LLOTH

LLOTH

Demon Queen of Spiders, Mistress of the Drow, Lady of Chaos.  These are
three of the better known names by which Lloth, dread queen of the drow, is
known by.  

Lloth is an evil goddess of demonic origin, hailing from a distant, far-off
place known as the 'Spiderweb Pits', a plane totally formed from a gigantic
fractal web which is her seat of power.  The powerful nexus of magical
energies which is Aabahran drew her attention to this plane, and thus she
cast her presence into it, seeking to dominate its powers for her own use. 
In distant ages past, she subverted a portion of the early elven-folk,
changing them into the drow, intending to use them to conquer Aabahran. 
Extra-planar events, however, drew her attention away, and only now has she
returned to Aabahran.  

The Spider Queen delights in destruction and havoc, which is why she is
commonly known as the Lady of Chaos.  Deceit, ambition, betrayal, and
cunning are qualities which Lloth prizes highly, and it is for this reason
that the society of the drow, her chosen people, is a notoriously chaotic
and treacherous one.  It is also for this good reason that her favored
creature the spider.  Like the spider, she is patient and cunning, capable
of spending long amounts of time spinning a gossamer web which victims do
not notice until it is too late.  She does not shy away from using brute
force, and indeed is a very powerful deity in her own right however, the
Spider Queen finds greater pleasure in using more subtle weapons to destroy
her foes.  

Many of a darker bent worship Lloth, including assassins and thieves, but by
the far the largest part of her worshippers are the drow.  Lloth is the
absolute goddess of their evil race, and is a jealous mistress drow who do
not at least pay lip service to her will find themselves living a decidedly
uncomfortable life.  She has bent and twisted the drow into her own image,
making them a cunning, treacherous, evil, matriarchal society.  

Generally, when a mortal has merited her personal attention (be it for good
or ill), the Spider Queen will send one of her Handmaidens.  Handmaidens are
a type of demon called a 'yochlol', and appear as a foul-smelling creature
that looks like a misshapen humanoid blob of candle wax.  They serve as the
Queen's hands, and when they speak, they speak with the full authority of
the Queen.  Lloth reveals herself to mortals only on exceedingly rare
occasions.  When Lloth does deign to adopt a mortal avatar to personally
deal with someone, she will take the guise of either a female drow of
ravishing beauty, or an eight-legged spider of titanic proportions with the
head of a lovely female drow.  

See also: DROW