The History of Lolthiriel goes back to the age of dreaming, to a time before time itself and in many ways the history of Lolthiriel is the history of the Elven race. So it is that without an understanding of where one came from one cannot fully appreciate the other.
Summoning of the Elves
Our tale begins as so many do with Erdreja.
Erdreja is an Egg produced from the union of a pair of Celestial Dragons. Once laid, sixteen elemental Dragons were created to care for it and see to its hatching. Unfortunately, although perhaps not for us, all did not go according to plan.
A third Celestial Dragon, a dragon of chaos, decided to interfere in the process, tipping the egg from its axis and casting upon it a curse that has become known as the curse of apathy. This meant that the egg did not hatch on time.
The elemental dragons tried all that they could think of to overcome the curse and hatch the dragon, but to no avail. Eventually, exhausted by their efforts they were forced to come up with another solution. They summoned creatures to do their work for them whilst they rested to await the hatching of the egg that they might have the energy to complete their task when the egg at last hatched.
The elemental dragons were aligned into four cadres, the cadres of feast, famine, war and peace and each cadre of four dragons summoned or created a race onto the surface of Erdreja for the purpose of helping care for and hatch the egg. These were the four elder races, Elves, Dwarves, Fey and Ologs.
The Cadre of famine, which at the time were the dragons of fire, evil, knowledge and fate chose to summon the elves. Onto the surface of Erdreja came the ancestors of the elves today, one thousand and twenty eight elf golden ones. They came into existence as families in thirty clans divided into six nations, the Sylvanii, the Aqualari, the Lythari (who would later become the Loresti), the Illythiiri, the Miyeritari and the Vermillii.
Yet of all the elves created on that day one stood out beyond all others, she was Lolthiriel. Dragon born to clan Cancarneyar she was the shining light of the elves, a being wise, kind and so beautiful all who knew her loved her. It is perhaps unsurprising that she was made queen of the Illythiiri and upon her marriage to Larethian Thuleandor, king of the Lythari she was proclaimed Qua Valsharess or queen of queens by the Elven people as a whole.
Theirs was not simply a marriage of convenience though for Larethian and Lolthiriel loved each other truly. They were as opposite sides of the same coin. Where Lolthiriel was patient and calm, Larethian was spontaneous and emotional, where Lolthiriel worked slowly and carefully, Larethian was hot headed and brilliant. Together they led the two largest of the Elven nations and as a couple their reign was undisputed.
The End of Dreaming
The age of dreaming passed and the children of the golden ones spread throughout the world caring for Erdreja as was their purpose yet all dreams must end and this one ended when Mordred, he who is Chaos, unleashed time upon the world and with time came death.
At first only animals started to die, but then the descendants of the golden ones began to perish as old age took hold and for the first time the Elven race knew fear.
Fear of death spread throughout the Elven people and much effort was spent trying to find a way to combat this 'un-natural' phenomenon. The powers of healing and corruption we know today were born from these first experiments, yet for all their work there was no cure to aging.
In this time there existed other powers and whilst not on a par with the golden ones the chief amongst these were the embodiments. Representatives of the sixteen elemental dragons, the embodiments existed to forward the cause of their element. The most trusted and respected of these was Evron, the embodiment of evil.
In our time the nature of evil is well understood but so long ago it was not. Of all the embodiments Evron was the most approachable. Unlike the other embodiments who seemed almost rabid in their pursuit of their aims, by comparison Evron gave knowledge and advice freely and without pressure. None suspected betrayal until it was too late.
As the threat of ageing became ever more pressing it was decided that Erdreja should be consulted directly. So in Morias, the first city of the Elves a ritual was to be performed to create the first gazed ones. These would be individuals who had gazed upon the dragon and thus be linked to her, to know her will and be able to speak directly to her. First amongst the five chosen for this task was Lolthiriel.
The Betrayal
It was here that the greatest betrayal the Elven race had ever experienced occurred. The ritual had begun when Evron entered the sink hole where it was taking place and without warning calmly stabbed the queen through the heart with a dagger killing her instantly. What had occurred though did not sink in for any who were there thus Evron was able to simply walk away unchallenged. Never had anyone imagined that the Queen could be killed. The Golden ones were vastly more powerful than even the embodiments, they seemed eternal and were her consciousness in her body she would have dismissed Evron like a petulant child. What only Evron realised at the time however was that with her mind with the dragon she was helpless.
