Eilistraee, also referred to as "The Dark Maiden", is a fictional deity in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. In the game world, she is a goddess in the drow pantheon, and her portfolios are song, dance, swordwork, hunting, moonlight and beauty.
Eilistraee's name is pronounced as EEL-iss-TRAY-yee", "eel-ISS-tray-ee", "eel-iss-tray-yee" or "eil-iss-tray-yee".
In the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, Eilistraee is the daughter of Corellon Larethian and of Araushnee (who later took the name Lolth after being punished by Corellon), a free-spirited and kind-hearted goddess, with a fiery streak in her personality. When, during her youth, a host of evil deities assaulted Arvandor (her home), Araushnee's treachery almost made her slay her own father. Even though she was cleared from any guilt, Eilistraee chose to share her mother's exile, because she knew that the drow would need her light and help in the dark times to come. Since after the descent of the drow, in the present era of the setting, Eilistraee tries her best to be a mother goddess to her people and bring them the hope of a new life: she fights to lead them back to the lands of light, helping them to flourish and prosper in harmony with all other races, free from Lolth's tyranny. Hers is an uphill battle, however, as her power is little and she is opposed by all the gods of the Dark Seldarine. But, despite having to overcome many hardships and setbacks, Eilistraee has never given up fighting for her people.
In the 1370s DR, her conflict with her mother over the souls of the drow race ultimately led to Eilistraee's defeat and disappearance. It lasted for about a century, until The Sundering (c. 1480s DR), when Eilistraee returned to life and to her followers.
Publication history
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989–1999) Eilistraee was first detailed in Ed Greenwood's The Drow of the Underdark (1991). Before being detailed in published material, Eilistraee already existed in Ed Greenwood's original Forgotten Realms. When asked to create more drow deities, the author used this opportunity to make the Dark Dancer official.
Her role in the cosmology of the Planescape campaign setting was described in On Hallowed Ground (1996).
Eilistraee received a very detailed description in Demihuman Deities (1998).
Eilistraee is described as one of the good deities that celestials can serve in the supplement Warriors of Heaven (1999).
Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000–2007) Eilistraee appears in 3rd edition in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting book (2001), and was further described in Faiths and Pantheons (2002).
Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition (2014) Eilistraee is one of the Forgotten Realms deities that made a reappearance during the event known as The Sundering. She is mentioned as such in the novels Spellstorm and Death Masks by Ed Greenwood. In the D&D sourcebook Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, Eilistraee receives a brief description, and is listed as one of the deities active in the post-Sundering era of the Forgotten Realms. The Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes includes a full entry for Eilistraee.
Description
In the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, Eilistraee is the patroness and protectress of those rare dark elves who yearn for a return to life on the surface Realms, at peace with other races, and to abandon the endless conflicts and intrigues that dominate the lives of most drow in the Lolth-dominated underground society. However she is also open to individuals of all races that wish for all people to live in harmony and peace (and some of them can be counted among her worshippers: humans, gnomes, elves, shapeshifters (children of the moon), half-orcs and half-elves). Artists, like bards, musicians and dancers, and hunters can also pray to the Dark Maiden.
The Dark Maiden's home plane is the Demonweb Pits, along with the rest of the drow pantheon, which was originally located in the 66th layer of the Abyss; however, following the events of The War of the Spider Queen, the Demonweb Pits are no longer part of the Abyss, but a separate plane in its own right. She, however, has a home at Arvandor where she does not have to contend with her mother.
Eilistraee's symbol is a bastard sword standing vertically, point up, outlined against a full moon and surrounded by a nimbus of filaments representing the goddess' ankle-long hair, all in silver. An alternative version is a nude drow female, depicted with long hair, wielding a bastard sword and dancing before a full moon (this version is a stylized representation of the Dark Dancer herself).