The Dark Maiden; Lady of Dance or Lady Silverhair
Goddess of Song, beauty, dance, swordwork, hunting and moonlight

Eilistraee is the goddess of the good drow - those rare dark elves who yearn for a return to life on the surface Realms, existance akin to that enjoyed by elves of the woodlands, left behind by the drow long ago. She is a goddess of song and beauty, goodness and light, worshiped through song and dance--preferably in the surface world, under the stars of a moonlit night. Eilistraee aids her faithful in hunting and swordcraft, and worship of her is usually accompanied by a feast. Eilistraee also has worshipers of human, elven, and in particular, half-elven stock (particularly around Silverymoon), and she looks kindly upon the Harpers. She is usually seen only from afar, but her song (of unearthly beauty, driving many to tears) is heard whenever she appears.
Eilistraee is a melancholy, moody drow female, a lover of beauty and peace. The evil of most drow banks a burning anger within her, and when her faithful are harmed, that anger is apt to spill out into wild action. It is not her way to act openly, but she often aids creatures she favors (whether they worship her or not) in small, immediately practical ways. Eilistraee is happiest when she looks on bards singing or composing, craftsmen at work, lovers, or acts of kindness.

The Dark Maiden is the sister of Vhaeraun and the daughter of Araushnee, who was cast out and became Lolth, and Corellon Larethian. After the Seldarine and a host of evil deities bent on conquering Arvandor, the Dark Maiden forswore the use of ranged weapons (although she permits them to her followers). Although her arrow went astray because of Araushnee's treachery, Eilistraee chose banishment from Arvandor (and the Seldarine) along with her mother and brother, foreseeing a time when she would be needed to balance their evil. On Abeir-Toril, the Dark Maiden strove for centuries against the hatred of Vhaeraun and his corrupting influence on the Ilythiiri (the southern, dark-skinned elves who came to be the Drow).
While the Dark Maiden and the Seldarine remain allies, it is a strained relationship that reflects the divisions that persist among the elves. Among the elven powers, Eilistraee is only close with Erevan Ilesere, and she has only recently worked out an uneasy truce with Shevarash. Eilistraee is unusually close with the human goddess of magic, Mystra; Qilue Veladorn, seventh of the Seven Sisters, serves both goddesses as Chosen of Mystra and Chosen of Eilistraee. The Dark Maiden hates the corruption and unredeemable evil that both Lolth and Ghaunadaur represent, and she mourns her brother's unending cruelty and selfishness.

Eilistraee's power ebbed with the death of many of her faithful in the Dark Disaster, and the rise of Lolth and Ghaunadaur among the dark elves marginalized the influence of the Lady of the Dance for millennia. Only in recent centuries has Eilistraee's faith regained a small amount of prominence in Faerun, as the Dark Maiden seeks to lead the fallen drow back to the long-forsaken light.

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