View source for Arelith: Vaunted Freth

Arelith: Vaunted Freth

Author: Adelyn Belle'rose

Rozen Chalice Publishing, a division of East Arelith Trading

Publication: 175 AR

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<br>"The Arelith Antiquarian Society is instituted to examine, preserve, and publish all antiquities as connected with the art, language, literature, and history of the Arelith Archipelago. Articles bearing this notation have been selected for conservation regardless of race, faith, alignment, or affiliation. While all efforts have been made to ensure the information within is accurate regarding the subject matter covered, we assume no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or any other inconsistencies herein, whether such errors or omissions are the result of negligence, accident, or any other cause. If any such errors, inaccuracies, or omissions are discovered please contact the author who will address the issue." 
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=== FOREWORD ===
My analysis of Arelith's Underdark for a previous project led me to investigate the ruling factions of Andunor, and of these, Vaunted House Freth was the most recorded. Once outcasts for their unorthodox worship of the Spider Queen, Vaunted Freth rose to become a founding faction of modern-day Andunor. To honor their prominence and influence, I provide the below record of House Freth, but more importantly, tell their faith.

=== I. OUR LIBERATED QUEEN ===
The elven Goddess of destiny and artisans, Araushnee, stood as Queen Consort to the 'Ruler of All Elves' Corellon Larethian. Together with their twin children, the elder Vhaeraun and the younger Eilistraee, the couple ruled the Seldarine as peers until Araushnee uncovered her husband's infidelity. For the Queen learned Corellon the 'Elven Protector' had secretly been seduced and enthralled by the 'Lunar Lady' Sehanine Moonbow who, envious of Araushnee, desired to replace her as Monarch.

Queen Araushnee, who comprehended her husband's duplicity, opted to strike first by aiding the god Gruumsh in trying to depose her lover. However, the plan failed due to interference from the 'Daughter of the Night.' Queen Araushnee next persuaded the god Malar to attack the traitorous 'Coronal of Arvandor,' but again aided by his paramour Sehanine Moonbow, the 'Creator of Elves' managed to drive the 'Wild Hunter' away.

Left with no other choice and desperate to free the Seldarine Court from Moonbow's enchantment, Queen Araushnee gathered an alliance of gods to march upon Arvandor and depose Corellon directly. Together with her children, Araushnee's alliance assaulted the outer plane of Arborea and the battle was set into motion. The assault was furious and nearly won when Eilistraee, daughter to Queen Araushnee, loosed volleys of arrows into her adulterous father, nearly slaying him. Ultimately however, the alliance's army lost the field and retreated. The great Queen's bid to save the Seldarine from her husband and his malicious courtesan's betrayal ended in failure.

Afterward, Corellon Larethian exiled his two children from the Seldarine Court without trial or ceremony. For his rebellious Queen, a separate penalty was exacted. Poisoned by the Lunar Lady's whispers, Sehanine Moonbow persuaded the Elf King to make an agreement with the tanar'ri of the Infinite Layers. From that moment forward, the demons of the Abyss would hold the elven queen prisoner within their realm to be corrupted and tormented for her attempted coup d'état of the Seldarine Court.

Banished to confinement within the 66th layer of the Abyss, Queen Araushnee cast away her elven name in defiance of her incarceration, taking the new mantle 'Lloth.' Though now confined, Lloth was still capable of directing her parishioners within the Prime Material Plane of Toril. While she failed to protect the elves directly from the machinations of 'The Mystic Seer,' Lloth acted instead to liberate them from the elf pantheon's influence. These actions to shield the elven race would lead to what is commonly referred to as the 'First Flowering' and 'Crown Wars.' Ultimately however, the dominance of the Seldarine over the elves proved too extensive and the Ilythiir were eventually driven underground to become what many now know today as 'Drow.'

Since that time Lloth has remained imprisoned within her Abyssal domain under the ever-increasing influence of Chaos. This situation, reinforced by the Seldarine's heavily altered record of past events, has led to the eccentric and often self-destructive ideology of the contemporary Lolth Orthodox faith.

A situation likely to remain unchanged until the goddess liberation.

=== II. VAUNTED FRETH ===
At some point in the millennia before 'The Cataclysm' in 61 AR, House Freth was exiled from Udos Dro'Xun after being declared heretics by the city at large. This was likely due to their non-conformity with the Temple of Lolth's orthodoxy, often referred to as the 'Freth Heresy'. On conditions and terms of their exile, the House resettled into facilities constructed within a large cavern dubbed 'The Vault.' From within this cavity, the primary entrance to the deep Lowerdark was situated and secured by the construction of a massive gate sealed with two great locks. This cavern complex was only reachable via a straight descent of several hundred meters from an entrance located in the fallen city of Tollidor. Along with House Claddath, who was also banished from Udos Dro'Xun, the two Exile Houses protected the Underdark at large from the grave danger posed by the Mind Flayers of Izlude's Torment. 

