Eilistraee: hey mom…I know you and dad are split up cause you tried to kill him,but have you considered….being kind? Lolth: “….I have no daughter, only spiders”
Her messengers being Moths is such a perfect analogy for people escaping the underdark like moths in media are always trying to go closer to light like how a Drow would try to escape the underdark by following the sunlight coming from a cave opening
@@chicken4090 I think they mean that in media moths are depicted as being _attracted_ to light while in real life they are more _confusing_ them for natural light sources like the sun or moon, it messes with their instincts.
Currently playing a Bladesinging Wizard Drow who's trying to follow her. When he starts his Bladesong feature, he whispers "Dark Maiden guide my blade."
For me, I’ve found that Twilight Cleric + College of Swords Bard is the most fitting representation for a character wholly devoted to Eilistraee. It calls upon moon-based spells, heals *extremely* well, can help guide the lost out of darkness, and even light up the night around her. Adding 3 levels of Swords Bard allows her to perform flourishes that can act as sword dances. Oh, and Spiritual Weapon can be used to flavor as a Dance to call upon Eilistraee’s bastard sword, because it becomes the weapon most tied to your deity upon summoning.
Bladesinger Wizards are a perfect fit for anybody wanting their wizard to have a connection with Eiliastaee. Not only is Bladesinging originally only for Elves, but with her you could have a more direct approach.
I have try to create a moondancer of Eillistraee without using homebrew stuff, it was ... quite a challenge ^^" the closer I have succeed to be is by making an acolyte background female drow (or half-drow) woman bladesinger into the 12th level and then multiclassing her with 8 levels of twillight domain clerc
On point writeup for Eilistraee, and I really like how you have Eilistraee appearing as maiden, mother, or child to people who need different things. I think it fits her well, especially since often people who meet her aren't aware to have met a deity, as Eilistraee strives to not overly influence people's choices when offering her help. The mysterious maiden, mother, or child can be used very well for this purpose, and can give birth to a plethora of myths and legends. On Halisstra, just one thing: Ed Greenwood explained that she wasn't able to kill Eilistraee (and the crescent blade had lost its powers by then), she only killed Qilué. Qilué's soul would be transported to the Weave (like all chosen) alongside most of Eilistraee's power, leaving Eilistraee unable to act as a deity for a century or so, but still alive and able to communicate with her people. The whole Spellplague thing prevented Mystra from returning Eilistraee's power to her until the Second Sundering. Meanwhile, Qilué might not have a body, but she's a Weaveghost and able to interact with people and do stuff. So, basically, both Eilistraee and Qilué would still be usable in a campaign set in the years between Spellplague and Second Sundering.
One of my players was a human who was taken captive by drow at a young age. Grew up suffering under them and was sold to a rich family when he was older. Given to their daughter as a slave, they eventually spent quality time together and would sneak away to share stories and she would teach him of Eilistraee, forbidden among her people. She fell pregnant and they were found out and he was punished and was going to be executed. A few of her friends risked themselves to free him and he returned to the surface, met up with a hearty adventuring group, went back down and kicked ass, found her locked up, and rescued her, married her in a winter wonderland setting, and retired to be the best dad ever. Her starting a church of Eilistraee on the surface and them both helping disaffected drow escape and learn to safely live topside.
I'm currently playing a re-flavored Hexblade Warlock whose patron is Eilistraee. He was originally a performer who married into a noble Drow family in the Underdark, and narrowly escaped their decimation at the hands of their political enemies. Only escaped because of a magical weapon he took from their reliquary, through which Eilistraee formed a pact with him, and fought his way to the surface to make a new life. She initially masked her identity to him, and through their contract tried to nudge him away from the ways of Lolth. He's still struggling to see good in people, and to be less ruthless and selfish, but made good strides through his bonds with his fellow party members. Although he doesn't wield a sword, he still fights with very dance-like motions, and imbues every spell and strike with passionate showmanship and exuberance. Sorry for the long text, just thought I'd throw in my way of linking other classes to her. It worked super well for me so far! Great video, and lovely drawing!
