Lolth (dNetHack)

Religion in NetHack
priests alignment alignment record altars atheism anger gods sacrifice prayer turn undead

For her appearance in other variants, see Lolth.

Lolth is the goddess of the drow in dNetHack and notdNetHack, and serves as the chaotic deity for the pantheon of every drow character, minus drow Pirates, Binders and Anachrononauts.

As an engraving

For certain characters, engraving the name "Lolth" acts as an analogue to Elbereth for elven in dNetHack and notdNetHack characters, and functions similarly to how Elbereth does in NetHack 3.4.3. One critical difference is that engraving Lolth and scaring a monster of higher level than the character will drain alignment record, and will not work against any monster if alignment record is at 0 or less - Lolth encourages her followers to seek higher stations in life, and that includes possessing enough guile to bring down far stronger enemies without relying on her.

A drow character that has not turned traitor can use Lolth's engraved name this way if they are playing as any role except Anachrononaut (since drow Anachrononauts are myrkalfar and considered distinct from the drow of the present eras) and worship Pen'a, the deep blue sea, or any unholy god except for Ghaunadaur, the Eddergud, or Ilsensine. Lolth does not work in the Anachrononaut quest, regardless of who is engraving it, and also does not work for drow Binders of gnostic alignment (i.e. those not using a helm of opposite alignment).

Engraving Lolth works on the vast majority of hostile monsters, but will not work on any of the following:

• any ​@ human or elf
• any monster that is blind
• @ shopkeepers
• @ guards
• Chokhmah Sephirah
• @ Wizard of Yendor
• Lamashtu
• the elder priest
• Great Cthulhu
• the Riders
• any monster that has Rider-style revival (e.g., Axus)

Engraving Lolth only has a chance of affecting some other monsters:

• Chaos, with a ¹⁄₂ chance
• Demogorgon, with a ¹⁄₃ chance
• Asmodeus, with a ¹⁄₉ chance

Unlike Elbereth, Lolth does also work on the following types of monsters:

• lawful angels and minions
• neutral angels and minions
• chaotic angels and minions
• H minotaurs

Origin

Lolth is a major character in the settings of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise. First created by Gary Gygax for the World of Greyhawk campaign setting, she later appeared in the Forgotten Realms setting, and 3rd edition made her a member of the 'default' pantheon. In those various settings, the drow pantheon of gods will always consist at minimum of the leader Lolth, as well as Kiaransalee, Vhaeraun, and Zinzerena, with the goddess Eilistraee as the sole good member. Lolth makes her debut in the 1978 module Descent into the Depths of the Earth, and her role as a deity is first explored in the 1980 Deities & Demigods.

Lolth (Lloth in the Drow language) is the Demon Queen of Spiders and the chief goddess of the Drow, whose realm lays within the 66th layer of the Abyss, also known as the Demonweb Pits. Lolth usually appears in the form of an "exquisitely beautiful" female dark elf that is sometimes covered in clinging spiders, or in the guise of a drider-like black widow spider. She is a cold and cruel goddess that revels in betrayal and bloodshed, toying with her minions and victims alike: she desires little more than absolute fealty and obedience from all drow and (secretly) the worship of humans and other elves, with any questioning of her motives or wisdom considered a sin.

Lolth views those less powerful than herself as either pawns or foes, while holding those more powerful than herself in contempt - naturally, she admires ambition even more than loyalty in her followers, and inspires them to employ any and every means necessary to ascend to a higher station in life, especially if it involves deception, betrayal, and murder. Guile and political ruthlessness are the signs of Lolth's favorites: those who blindly obeyed Lolth's demands would find themselves quickly led to their deaths. Lolth uses this to foment unending chaos amongst the drow, ostensibly to weed out the weak and complacent among her servants, but clearly just as much (if not far more so) for her own amusement.

Lolth highly favors drow women to the point that her clergy is almost exclusively female, with a few scant exceptions; they act as rulers of their communities and strictly follow the Spider Queen's will in forcing the drow into extreme subservience and the constant conflict that dominates their lives. Even male drow, who were considered unclean and often second-class citizens, were expected to display complete and total loyalty, and she took vengeful notice if one abandoned her faith. Success among drow followers of Lolth means paying attention to her fickle and ever-changing wants: even those she played favorites with inevitably find her turning on them without warning - though Lolth was technically capable of kindness and aid to those she fancied, and always gave one chance for the disfavored to redeem themselves, she could never be relied on and her ultimate motivation was almost always manipulative.