This situation lasted until a disastrous event, believed to have been caused by a migrating brood of aboleths, flooded the Lowerdark around 96 AR. The settlements of Udos Dro'Xun, Urblexis Grond, and Pit Town are wholly submerged and lost. The denizens of the Underdark were forced to migrate up, away from the nearing danger to the higher ground of the Middledark. Noble House Freth evacuated 'The Vault' after sealing its Tollidor entrance and trapping the Mind Flayers of Izlude's Torment to a likely death below. Then, just as abruptly, the floodwaters receded after permanently altering the Underdark's landscape.

Following 'The Deluge,' refugees journeyed with the remnants of Houses Freth and Claddath through the twisting caverns of Arelith's Underdark to establish the new city of Anundor in 96 AR. It was decided the settlement would be a trade city open to all, from which relations with the surface could be tempered. This commerce epicenter would be under the direct control of the mysterious 'Hub Master' and his independent Peacekeepers, both of which are detached from the Underdark's politics with a focus on trade and profit. To better accommodate the many diverse races now forced into cohabitation, which now included outcasts fleeing prosecution on the surface, the city was separated into districts around this central trade hub.

During the formation of these districts, House Freth managed to position themselves as the de facto rulers of The Devil Table. From this position of power in Andunor, House Freth continued their effort to liberate the Spider Queen from her prison in the Abyss, freeing her from the chaotic influence of the tanar'ri by forging alliances with the natural enemies of Arvandor and the Infinite Pit. To this end the Baatezu of Baator have proven ever eager to respond to their emissaries, summons, demands, and requisitions over the centuries since the House's founding. This unlikely partnership has resulted in the Vaunted Freth many now know today.

=== III. THE DOCTRINES OF LLOTH ===
As told by Vaunted Freth

There is naught that keeps Our People, the Ilythiiri, from the bleak and barren Abyss, but the vigilance of Our Queen's Servants. The void of the infinite planes are unknowably vast and teeming with all manner of perilous spirits and forces, most of which are opposed to our very existence. Remember your past, remember your blessings, and Our Queen will see you through whatever calamity shall befall you.

The Doctrines of Lloth are based upon our Queen's composition; All of Her Eight Legs are equally crucial, depicting our cultural annals, but it is the Mind of our Queen that provides us with our most necessary admonition. Were we lesser creatures, we would require different gods to represent each facet of our civilization - as we are inherently greater, we require only One.

++ 1. War ++

In the cradle of our home that is the Darkness, thousands of years ago we were cast here by the foul surface elves. That their malice for us continues today is merely a symbol of Our lifework. They created us as their adversaries, their phantoms. Grown men upon the surface hear our name and grow sickly pale, like the underbellies of our anemic fish. They stare into the shadows and their faces contort in resentment and fear at the idea that we might be there. Our Queen sacrificed everything for us to become fearsome to all, and we shall serve our purpose with glee.

++ 2. Construct ++

As the spider creates a web, so must we. To create is to strengthen Our People and Our Queen. Those who create are Blessed, for those who produce make more that we might utilize, that we might thrive, that Our Queen might consume. Through the power of creation, we attain perfection. She knows we are able to. To not construct is to permit the threads of Our Peoples' webs to come undone, to pull and fray, to destroy the tapestry of our work. Those who destroy the works of Our People are those who destroy Our People, and they are truly the most heinous of the reviled, akin to those of the surface.

++ 3. Glut ++

The handiwork of the craftsman are not simply left to molder and rot. It must be harvested, it must be consumed. The works of Our People are the condensed breath of Lloth - our entirety a baptismal fluid! Know this and be honored, but honor Our Queen in ceremony by surviving, by utilizing - be it information, experience, or wealth, gather what you can in your name, knowing that in turn, you make our Goddess richer.

++ 4. Consort ++

To consort is much more than the myriad pleasures of meat. While it is a useful tool, it is much too specific to use to its utmost potential - this is why Our People sow ourselves amongst inferiors. What information they have, we shall reap a generous harvest by simply placing a few seeds of good-will and waiting. In this, time and sweet words are our allies, which Our People have in excess. Information is a valuable substance, and one of our Gifts is to glean it.

