vowing to kill Vhaeraun if he ever tried to hurt his sister Eilistraee. On the other hand, his and Lolth's conflicting views on what drow society should be like has resulted in them becoming complete enemies, with Vhaeraun wanting to sway the drow to his cause of destroying Lolth, her supporters and beneficiaries, and her version of society. Despite this, Lolth still considers him her favorite child.
- Arch Nemesis Dad: Vhaeraun is opposed by his son Selvetarm, whose status as Lolth's servant puts him in conflict with his father. Vhaeraun has a very low opinion about Selvetarm's intelligence, but the submissive trait of his son is what angers him most.
- Back from the Dead: Restored to life alongside his sister, Eilistraee, after the event known as The Sundering (Questions for Ed Greenwood (2015)).
- Badass Cape: Vhaeraun wears a magical cloak. Those who look at it in darkness can see through it the stars, the moon, or whatever else is behind it even if Vhaeraun is obviously within the portion they are observing. Vhaeraun's cloak melts into nothingness if removed from him or if his avatar is slain. Its folds can harmlessly absorb seven spells of any level per day and also attracts both magic missiles and area-of-effect spells such as fireball, completely protecting the wearer (and nearby beings who would otherwise be harmed) as if the cloak were some sort of infinitely charged special brooch of shielding.
- Cain and Abel: Shares this dynamic with his younger twin sister Eilistraee, with him as the Cain to Eilistraee's Abel. After that, they decided to put aside their differences and work together against Lolth.
- The Chessmaster: Vhaeraun is a genius, full stop. He weaves endless plots to keep himself ahead and has come very close to chipping away his mother's power. During the Silence, Vhaeraun's machinations destroyed the city of Ched Nassad and if not for Selvetarm, he would've murdered the sleeping Lolth.
- Dual Wielding: Vhaeraun wields Nightshadow, a jet-black long sword of quickness that is invisible in darkness and Shadowflash, a silver short sword that can flash with an eerie light equal to a continual light at will.
- Defeat Means Friendship: After having been defeated by his sister Eilistraee, and after they both returned to life, he no longer considers her an enemy.
- Deity Identity Confusion: Among those nondrow aware of the activities of his followers in the surface world, the Masked Lord is often confused with the human god of thieves, Mask.
- Evil Redhead: Artwork sometimes depict him with red hair. Further materials say that his hair changes color depending on his mood. Vhaeraun's hair is usually depicted as red or white with red tips because he's usually supremely pissed off.
- Evil Twin: To Eilistraee. The Wizard Mordenkainen, from the world of Oerth, doesn't include this in his recount of the drow mythos. However, the Masked Lord and the Dark Dancer have the same father and the same mother. While both siblings want to end Lolth's tyranny and secure a better future for the drow, it's under vastly different contexts. The difference is that Eilistraee wants the drow to regain their place in nature by doing acts of good and freeing themselves from the shackles of evil. Vhaeraun, meanwhile, wants the drow to conquer all that they see as a way to stop Lolth at the source, as well as deserving more for their centuries of hardship.
- Evil Virtues: Vhaeraun advocates for equality between male and female drow and desires to weld them into a united people, rather than a squabbling gaggle of rival houses, clans, and aims. Before 5th Edition, he was the only drow god- including his Chaotic Good sister- who accepted both genders (albeit with a ratio that vastly favored men) into his clergy.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: One would think somebody whose goal is to liberate a whole race from a crazy tyrannical goddess would have more redeeming qualities. But no, he's quite a bastard; for one, he wants to enslave every non-drow race and conquer anyone who opposes him.
- Kaleidoscope Hair: In previous editions of Forgotten Realms, the god Vhaeraun had this according to mood (gold for triumph, blue for amusement, red for anger, green for curiosity), accompanied by Kaleidoscope Eyes to match.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Yes, he's an asshole. But unlike his mother, he's a pragmatic asshole who believes in cooperation instead of betrayal for its own sake and is a champion of gender equality. He's also fairly caring to his followers, by drow standards at least.
- Living Mood Ring: His eyes change color according to his mood. So does his hair. He gets a double dose of Red Eyes, Take Warning; while most drow have red eyes, his turn red when he's angry.
- Meaningful Name: His name is pronounced similarly to Faerûn, the main setting of D&D. His main goal is to unite all elves, especially the drow, and conquer the surface world.
- Moral Myopia: He gets outraged over crimes committed against him and his followers, but sees no problem with doing the same to other people. If Vhaeraun stabs you in the back, you had it coming in his mind. If you stab him in the back, he'll never stop hunting you for the "transgression" against him.
- Never Found the Body: When Vhaeraun attempted to murder Eilistraee in the Lady Penitent series, their battle was witnessed by neither the reader nor the viewpoint characters. In the second book one of the characters cites the fact that no one saw it to argue that Vhaeraun is still alive. By that point, however, Lolth shows to the reader his mangled corpse floating in the Astral Plane, even if it may only be her illusion. And then played straight by Ed Greenwood's personal version of what happened, in which he was actually in a Mystra-induced coma.
- Offing the Offspring: Tried to do this to Selvetarm, his son, during War of the Spider Queen, when the latter foiled his plans to off Lolth. It's unclear who won the fight.
- Pragmatic Villainy:
- Encourages cooperation amongst his followers and discourages the drow from engaging in the in-fighting they're known for. Vhaeraun does this on the grounds that excessive backstabbing weakens factions in a way that his followers simply cannot afford in the fight against Lolth.
- Vhaeraun considers his sister Eilistraee as weak, in that her message of peace is seen by Vhaeraun and his followers as not worth the trouble at best and ineffective at worst. That being said, Vhaeraun can be persuaded to work with his sister and her Sword Dancers if it means taking Lolth down a peg, since the siblings share that goal. He won't be happy about it, but if it means defeating their mother, the Masked Lord can stomach it.
- Rebellious Spirit: Does not play well with any kind of authority, especially his mother Lolth, whose current rule and matriarchy he wants to bring down.
- The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: He and his followers might be somewhat better than Lolth. But that's not saying much. The Masked Lord still wants to conquer the surface world, raise an army of drow, and crush his enemies under his heel. What makes him A Lighter Shade of Black compared to Lolth is that Vhaeraun can at least sometimes be persuaded into Pragmatic Villainy, and he's said to treat his followers decently.
- Smug Snake: Vhaeraun stands for the dark elves' superiority over other races and for the primacy of individual drow over other drow. He is a god of arrogance, and thus he condones all acts of avarice, fair and foul alike. Those who take what they want from whom they wish, whether through stealth or bullying, pay homage to Vhaeraun.
- Stealth Expert: Due to lacking the strength to challenge Lolth directly, Vhaeraun uses stealth and works against her in shadow, undermining her in silence. Vhaeraun always passes without trace and can use all invisibility spells twice per day.
- Take a Third Option: Lolth is outright crazy. Eilistraee is good, but very demanding and not to everyone's taste. Enter Vhaeraun; outright crazy and demanding, but at least working towards a goal.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Vhaeraun appears as a handsome male drow with a slim, graceful, and toned physique.
- The Unfettered: Does what needs to be done in order to achieve his goals. Or just to amuse himself, really. Has no problem with breaking a LOT of eggs to make his omlettes.
- Tongue Trauma: 5e's Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes notes that some drow communities preach that his tongue was removed by Lolth for daring to question her orders. Whether or not this is true is somewhat contentious, given that Vhaeraun can communicate telepathically.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Invoked by him after returning in 5e; his new instructions for his followers is to act law-abiding and trustworthy (according to the standards of surface-dwelling races) in order to hide their more clandestine activities.
Zinzerena (pronounced zin-zuh-RAY-nuh) is a rebellious heroine venerated by the dissidents and outcasts of drow society. Her sponsor to divinity was Keptolo, though she gained a fraction of his power by a ruse, for which he hates her. The tales surrounding Zinzerena are usually told by oppressed drow minorities, weak nobles, and those scheming to raise rebellion and foment who use this tale as an inspiration.
Zinzerena showed a natural aptitude for illusionist magic as a child and was smuggled away from Lolth's priestesses by a mother who faked an accidental death for her. She studied alone and secretly, taking decades to acquire spellbooks, and took to a life of quiet assassinations in the shadows of an exceptionally degenerate drow mixed-race city where all kinds of evils walked the back alleys and secret places. As she grew in power, she ceased the use of lethal poisons, preferring paralyzing venoms. This allowed her victims to remember what had been done to them, but they never saw her face: her use of disguises was too good. Zinzerena enjoyed the power which a rising sense of terror at her ambushes and mutilations made her feel. Her victims are legion, and there are many tales of her stealth in tracking them.
