Eilistraee

{
  "name": "Eilistraee",
  "page": 106,
  "plane": "Arborea (Arvandor)",
  "title": "God of song and moonlight",
  "__prop": "deity",
  "source": "FRHoF",
  "entries": [
    "In realms such as the Underdark where worship of Lolth is prevalent, drow and other folk who oppose the Spider Queen turn to Eilistraee as a beacon of hope and freedom. She is the drow god of dance, song, beauty, moonlight, swordplay, and hunting.",
    "Eilistraee was born to the gods Lolth and Corellon Larethian. Melancholy yet defiant, she resents the iron grip her mother has over drow cities such as {@book Menzoberranzan|FRHoF|2|Menzoberranzan}. In response, Eilistraee encourages her followers to pursue their own destinies, which might mean fleeing the Underdark and living on the surface. She communicates with her worshipers through dance-like dreams awash in gentle moonlight. In recent years, Eilistraee's message of freedom and harmony has begun to echo beyond drow society. Folk in regions plagued by conflict or oppression might enter Eilistraee's worship after being inspired by a story of a hopeful future that Eilistraee can provide.",
    "Followers of Eilistraee show their gratitude to the god by dancing beneath every full moon. Her priests are passionate advocates of the arts, especially song and dance. Temples to Eilistraee are some of the few places willing to teach the elven technique of bladesinging, and travelers visit from afar to learn this ancient skill. Her priests practice a variant known as sword dancing, which blends bladesinging with bardic arts from the College of Dance. Eilistraee's temples in the Underdark are refuges from the region's subterranean perils, concealed with powerful magic and requiring a sword-shaped key to enter.",
    "Eilistraee inspires two main adventuring orders: the Silverhair Knights and the Darksong Knights. The Silverhair Knights demonstrates the strength that lies in mercy and compassion. The order engages in combat only when absolutely necessary, even then strictly adhering to nonlethal techniques. The Darksong Knights is a smaller order, dedicated to hunting and destroying yochlols and Lolth's other demonic agents.",
    "Eilistraee's Chosen are diplomats, traversing the surface and the Underdark alike. They put their lives on the line to broker mutual understanding in even the most unlikely places."
  ],
  "altNames": [
    "The Dark Maiden",
    "Lady of the Dance",
    "Lady Silverhair"
  ],
  "pantheon": "Faerûnian",
  "symbolImg": {
    "href": {
      "path": "deities/FRHoF/Eilistraee.webp",
      "type": "internal"
    },
    "type": "image",
    "width": 850,
    "credit": "Clint Lockwood",
    "height": 1303
  },
  "worshipers": "Bladesingers, elves, performing artists",
  "_isEnhanced": true,
  "previousVersions": [
    {
      "name": "Eilistraee",
      "page": 56,
      "__prop": "deity",
      "source": "MTF",
      "symbol": "Sword-wielding, dancing female drow silhouetted against the full moon",
      "domains": [
        "Life",
        "Light",
        "Nature"
      ],
      "entries": [
        "Most drow know nothing of Eilistraee. Matron mothers of the most powerful houses closely guard the scrolls that chronicle her existence. They retain them for the sake of remaining aware of the enemy they describe: a drow god who would spirit away all of Lolth's worshipers to the surface world.",
        "The matron mothers warn those who go to the surface on raids to retreat if they can see the moon-practical advice, it would seem. But an equally important reason is that Eilistraee is known to work her wiles under the light of the moon, so that drow are more susceptible to her lure at such times. The matrons also direct the raiders to flee back underground if any of their number hear music they find appealing, such as a parent's lullaby or the chorus of a rousing song carried on the mind, because Eilistraee's call to drow who would be free of Lolth's web is often delivered within dulcet tunes that aren't of otherworldly origin.",
        "Eilistraee is a god of moonlight, song, dance, and, most important, the rejection of the evil ways of Lolth. Drow who feel like outsiders in their society, who react with disgust to the evils perpetrated by their kind, who come to the surface and fall in love with the stars-these are the ones who might be pleased to hear Eilistraee's call. If they respond to it by going to the surface and staying there, Eilistraee offers no guarantee of their safety and no promise of acceptance in the world above. But she opens her followers' hearts to the wonder of the nature in the night, and her songs and signs can show a drow how to persevere in that alien environment.",
        "The scrolls that the matron mothers guard so closely attest that Eilistraee turned against Lolth but knew better than to seek solace among the Seldarine. Her position among the other drow gods remains uncertain, as is the fate of the souls of those who turn to her worship. Drow who are beloved by Eilistraee sometimes appear to vanish when they die, as the body dissolves into pale light and leaves no clue to where the soul has gone."
      ],
      "category": "The Dark Seldarine",
      "pantheon": "Drow",
      "province": "Freedom, moonlight, song",
      "alignment": [
        "C",
        "G"
      ],
      "_isEnhanced": true,
      "isReprinted": true,
      "previousVersions": [
        {
          "name": "Eilistraee",
          "page": 23,
          "title": "Goddess of song and moonlight",
          "__prop": "deity",
          "source": "SCAG",
          "symbol": "Sword-wielding dancing drow female silhouetted against the full moon",
          "domains": [
            "Light",
            "Nature"
          ],
          "pantheon": "Drow",
          "alignment": [
            "C",
            "G"
          ],
          "_isEnhanced": true,
          "isReprinted": true
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Eilistraee",
      "page": 23,
      "title": "Goddess of song and moonlight",
      "__prop": "deity",
      "source": "SCAG",
      "symbol": "Sword-wielding dancing drow female silhouetted against the full moon",
      "domains": [
        "Light",
        "Nature"
      ],
      "pantheon": "Drow",
      "alignment": [
        "C",
        "G"
      ],
      "_isEnhanced": true,
      "isReprinted": true
    }
  ]
}