My drow gloomstalker is a follower of Eilistraee. It doesn’t show much in the story yet but he is known to very much helpful in the community he has “settled” down in (quotes being used because he owns an inn in the town but leaves it in the care of his hirelings to adventure, he doesn’t run day to day). At this time it isn’t known to the party that the large reasoning behind him him doing this is being of Eilistraee’s teachings. Sure, he might do it anyway, be he knows to do it because he learned it’s a way to worship Eilistraee from his mother, a runaway drow from the underdark. He himself is surface born. He is devout to her both because he grew up with her teachings but also because he sees this goddess as having always having looked after his family with great care. He sees her a responsible figure and goddess who is worthy of giving his loyalty to as she looks after, or tries to look after, the actual needs of her people and worshippers and provides practical teachings for them. I also decided this was a good goddess for my ranger to follow because part of his journey in this story is that he is a young adult elf out in the wider world on his own for the first time. And so yeah, he looks after his community and uses the skills he knows to do it. He even takes up practical skills too. He is learning woodcarving from his kobold companion and was taught by an elderly lady in town weaver skills. He uses both skills to make little trinkets and gifts and even add some nuanced touches to his inn he owns, some that add pleasant touches just to bring a smile to the faces of those who visit. He likes to make fabric flowers actually with his weaver skills. It’s quite funny why. Well, that part goes to his knowledge of Lolth. He sees the Frostmaiden, a goddess of winter, as goddess very similar in cruelty and temperament as Lolth and so…my ranger has taken to leaving fabric snow drop flowers in places of worship for the Frostmaiden. It’s his way of being passive aggressive. I figured the contrast of his devotion to Eilistraee and his passive aggression with the Frostmaiden would be interesting foils to each other. He sees Eilistraee as worthy of his devotion and not the Frostmaiden because of the differences with which each goddess treats those in their care. And with the added overlap my character sees in the Frostmaiden in being so much like Lolth, well, he has no trust in her whatsoever. Now, so far, my dm has done little to play into my character’s devotion to Eilistraee. He has given my character a bow that can deal either necrotic or radiant damage if I take a penalty like what sharpshooter can do, and this is weapon is somewhat thematic in design for Eilistraee but it’s obvious to the party but the dm says that he was inspired to give my character this after our talk about Eilistraee so it is connected at least. And yes, I know Eilistraee doesn’t use a bow. My character does in honor of his ranger step father who taught him his base skills and I think Eilistraee would be very proud of him for that and would respect his honoring of this sentimental bond. Anyway, apologies if this is a bit messy. I type this with little sleep.
I am going to play a drow rogue who could not make himself kill her father and because he reminders her of herself, she chose to protect him from her mother and bring him out of the underdark gifting him with a token that helps to hide him from her mother's gaze
This is by far my favorite Goddess and I really respect how much detail you went into. This might just be my favorite video on her. Hope you keep making content!
My favorite character that I've come up with so far is a Half Drow Beastmaster and follower of Eilistraee named Qioran. His father is a human from a remote laje fishing village, and his mother met him on her Run and they fell in love. Qioran grew up in the Eilistraean faith, and the fact that his very existence was made possible by her outgoing and tolerant teachings made her resonate with him quite a bit (it helped that his parents and their communities were great people, in his mom's case spurned on by her goddess). Growing up among hunters and fisherman and around animals allowed him to get to know the ways of the animals as well, and made him include beasts as part of thst ideal of harmony as well, and he bonded with his primal owl named Dirth when he was a teenager. Now the two of them roam the lands spreading the good word, showing what drow can really be like, and defending both nature and civilization from all manner of threats. I'd love to play him again in a less meme ridden and more lore driven game; as fun as that campaign was, I wasnt able to get the full potential out of him
Starlight and Shadows trilogy was my first set of d&d novels after I'd been playing 3 or 4 years and are the reason I fell in love with the forgotten realms.
@@kira68200 Most non-elves can't imagine a good drow let alone a good drow deity. For elves, her very existence throws a monkey wrench into their dogma that the drow were responsible for the Crown Wars.