The liturgy of Zinzerena is passed on in the form of folk tales, for her faith has no place among the leadership of drow society. Her tales usually describe her hiding and waiting until her foes are weakened or lax in their attention before she attacks. Those who respect or revere Zinzerena are almost always of modest social status, or worse. Even the most prestigious of noble estates, where a high priestess reigns supreme, might have a number of her followers among the commoners who work as servants and staff. Only the most capricious of nobles would enter her priesthood, though some have done so. Inevitably, when such traitors are discovered, they are cast out from their houses. Ironically, these maverick nobles often become leading figures in Zinzerena's cult, for they are the best educated and most politically experienced of her followers. Her adherents come from a wide range of occupations, including common thieves, laborers, guides, physicians, poets, and nearly any other profession. What they all share is a rebellious spirit and a desire for change.
Zinzerena has not established a realm of her own yet. She's currently being hunted by the other members of the drow pantheon, for she doesn't play by their rules. Right now she's hiding out on the prime-material world of Toril, in the drow city of Menzoberranzan, and chant is she's behind the current chaos in that burg (though it's more likely that Lolth is the real culprit).
- Deity of Human Origin: A Deity of Drow Origin. Zinzerena started out as a mortal drow heroine and ascended to godhood either by drawing enough belief from the people or by stealing a portion of Keptolo's power through deception. She's relatively new to godhood and hasn't shaken of all echoes of her mortality, and thus she's chained to the Prime Material Plane.
- Master of Illusion: Zinzerena has had a natural aptitude for illusionist magic since childhood and is regarded as an illusionist of unmatched skill, with her illusions being so realistic that she can convince anyone of anything.
- Multiple-Choice Past: In some stories, Zinzerena is Lolth's daughter, who was spirited away and hidden from her by illusions. In other tales, she begins life as a mortal elf who uses glamors to trick her way into the company of the gods.
- Professional Killer: Zinzerena is regarded as an assassin of unmatched skill, having slain at will both personal rivals and those whom she was hired to dispatch.
- Rebellious Spirit: Zinzerena is a heroine who embodies a principle of powerful chaos. She is amoral and totally beloved by the drow who wish to throw off the shackles of the matron mothers.
- Related in the Adaptation: In older editions, Malyk and Zinzerena had no connection to each other. In 5th edition, they share a portfolio as patrons of rebel drow, and may be either siblings, lovers, or both.
- The Trickster: Deceit and taking advantage of others' weaknesses are recurring themes in the tales of her exploits. The only figure in the Dark Seldarine immune to Zinzerena's deceptions is Lolth, although even the Queen of Spiders is sometimes tricked when Zinzerena shifts blame for her actions onto others.
- Trickster Goddess: Zinzerena is the drow goddess of deception and illusion, and her trickery is legendary.
Duergar and Derro Pantheons
The two races of Underdark dwarves are entirely different in character: the derro are deeply chaotic, while the duergar are strongly lawful. This difference is reflected in the ruling deities of their pantheons, and their history. The duergar present their mythic history as a proud one, where their god took a stand of principle against the other dwarf gods and brought a race into being against harsh odds; very lawful themes of puritanism, self-denial, and obedience to leadership by a young race are involved here. But the tale of Diirinka's leadership of the derro race is one rooted in the treachery and betrayal of this chaotic god.Duergar PantheonThe duergar are the gloomiest of the dwarves, driven deep underground (at least in their mythology) by the dictates of their god, Laduguer. It seems he saw the other dwarves as lazy good-for-nothings and sought to remove his people from their influence. Today the duergar are drab and emaciated, a race almost without joy, reserving their celebrations for victories over enemies and for the grim pleasure of another person's pain. If they have any recreations, no one knows what they are.
The duergar god is no better than his people, and in some ways, he's a lot worse. Laduguer embodies the spirit of anger and deceit, and while he forces his charges to craft and craft well, he does it only to show the other dwarvish gods exactly what they're missing in his absence. Aside from Laduguer, the duergar also worship Deep Duerra, a goddess of conquest and of the powers of the mind.
Laduguer (pronounced LAA-duh-gwur) is the patron of the duergar, or gray dwarves, a malevolent breed of dwarves who dwell in the dark reaches of the Underdark and who withdrew from the rest of dwarven society long ago along with their god. The Exile is venerated by most gray dwarves as the protector of the race who defends them from the countless other creatures of the Underdark who wish to enslave them and seize their tunnels, mines, and crafts. Duergar craftsmen, particularly those who seek to create magical weapons, pay particular homage to Laduguer.
Laduguer has long been estranged from the other members of the Morndinsamman, and he regards them as lazy, indolent, and feckless. The reasons behind the Gray Protector's exile vary according to who you ask; the faithful of Moradin will say that the endless greed of Laduguer and his Duergar led them astray and ultimately, they were banished for their crimes, remaining only as a cautionary tale. The Duergar tell the story differently- to them, the other dwarves betrayed them first. The Duergar were once a normal dwarf clan that fell prey to a colony of Mind Flayers, who used their mental powers to urge the Duergar to mine ever downward in pursuit of some elusive treasure, only to find themselves delivered right into a torturous existence as slaves. Laduguer, then a mortal dwarf, was able to free his people by making a deal with Asmodeus, but when they returned to the surface, they found that they had been abandoned. Other dwarves had explored their clanhold, but searched no further, as the priests of Moradin declared the Duergar's disappearance to be because they had neglected Moradin's worship and ignored all omens sent their way, and even when Laduguer explained the Mind Flayers' involvement, they refused to apologize. The furious Laduguer lead his clan back underground, declaring that the gods of the surface dwarves were lazy, inconstant, and unworthy, and founded a society based on three precepts: Our pockets are never full, our fight is never done, and our resolve is never shaken.
Laduguer is habitually grim, gloomy, and joyless. The Exile's nature is certainly evilly inclined, but much of this is the evil of a being turned in on itself and bitter at what he sees as being unvalued and rejected by the other dwarven deities. Laduguer is supremely lawful, unbending and harsh, and he demands constant toil under harsh conditions from the duergar. He does reward hard work by teaching the crafting of magical items (especially weapons) and by extending his protection. The Exile sends an avatar to defend a hard-working and oppressed duergar community by use of protective and warding magic, rarely entering into open battle.
His realm's called Hammergrim, a harsh place on the second layer of Acheron. It's a gray land of cheerless toil and constant work, and the duergar fight harder and harder to make their realm profit and grow. 'Course, in the confines of Acheron, that's very hard work, and it's unlikely they're going to succeed. Chant is that Laduguer wants to toughen the duergar as much and as fast as possible; it seems mostly like he's trying to exterminate them (some whisper that the god bitterly regrets abandoning the rest of the pantheon and takes it out on his worshipers). The Gray Protector's hall within Hammergrim is known as Forgegloom. Its walls are built of armor pieces, shields, swords, axes, and other martial debris. It has no doors or other means of entrance unless Laduguer wills it.
- The Archmage: Laduguer is the duergar god of magic and those crafts not governed by Moradin. He showed the duergar how to create magical weapons, even though dwarves don't usually use such items, and also taught them the Invisible Arts (psionics), in which he has access to all attack and defensive forms.
- Back from the Dead: Died in 2nd edition but is mentioned as being alive in 5th edition. It's not clear if this is really him or still just Asmodeus in disguise.
- The Commandments: Duergar psychology, culture, and society are predicated on three principles set down by Laduguer. They are as follows:
- Our Pockets Are Never Full (don't celebrate success, just more on to the next thing).
- Our Fight Is Never Done (always strive to be the strongest).
- Our Resolve Is Never Shaken (never show weakness).
- Deity of Human Origin: A Deity of Dwarven Origin. His 5e lore has him as being the hero who freed his race from the Illithids, ascended and revered as an exemplar of Duergar ideals.
- Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?: One of the legends the Duergar tell about Laduguer portrays him as being able to outbargain Asmodeus, and has him negotiate a Deal with the Devil in which the Duegar got the better end of the deal.
- Elves vs. Dwarves: An Evil vs. Evil example, as Laduguer's pact with Asmodeus bound the Duergar to fight against the demon-aligned Drow.
- The Exile: No mortal knows the exact reasons behind Laduguer's exile from the Morndinsamman. The gold and shield dwarves claim that he committed unspeakable crimes against his brethren and was only saved from Moradin's great Soulhammer by the temperance and forgiveness of Berronar. The gray dwarves explain the story somewhat differently, painting the Gray Protector as an advocate of a righteous, innovative philosophy that nonetheless so offended the Dwarffather that Laduguer left the dwarvish pantheon of his own free will, taking a voluntary exile to put himself at a distance from his "lazy" brethren. 5e's take on the story was that he rejected them after learning that Moradin's priests had discouraged investigation into the Duergar going missing, thus abandoning them to the Illithids. Regardless, the Exile is at best tolerated by Dugmaren and Sharindlar; the rest of the Morndinsamman hold him in deep scorn.
- Fantastic Racism: Strongly xenophobic, Laduguer urges his charges to avoid contact with other races except for limited trade and slave raids.
- God Guise: Asmodeus runs a nice racket posing as Laduguer and his daughter, answering the prayers of the Duergar who think they are praying to their god, though sometimes he can get away with being worshiped on his own as Laduguer's partner. Quite possibly, Laduguer is dead and Asmodeus is the only god who is controlling them now.
