Eilistraee
Portfolio: Song, Dance, Swordwork, Hunting
Ability Requirements: Wisdom 9, Dexterity 16
Prime Requisite: Wisdom, Dexterity
Alignment: Chaotic Good

Eilistraee, the "Dark Maiden," is the goddess of the good drow. Those rare dark elves who yearn for a return to life in the surface Realms, an existence akin to that enjoyed by elves of the woodlands, left behind by the drow long ago.

Eilistraee (pronounced "eel-ISS-tray-ee") is a goddess of song and beauty, worshiped though song and dance-preferably in the surface world, under the stars of a moonlit night. Eilistraee has worshipers of human, elven, and in particular half-elven stock (particularly around Silverymoon), and looks kindly upon the Harpers.

All clergy of Eilistraee are females of any intelligent race. They must nurture beauty, music, the craft of making musical instruments, and song wherever they find it. Assist hunters and hunting, and help others in acts of kindness whenever they see ways to do so.

Priestesses must be skilled on the playing of at least one of the Dark Maidens favored instruments - horn, flute, or harp. They must be adequate singers and fit, graceful dancers. They must gather songs and musical knowledge constantly, and acquire training in the use of the sword when they can. Priestesses of Eilistraee can only use magical armor or armor of drow make. Priestesses are allowed to use any weapon, but whenever possible, a priestess of the Dark Maiden must use swords in battle. If no swords are to hand but other bladed weapons are available, they must be used in preference to other weapons.

Priestesses of Eilistraee must use their character points to purchase the nonweapon proficiencies of: Singing, Dancing, Musical instrument, Hunting, and Cooking.

The standard spell selection for priestesses of Eilistraee consists of major access to the spheres of All, Combat, Creation, Elemental, Guardian, Healing, Necromantic, Protection, Sun, and Weather. Minor access is given to the spheres of Animal, Charm, Divination, Plant, Summoning, and Travelers.

Whenever and wherever possible, the faithful of Eilistraee must encourage drow to return to the surface world, and work to promote harmony between drow and surface-dwelling races, to establish drow as rightful, non-evil inhabitants of Faerun. For more information on priestesses of Eilistraee see pages 20 through 26 of "The Drow of the Underdark."

Priestesses of Eilistraee receive 145 character points to spend on skills and abilities from the following list. Skills cost 3 to 15 points. Any unspent points can be used to acquire nonweapon proficiencies or saved for use during the game. The standard priestess of Eilistraee spends her character points to acquire the abilities of enchant weapon, magic missles, spell turning, turn undead, weapon specialization, and access to spheres.

Access to spheres: The standard spell selection cost 115 character points or she can purchase spheres individually just as clerics do (see page 57 of the Skills and Powers book).
Detect evil (10): A priestess with this ability can see emanations of evil from creatures and objects within a path 10 feet wide by 60 feet long. It takes one round to scan a direction, and the priestess cannot be attempting other actions.
Enchant weapons (5): At 6th level, the priestess can enchant bladed weapons by touch, three times per day. Weapons enchanted in this way glow with a silvery radiance and have a +2 bonus to hit and damage for 7 rounds, regardless of how many attacks they land or how many dispel magic spells are launched against them.
Hit point bonus (10): Priestesses with this ability use 1d10 to determine their hit points rather than 1d8.
Magic missiles (5): At 4th level, a priestess with this ability can cast Magic Missile twice per day (four missiles per spell) in addition to the number of spells the priestess can normally cast.
Spell turning (5): At 9th level, a priestess with this ability can cast spell turning as per the 7th level wizard spell.
Turn undead (10): The priestess is granted power over undead, such as zombies, skeletons, vampires, and liches. The priestess can drive away these creatures, and as they advance in faith and experience levels, they can destroy some forms of undead. The chart for turning undead can be found in the Players Handbook on page 103, and in the Skills and Powers book on page 58.
Warrior-priestess (10): Priestesses who select this ability use the warrior Strength and Constitution bonuses for exceptional scores. For example, a priestess could have an 18/30 Strength, and she could gain bonus hit points for having a Constitution score greater than 16.
Weapon specialization (10): The priestess can specialize in a particular weapon. The character point cost must be met in addition.