@@kannonball5789 "While the Dark Maiden and the Seldarine were allies, and despite her efforts towards the reconciliation of elves and drow, their relationship was a difficult one because of the division between the two people, and because of the perception that many elves had of their "dark kin". This was especially true for Shevarash, with whom Eilistraee barely managed to keep an uneasy truce. Eilistraee was polite to all the elven powers, but she was only close to Erevan Ilesere.[4] In the 1370s DR Eilistraee, moved her divine realm from Ysgard to Arvandor. It wasn't known whether the Seldarine allowed her to do so out of the material necessity presented by a shift in the cosmology, or if that was the first sign of her efforts towards reconciliation bearing results."
My Ilmatari Paladin’s best friend (love interest too) is a Eilistraee Ranger. They are working on ending the suffering of not only the surface world, but the under dark as well. Times are hard for the both of them, but they have each others light, and their pantheons backing.
I have a rouge mastermind male drow that fled the opression of lolth. He found Eilistraee and the Sword Dancers notice that his slim frame and cunning tounge would be of use as a whisper in the ear of royalty to keep the races at peace with the right ruler on the throne. Hes often disguised as a wood elf to blend in.
Conveniently enough, this video showed up just when I was creating a male drow, Astral self monk/Echo Knight, trying to emphasize the fact that even if he didn't had the physical strength drow matrons had to oppress males like him, Eilistraee showed him how to use the strength of the soul. So, his Astral arms and Echo are actually moonlight blades that hover around, moved by elegance and not by sheer strength!
Artificers are tinkerers, and a kid growing up under a smith might start playing with weapons and making trick weapons, enchanting their creations with their sword dance.
I am playing a second play through of BG3 as a follower of The Dark Madian. I wanted to embody the idea of a sword dancer and used a mod to add the Kensai monk subclass to the game and exclusively use the long sword dedicated to her you can find in the under dark. I would definitely take this idea for a monk subclass that can be dedicated to Eilistraee
In my own homebrew setting, Eilistraee is the chief deity of the drow (now called Aelionus) pantheon, after the defeat and imprisonment of Lolth at the hands of herself, Vhaeraun, Selvetarm, Bahamut, and Tiamat. She is fairly similar to the Eilistraee you described, though with some small personality shifts and a radically different backstory. She has a bit of a temper, though she is enormously skilled at directing that rage only upon those she believes deserve it. That said, an angry Eilistraee is terrifying to behold. She also has a bit of a hedonistic streak, a fatal flaw of hers that is actually integral to her cult. In her clergy's eyes, the pursuit of pleasure, while an innate part of mortal life, can lead to disaster and suffering if left unchecked. Her backstory, meanwhile, throws Corellon to the wayside (because he's more of an omnipotent deity of raw magic that doesn't interfere much in my setting), and instead she is the child of Lolth of Graz'zt, the Dark Prince of Pleasure. I'm still working on the specifics of her backstory, but the gist is that growing up in the Abyssal plane of debauchery and vice is what instilled her hedonistic streak and led to her being quite cruel when she grew up, but her love for her brother Vhaeraun and his mistreatment by the hands of her father was what led to her flight from their mother. Curious to know your thoughts as to these changes!
Some notes on Qiiue (pronounced Ki'lou), she was not born to the same woman that Mystra inhabited (Elue Shundar/Silverhand) as her other sisters, but a Drow woman, Iliryztara Veladorn, who's child was stillborn and was killing her (Illirytara). Eilistraee wanted to save Iliryztara and Mystra wanted to allow Qilue (actual name Eresseae) a chance to be born. Eilistraee and Mystra agreed and placed Qilue's spirit into the child returning it to life with Qilue's spirit, thus Qilue became a bridge and grew the friendship between the goddesses being a chosen for both.
Had an idea for awhile of a drider cleric of Eilistraee. Formerly a minor attaché to a high priestess who earned Llolth’s wrath when her fellow acolytes framed her and she let it all go off perfectly. Follows the good Drow goddess not only in hopes of becoming a Drow again but to be able to not be so alone, even if she has to wait until her afterlife.
I didn’t know about this goddess and now I’m looking forward to implementing her into my game to chanllenge my players way of thinking about the drow. Especially since they’ve been fighting a lot recently
Yay! You did my favorite goddessfrom Dnd! I have always wanted to play a character that follows her, though I could never decide what type of character to play. A human Monk of mercy since they not only heal but get proficiency in performance and follows her after being saved by her followers, a dwarf Glory Paladin that had fought along side her followers against some Mind Flayers and liked his comrades so much he joined them… or a drow cleric of twilight that joined her after finally seeing the moon for the first time.