- God Is Evil: One Duergar myth (though not one that all Duergar believe) states that Laduguer was the God, who created the universe and the Derro to work in it to create more. Everything about the universe that doesn't fall into Duergar views (other races, leisure, beauty, gods, nature, etc) was not created by Laduguer, but by an insolent craftsman who committed their version of original sin in an attempt to best Laduguer. The Lone Craftsman was punished by being turned into a Derro, but his work spread across Laduguer's universe like a cancer, and the Duergar are called upon to destroy it. In this view of the world, God has a view much like the Auditors of Reality, hating all things that make people people and wishing to make them into automata who do nothing more than a job.
- "Just So" Story: In 5e, the three precepts that govern Duergar society are said to have stemmed from Laduguer's quest into hell to claim the allegiance of its legions:
- First, the devils tried to tempt him with treasure, offering so much gold that he'd be weighed down and unable to move. Laduguer used cunning magics to make his pockets bottomless, allowing him to carry as much as they could offer without ill effects. Our pockets are never full.
- Next, the devils fell upon Laduguer in frustration. He fought back, strengthened by his determination to protect his treasures. With this unbreakable resolve, Laduguer broke Hell's legions. Our fight is never done.
- Finally, Asmodeus appeared in front of Laduguer. The lord of Hell joked, laughed and offered every temptation of the planes, yet Laduguer refused to show the least bit of amusement or doubt in his quest. Finally, Asmodeus gave up trying to tempt Laduguer, and gave him what he had sought all along; the allegiance of Hell's armies. Our resolve is never shaken.
- The Maker: In pre-5e lore, Duergar claim that their god, Laduguer, forged the world. In the time before time, the world was but a chill nothingness, containing neither life nor light. The desire for creation existed, and the empty void of the universe pulsed with the uncontrolled desire to be. From that hunger formed the figure of a dwarf wielding a hammer, and with his hammer he shaped the void into a cold, dark world of eternal twilight. Laduguer beget Laduguer, it is said; he birthed himself out of sheer will and the desire to create. Laduguer thus populated the first world with his children, the duergar; the grey dwarves. He gave them the desire and skill to work, and provided them with materials with which to toil. He commanded them to serve him with production, to emulate their creator by creating new and wondrous things. The duergar call this the Time of Creation, where they worked in peace to forge magnificent items for their god, and all were content. All the 'bad' things (other races, beauty, joy, et cetera) were created by the Lone Craftsman who sought to surpass Laduguer and was in turn turned into the first Derro.
- Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: Laduguer is the duergar god of slavery and endorses empowerment through the exploitation of slaves and the use of humanoid captives to perform unskilled labor in the duergar workshops. In a twisted way, this trope is sort of true within Duergar society itself as they are former slaves and regard their own long slavery as cruel and humiliating- and, thus, something to be inflicted on their enemies. Only the lowest, most miserable duergar would consent to do grunt work that requires no artifice or skill.
- The Spartan Way: Laduguer is a slavedriver who demands constant toil under harsh conditions from his people. Laduguer says he's trying to train them to be tougher than the average dwarf, and it seems to be working, the duergar are tough foes and don't take guff from outsiders. In return for his brutal lordship, the god extends benefits to his people by teaching the crafting of magical items (especially weapons) and by extending his protective powers.
- Top God: Laduguer is the primary god of the duergar and their psychology, culture, and society are predicated on three principles set down by him. Adherence to these precepts is enforced by Laduguer's chief lieutenant, Deep Duerra.
Deep Duerra (pronounced DEEP DWAIR-uh) is the duergar demigoddess of psionics, conquest, and expansion. She is venerated by gray dwarves skilled in the Invisible Arts as well as duergar warriors who seek to conquer much of the Underdark and chafe at the defensive mindset of Laduguer's priests. A few rare surface dwellers with wild talents have begun to call on the Queen of the Invisible Art as well for aid in understanding (and more importantly, concealing) their powers, which are viewed with suspicion and fear by most of the populace.
Elderly gray dwarven mindwardens speak of an ancient time, when a great warrior queen named Duerra led her grim troops to numerous victories against the surface dwarves, the drow, the illithids, and other Underdark races. During her centuries-long reign, she ruled a gray dwarven empire of immense subterranean territory and dark, expansionist ambitions, bringing the duergar to the pinnacle of their power. The queen herself stood at the front of her armies, on one occasion dominating a huge illithid city. Duerra ordered her underlings to shackle the mind flayers, who once had enslaved the entire duergar race. Over the course of a century, Duerra and her surgeons wrested the power of the mind from the captive illithids, transferring it to her brood and hence into her clan's bloodline. Though mind flayers tell the story somewhat differently, casting Duerra as the leader of a slave rebellion and attributing the psionic powers of the gray dwarves as their own invention in order to create a more efficient slave stock, many duergar nonetheless honor their ancient queen as the progenitor of the psychic abilities that established the gray dwarves as a distinctive subrace and as a symbol of the dominance through enslavement and expansion that shall establish the duergar as the preeminent political force of the Underdark.
Duerra is bombastic, arrogant, and imperious. She expects her every whim to be attended to instantly, and she is firmly convinced of her own inalienable right to rule. The Queen of the Invisible Art is dismissive of wizardly magic, considering it inferior to the power of the mind. Duerra is always plotting, planning, and strategizing her next conquest. She is never satisfied with what she has already acquired, as it is the conquest, not the holding, that she enjoys. The Axe Princess is ruthless in her drive to ensure victory, and she has absolutely no tolerance for any being, mortal or divine, who does not live up to her standards. Likewise, Duerra considers no sacrifice too great if it offers greater benefits down the road. The Queen of the Invisible Art occasionally dispatches her avatar to aid in conflicts between the duergar and other psionic races, particularly aboleth and illithids. Duerra also dispatches an avatar when a city of gray dwarves has a golden opportunity to expand its territorial holdings at the expense of other races of the Underdark, but for whatever reason, the duergar rulership is reluctant to act on it.
Deep Duerra resides in Hammergrim alongside Laduguer. The Queen of the Invisible Art has her own hall in Hammergrim’s vast courtyard. Her realm is called the Citadel of Thought.
- Church Militant: Deep Duerra's followers stand at the forefront of the duergar's attacks on their most hated enemies. Inspired by her mythic deeds, her priests are especially eager to find and annihilate dwarf communities and mind flayer colonies. The priests of Deep Duerra maintain a training ground and armory inside each duergar stronghold. All duergar are required to learn the basic skills of combat, and the nobles are obliged to contribute weapons, armor, and followers to the stronghold's defensive force. The priests honor their deity by planning, equipping, and launching holy crusades against their enemies.
- The Conqueror: In her mortal life, Duerra ruled a gray dwarven empire of immense subterranean territory and dark, expansionist ambitions. However, much of her empire has since fragmented and contracted. Duerra is revered by the gray dwarves for her uncompromising drive to expand duergar power throughout the Underdark. In truth, the Queen of the Invisible Art sees the duergar as a unique race with a manifest destiny to conquer the Underdark, and she feels that the gray dwarves' distant kinship with shield, gold, and wild dwarves is irrelevant and best forgotten.
- Daddy's Little Villain: Certain myths suggest Laduguer is her father, but the two share remarkably little compassion for one another.
- Deity of Human Origin: A Deity of Duergar Origin. Deep Duerra was originally a mortal duergar queen who ruled over an immense gray dwarven empire and, by enslaving and experimenting on captive illithids, became the progenitor of psionics, which enabled the duergar to hold their own against the spells of the drow and the psionics of the illithids.
- The Dragon: Duerra is Laduguer's chief lieutenant, and is thought of by many as his only true ally. While she obeys and respects her patron, at least for now, Duerra secretly chafes at Laduguer's bitterness and resentment.
- The Exile: Duerra has been estranged from the Morndinsamman since her ascension, and notwithstanding her immediate banishment by Moradin after her apotheosis, she has no interest in ending her supposed exile.
- Girls with Moustaches: In 1st and 2nd edition sources, Deep Duerra has a magnificent flowing beard. From 3rd edition onwards, she loses it, just like all the other dwarven goddesses.
- The High Queen: Duerra is regarded by the gray dwarves as their greatest queen, who led her grim troops to numerous victories against the other Underdark races and expanded the duergar empire to include vast reaches of the Underdark.
- "Just So" Story: The Duergar tell of how Deep Duerra stole psychic power from the Mind Flayers and gave them to her people. Mordenkainen doubts this tale, since it's more likely that the Mind Flayers willingly endowed their slaves with psionics to make them more useful, but who can really tell anymore?
- Psychic Powers: According to legend, Deep Duerra stole the power of psionics from the mind flayers and gifted it to her people. Her command of it was so great that she dominated a mind flayer colony and turned the illithids into her slaves.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: In her mortal life, Duerra was a queen who stood at the front of her armies as she led them to their victories.
- The Starscream: Although they're nominally allies, Duerra and Laduguer scheme against each other endlessly, with Duerra chafing at Laduguer's bitterness and resentment. She feels that for centuries he has squandered every opportunity to help the gray dwarves conquer the endless tunnels of the Underdark that are their patrimony. After centuries of only middling success under his patronage, Duerra is a hair away from attempting to depose him as the prime deity of the gray dwarves.
