participant, but regardless she insisted upon this punishment from her reluctant father. She foresaw that the dark elves would need a beacon of good within their reach and her help and support in the times to come. Wandering After her exile, the Dark Maiden wandered Toril, the same world that the elves had chosen as their home. For centuries, she fought Vhaeraun's corruption of the Ilythiiri, thwarting his efforts to gain influence over all the dark elves of the south. But this only allowed Lolth and Ghaunadaur to fill the void and command great authority over them, posing an even greater threat. The following centuries inflicted blow after blow to Eilistraee and her followers. During the Crown Wars (−12000 DR to −9000 DR), she could only mitigate the growing control Lolth, Vhaeraun, and Ghaunadaur had over the dark elves. In −10500 DR, the Dark Disaster – a magical cataclysm unleashed by the elves of Aryvandaar – caused the death of many of her people in Miyeritar, severely weakening the goddess' power. Meanwhile, Lolth and Ghaunadaur gained great influence among the dark elves, culminating in −10000 DR, when the Seldarine and the elven court cursed and exiled all dark elves (including Eilistraee's followers, turning them into drow), because of the corruption that Lolth and the balor Wendonai were spreading among the noble houses and the influent people of Ilythiir. They feared that such corruption could spread among the population (the faith of Lolth was becoming common, among the other ones). Eilistraee tried to be a guide for the exiled drow, but in her state she could not rival Lolth as deity of the dark elves, and the Spider Queen led them in the Underdark. After this event, Lolth's and Ghaunadaur's persecution of worshipers of rival deities further marginalized the influence of the Lady of the Dance for millennia. Eilistraee found an unlikely protégé in her nephew-god, Selvetarm. He was the son of Vhaeraun and Zandilar the Dancer (who would later become one with Bast, forming Sharess), but had spurned both his parents and walked alone for centuries, neither good nor evil. Finally, he was befriended by his aunt Eilistraee, and grew close to her. Selvetarm came to admire her goodness and appreciate her teachings, and the goddess hoped that, by teaching him her ways and redeeming him, he could become an exemplar that would aid her in healing the rift between