Quile Veladorn died while destroying a cursed crescent blade in which resided a Balor(sp?). It was corrupting the drow in the goddess's temple, but she was still able to free them from corruption before she died. Besides swordsmanship, she also had powerful magic because both of her parents were inhabited by an avatar of Mystra. Unfortunately, her father thought that his wife was possessed, so he killed her. He later found out it was his own goddess, Mystra, and he hated her from then on.
I got several potential choices for rogue: 1) Soulknife: As Eilistraee is an enemy of the evil forces of the Underdark, this would include the psionic Mindflayers. This archetype could be both her followers' means of employing psychic powers of their own against the Mindflayers as well as a reference to Eilistraee being the goddess of swordwork. 2) Swashbuckler, rogues whose swordplay relies on swiftness and grace than brute force. This would definitely be a callback to Eilistraee's teachings in combat. 3) Phantom. I know the archetype sounds like it would be signed with evil. But I can imagine the dead as being priestesses who either died in combat or performed the Last Dance. Their spirits guiding, protecting and empowering the rogue. Also, I kinda want to get rid of the stereotype of "necromancy = bad". The word itself pretty much means oracle/divination (manteia) through the dead (nekro), they call upon the departed for counseling and guidance and some necromancers even invoke gods when performing it. 4) Inquisitive. A bit of a stretch but I can see why being perceptive and insightful in finding hidden things or weaknesses would be valued amongst Eilistraee's followers, who have to hunt monsters and fight against the secretive forces of the Underdark. As for Wizards, 1) Bladesinger. I mean, she is an elf, a race from whom the art originated from. Also, she's the goddess of swordplay. Easy choice for me. 2) Abjuration. Her desire to protect the helpless, save the drow and ward off evil seems like a good fit too. 3) Transmutation. A bit of a stretch but her followers being able to change sex, her being a elf (originally formless, shape-shifting spirits), her desire to "change" the state of the drow, could potentially apply here. Not sure though. As for artificer, if I recall correctly, in your Lolth video you mentioned wanting to showcase Lolth's artistic side? So, NPC's can be artificers to reflect that. Considering that Eilistraee is her daughter, maybe she can be the same. The fact that she inherited some of her mother's traits also show that in her eyes, not everything her mother does is bad and she does still somewhat love her (maybe this is reciprocated albeit begrudgingly). Also, she's the goddess of beauty and promotes creativity and artworks so artificer could work. Maybe the Battle Smith archetype, not sure though. Anyway, sorry for the long rant. I stumbled upon this channel and was amazed. Your lore guide and artwork are incredible.
The dark maiden She whose name is not spoken This goddess is a safe haven For drow who are broken She dances in the moonlight She wields her her sword She vowed to leave her bow every night For it struck her father its cursed cord She calls drow to dance in the moonlight She calls nonelves to darken their skin In this way she makes tolerance her light She chose exile to guide the drow back to their now distant kin
I have a Tabaxi Arcane Archer that prays to Eilistraee. In my backstory, I was orphaned young and taken in by a surface dwelling drow who fell out with his mother when he disavowed Lolth. My character believes that Eilistraee is who allows him access to the limited magic he can use. She really is one of the coolest deities.
Once i played a male Drow, Elaran SIlverleaf. He was a Paladin of Protection (HB) and a Bard multiclass, who devoted himself to tenets of Eilistraee. I managed to pull off an interesting dynamic of a gentle giant (quite tall and strong) and a fearsome warrior who could smite the crap out of people. My favourite moment i roleplayed was turning a fight around with silvery barbs, when one of the players was about to be incapacitated by the enemy we KNEW was gravely wounded. Due to my silvery barbs, the attack failed and i said "Shake the pillar of heavens!" as the other player landed a crit with advantage. To be fair, it feels easier when you create a character devoted to a diety, more natural to roleplay them, my best characters were 2 paladins and a Ranger.