Derro PantheonLess a civilization and more an infestation, the derro slink around the nooks and crannies of the Underdark, searching for places that are moderately less dangerous to call home. These dwarflike creatures, their minds long broken from slavery under the Illithids, cannot form any society more stable than crude tribes and cults of personality. Individual derro inspire more pity than hatred, but in great numbers they can be a force to be reckoned with.
Fractious in groups and individually weak, derro would have been driven to extinction long ago but for two elements of their character. They have an inborn tendency toward paranoia, which serves them well in a environment where everything really is out to get you. They also have a stronger-than-normal tendency to develop sorcerous power. Individuals who do so become their leaders, known as savants. The derro consider these sorcerers to be specially blessed by their deity, Diirinka.
Laduguer may have been expelled from the dwarvish pantheon, but at least he can say he left of his own will. Diinkarazan and Diirinka, the derro deities, don't even have that. They were booted out, no two ways about it. Moradin says it's because they were irredeemably evil, which, to be fair, is true. But the derro think it's also because the pair dabbled in magic. Supposedly, the good deities were outraged at the "crime" (or perhaps fearful or even jealous of their skill) and cast the evil brothers out.
Diirinka, the brother-betrayer, is often seen as the father of the derro race, twisting his former dwarf followers into the hateful things they are today. Along with his brother Diinkarazan, he stole magical lore from Illsensine, but when the Illithid god caught them at it, Diirinka escaped by abandoning his brother to Illsensine's lack-of-mercy.
Diirinka is the most magical of all dwarven deities, a skilled wizard and improviser. The stolen magic is what empowers Diirinka, and it's the same magic he grants to his savants, his priests and proxies, the leaders of the derro race. Diirinka doesn't care about what the savants teach as long as they revere him and help the derro grow ever stronger. He is a treacherous and despicable god, who will betray anyone and anything for his own ends. Small, mean-spirited and preferring the guise of a diminutive lich-like creature, this is a hateful and chaotic god who cares little for anyone and anything, even including himself; perhaps something of his betrayal of his cursed, mad brother still gnaws at his soul.
Diirinka's realm, the Hidden Betrayal, is hidden away in the third layer of Pandemonium, said to be a chillingly dark place that drips endlessly with foul water. But since no one's ever managed to visit the place and return, such descriptions are just hearsay.
- The Archmage: Diirinka is the derro god of magic and the most magical of all dwarven deities, being a skilled wizard and improviser. With his stolen magical power, Diirinka grants magic to his savants, the leaders of the derro race, whom other derro follow fanatically.
- The Exile: Diirinka and his twin brother were exiled from the Morndinsamman by Moradin, it's not exactly clear for what. Moradin says it's because they were irredeemably evil, which is true. But some think it's also because the pair dabbled in magic.
- The Gods Must Be Lazy: Diirinka actually cares little about what his savants are up to, as long as they revere him. If he chooses to punish them, it is an act of whim or temper.
- Hates Everyone Equally: Diirinkira is a hateful god who cares little for anyone or anything, including himself. This is possibly due to him feeling guilty for abandoning his brother.
- It Amused Me: He's known to dispatch his avatar to amuse himself by acts of cruelty.
- Opportunistic Bastard: Diirinka betrayed his brother so that he could steal magical power from Ilsensine and escape. The derro teach this story as a lesson of survival at any price and an example of how deceitfulness and cruelty can be virtues.
- Our Liches Are Different: Diirinka appears as a small, stunted derro-lich hybrid. He has all the special defenses of a lich.
- Top God: Diirinka is the primary god of the derro. However, that's not really saying much as the only other derro deity, Diinkarazan, is imprisoned in the Abyss and his only role in derro mythology is being betrayed by Diirinka.
Diinkarazan is a lost, mad demigod who has been imprisoned in the Abyss by the illithid god Ilsensine for the alleged crime of attempting to steal the mind flayer's magic. Diinkarazan's brother, Diirinka, escaped, but only by betraying his comrade. Now Diinkarazan alone serves Ilsensine's sentence: he's trapped in the Abyss, totally insane, unable to escape unless a greater god sets him free, and tormented by illusions of the things he most fears (terrible monsters, Ilsensine itself, drowing in water or lava, and the like).
To make matters worse, Diinkarazan has a single day of lucidity once every 50 years (with random variation of 1-10 years). On this day, he can dispatch an avatar to the Primate Material Plane to stalk derro communities and destroy all he can (Diinkarazan feels he was betrayed by his own people). His hunger for revenge is so great that the avatar's behavior often degenerates into a frenzy of slaying anything it comes across until it perishes in combat (another avatar will be available by the time the god becomes sane for another day).
His realm, the Prison of the Mad God, is located on the 586th layer of the Abyss. It's a swirling vortex of air and gas, with rings of whirling rocks flying about a central point. Diinkarazan is magically bound to a stone throne at the center of the storm and tormented by illusions of his greatest fears. The prison is always torn between slipping over into Carceri and slipping into Pandemonium; the balance of prison and madness keeps it in the Abyss. As far as everyone knows, Diinkarazan has no proxies and no worshipers.
- The Exile: Diinkarazan and his twin brother were exiled from the Morndinsamman by Moradin, it's not exactly clear for what. Moradin says it's because they were irredeemably evil, which is true. But some think it's also because the pair dabbled in magic.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: Diinkarazan was the patron god of the Jewel Kingdom of Korolnor, one of the eight subkingdoms of Deep Shanatar. After the Spawn Wars, worship of Diinkarazan was abandoned throughout Shanatar, including in Korolnor, in favor of worshiping the entire dwarven pantheon. Nevertheless, a legacy of Diinkarazan's faith remains within the deepest caverns of the kingdom.
- Leaking Can of Evil: The Throne of the Mad God once served as the ruling seat of Korolnor's monarchs, but today it contains the last remnant of Diinkarazan's power in the Realms Below. By unknown means, Diinkarazan can manifest a shadow of his ancient power through the ancient throne and direct the trolls of Stommheim, despite his imprisonment by Ilsensine. Led by secret derro renegades drawn to Diinkarazan's madness, the troll armies battle surface dwellers for the mountains above and the mind flayers of Oryndoll for the caverns below. Since the Time of Troubles, Diinkarazan's power has begun to increase anew.
- Mad God: Diinkarazan has become permanently insane due to Ilsensine cursing and imprisoning him.
- Moment of Lucidity: Ilsensine's curse is a complex thing, and once every 50 years or so (with random variation of 1-10 years), Diinkarazan experiences one day of lucidity.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Diinkarazan is obsessed with revenge for his imprisonment, and blames the derro race as a whole for it. When he regains his sanity for one day every 50 years or so, he creates an avatar and looses it on the Prime, where it destroys entire derro villages.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Diinkarazan is magically bound to a stone throne in a level of the Abyss which is a whirling vortex of air and gas, with rings of whirling rocks flying about him. He cannot be freed by anything less than a greater god, and he is permanently insane and tormented by illusions of the things he most fears (terrible monsters, Ilsensine itself, drowing in water or lava, and the like). Despite experiencing a single day of lucidity every 50 years or so, he's obsessed with revenge and kills visitors even when he's sane.
Illithid Pantheon
The pantheon of the arrogant and cruel Illithids is a bit strange, to say the least. Mind Flayers are generally secular- their afterlife, for example, is fusing with an Elder Brain. But they do have two entities that can be called gods, if you stretch the truth a bit. These entities are embodiments of/names given to the ideals that drive Illithid culture: Mental dominion (Ilsensine) and knowledge collection (Maanzecorian). Clerics to these two are few and far between, and worship is a matter of academic respect at best. This still seems able to sustain these two ideals as distinct divine entities.
Ilsensine is the god of the mind flayers and the patron of all who enslave others' thoughts. It appears as a massive, disembodied brain with an emerald glow and countless tentacles stretching off across the multiverse, feeding directly to the bloated mass of the god-brain. Ilsensine demands that mind flayers enslave and consume the "cattle" (other races) that surround them. Its motivation is for the illithid race to conquer all planes through superiority and mental domination, through superior knowledge and magic which is an expression of will and mental force. Fortunately for other beings, Ilsensine is such a supremely arrogant entity that it spends much time in brooding fantasies of domination and is often too self-absorbed to actually act.
It is said that on extremely rare occasions, Ilsensine sends an avatar (a huge, two-tentacled spectral brain that radiates green light) or proxy (llsensine's favored proxy is Lugribossk) to those illithids that most revere the deity's name, or to attent and observe illithid conclaves when these concern major territorial aggressions and scheming which will take decades to bring to fruition. Illithids so honored offer up any scholars or sages currently kept captive in order to pay Ilsensine homage, and they dedicate a small number of illithids within their community to the priesthood of Ilsensine. This priesthood is a small and select one, given to dying out after the demise of the initial illithid priests so chosen. Mind flayers seem more interested in developing their own personal psionic powers than in channeling the power of another, even a deity.
