Category:Church of the Spider Queen

This section contains canon info from officially published sources

The Church of the Spider Queen is an evil religion followed by the drow and a handful of shadow fey converts. In 2nd Edition, Lolth was the central figure of the faith's devotion, but the licensing restrictions of 3rd Edition made it so that she was identified only as the Spider Queen, which helped to make the Church of the Spider Queen distinct from Lolth's faiths in other Dungeons and Dragons campaign settings.

Alignment^[1]

• Chaotic Evil

Spell-Domain|Domains^[1]

• Animal, Evil, Greed, Pain, Trickery. The Greed and Pain domains are from the 3rd Edition sourcebook the Book of Vile Darkness.

Favored Weapon^[1]

• Net, razor

Dogma^[1]

The Spider Queen is a goddess of malice, manipulation, and greed. Her followers exalt the hedonic pleasure of the self before all else, with murder, sadism, and deception revered as art forms. Those who master these tactics to use and cast aside others as they please are held in high regard. There is no power ranking among the priesthood as all are seen as equals, save for the high priest(ess). Murder is seen as a perfectly legitimate means of taking others’ power. Faith in the Spider Queen is mostly born through deed, not through church meetings, which are infrequent. One notable exception is the Night of Obeisance in midwinter, where all who venerate must spend the entire night in prayer.

Spiders are viewed as perfect exemplars of the traits the Church holds in high regard.

History

The Spider Queen's cult was introduced to the domain of Arak and the shadow fey by three drow outlanders in 577 BC, who were drawn to that land by stories of a drow kingdom. Once there, Loht received them with open arms, and the three drow achieved significant power within the Unseelie Court. The drow trio's leader was a priestess of the Spider Queen's church and brought the faith's worship to the Shadow Fey. Viewed as an interesting diversion of debauchery by the Arak, the faith began spreading among the most vile and twisted of their number.^[2]

By 583 BC of the Barovian Calendar (but a century and a half later as time went by in the temporal fugue of Arak's underground realm)^[3], the drow trio were dead by an elaborate string of assassinations started by each other against each other^[2]. Tristessa, future darklord of Keening, took over as high priestess. The depravity of the Spider Queen's followers, particularly in their seeming indifference towards the Law of Arak, caused even Loht worry. Thereby, he put forth significant effort to stamp the Spider Queen's religion out, causing a significant war for power with the Spider Queen's church.^[2][3] In 588 BC, Loht and his followers achieved a decisive victory against the cult. To celebrate and recognize this victory, Loht bound Tristessa and her child to the slopes of Mount Lament and left them to perish in the rays of the sun, thereby violating the Law of Arak himself.^[4] Since then, the Church of the Spider Queen has been viewed with repugnance and hatred by the majority of Shadow Fey society. Recognized zelldrow are chased from the Greenlands and reviled by their shadow fey kindred who do not worship Lolth.^[1]

Zelldrow Prestige Class

The zelldrow^[5] is a prestige class associated with the shadow fey who have joined the twisted Church of the Spider Queen, although mortal humanoids may also take levels. A character who has chosen to walk this path undergoes a transformation, gradually gaining a resemblance to the drow. Followers among the Arak who show these traits become exiles among their own kind.

References