As A Cleric, I Fell In Love With Eilistraee. She's So Loving And Cares A Lot About The Drow. So Here

As a cleric, I fell in love with Eilistraee. She's so loving and cares a lot about the drow. So here is an Eilistraee appreciation post.

Eilistraee the Dark Maiden

Godess of beauty, dance, freedom, hunting, moonlight, song, and swordwork.

THE MESSAGE OF EILISTRAEE

"A rightful place awaits you in the Realms Above, in the Land of the Great Light. Come in peace, and live beneath the sun again, where trees and flowers grow."

DOMAINS

Light, Nature, Life

CHANNEL DIVINITY

Preserve life, Radiance of the dawn, Charm animals and plants

FAVORED ANIMALS

Silver moths & Silver-striped tabby cats

FAVORED MONSTERS

Aasimar, Light archons, Lythari, Pixies, and Silver dragons

FAVORED MINERALS

Mithral, Moonstone, and Silver

FAVORED COLORS

Silver

Eilistraee;

was the chaotic good drow goddess of beauty, song, dance, freedom, moonlight, swordwork, and hunting. She was the patroness and protector of the few dark elves who longed to return to the surface and live there, at peace with other races, and to abandon the endless conflicts and intrigues that dominated the lives of most drow. She was often referred to as the The Dark Maiden, the Lady of the Dance, or Lady Silverhair, and sometimes The Dark Dancer, among other titles. Briefly, she was known as The Masked Lady, when her faith subsumed that of the Masked Lord Vhaeraun, her divine brother, while the Seven Sisters nicknamed her Darkfire of Love.

She was the daughter of Araushnee (later Lolth) and Corellon Larethian, 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 in the times to come. After the descent of the drow, Eilistraee tried to be a mother goddess to her people and bring them the hope of a new life. She fought to lead them back to the lands of light, helping them to flourish and prosper in harmony with other races, free from Lolth's tyranny and the conflicts that dominated their lives.

Hers was an uphill battle, however, as her power was little, and she was opposed by all the gods of the Dark Seldarine. But, despite having to overcome many hardships and setbacks, Eilistraee never gave 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 Second Sundering (circa 1480s DR), when Eilistraee returned to life and to her followers.

As an avatar, Eilistraee appeared as a drow female of glowing beauty. She was tall (9 feet/2.7 meters in height) and lithe, with graceful, strong limbs and a glossy, obsidian-dark skin. She usually appeared unclad, cloaked only by her ankle-length hair that shone with a bright silvery hue, and by motes of moonlight that were ever-dancing about her body.

Her face bore a certain similarity to that of her mother, Lolth, as it possessed delicately sculpted features and shape, but her eyes were large, with irises that held the shifting hint of blue of a moonstone, and expressive of her mood or emotions.

When Eilistraee spoke, her voice always carried a soft musicality that made mortals instinctively drawn to it. Such attraction didn't cloud their minds, nor was of magical origin—it was as simple as the sound of a beautiful song.

Overall, the Dark Maiden's appearance inspired utter awe and astonishment, as well as emotions so deep to move mortals to tears. Those who contemplated and listened to her felt as if they had found the answer to all that their soul ever longed for. However, upon her leaving, they would experience a feeling of deep loss, or even desolation, though only for a brief time (as Sharlario Moonflower and his son, Cornaith, felt when the Dark Dancer manifested to them, warning them of the dangers of Ilythiir).

Personality

One moment she was a carefree child dancing like a moonbeam or running like a silver wolf through the forest; the next moment, she was either as seductive as a siren or as serious as a dwarven god.

~ ARAUSHNEE, ON EILISTRAEE.

As a young goddess, Eilistraee was a free spirit with an unpredictable temper. Even as she matured, these traits never really left her: she had a fiery streak and was prone to wild action, especially in protection of her faithful when they were harmed. The evil that was inflicted upon—and perpetuated by—most drow caused a burning anger within her, one that could cause her to lash out, but she was comforted that some worked their way free of the Spider Queen's web.

Due to a history of grief and losses and to the suffering of her people, melancholy and sadness were deeply rooted in Eilistraee's heart. It was a hard battle to endure, one that could weigh her down. However, it had also taught her to search for and nurture beauty everywhere, even in places like the Underdark, where it didn't seem to belong. Eilistraee fought her melancholy by striving to bring hope and joy where there was sorrow so that no moment was lost to gloom and to make life flourish wherever she went. She learned to find happiness in peace and arts, especially music and dance; in simple things like seeing artists composing and performing, craftsmen at their work, and people doing acts of kindness. She especially took delight in helping the needy in various practical ways, with a soft spot for outcasts, and in blessing artists with sudden bursts of creativity and inspiration. Eilistraee valued love in all its forms, be it passion and dedication towards something or someone (nor in elvish), the act of deep and unselfish love (alurlssrin in drowish), longing (ssinssrig in drowish), noble sacrifice (lurraggath in drowish), lovemaking (raggath in drowish; arkhlavae in elvish), and love and loyalty towards one's family and kin (immaea in elvish). She knew all the elven and drow words for all kinds of love, and seeing lovers during tender moments made her happy. Among the Seven Sisters, this earned her the nickname of Darkfire of Love.

The Dark Maiden was particularly close to her people

Aside from providing practical help in their everyday life, she was known to offer comfort and support in various ways, including listening to them as they let out or vented their personal emotions and experiences. When the right time came, she also personally accompanied her followers who died in battle to their afterlife in a moving celebration known as the Last Dance.

According to Rowaan Vrinn,

Eilistraee didn't test her followers, as the challenges of life were enough of a test themselves. She valued the intent behind their actions more than the actual success.

Moreover, Eilistraee refused to act as a commander: she saw herself fit to give advice and help in practical ways, to uplift and make people flufil their potential, never order.

"The Dark Lady smiles on those who see the deeper beauty within."

~ LORDS OF WATERDEEP

Though focused on the drow, Eilistraee accepted folk of all races who danced along her path, who delighted in life and in the free-form expression of it in all its forms. She fought so that all races could live peacefully together, helping and accepting each other despite their differences, and strongly believed in the possibility of redemption for those who had fallen to evil, especially the drow.

♧

Nature has been for me, for as long as I remember, a source of solace, inspiration, adventure and delight; a home, a teacher, a companion.

-Lorrain Enderson

Existential depression at 20 years old. Like bpd wasn't already the cherry on top of my misery.

Superiority complex and egotistical people are tiring. How do you confidently point out the flaws in everyone else while blindly ignoring your own. This flaw of yours is so blatantly worn on your sleeve, but even that you do not see. Perhaps you are too focused on others, or maybe you are just a bad person. The monster hunter that was a monster.

Why was Gale breaking the 4th wall to look at me like this

WHAT DID I DO

Playing Baldurs like-

- I can't physically feel the sadness in my heart.