Sleep Sound

A bedtime story told to drow children after Drizzt turned away from Lolth.

<aside> 🔑

Sleep quiet, my child, my little drow,

Your dreams invite tranquility now.

Cast in this cavern, stone walls so secure.

The web holds you tight through underdark night, and guardian spiders that tickle you feel.

With gossamer threads, weave our goddess’s seal.

The Spider Queen’s children.

And so too your kin, are here to remind you that you shall not sin.

They show you the scourge, the snake headed whip. They bite and they tear,

Until she hears your prayer.

There is no such blessing to the damned up above,

Those who’ve forsaken the Spider Queen’s love.

In their way lies weakness, and unceasing waste.

And if you would join them, then so be debased.

And when Hellfire Orb looks down on your shame, your soul is burned bare.

She knows you’re to blame.

You’ll live every running, you’ve no place to hide.

And huddled in fear, for there is no disguise.

The sun, it will burn you. The cold snow will freeze.

The hopelessness tumbles you down to your knees.

And when you are broken, to her you will pray,

But she will not hear you- You’ve thrown her away.

And you’ll find no companions to stand in our way

When we hunt you and find you and torment you for claim.

You’ve chosen the weaklings of the world up above,

Who speak empty words and know not Lolth’s love.

No love will save you from human deceit,

Nor from bearded, nor bearded dwarves, nor elvish conceit.

The Spider Queen shows us the one single way:

There is only the night, there is never the day.

For strength does not stretch through branch or through leaf.

It bleeds from the roots that secure us beneath.

Deep in our hearts, wrapped tight in Lolth’s web,

With venom we sting, her glory we sing.

So whisper your love of your matron, your mother

Who teaches the way to your sisters and brother.

Brother, I say, there can only be one.

For if there were two, there couldn’t be you.

Then that silken swaddle, that tickling wreath

Would instead be your death by the Spider Queens’ teeth.

Sleep sound in the darkness

Or burn in the light alone.

</aside>

The Way of Lolth

Menzoberranzan’s principle law is the Way of Lolth. Its tenets are as follows:

<aside> 🔑

• There is no god or goddess other than Lolth. Any who follows the dictates of another entity will be slain, preferably as a sacrifice to Lolth.
• Ritual worship of any entity other than Lolth is forbidden within the city’s vault. Non-drow who violate this tenet are fined and expelled from the city. Second offenders or any drow who do so are slain.
• Slaves have no rights, and there are no limits to the punishments or duties that can be set for them. Treatment of slaves is the affair of their owners. It is a capital offense for a slave to refuse any order from a drow of the house that owns the slave.
• A commoner or student of the Academy who refuses to obey a priestess can be punished as the offended priestess sees fit, up to and including death. If the offender is the property of another house and the noble of that house is present and objects, the two must agree on a punishment (usually flogging).
• Any drow who falsely wears the colors of another house or who deliberately alters his or her appearance to masquerade as one of a different station will be slain.
• Any non-drow who adopts the appearance of a particular drow, a drow of a noble rank, or a drow of a house other than his or her own will be slain.
• If it can be proved that two or more houses attacked another house, all the houses that participated in the attack will be destroyed jointly by the remainder. </aside>