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I read the diety page, and it said that Shar is the goddess of the underdark. Can drow follow her?

within FK I would say not as any drow who worships a deity other than Lloth is executed as a heretic...

As far as I am aware she is more worshiped by the goblinoid races and such as she took the underdark portfolio from another lesser deity during the time of troubles..

Drow pretty much only worship form there own pantheon I think..

Here's a quote from ...Faiths and Pantheons, I think this is?

Her dominance over darkness and night makes her popular with the blind (especially those accidentally or intentionally blinded due to the actions of others), nocturnal or subterranean humanoids, and creatures who shun the light, including many types of goblinoids.

I don't believe there are any formal restrictions on what deity your drow can choose to follow (assuming he or she is not a cleric). In character, though, there would likely be serious repercussions for seeking after a deity other than Lloth.

Basically, drow can identify with the traits of many of the major evil gods. They like murder and strife (i.e. Cyric), darkness (i.e. Shar), deception, power, etc. But because Lloth's dogma encompasses all of these aspects of drow culture and society, she is the more common choice.


-El-

Oh, and here is something else, from the help files in the game.

Nedylene Despana, High Priestess of Shar
========================================
Not much is known about this woman despite her peculiar bloodline.
Upon first appearance it is obvious that she holds drow blood within her
yet it is unclear how much. She is well mannered and intelligent but
The only aspect of her life that is known is the favor with her Goddess.
The rest is hidden in shadows.

So perhaps there is some sort of relationship between the drow and Shar.

Ellian wrote:Here's a quote from ...Faiths and Pantheons, I think this is?

Her dominance over darkness and night makes her popular with the blind (especially those accidentally or intentionally blinded due to the actions of others), nocturnal or subterranean humanoids, and creatures who shun the light, including many types of goblinoids.

I don't believe there are any formal restrictions on what deity your drow can choose to follow (assuming he or she is not a cleric). In character, though, there would likely be serious repercussions for seeking after a deity other than Lloth.

Basically, drow can identify with the traits of many of the major evil gods. They like murder and strife (i.e. Cyric), darkness (i.e. Shar), deception, power, etc. But because Lloth's dogma encompasses all of these aspects of drow culture and society, she is the more common choice.


-El-

Indeed, although there would have to be a good reason IC why they would be following a non-drow deity, the majority of the drow of the underdark worship from within there own pantheon. The drow mindset is totally covered by the main deities that they worship, Lloth wants dominion over the underdark and then the surface world with the women in charge and Vhaeraun offers the males of the race an escape from Lloths clergies clutches...

Yes, the drow would indentify with the major evil gods traits, but 1 there society does not cater for their worship in any way and 2 there would be no desire to worship a non-drow god as the drow feel they are superior (and rightly so) to every other race, I believe this would cater to their Gods as well..

Just my thoughts on the matter, sorry if they're a bit muddled, its 6.20am

A drow following any deity other than Lolth is likely to be outcast in Menzo. Most drow will not succumb to worshipping worthless human deities. Aside from that, Menzo is also a largely Lolth dominated city. There will be little interaction with Sharrans to bring the drow into the faith.

Unless said drow happens to travel into a more cosmopolitan city and somehow manages to learn about the faith of Shar, and has a good reason for ditching Lolth for Shar.

They would never openly declare their acceptance of another deity openly, especially one of the lowly race (even though Shar exists a long time ago. Drow aren't likely to know that.)

Just a little food for thought. It was about a year ago that there was a male drow commoner who worshiped a deity that wasn't Lloth. So, it's not entirely impossible. Just do a lot of good sucking up:)

Not impossible, but would have to be kept secret.

When they say Shar is the Goddess of the Underdark, I don't think that this means that she's the Goddess of the Drow's Domain. Racewise, the Underdark is much more complex than the surface world, and there are many other creatures down there that would follow Shar. Generally (as in, rare enough for an application) Drow wouldn't follow Deities outside of their pantheon, as mentioned earlier in the posts, especially in a city like Menzo.

Shar would more be the target of worship of other lesser races, with Drow worshipping her in smaller Drow cities... at least, ones less focused around Lloth than Menzo.

Natasha

Just as everyone above has stated I agree, most drow whom even think about following another god would be shuned. I was reading over the deties on the Forgotten Kingdoms website.http://www.forgottenkingdoms.com/deities/lloth.shtml
..when I found this..

Lloth is a cruel and merciless goddess. She is believed by many to be quite insane, though she has many worshippers. She delights in turning them against eachother so that only the strongest, most devious, and only the deadly of her followers will survive. To many drow, Lloth is the entire meaning of their lives, especally for females. Therefore many males have taken up the following of some of the other gods.

So, Some males have taken up the followings but that doesnt mean they have it easy and doesnt mean they stay alive.
-Neara-

Alright, here's a little more evidence of the feasibility of drow worshipping Shar. Isaldur actually posted this somewhere else on the board a while back.

Dark Moon (Evil): Shar is worshipped by a powerful sect of monks who maintain open temples in lands ruled by evil overlords or hide among hills, back alleys, or the underdark. Most of the Dark Moon monks are human but occasionally they are joined by a half-orc, shade, or drow.
*note, Dark Moon monks are described further in 3e's Lords of Darkness for Forgotten Realms. Other information could be found in "The Black Bouquet", a novel which has a Monk of the Dark Moon in the Thieves series.

The idea of a Sharran drow actually sounds rather appealing, now that I think about it a little more. Maaaaybe someday.


-El-