This single act sent a shockwave not only through the Elven people but through the entirety of creation. Not only was Lolthiriel loved by her people but also by many of the embodiments and the dragon herself. Never before had one of the Golden Ones died and indeed even after her death many refused to believe that such a thing was even possible.
It is said that Erdreja herself loved Lolthiriel so much she created the plane of the Ancestors for her and made her the first Ancestor. The truth is perhaps a little more complicated.
The plane of death and the plane of the ancestors are in fact one and the same thing. They were created when Mordred unleashed time. However before the death of Lolthiriel patterns that arrived on the plane of death would spend a year there breaking apart before being absorbed back onto the plane of life.
With the intervention of the dragon, the embodiments of good and spirit and the power of belief generated by the Elven people in their refusal to accept that a being as powerful and beloved as Lolthiriel was truly gone the pattern of Lolthiriel remained upon the plane of death. In that moment Lolthiriel had become the first Ancestor and death itself was changed forever.
Evron's act of betrayal however was not complete for it was not a simple act of violence against a beloved queen but rather the beginning of a well considered plan. It was a betrayal of not only Lolthiriel but of the Elven people as a whole for the dagger Evron had used had left a shard in both Lolthiriel's physical body and also her pattern. It was a shard of evil designed to corrupt her and through her change her people.
The Second Betrayal
The next part of Evron's plan was to take place many years later.
Following the death of their queen the Elves went into what would become known as 'the Reverie'. It was a state of mourning that encompassed not only their grief at her death but a refusal to believe that the greatest of their race was truly gone, betrayed by a trusted friend.
Centuries passed as the entire Elven race lived in the reverie, black unadorned clothing became the norm but it was now that the next part of Evron's plan came into effect. Agents of his began to spread the rumour that the reverie was damaging Erdreja and so a split formed in Elven society between those who wished to continue the Reverie and those who believed it should end.
It was an emotive subject passionately argued by both sides which culminated in the most disastrous way possible.
In this time the affairs of the Elven race were governed by the great clan council that met in the first Elven city, Morias. In this place all aspects of the running of the Elven nation were discussed. Diplomatic envoys were received from the other Elder Race nations, Gwion of the fey nation was especially famous, and the balance of power within the ritual circle network was overseen.
At the time of the Reverie debate the head of the Mages Council, Rulien Silvanost was due to give a report to the clan council on the state of the ritual circles, but instead of delivering this report he used this opportunity to deliver a scathing attack on the Reverie. He called for the Reverie to be made illegal and be stamped out by whatever means necessary.
As silence settled over the clan council it was Lolthiriel's brother, he who would become the ancestor Dracos that started to respond first. This was expected as his temper was infamous and a host of people were prepared to deal with him. What no one expected was the reaction of Lolthiriel's husband Larethian.
An extraordinary mage in his own right, he calmly rose from his seat and with a quickly uttered phrase, he called upon the power of his wife, casting a spell unlike any that had been seen before.
This spell tore through Rulien's magical defences as though they were nothing leaving him broken but still alive on the floor of the council chambers.
Thus was the magic of incantation born into the world and the lines of the Sundering war were drawn.
The Aspects
The Sundering Wars began shortly after the magic of incantation had been codified in the city of Duanrahel but a more detailed account of the war would add little to any discussion of Lolthiriel. Suffice to say that by 2789 of the first founding the clans of what had become known as the Dark Elves, that is to say those of the Elven people who worship Lolthiriel as an ancestor, practiced incantation and maintained the reverie (thus wearing black) had been driven into the under dark. Of the Elven nations by far the greatest number of dark elves came from the Illythiiri but clans of the Aquilari and most especially the Miyeratari joined them in their retreat from the surface world and it is here that the story of Lolthiriel can continue.
The corrupting influence of the shard of Evron's dagger added to the struggles of the dark elves led to a series of changes in Lolthiriel's nature, reflecting the changes in dark elf society. Lolthiriel has over time had eight aspects, reflecting eight phases of her existence and eight phases within dark elf society.
The first of these eight phases was the aspect of Lolthiriel, the queen of the elves. As this aspect Lolthiriel was as she had been in life, caring, wise, and concerned for the future of the entire Elven race.
It is likely that it was Lolthiriel's influence that delayed the onset of the Sundering wars for as long as it did. Realistically the War could have started following the striking down of Rulien Silvanost at the great clan counsel. However the war did not start for many years after that.
