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    Canonfire :: View topic - Lolth in any Languagee....
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    Lolth in any Languagee....
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    Apprentice Greytalker

    Joined: Oct 09, 2014
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    Thu Feb 27, 2020 11:31 pm  
    Lolth in any Languagee....

    I have not had the opportunity to run or play in Queen of the Demonweb Pits, and do not know how they PCs encounter Lolth or how she is portrayed in that module.

    However, I did just finish the novelization for Queen of the Demonweb Pits
    and it got me to thinking.

    Obviously as a goddess, Lolth can have multiple avatars running around various worlds at any given time. Given that, how different are the avatars in Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms?


    Paul Kidd writes her as somewhat flippant and that fits the tone of his novel quite well. My personal take would be that that Lolth would be out of place in some of Salvatore's more serious offerings.

    More importantly, if you've run an adventure that included either background machinations of Lolth or public appearances, how have you played her?

    How does your interpretation of Lolth affect how drow are viewed in your Greyhawk (or homebrew) setting?
    CF Admin

    Joined: Jun 29, 2001
    Posts: 1477
    From: Wichita, KS, USA

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    Fri Feb 28, 2020 6:46 pm  
    Re: Lolth in any Languagee....

    mindseye wrote:
    How does your interpretation of Lolth affect how drow are viewed in your Greyhawk (or homebrew) setting?


    In my Greyhawk campaigns, Lolth is not the sole patron of the drow. Each vault has its own patron, which is why the drow haven't taken over the underworld: in addition to fighting among themselves with each vault, the vaults machinate against one another as well, based on the alliances, intrigues, and rivalries among their demonic patrons.

    Allan.
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    Allan Grohe (grodog@gmail.com)
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    GreySage

    Joined: Aug 03, 2001
    Posts: 3310
    From: Michigan

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    Fri Feb 28, 2020 8:37 pm  

    I used to like the idea (originally from "In the Frost and the Snow" in Dragon #155) that Lolth was a fallen elven goddess, or perhaps an entity who once posed as a goddess and infiltrated the elven pantheon for a time. In this interpretation she's almost a tragic figure, bound intimately to the elven race.

    Now I'm growing increasingly fond of Mazmezz from the Pathfinder RPG, a demon queen of spiders and other vermin worshiped by some of the drow (among other demonic patrons) but although she's known to occasionally take the form of a drow or drider, there's nothing sympathetic or humanlike about her. She's pure alien horror, a chaotic tangle of pinchers and limbs, a monstrous predator rather than a seductive vixen.

    Regardless, whatever she was in the past, I think she's best used as a demon first and foremost and properly viewed in the context of Abyssal politics and rivalries, scheming to gain power at the expense of rivals such as Zuggtmoy and Graz'zt.
    Apprentice Greytalker

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    Fri Feb 28, 2020 9:32 pm  

    The demonic focus would also put the drow further from the whole "one big happy family of elves" concept too. And with different vaults worshipping different demons, like Grodog does in his would only add to the chaos.

    It does further muddy the waters about what the actual difference between Demon, Devil and Deity is. Lolth, a demon grants clerics spells. Asmodeous (at least in FR) grants clerics spells. and Deities everywhere grant spells.

    Is the only real difference between them based on your point of view?
    GreySage

    Joined: Aug 03, 2001
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    Sat Feb 29, 2020 7:23 am  

    mindseye wrote:
    Is the only real difference between them based on your point of view?


    We discussed that last summer in this thread, but basically, Lolth is both a goddess and a demon, and her status as goddess might be very recent. Just as a human like Zagyg or Mayaheine can ascend to true divinity, so can a demon under the right circumstances—but they're still demons. It just means they're more powerful, and this additional power is tied to mortal worshipers.
    Apprentice Greytalker

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    Sun Mar 01, 2020 8:55 am  

    I was even part of that thread!!! Shocked rolleyes

    Oh how the memory degenerates.
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