Ilsensine dwells in a knotwork of tunnels below the Outlands; people guess that because Ilsensine is a deity of thought and knowledge, it resides on the neutral Outlands, despite leaning toward law and evil. His realm often intertwines with that of the beholder god Gzemnid, who the same people say chooses to weave his realm with the god-brain's, hoping that Ilsensine's greater might will keep them both firmly rooted to the plane.
Whatever the truth, the Caverns of Thought are a dramatic departure from the standard Outlander realm. As a person approaches the center of the maze of passages, waves of thought and psychic force from Ilsensine grow stronger and stronger, twisting those with weak minds into horrifying zombies. The dwarves of the nearby Dwarvish Mountain know to keep to their end of the tunnels, though lately some report having been spied upon by zombies that shuffled off and disappeared in the darkness.
- Ambiguously Related: Ilsensine’s proxy Lugribossk is named and modeled after the deity of the same name from the Astromundi Cluster in the Spelljammer setting. While this could be taken to mean Lugribossk was retconned into being part of Ilsensine, the text for Astromundi Cluster doesn’t support the idea, as Lugribossk is attributed with feats far beyond what a proxy would be capable of. Thus, the question of whether the two are one and the same is left in the air.
- Beware the Mind Reader: The constant burn of Ilsensine's brain waves sizzles in the mind's ear. No secrets stay dark; no evil thought or mental sickness remains unevealed. Ilsensine's thoughts pound against the mind like waves of hatred, dark lies, perversions beyond imagining, and megalomania.
- Brain Monster: Ilsensine appears as a huge, glowing green spectral brain with two tentacles, levitating in mid-air.
- Combat Tentacles: Ilsensine's favored weapon is the tentacle. Its tentacle attacks drain the intelligence or wisdom (as Ilsensine chooses) and restores health to its avatar. A fully-drained victim becomes a juju zombie under the avatar's control.
- Eldritch Location: The Caverns of Thought echo with stray thoughts that are inaudible but nevertheless clear to any sentient mind. Most of these thoughts are so horrible that creatures lingering too long near the caverns are quickly driven mad.
- Ethnic God: Of an abstract sort. Illithids see Ilsensine as the embodiment of why they're the master race; the concept of Ilsensine is that power to touch others' minds ought to be exercised in domination of others, and that the illithids embody this philosophy due to their natural psionics. Illsensine thus by definition does not care about any non-illithids.
- Fantastic Racism: Ilsensine demands that the illithids strive always to dominate other races and are meant to rule the multiverse, to enslave the "cattle" that overrun the lands, to use them, and to consume their minds.
- God of Evil: Ilsensine, to the Mind Flayers, represents the concept of mental dominion and a world in which Mind Flayers reign supreme with their psionic power allowing them control over even the minds of other races. Illithids, of course, quite like the idea and so will spend some time "praying" to Ilsensine (which basically means meditating on why mind flayers are the master race and thinking up new world-conquering schemes), but to everyone who doesn't have a tentacle-face it's deeply evil.
- Jerkass God: Ilsensine has been known to send an avatar to illithids who have displeased it to eat about half their number to encourage the others.
- The Maker: Ilsensine is held to be the Creator God; as a being of pure mental energy, he created the illithids after an aeons-long series of experiments designed to evolve a perfect race. Ilsensine's creation is also seen as being outside the rest of creation; while the other gods blundered about in the Prime Material Plane with their proto-creations, Ilsensine thought, deliberated, and perfected. He did not bring his creations into the planes until they had been perfected, unlike the other gods who rushed their work in order to stake prior claims.
- The Omnipresent: Ilsensine is believed to be omnipresent as mental energy. In visual imagery, this is expressed in the form of radiant tentacles sinuously coiling across space (and time), and all the planes, ever seeking to extend the influence of the master race (as many illithids see themselves).
- Telepathy: Ilsensine communicates directly with its most prized servants telepathically. The god is believed to telepathically gather information from all worlds and planes simultaneously through its countless ganglionic tentacles, learning every secret and perceiving every thought.
- Top God: Ilsensine is the patron and creator of the illithid race (and, some say, the secret master of the cranium rats as well).
Like Ilsensine, Maanzecorian holds the illithids to be the natural dominators of all planes and worlds and other races only fit for food and slavery. However, he considers that there are things which illithids may profitably learn from other brains before they eat them, and eating is a pleasure which is most delightful after lingering anticipation. He is a philosopher-god, one who has a vast library of arcana works in his own palace. He is always deferential to Ilsensine, although he doesn't necessarily pass on all he knows to the greater god.
Maanzecorian attends conclaves of his priests in avatar form, for discussion, sharing of knowledge and medidation (such meetings are rare, because priesthoods are small). He may even appear as a negotiator between illithids and other races if he deems the occasion highly propitious. He shares knowledge directly rather than through omens.
Maanzecorian's realm is called Rictus, which is located in Chamada, the second layer of Gehenna. The god is vain and his palace is sumptuously furnished with jet, jade, ivory, marble, and the skins of many creatures.
- Back from the Dead: Maanzecorian was slain by Tenebrous, the name taken by the demon lord Orcus when he first returned from supposed annihilation, and his realm started crumbling away. However, in the 5th edition, Maanzecorian appears to have come back to life, as he's mentioned in Volo's Guide to Monsters.
- Cool Crown: Maanzecorian possesses a silver crown which levitates above his head.
- Cthulhumanoid: Maanzecorian appears as a very tall illithid, with purple/green skin and yellowed tusks on either side of his tentacles.
- Not Quite Dead: Although he was killed by Orcus, a pale reflection of Maanzecorian's power remained inside a sealed, ruined temple on the distant world of Penumbra, forming a much-weakened avatar who would attack anyone near the door to the temple.
- Photographic Memory: Illithids consider Maanzecorian to represent a state wherein memories, thoughts, and aptitudes are dredged up from one's mind not one at a time as needed, but are all laid bare and brought to the fore at once. The perfect memories exhibited by aboleths have long fascinated mind flayers that emulate Maanzecorian, leading to frequent conflict between the two races.
- Seeker Archetype: Maanzecorian encourages illithids to collect and share as much knowledge as possible among themselves and him, including knowledge obtained from other races.
- The Smart Guy: Maanzecorian embodies the complete comprehension of knowledge and is the illithid keeper of secrets. He has collected many secrets and bits of chant over the course of eons.
Beholder Pantheon
The aggressive and arrogant race of beholders has two dominating deities like the illithids, but they form a mother/son pair: The Great Mother and Gzemnid. The Great Mother is the primary deity of the Beholders and held to have given birth to all of their race. This once included a whole family of other gods, but the Great Mother, much like the beholders she spawned, is an intolerant parent who killed all those who could not live up to her standards. Only one has survived: Gzemnid, the god of concealment and fog, whose skill at hiding and running away allowed him to evade his mother.
The Great Mother is the only entity that the self-centered and deeply xenophobic Beholders revere. They see her as the mother of all Beholders- literally, as each beholder's ego is so overpowering that they believe that they are the direct offspring of the goddess. Every individual Beholder thinks of itself as the exact image of the Great Mother, and see any Beholder different from them in any way as blasphemous to her.
Beholders believe that the Great Mother's mind encompasses all the knowledge in the cosmos, and in fact the Great Mother possesses secrets and lore that no other creature knows. However, the entity comprehends so much that it is virtually impossible for it to communicate with beings that lack nigh-infinite knowledge themselves. Students of the monstrous gods believe that the Great Mother is hopelessly insane, whereas in truth they simply lack the intelligence to perceive the reason in the beholder god's actions. Silently gliding through space, this monstrous horror is mostly wrapped up in her contemplations of the philosophy of chaos and evil, and it is said that she is the ultimate sage of these topics. But she is intensely intellectually arrogant and jealous and brooks not even the possibility of her ever being in error about anything. She does not bother to acquire knowledge and magic as other major deities such as Ilsensine do, because she knows all she will ever need to know. She goes about her business of populating worlds with more great beholders unconcerned by the piffling efforts of mortals, or even of other gods.
The Great Mother only dispatches an avatar to defend her creations when they are under threat as a species in a world, or in a major part of it. She is most likely to intervene if the enemies are drow or some agents of lawful good. Even so, she is a creature of whim, sometimes allowing a world to be virtually depopulated of beholders, and other times becoming enraged by a small pocket of her offspring being threatened. She is otherwise neglectful of her children, and certainly does not deal with trivia such as omens and signs. Some sages allege that the Great Mother is drawn to powerful planar-travelling magics, the sites of permanent gates and the like, and may send avatars to investigate these.
The Great Mother's home, the Realm of a Million Eyes, is located on the 6th layer of the Abyss. The realm is a network of countless twisting tunnels, and living eyes stud the tunnel walls like encrusted gems. In fact, each eye on the wall is an eye of the Great Mother. Beholders and beholderkin of particular piety roam the eye-studded tunnels, preying on one another as well as any demons or other visitors who might accidentally fall from the Plain of Infinite Portals.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: There are two major theories about why the Great Mother does things, and neither involves her cleaving to normal morality.
