The Llothite Treatise on Andunor

Laws are a lie. There is only authority. Authority is only granted by the power of one to enforce their own will. You can do as you please, kill who you want, insofar as you are able to act beyond reproach. But we are not the greatest of all spiders, and until we have the power to kill everything that dwells within the Demon Web Pits beneath Lolth, there will be powers beyond our own. We weave our webs and intertwine our threads so that those who walk amongst us will be trapped and unable to struggle against our will. Here in Andunor, Vaunted Freth and Exalted Claddath are supreme amongst us in this work. This city is a web, woven to their will, to bring trade and wealth to one place on this island. In this environment of extreme competition, only the best, strongest, and most powerful thrive, regardless of race. Andunor is an epicenter.

Much as you are likely to be now, when I first arrived, I was taken back at the multitude of races that walked the city streets side by side. Never before had I seen so many beasts in droves who were not collared. I had heard rumors of the diversity, but this degree can be unsettling for a new arrival. It is known that many of the lesser races hate and fear the ilythiiri, specifically for the cruelty of the clergy. Here, unlike any other place, Orog, Gnoll, Kobold, Svirfneblin and others walk freely among our people. Closeness of this kind would never be heard of elsewhere unless the Temple had doomed that city. But this is what Vaunted Freth and Exalted Claddath dictate. Even Gracklstugh, the cursed City of Blades, has been invited by them to be amongst us. These edicts of the city cannot be crossed.

So, in service to the Spider Queen your auspicious arrival has brought more faithful upon our web, and you are here to be re-woven to serve Her will in this city. But be mindful, Andunor is a place of strong individual opinion, the consequence of which is largely unrealized. But the faithful must remain. Despite any one male, or even a House of Heretics, who venerate Ghaunadaur, or Vhaeraun, they are barely visible in the immense shadow of the Spider Queen. They are meaningless and threaten the Queen of Spiders no more than a moth struggling upon a web. Thrash as it may, it will never escape. To root out heresy is but a single strand in a vast web, and is hardly the greatest among them. There are Triumphs to be offered to the Spider Queen that reign supreme even above this, which we can effectively focus upon in this City, and above. It is foolish to think that any one person or house has the power to unravel our dark goddess' work. These infidels are no different. Vaunted Freth and Exalted Claddath allow their existence because, what is a web without flies? But you must regard all, even non-ilythiiri, as the potential of being one of three things. The more powerful. The useful. And the weak. Even a lowly slave may have a master who wields a power unknown. Know your web, and be mindful of what trembles upon it.

We have survived the violence of our upbringing and youth. To stand now and take breath proves you are a survivor. It also proves you have learned the lesson that violence is not sufficient to ensure you continue to breathe. Slyness, cunning, guile. These are the tools of the spider who hunts. Only at the moment when it is too late does it sink its venomous bite. When there is no hope, and no chance of retaliation from its prey. Only then can we take pleasure in the fear that grips them as life drains from their eyes. Lolth is to be feared. And with unified strength, fear will be sown amongst our enemies. Lolth watches, Lolth tests, and above all, Lolth consumes.

We must prove our worth to the Spider Queen. We must ask to be tested, that we might show her our power. We must gather her faithful and ensure she is properly venerated by her children. If we violate the edicts of this city, we threaten to scatter our faithful, and destroy the webs which we have built. We have the power to fill the city streets with blood. To light the districts ablaze with fire, but we know, this would be foolish. Lolth favors she who is faced with a perilous test, and out maneuvers her foes to advance her power. This should not be achieved at the expense of the faithful, or the webs that span across our city on which we hunt. The loss of faithful, and the undoing of the tendrils of influence that bind our webs across Andunor, would displease Lolth and leave the Priestess responsible in disfavor. Furthermore, should we raise the ire of Vaunted Freth or Exalted Claddath, not only would our power here in Andunor waver, it would be removed. We will outlive our rivals. Where they have decades to peak, we have centuries. Weave your many webs meticulously so that no matter what actions they take, their fate is inevitable.

But our war is not only with infidels and the lesser races among us. Left to our devices a single house would rise and squash all rivals. Kill all who oppose them. Such is our way. Though our Goddess demands blood, cunning, and cruelty from her servants, those who become too murderous and threaten to tear down the communities that serve her, will also find themselves in disfavor. The Priestesses will hear the call of her displeasure and those responsible will find the faithful at their doorstep. The Temple does not only conduct Lolth's rites and rituals. It is the forged bond that holds all of our murderous, scheming and bickering houses together. The Temple is not guided by a single voice, it is filled by the powerful matriarchs of the great Houses of our city. Without the individual Houses, the temple is empty. Without the Temple, a single House is nothing. Though she encourages infighting so we might prove who is strongest, a House in Andunor must not fall for another to rise. The growth in power of one Matron does not take from the power of another. Though she encourages infighting so we might prove who is strongest, a House in Andunor must not fall for another to rise. The growth in power of one Matron does not take from the power of another. Our worth is determined by the influence we wield, and together our influence will reach beyond the Mythal of Myon. A strong temple is a united Table. A united Table will lead a United Andunor. A united Andunor would shake the ground of the surface, and fear will grip the hearts of all who live above. We will sharpen our blades against our greatest enemies. This pleases our Dark Mother, as she favors the flesh of Darthiir.

This is our duty. Because of this, we must be strong and merciless, however, we also must temper our own schemes. For our plots and schemes to succeed, even within our own house, we must temper our pride, anger and fear. The pride in which we know we are superior to all others, the anger that flows like a torrent through our people driving us, and the fear of failing our spider queen, despite which, we must march forward to be tested. The spider is cold and calculating. We do not forget slights, nor do we forget victories, but the insult to your feelings matters not to the predation of a spider.

None can resist the Spider Queen. Her rule over all things is inevitable. Soon all of the realms of the surface will shudder in gruesome ecstasy before Lolth.

-Matron O'annir Z'ress, 19th Cycle Flamerule 165 AR