For those of you who like keeping up with the Vault of the Drow, and the goings-on in the city of Erelhei-Cinlu, a little blurb made it into the newest supplement, called "Heroes of the Elemental Chaos". There's a brief section that discusses the Elder Elemental Eye (though the generic history refers to "The Chained God" rather than dread Tharizdun, but, it's still interesting). It goes on to talk about the drow, and how they are opposed to the Elder Elemental Eye, and gives a sort of synopsis and update of the things in the drow city.
Heroes of Elemental Chaos wrote:
House Eilservs
Even with the threat of death looming over anyone who breaks from Lolth's worship, cultists dedicated to the Elder Elemental Eye have always infested drow society. Most such cults are small, consisting of a few desperate and deranged castoffs and exiles. Death squads sweep through the cities, rounding up these miscreants and executing them with little fanfare. At times, powerful drow have found strong allies in these cults, and have used cult magic to advance their own aims.
House Eilservs of Erelhei-Cinlu had benefited from Lolth's favor for decades. Using its exalted status to amass power and influence, the house prepared to elevate its matriarch Eclavdra to become queen of all drow. When Eilservs made its move, however, rival houses rose up in opposition. The priestesses feared that a strong queen would weaken their authority, and thus they threw their weight behind the rival houses to block Eilservs' bid for power. In response, House Eilservs abandoned its designs on ruling the drow and instead pledged itself to the Elder Elemental Eye. While replacing fallen soldiers with elemental servants, Eclavdra turned her attention to the surface world, where Eilservs planned to spread its vile religion and establish a new force to rival the priestesses.
A combination of factors unraveled Eclavdra'sdesigns. The house's machinations in the surface world stirred up several giant tribes, driving them to attack civilization's outposts. In response, adventuring bands stormed the giants' strongholds and defeated them one by one, eventually discovering that drow agents were behind the attacks. This in turn led heroes into the Underdark, where they fought against the drow and breached the Great Fane of Lolth. The attack threw Erelhei-Cinlu into chaos. The other houses turned against Eilservs, driving its members from the city for years. In the end, Eclavdra returned to Lolth's service, reestablished her house, and was chosen to become Lolth's most prized exarch.
Na'Dhaunxutal, Eilservs' current matriarch, has worked hard to erase the house's sordid history and remain firmly in Lolth's favor. However, whispered rumors suggest that the Elder Elemental Eye continues to have an interest in Eilservs. It is said that certain sons and daughters of the house still perform forbidden rites and ceremonies to that unknowable power, continuing the work Eclavdra began.
So, for those of you who may follow the marvelous GH wiki's Eilservs page, this gives another reference to the new matron after Eclavdra was poisoned. (I mean, seriously? A drow that was in power for more than 30 years, and finally got taken out? About time, if you ask me.) I'm still kind of at a loss as to what to do with this new unknown, but, I am certain that the adventurers of the Flanaess feel the same way! _________________ Owner and Lead Admin: https://greyhawkonline.com<div>Editor-in-Chief of the Oerth Journal: https://greyhawkonline.com/oerthjournal</div><div>Visit my professional art gallery: https://wkristophnolen.daportfolio.com</div>
Last edited by Icarus on Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:10 pm; edited 1 time in total
Yeah, Underdark established that Eclavdra had been poisoned and replaced, but then the 4th edition Monster Manual 3 presented Eclavdra as being very much alive and risen to the status of Lolth's exarch (basically a demigoddess/proxy, though not beyond the power of the greatest mortal heroes to slay).
Heroes of the Elemental Chaos tried to reconcile these two very different fates by saying that Eclavdra became an exarch, but she was replaced by the person that Underdark had said replaced her. Maybe Eclavdra faked her death before she abandoned the mortal world for Lolth's web.
On a tangen to this I am still very surprised that someone (Eclavdra) who has survivied so much "died" by being poisoned, to me this is a cop out. Eclavdra being in the position of power she was in and had surely poisoned many other upstarts would surely have had an almost impenatrable defence against one of the drows most common attacks.
Just a theory that probably won't ever make it into anything official but a lot of religions from throughout history require a sacrificial death before being reborn or or otherwise transforming into something more powerful. Some of the obvious stories like those of Jesus Christ or Osiris, but beyond that you have Aztec mythology were people, officials, servants and other such necessary members of society were scarified to
What if she did die? Only to 'emerge from the Abyss' or otherwise be resurrected/reborn in some fashion? You have a pretty interesting way of exploring Drow religion. What if her death was necessary in order to show the proof of her devotion to the Eye? A show of faith that not only was she willing to do anything but even in the face of death her faith remained intact. Eclavdra has a history working both sides of the spectrum of Drow faith however. What if in fact her choice benefited the Spider Queen and did so in such as fashion to reward elevation? Being found worthy because of her devotion in either case could be cause for a canonical explanation including both truths.
[I wrote this quite a bit earlier this afternoon, and apparently, never hit "submit", so I've added to it a little, and tweaked it to fit some of the other responses that have come in.]
Rockhaven wrote:
... I am still very surprised that someone (Eclavdra) who has survivied so much "died" by being poisoned, to me this is a cop out. Eclavdra being in the position of power she was in and had surely poisoned many other upstarts would surely have had an almost impenatrable defence against one of the drows most common attacks.
Rockhaven ... I couldn't agree more. And we're not the only ones that find it difficult to belive. In fact, Underdark all but says the same thing.
Underdark wrote:
[House Eilservs'] famous and storied matron mother, Lady Eclavdra, recently perished ofapparent poisoning. No one can believe that such a tenacious matron could be brought low by such a base stratagem, nor does anyone know what to make of her.
So it would seem that this really may not be the entire story!
Rasgon - I really see your point, but, I think that I am following the story in a slightly differnt way. As you pointed out in another recent thread, if I'm reading comic books where a superhero shows up in another title, I still assume that what happens there also happens in his own continuity in his own title. I son't see Underdark and Monster Manual 3 as necessarily conflicting, with Heroes of the Elemental Chaos sort of retconning the story to reconcile two very different fates. It seems to me that the first thing anyone knew is that she was gone, and it was said that the method was poisoning, and then, later, she showed up as the "chosen" of Lolth and an exarch, and finally it was confirmed in the third book (indirectly) that she wasn't, in fact, dead but rather an exarch. It doesn't really say that she wasn't poisoned ...
Infact, what Manus-Nigrum hints at may be the truth of the matter. Perhaps, she did die by poison (or it was used in a ritual or sacrifice) in order to become the exarch and move on to other planes or spheres of influence.
I kind of like that they released the books, and even included the possibility (in the form of rumors) that -
Quote:
Some suggest that Eclavdra, late of House Eilservs, can be found [in the ghetto of the Dead]in a state resembling lichdom, plotting revenge against her assassins.
I think that the story sort of unravelled for readers over three books, and there was some conflicting concepts even in-character about what happened, as it was happening.
At any rate, there's no doubt that she's no longer the leader of House Eilservs, and there is equally no doubt that she's an exarch. Additionally, the last time that we saw her statted out (in the 3rd Edition Epic Level Handbook, she was a 23rd level cleric and "Divine Emissary". In late 3rd edition, she was mentioned in Drow of the Underdark as being a Cleric 24, modifies a few of her stats, but refers to it's predecessor. Now, she's a Level 28 Elite Soldier (Leader) and the "Spider Queen's Emissary". So, apparently, there's been some change in not only her power level in the "ascension", but also in her abilities, after her "death". Mayhap that the poison was a part of the ritual in which she "died" and achieved this apothiosis.
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