- Non-beholder observers see the Great Mother as an insane being who exhibits no distinction between her instinctive and rational minds, and as such is essentially mindless and her actions instinctual or random.
- Beholders believe that the Great Mother does have some form of reason, but at such a high and complex level that it's impossible to decipher unless you possess as much knowledge as the Great Mother herself- and since she knows absolutely everything, there is no one else at her level. Hence, she appears insane to all other beings, when in reality they are missing too many puzzle pieces to ever understand her logic.
- Eldritch Abomination: The Great Mother appears as a huge (18 foot diameter), bloated beholder bearing debris all over its body.
- Monster Progenitor: The Great Mother is the progenitor of beholders, beholder-kin, gibbering orbs, and less well-known aberrations. The Great Mother exists to fill the multiverse with its offspring. By replacing all other creatures with monsters spawned in its own image, the Great Mother intends to remake the multiverse. For some unknown reason, each batch of eggs that she lays hatches a different breed of beholder. Scholars do not know what factors determine the breed of these eggs, though some believe that the Great Mother's diet greatly influences this process. The Great Mother often encounters powerful beings in its wanderings throughout the planes. Legends say that the Great Mother usually consumes these powerful creatures. These "unions" doubtless account for some of the more unusual sorts of beholder-kin and abominations.
- Mother Goddess: All beholders and beholder-kin think of the Great Mother as literally their mother (with their Self-Serving Memory editing out the actual parent), and even scholars of the other races see her as being the progenitor of the various Beholderkin.
- Mother of a Thousand Young: The Great Mother is said to have spawned the entire beholder race from its very flesh on one of the Outer Planes. Unlike its mortal spawn, the Great Mother is an egg layer, and periodically either stops traveling or returns to her lair to lay many eggs. Then, its most powerful followers, the elder orbs, distribute these eggs throughout the planes. They usually choose worlds on those planes not yet adequately represented by the beholder race.
- Pieces of God: Beholders and their relatives are odd by any zoological standard, as they exist without all the manipulative organs necessary, hands and limbs being the most notable, to the development of a civilized species. More intriguingly, they seem to have compensated for their loss through the development of sophisticated magics. Some philosophers and plane-travelers have developed an odd theory about this phenomenon. These philosophers postulate the existence of a greater god, which they call the Fragmented God. According to this theory, the Great Mother is only a small fraction of this original Evil Eye, and several other gods correspond to other organs and traits: there are other eye-gods, an all-consuming mouth-god, a god representing all-encompassing reason, and so on. If these parts can maintain equilibrium, with the good eyes balanced against the evil ones, for instance, then the reunion of all the parts into a Collected God might enable sages and wizards to learn something about the balance of good and evil, as well as chaos and law. If, however, the evil fragments are more powerful than all of the Fragmented God's other parts, the reintegration of these parts could herald the creation of an unstoppable evil force.
- The Omnipresent: Like the illithids, the beholders see their patron deity as one who extends her mental (and magical) influences throughout all space and time. They believe that the Great Mother holds all of the knowledge contained in the multiverse.
- The Omniscient: Beholders believe that the Great Mother knows everything there is to know about the multiverse. She is not, however, a deity of knowledge, because she does not seek it (she already knows everything, so there's nothing for her to seek) nor impart it to any others, as no one who isn't also omniscient can understand the thoughts of such a being. Other races just think that she's completely insane and her thoughts and actions are random.
- Swallowed Whole: The Great Mother swallows whole any creature below large size that it encounters.
- Top Goddess: The Great Mother is the progenitor and patron goddess of the beholders, who have a fearful and solitary attitude towards her. The Great Mother is to be held in awe, not lightly to be invoked, and most of the time beholders hope that she will not take an interest in their individual affairs.
- The Unintelligible: The Great Mother constantly gibbers in a proto-language indecipherable by any mortal being. The beholders have a fearful and solitary attitude towards her.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: Scholars of the beholder-god Gzemnid believe that clues and hints pieced together over hundreds of years clearly reveal that the Great Mother is so vast and complex that she changes appearance from one moment to the next.
Gzemnid is the only one of the Great Mother's original batch of progeny, born on the Great Mother's home plane, to have become a minor deity itself. It is a subtle, wily creature, using its extensive command of spells of obscurement and area distortion. Older mortal beholders tell tales of powerful enemies who sought to rob Gzemnid of his treasures being overcome virtually through exhaustion trying to corner this elusive creature. He is sometimes known as "the gas giant" because of his mastery of spells of elemental air.
Unlike the Great Mother, Gzemnid possesses coherent, if chaotic, thinking patterns. Gzemnid is quite possibly the beholder deity most active in the lives of its followers. In fact, it is quite possible that an exemplary follower will receive a visit from Gzemnid's avatar.
As a mortal beholder, Gzemnid specialized in elemental magics and tactics of escape; it encourages these practices in its followers. Gzemnid also encourages the assumption of power through the acquisition of knowledge. Indeed, many scholars believe that it originated that branch of beholder philosophy.
Gzemnid is less aggressive than most of its race. Like his mother, he has a cache of magical treasures and lore somewhere on the Outlands. Unlike her, he is prepared to parley and bargain in order to add to his store. Of course, Gzemnid would prefer simply to slay intruders and take their magic for itself, but if confronted with a group of obviously powerful beings who do not immediately resort to violence the deity may negotiate (while using his magical rod to gain some leverage in discussions).
Gzemnid spends a good deal of its time spying on mortal wizards who probe at the very meaning and machinery of existence. When these wizards make some great discovery, Gzemnid sends its avatar to take, or negotiate for, that discovery. Amazingly, Gzemnid recognizes that a wizard who makes one important discovery may make another. Thus, it always prefers to steal the knowledge without harming the wizard. It will, however, use violence as a last resort.
Gzemnid gets along well with the Great Mother. In fact, the Great Mother will recognize Gzemnid and make approving noises when they encounter each other. Gzemnid, in turn, respects the Great Mother as a force of nature but recognizes that, as a rational creature, it has almost nothing in common with the greatest of beholder deities.
Lots of people wonder why a god of chaos and evil makes his home, a tangled mess of tunnels, below the neutral Outlands, and more to the point, why the realm doesn't slip over to the Abyss. Some say it's based on an alliance with the much stronger Ilsensine, though a few scholars claim that Gzemnid's hiding from the retribution of powerful foes, perhaps even the Great Beholder Mother, although most reports mark the two as friendly.
In any case, some thinkers attribute the presence of Gzemnid (and Ilsensine) to simple moral relativism. See, the monstrous gods are considered evil by most mortals, but perhaps their own standards are different enough to anchor them to the Outlands.
- Blow You Away: Gzemnid can use all Elemental (air) spells once a day.
- Deity of Human Origin: A Deity of Beholder Origin. Gzemnid was originally a mortal beholder. During the course of its long life, Gzemnid became the first beholder mage and the first elder orb. Its knowledge of the universe became so vast, that it transformed itself into a god.
- Eldritch Abomination: Gzemnid appears as an oversized sky-blue beholder with the usual central eye and 10 smaller eyes, but it also has a small circle of tentacle-fronds some 2' long on the crown of its head, and these are dextrous enough for the use of magical items such as rods and wands.
- Multiple-Choice Past: Different legends say that Gzemnid was either born directly from the Great Mother as part of her original batch of progeny, or was a hatchling from the first brood of Kzamnal, the Great Mother's first born son, thus making Gzemnid her grandson instead.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Most ordinary beholders aren't willing to bargain with creatures they deem as "inferior", but Gzemnid is a bit more flexible. When confronted with strong mortal beings who make no immediate move toward violence, it's said that Gzemnid might offer to trade for magic and secrets, only using violence as a last resort, though a person who counts on this'd best have a grave already dug. Similarly, he prefers to let the mortal wizards he's stealing from live, as he recognizes that they might make another important discovery worth stealing later.
- Seeker Archetype: Gzemnid encourages the assumption of power through the acquisition of knowledge. Indeed, many scholars believe that it originated that branch of beholder philosophy. He sends his avatars to the Prime Material Plane to obtain magical items and lore moderately frequently. The deity most definitely spies on mortal wizards and sages who study the nature of the multiverse; he hopes to steal their discoveries through illusion and deception.
Kuo-Toa Deity
The insane fishlike Kuo-Toa have a strong tendency to form abusive theocracies under whatever deity catches their eye, but they do have one to call their own: Blibdoolpoolp. Yes, that's really her name. She might be an aspect of the Demon Prince Dagon, or the result of a Kuo-toa 'improving' a statue he found with crayfish parts and then convincing himself his creation was a deity, which quickly spread through the other Kuo-toa and, because of their unique racial madness, caused her to manifest as a minor goddess.