++ 5. Rest ++

To reap influence and favor constantly is to invite doom. As Our Queen's children, we must accept that while we are in Her image, we cannot achieve Her awe-inspiring and terrible drive. What we see within the quiet times known as Reverie may unsettle, but in this trance you shall know the quietude that Lloth can offer you. The visions you find within Reverie will cut away your fear, every weak part of your emotional anatomy. What you long for will come into focus when you lull, and we must strive to accept every gift She offers us.

++ 6. Deceive ++

To deceive is divine. Our Queen deceived the odious and presumptuous Host of the elves above who deemed themselves her peers. In this skill, we can find our independence from those Lessers. All ilythiiri are different, have their own goals, but we are all united within the affront delivered unto us from the surface. In this calling, we find our survival in the trap they have attempted to keep us within. We make promises, we whisper. We lie. Even those who are clever can always be deceived - and most times, it is not even with a lie. Information cannot be stopped once it is in motion, and the momentum of words are swift.

++ 7. Toil ++

Our People are the vessels for our Goddess to walk the face of this wretched earth. We are Her mouths, Her medium. Her struggle. We compete and we survive, and through this, we nourish our Queen, that She might proliferate. We will find ourselves pained. We will be ravaged. We will hunch in maligned, twisted anguish, and all of our suffering will fuel Our work. With every slight we sharpen our own suffering into a razor poignancy, a weapon, and pass it onto our children. Generations upon generations of pain build up and with each era, we remember and become more fatal to our enemies.

++ 8. Plot ++

To survive is to plan. To decipher the plans of others is to add needful information to our own. There are levels of panache that the overlooked races can only dream of, and our Goddess' gift to us is that we have the time and the eloquence to play the Game correctly. The dance stays the same as ever, but those who wish to pay respect to our most Holy Queen dance well. The struggles, the politics, all of it is a rehearsal for when we turn our gaze above to the Lesser Host.

++ 9. Abide ++

The head of Lloth deems that we restrain our roving intensity. To reach beyond your well-made web is to invite calamity, for some fleeting thing that easily catches our fancy can vanish or turn against you. Desires are never ending, and we are not swift to spot illusion. Those who are not vigilant are like a corrupt mirror, deforming Lloth's blessings to ugliness by rejecting Her truth. Rather, we must secure ourselves to that which is immaculate and true, and through it, recognize the blasphemous testaments of those who would tear Our People down.

=== IV. SPIRE FRETH ===
Located within Minauros' Valley of Skulls, the third layer of Baator, is the Spire Freth. Taken by force-of-arms from some forgotten faction in years past, the tower now stands as a bastion of faith and a repository of information. Garrisoned by soldiers of House Freth, this fortification offers sanctuary for those deemed worthy to enter.

=== AFTERWORD ===
While House Freth is considered unorthodox by many, one can clearly see the virtues of their belief. If the Goddess Lloth where to remain in the Abyss, under the influence of Chaos, the Ilythiiri of Toril would continue to remain a divided and self-destructive race. Only tempered by the doctrine of Baator would Ilythiiri society finally have a chance to stabilize, allowing their divided race a chance at unification never before seen under the influence of Chaos. While currently only speculation, we can anticipate the day Vaunted Freth and their faith become the new orthodox, leading the Ilythiiri to a new age of grandeur and accomplishment.

'''FIN'''

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=== BIBLIOGRAPHY: ===

==== * Book(s): ====
[1] Unknown, "Deities: Lloth"

[2] Adelyn Belle'rose, "Arelith: A History of the Underdark"

==== * Written Record(s): ====
[1] House Freth, "Public Archives"

[2] Spire Freth, "Archives"

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

[The modest portrait of a young vermilion-haired lady with pallid flesh is positioned next to the paragraph below. Her emerald gaze looks intently at the reader, betraying the aspect's alluring facade with callous indifference. The suggestion of a predatory smile appears hidden within the corners of full upturned lips.]

"The Vampire Adelyn Belle'rose has been charming readers with her historical works upon the island of Arelith for years. As the former curator of the Cordor's Museum, she helped bring the past to life through exhibits and displays. Later, as a member of Andunor's Erudite Arcanum, she would lead the research team to investigate Shadow Wharftown's Third Iteration. Through the founding of the Arelith Antiquarian Society and the East Arelith Trading Company, she continues to advocate for the preservation of knowledge across the archipelago."

[[Category:60-69 AR‏‎]][[Category:90-99 AR‏‎]][[Category:170-179 AR‏‎]][[Category:Andunor]][[Category:Faith & Religion]]