I’m inclined to agree. I think the abandonment of Lolth might be a central part of his character, so a new goddess kind of waltzing up and offering to sooth that wound might have softened the character in arc in the writers eyes? I have no idea, but I agree they’d be a great fit
@@itslegendlore The author of the Drizzt series, from everything I have heard about him atleast, seems to be extremely biased against Eilistraee & her worshippers.
you are one of my favorite youtubers. your videos are so amazing but so underrated. i have no idea how youre not more popular. please never stop making content we love it
I have a wizard player who is connected to Eilistraee! Drow society seems to dictate men as spellcasters of the arcane and female as divine spellcasters because they like to make clerics of Lolth out of them. The character is a female drow who wished for a better life where she could whatever she wanted to be like a wizard, and Eilistraee guided her out of the Underdark. 11:25
for wizard none would fit more then the sword dancer. its said to have been used primarally by elves. the majority of Elestrays fallowers and you use a song and dance abilitys flinging magic an swipping with a sword. its kinda perfect
So it’s funny. I started a character in bg3 without knowing hardly any of the lore. I knew enough to know that if I wanted lore and plot I should pick a wizard. I saw that drow had the best dark vision and thought that Lolth-Sworn seemed like it’d bring an interesting facet - not knowing anything about it. I made a female Lolth sworn drow wizard without realizing how weird in context that is - technically. However, I feel like it brings a great depth to the character. By act 2 I created so much hc for her lol! Having that push to become a cleric when she didn’t want to be and be pressured to ignore arcane study - among many other reasons I won’t bum strangers out with - led her to something drastic and be on the outs with Lolth Sworn drow. Had she not been given aid and comfort by followers of Eilistraee, she’d be dead or worse. She’s very grateful to Eilistraee, but still won’t become a cleric because that’s not who she is. She’s a nerd. Her experience with Eilistraee pretty much turned her into a diety anarchist haha. If I play her at the table, which I hope to do, I’d resolve it by taking a performer feat - cause if you can escape a cult, even with help, you are probably pretty good at deception and persuasion anyway. Also unrelatedly, I do think about how Lolth is said to have given her elves red eyes to purposely make them terrifying. I see a parallel with the Greek myth of Medusa. Medusa was given her snakes from Athena - some interpretations imply that was a protection from the unwanted attention from men. Thank you for the video!
On the, what, third or fourth rewatch of this, I don't even know, but this did give me some ideas for a story I'm writing which was inspired by the Forgotten Realms but is not set there. Eilistraee doesn't exist in the world I've created, but the chief god of the surface elves and primary goddess of the subterranean dark elves do have a dark elf daughter, in my world a goddess of magic, mysteries, and destiny, and she encounters my MC, herself a wood elf, three times over the course of 70 years. First, as a dark elf child, then as the same child 20 years older, then the same young maiden 50 years older and it is after the more matronly form gives my MC a short quest, she reveals herself as the goddess she actually is and confers a blessing on my MC and her relationship with a dark elf warrior woman. The jury is out on the personal blessing, but the blessing on the relationship I've been thinking of having it be that so long as the goddess remains, the lovers will reincarnate and find their way back to each other.
My priestess of Eilistraee is a Bard who uses her expertise in dance & acrobatics as a spell focus & substitute for certain somatic components. With a sage background, a familial connection to lore practice, frequent use of ritual spells, and expertise in arcana, she appears in many ways a wizard. Nonetheless, her duty is to help travelers & refugees to escape to the World Above, and she will appear however & do whatever it takes to carry that out to success.
I was just working on the background of my trans woman cleric/bard of Eilistraee, and I hadn't even known about the Changedance until happening upon your video! She's definitely one of the 'male' priests who found the 'experience of the opposite sex' more enlightening than others. This was a fantastic video :)
I have a whipser halfling bard who was kidnapped by lolth but saved by Eilistraee followers and so he followers her and sings her songs knowing not all songs are meant to be happy songs
I'm playing an arcan trickster rogue and he worships Eilistraee I have my back story where my mother got me out of the underdark to the moon elves on the surface my mother stole a pair of daggers that are from Lolth's weapon cash that do poison damage on a 18-20 hit as a bonus damage dealt. So my character grew up in the moon Elven village, so he knows she is the way. As a twist, my dm has hinted that my character is an avatar to Lolth, Eilistraee, and the son of Lolth its kinda a hunt to claim me.