The deity that most Kuo-toa revere. She has little influence outside of them, because Kuo-toa are the only ones nutty enough to worship a goddess called Blibdoolpoolp. Stupid name aside, little is known about her personally; the Kuo-toa only care that she watches over them and demands sacrifice and strict obedience to their Archbishops. She is highly paranoid of the other Underdark deities, fearing that they wish to steal the ancient knowledge of her people- which would be quite reasonable if the Kuo-toa had any secrets to steal. She might have been a sane, beautiful goddess once, but if so the degeneration of her people has caught up to her. 5e puts forward the theory that she came to be when a Kuo-toa found a statue of a woman missing its head and hands, and replaced them with the corresponding parts of a giant lobster. Struck with awe for his handiwork, he declared the statue a goddess. Since Clap Your Hands If You Believe is in effect for the Kuo-toa, once her worship began to spread, she truly came to be.
- Butter Face: Her human body is quite attractive and she usually runs around naked, but the lobster face really ruins it.
- Deity of Mortal Creation: The Kuo-toa made her by enough of them worshipping the original statue.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: She appears as a human woman with a lobster's head and claws.
- Non-Mammal Mammaries: If one takes the view that her lobster parts make her a crustacean.
Myconid Deity
The major deity of the myconids is not of good alignment, but compared to the other deities revered in the Underdark, he's a downright saint. Psilofyr is a protector and supporter. He keeps the living environment of myconids safe and pleasant, is a great teacher, and is a chooser and selector of kings. Psilofyr is also a meditational and pacifistic deity, a god of mental communion, and a powerfully spiritual being.
Psilofyr, the benevolent myconid god, is a mediator-deity dwelling in Nirvana. He is a teacher god, one who taught the first myconids the secrets of potion-making through direct revelation. He is often depicted as a type of fungal world-tree, his mycelia reaching down through the planes into the home of the myconid-king. Psilofyr's only concerns are the protection of the myconid race and the pursuit of perfection through meditation.
Since its inception, the Court of Stars has granted the Carrion King a nominal seat at its conclave. Most archfey of the Court regard him with mixed feelings of respect, pity, and disdain. Some quietly admire him, seeing him as a beneficent force of life in the Feydark, while haughtier members of the Court see the king as little more than a foul patch of fungus best forgotten. Oblivious to or unconcerned with their opinions, the Carrion King rarely attends Court gatherings. When he does, one of his smaller offshoots appears with gifts of rare, delectable truffles, and he listens to the proceedings and complex intrigues of the eladrin and other fey lords, seldom participating in the discussions.
Psilofyr selects about one myconid king in 20 to become a priest, and always guides myconids in their selection of a new king through intuitive guidance. Rarely, he will send an avatar to commune with a myconid-king if a community is greatly threatened by enemies, disease, and the like. Psilofyr has no need of omens since he constantly shares thoughts with his kings.
Psilofyr's realm, Mycelia, is located in Mechanus and is hidden from most who seek it. There's no approaching Mycelia unless a person's moving away from it, no finding unless a person's not seeking. It's a paradox of nonviolence, a thought pattern Psilofyr's established to keep out those whose minds are too turbulent to understand fully what Mycelia offers.
Standing at the top of a stair, a person can see an immense cavern hollowed into the great gear. The cave's got to be at least 100 miles across, but a person can still see the far side with ease. The cavern's perfectly rounded, all the stalactites and stalagmites perfectly ordered so that it's clear they were placed that way on purpose. The smell of long-decayed organic matter wafts gently up past one's nose, a smell almost sweet and never nauseating. The light's a dim purple, and it emanates from the giant mushrooms covering the floor like a carpet.
Closer inspection of the floor reveals that it's mulched organic matter, though its origin isn't exactly certain. It's all covered with damp and dew, and tiny fungi spring up throughout the realm. Some say these fungi are the unformed bodies of myconids preparing to be reborn in Mycelia, and it's a good idea to walk carefully around them. Myconids wander all around the area and evince some curiosity toward nonfungal visitors. However, they're all polite enough not to approach a person until invited to do so. Normally, myconids'll spray spores at the intruder to induce rapport, so that the two parties can have a mind-to-mind talk. However, thanks to the special properties of Mechanus, the ones that allow everyone to understand everyone else's speech, that's not necessary here. Anyone in their presence'll be in two-way telepathic communication with the myconids. They're interested in what news they can get of the world outside, but not enough to leave the realm.
- Divine Right of Kings: Psilofyr is the chooser and selector of myconid kings. When a king dies, it is believed that Psilofyr guides the senior myconids, through direct intuitions, to ennoble the myconid king. The king-elect is the best vessel for teaching the magical skills of potion making, and, in few exceptional cases, the chosen one for gaining priest spellcasting powers.
- Enemy Without: It's uncommon, but some of his incarnations can become violent and antithetical to his larger interests, leaving the rest of his bodies to deal with the consequences. Some even ally themselves with his enemies. With few exceptions, each rogue form regards itself as the true Carrion King, further muddying the truth.
- Fungus Humongous: Psilofyr appears as a gigantic myconid with a vast mycelium complex drifting behind him as he travels by levitation just above the ground.
- Have You Seen My God?: No one knows if Psilofyr still lives, since it has been an age or longer since any myconid has heard the Spore Lord's meditative instructions. Today the rotpriests do not speak his name, and many myconids remain oblivious of their creator. Some sages maintain that Psilofyr was slain long ago by a primordial of rot. Others say that the Spore Lord is conserving energy in preparation for a grand metamorphosis. Most theologians surmise that Psilofyr faded away as the myconid race outgrew the need for a caretaker.
- Hive Mind: The Carrion King does not reside in one form or in a single sanctum. He is almost everywhere in the Feydark, in some places so slight as to be completely unnoticed. Filaments of his being (literally, hyphae of the massive mycelia that he is) thread unnoticed beneath fomorian kingdoms such as Mag Tureah and Inbharann, as well as gnomish domains such as Drochdan. In fungus-dominated regions, like the Living Grotto, the king's presence and voice are much more prevalent.
- Literal Split Personality: His personality is fractured into as many minds as he has bodies, which makes treating with him difficult. Just as mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of natural fungi, the forms that the Carrion King grows are aspects of his true self. They might resemble gigantic, pseudopod-flailing toadstools or morels with one or more eyes and at least two mouths. Each mushroom body houses a fragment of the king's already riotous mind and, though tethered to his entire being, functions with a personality of its own. Depending on which personality he manifests at any given time, he can be friendly, noble, playful, solemn, or ruthless. Therein lies the true madness of the Carrion King. Though generally benevolent or at least neutral in temperament, he is an inconstant being at best. Amasutelob, the myconid of considerable power who claims to be the "Last Spore" of Psilofyr, might in fact be one of the Carrion King's manifestations gone rogue.
- The Maker: Psilofyr is revered as the creator of the myconids and as the one who taught the first myconids the secrets of potion-making through direct revelation.
- Martial Pacifist: To the Carrion King, violence is only one of many viable methods of getting things done. Removal of his enemies by force, however, seems necessary much of the time, and he doesn't shy away from it, especially since he can always grow more bodies.
- Me's a Crowd: The Carrion King is a unique and multifarious being. He occupies not a single body but many. His consciousness is spread throughout the subterranean depths of the Feydark within a single, expansive fungal root system. When he wishes to physically interact with others, whether for battle, parley, or entertainment, he swiftly grows a mushroomlike body for that purpose.
- Multiple-Choice Past: Although most people believe that the Carrion King is a natural outgrowth of the Feywild, conflicting tales in fey circles cite more specific origins. He was once a tree lord, stricken by a curse of madness by Lolth before the Dawn War. No, he was once a toadstool given life and sentience by Corellon. No, of course not, he was actually a god of decay slain by the primordials, and his body was planted in the deep soil of the Feywild. No one can validate or refute any of these claims, and the Carrion King says nothing.
- The Needs of the Many: The Carrion King rarely cares about the death of individual myconids. As rotpriests and gas spores demonstrate with their roots of the colony and spore burst abilities, the mushroom folk believe in self-sacrifice and community loyalty and take those virtues seriously. In the safety of a fungal forest or subterranean lair, a myconid's death is a precursor to new life. It does not die in vain but feeds the colony that it inhabits. Although the Carrion King means well, he often extends this "needs of the many" philosophy to nonfungus allies and friends as well.
- Retcon: Different editions identify Psilofyr either as a deity or an archfey.
- Time Abyss: The Carrion King has been around, in one form or another, for nearly as long as the Feywild. He has largely forgotten his own origins, a fractured personality isn't conducive to a long memory, but he knows he has had many names.
- World Tree: Psilofyr is regarded as the fungal equivalent of it. His mycelia are believed to reach down through the planes and into the homes of myconid-kings.
Aberration Deities
Aberrations have an entirely different notion of divinity from that of humanoids. Human cultures perceive a discontinuity between mortal and divine, a dividing line as vast and impassable as a great ocean. Master aberrations, on the other hand, regard their divine patrons as exemplars of their kind, older siblings that have achieved divine power through age, knowledge, and fearlessness. Every aboleth believes that it holds the potential to achieve godhood, or something very much like it, with sufficient study.Some scholars think that most of the below deities are actually Tharizdun, god of Omnicidal Mania. While they do share eerie similarities, with 'The Patient One' and 'Elder Elemental Eye' being epithets of his, no one has investigated them closely enough to confirm it- or, if they have, haven't returned to tell the tale.
