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War of the spider queen made me think...

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 12:46 am
by Kirintha the Fair
Think they'll do a battery of divinations on a newly redeemed person?

Since their not fools whatever else they are.

Looking at how sincere they are, and if theirsx anyone looking for them, or seeking vengeance against them and how much power they have to achieve it.

Re: War of the spider queen made me think...

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 1:40 am
by Irennan
[quote="Kirintha the Fair":2duud9iv]Think they'll do a battery of divinations on a newly redeemed person?

Since their not fools whatever else they are.

Looking at how sincere they are, and if theirsx anyone looking for them, or seeking vengeance against them and how much power they have to achieve it.[/quote:2duud9iv]

Most converts are either rescued slaves/commoners, drow who were in troubles and/or felt the desire of a different life, or prisoners from drow raids. In the former cases, canonically, depending on the situation, the rescued drow are guests, and spells like "detect alignment" suffice.

In the latter cases, the clerics of the Dark Maiden often choose to incapacitate their enemy via various spells (Daylight and Hold Person, for example). Once captured, the drow are usually held prisoners to prevent them from endangering the Dark Dancer's surface community, but not killed or otherwise harmed, unless they force the Eilistraeeans to.

Remeber that a key principle for the followers of Eilistraee is understanding and freedom of choice. The goddess wants her priestesses to help the drow to re-learn life, to see and embrace what they've been missing in life, to know what it is to be loved, to feel a bond with others, to be able to choose and forge your path with the support of someone who cares about you. Eilistraee doesn't want a forced choice, that's why her followers need to never make new converts feel like they're prisoners.

The hope is that, by understanding and experiencing first hand a new life and the embrace of the goddess, by experiencing what it is to have someone who cares about you and that doesn't consider you an enemy--a sense of community/sisterhood--they will too make this choice. They are therefore not treated as slaves or commanded around--the followers of Eilistraee are forbidden to do that and abhor slavery. They are also usually provided cures (when needed), food, and a refuge, but are closely--even if subtly--guarded and made to work for the hospitality.

Re: War of the spider queen made me think...

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 3:13 am
by Kirintha the Fair
I just thought it bizzare in the novel they didnt perform a divination or commune that could have casually uncovered Danifaes evil intent.

Re: War of the spider queen made me think...

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 2:03 pm
by Irennan
[quote="Kirintha the Fair":30ljxyfk]I just thought it bizzare in the novel they didnt perform a divination or commune that could have casually uncovered Danifaes evil intent.[/quote:30ljxyfk]

That's just one among the *countless* weird things and/or errors in WotSQ. Especially Smedman's and Athans' books.

Mutilating males for watching rituals (or generally treating them like pet dogs), when that's flat-out evil, has no place in anything related to Eilistraee, and when males canonically even participate in most rituals (and--btw--they participate to *all* rituals in the current era)? Check.

Hunting lycanthropes a priori as abominations in the very same region where the followers of Eilistraee are explicitly said to be effin' friends with Selune-worshiping lycanthropes, and when--as Eilistraeeans--they should be very familiar with "seeing the deeper beauty within" and showing compassion? Check.

Militarist mindset, when the Eilistraeeans are supposed to be about understanding, acceptance, and celebrating life? Check. Choosing a random, rather dimwitted, new convert with a shaky faith, poor understanding, and no skill that other priestesses don't have, to carry out an important task (especially when people like QiluƩ also exist)? Check.

Focusing on a ridiculous plan to kill Lolth, when the Eilistraeeans would have put most of their resources into helping the drow refugees, or lost drow that were left without a home or felt without a place in the world during the Silence? Check.

A sword made by Eilistraee that had the power to destroy souls, totally OOC for this goddess (even tho that sword would lose that power later on)? Check.

Lolth gaining truckloads of divine power by literally cannibalizing herself, by losing tons of followers, influence, cities, and by expending a huge amount of divine power to start sustaining her own realm, rather than leeching off the Abyss? Check.

And I'm 100% sure we could go on forever.

IMO, the latter part of that series, alongside LP, was intentionally written like that to throw mud on Eilistraee, and make Drizzt, the speshul snowflake, even more speshul (after all, Perkins admitted that WotC wanted to do away with her back in 4e to make Drizzt more special, so this would also be in line with that childish mindset). It literally portrays as a wildly different goddess than she is in her lore and in other novels--and it depicts her as a quite unlikable and hypocritical character at that.