The second phase was the aspect of Araunshnee, the weaver of dark Elven destiny. As this aspect Lolthiriel, now Araunshnee became less concerned with the fate of the Elven race as a whole and more focused on her worshippers, those elves she came to view as 'her people'. The concepts of justice, kindness and even handedness were less important to her.
At this time worship was a personal and joyous thing. Though incantation was being codified in Duanrahel no strict dogma existed and it was only with the militant orders that came about in the sundering war and Araunshnee's transformation into Lareth that organised religion truly takes precedence over personal faith.
The third phase was the aspect of Lareth the temptress. As conflict with the other Elven kingdoms began so too did a state of paranoia amongst the dark elf people. This brought about the priesthood of Lareth acting as a sort of Inquisition, testing the loyalty of the faithful, tempting them to disloyalty as a test of their faith.
Naturally this only served to deepen the paranoia of the dark elves and thus speed the corruption. Despite this Lareth's warrior priests were in the forefront of the battles of the sundering wars, defending the dark elves against their 'light' cousins.
The fourth phase was the aspect of Zinzerena the huntress. As the dark elves were driven into the underdark so their society was forced to adapt. They became a people bent on day to day survival and so their ancestor and her priesthood adapted. Zinzerena's priests were providers and teachers for their followers and the dark Elven people as a whole.
They became less concerned with loyalty and more focused on helping their people with the task of living in the hostile world of the underdark. To survive in the lightless jungle beneath the earth they had to become as the creatures that thrived there. They became the predators that stalked the tunnels and passage ways, but the cost was the slow decline of the culture that had made them elves.
The fifth phase was the aspect of Megwandiir, the emotionless death. Megwandiir was the ultimate extension of Zinzerena for just as the predators of the under dark kill without feeling so too did the dark elves. In this time everything was prey, only the strong survived and everyone was judged by their usefulness. Anyone who was weak or without use was quickly turned on and slain.
This aspect signalled the final death of Elven culture within the dark elves, for what use was culture to those trying to survive?
The sixth phase was the aspect of Moandiir, the corruptor. As the culture of the dark elves died so too did their society. The strong and powerful became decadent, the weak and poor were slain and fed upon on a whim. Followers of Moandiir actively sought out and embraced corruption. Anything that was corrupt of depraved, be it consorting with dark powers, necromancy, murder, genocide, was embraced and experienced to the fullest.
Moandir represents the ultimate corruption of spirit and here at last the Dark Elves became Drow as their form was 'corrupted' from that of the elves they once were. In taking on this transformation the Drow became a new 'younger' race, a successor to the elder race of elves and because of this were immune to the effects of the Mordred device when it activated.
It is because of this stroke of luck or foresight that the magic's of incantation were kept alive in the underdark when the conclave banished incantation from the world.
The seventh phase was the aspect of Zanassu, the destroyer. It is said that when any society collapses a purging fire is inevitable and Zanassu was that fire. At this time the Drow worshipped an entire pantheon of ancestors drawn from people who had died during the sundering war but this too was to change.
Zanassu worshippers turned on the followers of all other faiths and killed them. Drow society was thrown into chaos by out and out civil war as Zanassu worshippers went about a 'religious cleansing'. The war could only end one way, with the complete destruction of one side or the other.
As the civil war reached its climax the worshippers of Zanassu turned to Satuun, he who was Evron the embodiment of evil and made a pact to give their ancestor a 'boost'. What resulted was the transformation of Zanassu into the eighth and final aspect, Lolth, the spider queen.
To those who know the Illythiiri the choice of spiders as a representation of their ancestor can come as little surprise. In Elven culture eight is a number of great significance so spiders were admired even before Lolth. Weavers, hunters, emotionless killers, they embodied all that the Drow held dear.
With Lolth's transformation her worshippers gained an unbeatable advantage so that as the dust settled over the Drow civil war the inevitable result was the victory of the faithful of Lolth and the death of all who opposed them. It was with that victory that began the age of Lolth that has continued to this day.
Lolth is the pinnacle of all that has gone before her, she is the right made by might, and she is controlled chaos and the never ending striving for power. Under the eyes of Lolth the weak perish and the strong survive.
She is unusual amongst her aspects in that never before had she appeared to her worshippers embodied as an avatar. Lolth has now done so twice. However it appears that this is not her preferred means of communication.