Lloth

Lloth (also spelled Lolth), widely feared as The Spider Queen, is a malevolent deity of deceit, shadows, and spiders. Classified among the pantheon of The Betrayer Gods, her worship is defined by secrecy, sacrifice, and an absolute affinity for arachnids. Her influence is most potently felt in subterranean depths like the Underdark, where her faithful work tirelessly to establish undisputed dominion. In divination, she is represented by the Tarot card the Queen of Swords, symbolizing deceit, traps, shadows, and hidden agendas, traditionally depicted on custom cards as a spider hanging in its web.

Worship, Altars, and Divine Manifestations

In the ancient depths of Wave Echo Cave, a Drider (a type of fallen Drow who is half spider, half Dark Elf) known as Nezznar (“The Spider”) defiled the sacred altar of Moradin, the All-Hammer, rededicating it as an altar of Lloth. He used this desecrated site to torture captives, including the gnomish scholar Dusty, in a bid to pry loose the secrets of the Forge of Spells and the Pact of Phandelver. Nezznar frequently prayed to his “mighty Queen” and “pretty Queen,” seeking to spread her dark webs across the entirety of the cavern.

Nezznar employed invisible, teleporting Phase Spiders to carry his written orders to the surface. When a red-cloaked human messenger brought undesirable news, the enraged Nezznar sacrificed him to Lolth in a dark ritual of vengeance, praying: “Vengeance upon the Five for killing your loyal servants.”

The dark altar was ultimately purged during a decisive assault by the Magnificent Five. During the battle, the druid Nalini summoned a sphere of magical flame that incinerated the webs and spider eggs clinging to the defiled shrine. Though two Phase Spiders emerged to defend the altar, they were slain, and Nezznar was defeated. Upon his death, a final, horrifying sign of Lolth’s power manifested: thousands of tiny spiders poured from Nezznar’s eyes and mouth, fleeing into the deep crevices of the cavern.

Divine Plots, alliances, and the Zhentarim Schism

Lolth’s faithful are currently embroiled in a massive, secretive conspiracy involving an alliance with dragon-aligned factions. This partnership is highly unusual, as Drow and Lolth’s followers traditionally detest dragons. Under the terms of their bargain with the Cult of the Dragon, the “Dragon ones” were permitted to claim dominion over the surface world, while Lolth’s faithful would assert absolute control over the Underdark. Nezznar parleyed with an envoy known as the Jade Wyrmspeaker to seal this agreement, seeking the Forge of Spells’ magical bounty to ensure no one could challenge them in the subterranean realms. Furthermore, Nezznar’s service to Lolth was intended to grant her a distinct advantage over Asmodeus, the Lord of the Nine Hells, by stealing a “great treasure” from the archdevil without his immediate knowledge.

This conspiracy was heavily intertwined with a major internal rift within the Zhentarim (the Black Network). Nezznar the Spider operated as the Zhentarim’s leader in the Underdark, but his dark ambitions fractured the guild. The more moderate or traditional leaders of the Zhentarim—including Lucian Nightshade of Neverwinter, Halia Thorton of Phandalin, and Jamra Gleamsilver of Waterdeep—opposed Nezznar’s pro-dragon alliance. Nezznar dismissed them in his journals, writing that living so long among the Lord’s Alliance Great Cities had made them “weak.”

Nezznar instead aligned himself with the more violent and radical factions of the Zhentarim, such as the missing Pereghost. However, despite sharing similar goals, Lolth’s will remains notoriously strict and selective; according to Nezznar’s journal, Lolth explicitly forbade him from cooperating with certain other radical groups.

Influence and Power

Lolth’s divine presence exerts a powerful, corrupting pull over arachnids and those who assume their forms. When the druid Nalini wildshaped into a spider to scout the makeshift kitchens and subterranean passages of Wave Echo Cave, she narrowly escaped falling under the direct, paralyzing influence of Lolth.