This god is sometimes known as "the god at the end of all things", the one who will stand alone when all time and worlds have ended, filled with the power of eternal darkness. This dread god drains sanity and strength from soul and body, but his acceptance of his reverers into the cold eternity of his being has a terrible lure for some insane creatures. Perhaps the Dark God is banished as is the Elder Elemental God, perhaps he has simply faded into an eternal night; or perhaps he stands outside space and time, waiting for his rebirth at the end of all things.
The Dark God had a cult of human worshipers in the dim past in most worlds, but the nature of the cult was such that it died from simple exhaustion and attrition. The Dark God is always associated with cold, exhaustion, and slow death. As its cult has slowly expired, so the god itself has lost the ability to influence events on the Prime Material Plane. But many ancient sites of worship to it lie buried deep in the underground, and its shrines and temples seem to store magical energies that usually have malefic effects, but which can be exploited by the most courageous.
The Dark God is not able to use an avatar, or send omens, in most worlds; only if he has an active cult is this possible. He would only wish to do so for the purpose of consuming life energies and bodies into itself.
- An Ice Person: The Dark God can use all cold-based spells once per day each and is itself immune to cold-based attacks.
- Dark Is Evil: The Dark God is an evil deity associated with eternal darkness, which it intends to bring about at the end of all things.
- Deity Identity Confusion: The Dark God shares a great number of similarities with Tharizdun, as they're both evil deities associated with eternal darkness, as well as the fact that "Dark God" is one of Tharizdun's titles. However, they're listed as separate deities in On Hallowed Ground, although it's also aknowledged there that Tharizdun might be an aspect of either the Dark God or the Elder Elemental God.
- Eldritch Abomination: The Dark God appears in wraithform without a solid body, and is black and faceless. It wears a spectral cloak and glides soundlessly.
- Eldritch Location: This deity's lost shrines are awful places. Exhaustion, fatigue, mind-bending illusions, catatonia, depression and paralysis await those who enter.
- Enemy to All Living Things: The Dark God only sends an avatar to the Prime Material Plane in order to consume life and bodies into itself.
- Evil Is Deathly Cold: The Dark God is an evil deity associated with cold.
- God Is Dead: According to On Hallowed Ground, the Dark God has died due to a lack of followers.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The Dark God is believed to have been banished from the Prime Material Plane, only able to interact with worlds in which he has an active cult.
The Elder Elemental God is a force of pure elemental energy, dwelling in a demiplane that stands in the same relation to the elemental and quasi-elemental planes as the Outlands do to the totality of all planes of existence. Its nature and ancient worship are virtually incomprehensible. There are many tales of its being worshiped by elder races, who may predate the coming of other gods and races to the Prime Material Plane; these beings were shapechanging, polymorphous slime-beings of genius intelligence and uniformly evil nature. These ineffably vile spawns of evil were wiped out by the human and demihuman creator gods, save for a few places close to the core of a handful of worlds, where they are usually either in hibernation or gibbering insanely in the most desolate barrens.
The Elder Elemental God itself was banished from the Prime Material Plane, but signs of its activities were uncovered by warped humans and Underdark races. A handful of them took secretly to worshiping it as best they could, in rites of unspeakable depravity. The god itself is uncaring, yet terribly jealous at the same time, and it is unpredictably violent. Where it can manifest itself, it takes terrifying form, and this differs widely from world to world.
This is a terrible, blindly destructive deity readily driven to unknowable rages. How it manages to manifest itself on the Prime Material Plane is unknown; clearly it cannot be wholly bound and is able to project some of its power. It does not truly dispatch an "avatar", since its appearances are unpredictable and owe less to whether or not the god wishes to manifest as it does to whether it is able to do so. The performance of rituals by its servants has a minor role in this, but more important are the waxing and waning of magical fluxes about its extraplanar interdiction.
- Eldritch Abomination: The god can appear in several forms: As a huge, mottled, tentacled being some 20' in length, resembling a vast slime/slug cross; or as a 24' tall pillar of vast elemental force with a body of burning magma, radiating a steamy haze.
- Eldritch Location: Some of the god's manifestations still linger as permanent effects in its oldest shrines, or perhaps it is just that these represent "weak points" where the power of the god can best be channelled. These manifestations include: Suckered tentacles emerging from an altar which energy drain a victim or suck it into the altar to be irrevocably destroyed, the appearance of a glowing golden eye which strikes viewers blind or drives them insane or prematurely aged, and the transformation of that magical orb into a stone egg which hatches salamanders that blindly attack every living thing within range.
- Deity Identity Confusion: The title "Elder Elemental God" has been used as a moniker by the Elder Elemental Eye (secretly an aspect of Tharizdun) and by Ghaunadaur, the drow god of oozes and slimes. It was stated in Monster Mythology that Ghaunadaur was a specific form of this god on Toril, one which fuses the identity of the Elder Elemental God with that of Juiblex, the demon lord of slimes. Similarly, it is mentioned in On Hallowed Ground that Tharizdun might be an aspect of either the Elder Elemental God or the Dark God. However, On Hallowed Ground also lists the Elder Elemental God separately from both Tharizdun and Juiblex.
- Leaking Can of Evil: Despite being banished from the Prime Material Plane, the god is not wholly bound and is able to project some of its power.
- Religion of Evil: Priests of the Elder Elemental God bend all their being to revering the god and attempting to locate and enact the rituals which will draw more of his power into the Prime Material Plane. They make many sacrifices of sentient beings to this end, including members of their own cults and even themselves if this is demanded.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The god is known to be banished to a unique demiplane, where it is constantly struggling for release.
- Time Abyss: The Elder Elemental God is believed to have already been worshiped by elder races in a time before the arrival of the other gods and races into the Prime Material Plane.
The Nine-Tongued Worm is an entity of the Far Realm. Unlike many of the terrible and powerful creatures that dwell in the mindless chaos of the Far Realm, Mak Thuum Ngatha is interested in the Material Plane. Psurlons, tsochari, and nilshai pay the Nine-Tongued Worm homage, but it has few worshipers among other races; only a handful of alienists, cultists, and half-farspawn monstrosities even know of its existence. No being outside the Far Realm can say what the Nine-Tongued Worm's desires or goals might be, but they are certainly inimical to every living creature on the Material Plane. Several other entities of similar power and disposition exist in the Far Realm, some with their own cultists and adherents.
- Eldritch Abomination: If its title and worshipers are an indication, then Mak Thuum Ngatha appears to be a worm-like aberration with nine tongues.
- Human Sacrifice: The tsochari view the sacrificing of otherworld races (such as humanoids) to the glory of Mak Thuum Ngatha as a holy mandate.
- Savage Spiked Weapons: Its favored weapon is the morningstar.
- The Theocracy: The cult of Mak Thuum Ngatha is the single most influential organization within tsochari society. Even the nobles must pay heed to the priests' proclamations of divine will. Priests constantly seek to bring the worship of the Nine-Tongued Worm to new spheres.
- These Are Things Man Was Not Meant to Know: Mak Thuum Ngatha commands its priests to spread its dark and perilous lore to other races and lands. All too often, this means humanoid realms in the mundane world. Tsochari priests therefore serve as emissaries or messengers from the Nine-Tongued Worm to humanoids foolish or reckless enough to be tempted by the power the tsochari offer.
The terrible divine entity known only as the Patient One is patron to a number of aberration races such as aboleths, cloakers, chuuls, avolakias, and other monsters. It waits and watches in the darkness, whispering sibilant secrets to the shadows, until it is time to feed on the humanoid sacrifices its worshipers offer. The Patient One is an old and alien divinity, an elder power similar to Ghaunadaur or Tharizdun. It is possible that these terrible dark powers are somehow related, but no human has plumbed their secrets and survived to tell the tale.
Though some humanoids worship this strange being, many more aberrations revere it. The Patient One's temples are towers, often built on high hills in isolated areas. With beholders and mind flayers as clerics and worshipers, the Patient One's towers are also found underground. At the apex of each tower is a stone altar, carved to appear as a mouth surrounded by eyes, stained dark red with blood.
- Dark Is Evil: The Patient One is considered a dark deity who waits and watches in the shadows. It grants its clerics spells from the Vile Darkness domain.
- Eldritch Abomination: Although never actually pictured in its entirety, this god is known to have many eyes, many mouths, and many clawed arms around its bulbous body.
- Epic Flail: Its favored weapon is the light flail.
- Villainous Glutton: The Patient One is considered to be one of the greatest of eaters, a creature whose dark hunger and destructive tendencies could encompass entire worlds given a chance. Neogi who venerate the Patient One tend to be physically gluttonous creatures that relish the act of devouring intelligent victims. Destroying a being for one's personal sustenance is the most complete form of dominion one creature can exert over another. Neogi followers of the Patient One ritually devour their less-useful slaves as an expression of religious fervor.
