Could Someone Provide Me Guidance on Incorporating Eilistraee's Teachings into a New Campaign?

[Keilani]

Hello everyone

I hope you are well. As a long time fan of Eilistraee and her ideas; I am currently developing a new D and D campaign centred on her philosophy; the quest for restitution; and the fight for a better future in the underdark. I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and recommendations on a few important parts of the campaign that I hope to improve.

One of the main characters in my campaign is a dark priest who has recently discovered Eilistraee teachings and is dealing with her history in Lolth culture. I want to make sure that her journey of sanctification and healing is portrayed accurately and sensitively. How would you suggest depicting the internal conflicts she may face? What rituals; prayer; or practices may she use to connect herself with Eilistraee's teachings?
Furthermore; what challenges would she meet from other drow or surface dwellers as she travels her path?

I want the campaign setting to clearly convey Eilistraee's presence; not just through the characters action; but also through the environment itself. Whether through moonlight groves, sacred dances, or encounters with nature spirits, how can I effectively capture the goddess' essence throughout the campaign? Are there any symbols; colours; or patterns that you think are particularly evocative of Eilistraee that could be integrated into globalisation?

Eilistraee religion of forgiveness; compassion; and the search for freedom will play an important role in the moral quandaries that the characters face. I am fascinated in setting up circumstances in which the protagonists must choose between vengeance and forgiveness, devastation and redemption. I would like to hear your suggestions on how to frame these challenges in accordance with Eilistraee's teachings. How can I ensure that the characters' decisions represent the complexity and depth of her ideology; and what consequences will they experience as a result?

As we all know; Eilistraee worships through music and dancing. I would like to incorporate these components into the campaign not just for flavour; but also as important narrative tools. Do you have any ideas on ways to employ music and dancing to move the plot, show character development, or even as mechanisms for casting spells or requesting heavenly favour?

Also I explored some topics related to this when did non elves start getting invitedevops into Eilistraees priestesshood but I did not get the sufficient solution of my query so I would really want to get some help from a more experienced person

I am truly devoted to creating a campaign that honours Eilistraee's teachings while also providing my players with a rich, immersive experience. Your pooled knowledge and experiences with the Dark Maiden would be very beneficial to me as I attempt to bring this vision to life. I'm looking forward to hearing your comments, suggestions, and any personal experiences you have to contribute.

Thanks in advance for your assistance

[Irennan]

The first step is always establishing the context and the goal. Keep it very specific, don't go into vague or larger than life situations. For now, I'll give generalized answers, but I can help with more in-depth discussion once the context is provided.

Which aspects of Eilistraee's teachings do you want to discuss more in-depth, and which conflict will you choose to discuss them? For example, a campaign arc featuring a conflict deriving from a group of Eilistraean drow trying to establish a presence near a surface settlement will let you feature the apsect of Eilistraee's teachings that deals with the hardships of gaining acceptance, and the right of the drow to create their own place in the world regardless of other people's prejudices or what the Lolthite do (example: at which point you stop tolerating suspicion, and instead just want to create a place where your people who are suffering can just pursue their lives in peace--amd defend that place?)

If this new Eilistraean settlement is then used as a base operations for rescuing drow from the Underdark and offering them a place where they can experience life without being on the lookout for danger, you can bring in other aspects of Eilistraee's teachings--namely: how to rise from the depths of mysery that is trauma--all converts have to heal from that n a way, and how very difficult it is for someone that comes from that background to stop looking for danger and start looking for what they want to do with their lives (which would obviously also impact the part about building relationships with outsiders that Imentioned above). Eilistraee's teachings basically show you that a way to come out of this is by rebuilding a sense of self-efficacy. First and foremost you need to provide a safety net to those people (their brains need to relearn how it feels to not be in danger, otherwise no other step can be made, because all the mind's resources are spent on being on the outlook for danger) and then have them relearn to listen again to their body and their goals and desires for the future. You do that by making them feel listened to in first place, like their ideas can actually have a impact on their environment. Then by making them feel part of a community, able to contribute and take care of something that is meaningful to them. At the same time, you teach them to be autonomous, and encourage them to learn what, to them, is beautiful and fulfilling in life, and to pursue it (all Eilistraee's teachings about self-improvement, pursuing and practicing skills, taking care of things and other people, exist for a reason). Like this, people rebuild connection with self and with a community at the same time, and both aspects of the process feed into each other

As for the aspect regarding art, Eilistraee's take on it is pretty much that the world is made a better place by finding and healing the beauty in what was broken. Be it by bringing joy and hope to dark places, or by finding a way to make sense of your suffering and struggles by creating something beautiful/artistic expression. This ties directly with what I was discussing above. Music, dance, and theater have demonstrated value in helping people heal from trauma. The experience of trauma is the that of being isolated from everyone else, and of losing self-ownership: you don't feel as "human", because you lose touch with what you feel and are unable to express it--to others as well as to yourself (and therefore you don't know what to do, because what we feel is basically raw info that inform us of a problem and gives us hints as to what to do to bring our life to a more satisfying direction). A shared rhythmin the form of music or dance helps rebuild a connection with the human experience after feeling isolated from it (and it also contributes to the feeling of being listened to; especially if you are trying to express something important to you through song and music)--and to rebuild connection with your own body, which trauma tends to destroy. Imagining yourself in another person's shoes as an actor helps connecting with emotions and parts of yourself that normally are too scary to look at--and it also helps you visualize a future that is different from the present. It makes you accept the very idea that such a thing is even possible, which is the first step towards actually creating such a future.
This has very immediate applications to the situation of drow fleeing from a life from abuse, but has also general application and benefits for everyone.

Art is of course also a form of celebration, and Eilistraean drow show their culture and identity by offering displays of their art to other races (it's one of their ways to establishing new friendships!)

Anyway, I'll wait for more context, to help to better iron out the key conflicts and how Eilistraee's teachings can reflect on them. In the meanwhile, you can check many exhaustive resources to know about Eilistraean rituals and tradition, which I've personally worked on.

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki ... Eilistraee
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Eilistraee

[eenock]

Hi, I love seeing threads like this, that center and focus on an alternative way of both thinking, and living in a world that is out of touch with others, and themselves. It calls me to reflect of those same things in my every day life.

I hope you can find some value from this, since I do not know how to articulate it as well as Irennan did. I have my own long-running campaign (discord westmarch server), that one of my Drow has been facing these issues for many years, and is only beginning to reach a point in their lives that they can start to truly embody the teachings of Eilistraee, in addition to to starting a community of like-minded people (not just Drow), that have this vision of peace and community among all sentient races. Some of this is expressed through their philosophical outlook, and the art/poetry they create among their people. Their religious zeal and determination to uphold the values he preaches towards his people. Some of these run so deep as to become core tenants of the community they've built on the surface, and allows them to live without fear, even when the certainty remains that there will be hardship, and challenges in their future.

I've been compiling for a while some of those writings and teachings, which I hope you can read here, and give your feedback on (WIP). Any of the alt-language names are translated from Drow, to their closest approximations:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bgQ ... sp=sharing


Keep working on it, and above all follow your heart and intuition. As with the faith of Eilistsraee, it will only ever serve your best interests