I’ve used the rogue skill list to make a courtesan and follower of Selune. I just avoided the popular skill choices and went for the skills my character would need for her profession
She has been my favorite goddess for years now... Oh and what about Bladesinger wizards. I've made both Bladesinger and sword Bards tied to her. Yeah there was a time were the only deity's I tied to PC's was her and umberlee.
I have played two worshipers of Eilistraee. A Chultan born Half Drow Waterdeep noble Bronze Draconic sorcerer two weapon style Arcane Archer and a Water Genasii Naval Officer Devotion Paladin of Eilistraee Bronze Draconic sorcerer. Because of the rules for Adventures League at that time my Water Genasii could not be a Divine Soul sorcerer, so I went with what was available🤷♂.
How about an artificer that uses strands of moonlight to create smoke bombs to help their party escape from a unwinnable situation. Or wielding moonfire to blind their enemies. 😊 I also thought about a rogue using moonbeams to remain invisible in order to either escape or to assassinate a mind flayer bbeg.
Hi , awesome videos, man ave you find anything about her relationship if the is any with the Seldarin Tethrin Veraldé, demigod of bladesingers and swordsmanship.
I would argue that artificer isnt that hard to fit into her followers. Because of the artistry when crafting a item. A Armorer when forging out its armor. Etc etc. Making little magical trinkets to give to kids just for a smile. Things like that. But that's more rp flavor. Which is half the game to me.
@@itslegendlore well, props to you. Got me thinking of a bladesinger/artificer (dont know which) build that fallows her and her tenets and teachings. Just rolling it around in my head, till I can crunch the numbers.
Is the Run ritual specifically related to drow and their reputation, or is it just any sort of risky missionary? I have heard that these who aren't drow should pretend to be one, but it sounds kinda cringy (especially considering that many races can't do it even with magic, so it will look pretentious at best and offensive at worst), and the idea of just going to an enemy territory and trying to show that you aren't a monster and peace is possible (regardless of who you are and who your enemies are) sounds like something that makes more sense.
Already done my friend :) it’s older and not as in-depth as my newer videos but I’ll definitely go back one day: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Lzv8OeMmpNw.html
I love how modern Wizards of the Coast/game developers in general are TERRIFIED of portraying the Drow - ANY of them - as black-skinned (even though they have been described as "ebon" and "obsidian" since their conception); consequently, we end up with a lot of "dark" elves that look like Skeeter and Smurfs.
forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Qilu%C3%A9_Veladorn Are you sure? I double checked the History section of her wiki it had said she was born to a human couple, but let me know if there's another piece of material i missed
@@itslegendlore Yes, I am sure. The entry is not entirely correct, because the 3e FR Campaign Setting used as source for the sentence you quoted in the video left left important parts out (which BTW are mentioned later the article): ... At the time of Elue's death, however, Mystra was left with a problem: what to do with the unborn seventh child. She had to act quickly; her own power would soon burn the infant to nothingness. The goddess cast about for a pregnant female of sufficient hardiness to act as a replacement birth mother-and found Iliryztara Veladorn, a fierce drow adventuress leading a war band toward the surface not far beneath the spot where Dornal and Elu6 had been walking. Iliryztara had been cast out of her home city for refusing to kneel to priestesses of Lolth. Instead she followed the drow goddess Eilistraee, and she was journeying to found her own community of like-minded dark elves. Unbeknownst to her, the extreme rigors of the journey had killed her own unborn daughter. Switching the two unborn babes would save both Qilué and Iliryztara. Mystra perceived more beyond this, too. Eilistraee had plans for Iliryztara and was even now watching over her worshiper, wondering how to preserve her life before the dead child within her -poisoned her. ... (The Seven Sisters pp.7-8) This makes clear that Qilué was born to a drow and not to a human couple.
@@barbarossarotbart hmmm thats a very strange and confusing set of circumstances xD they need to edit that to be a bit more clear cuz i didn't get that on my first read over but it makes sense
