Jorogu¶
"Demon Goddess of Spiders, The Spider Queen, The Dark Widow." — the titles of Jorogu (S021)
Jorogu, pronounced Jhor'O'goo, is the Demon Goddess of Spiders, a goddess of the Domain of Life and one of the Unaligned (S420). She is a Greater Demi-Goddess and Demon Princess, the Spider Queen worshipped by the Dark Elves and the chitines, holder of the Astral Dust of darkness, deception and fate in a demesne called the Golden Web. She has an "insatiable appetite for power" and, like Abraxas, is "considered a renegade and outcast by many of her Demonic brothers and sisters". In the Fifth Age her power "has reached a pinnacle where she has begun to create children in her own image".
Also called: Nephila (S021); Joruga, in a list of the northern powers of the Fifth Age (S015).
Domain and allegiance¶
In the Domain of Life the register lists "Jorogu - Demon Goddess of Spiders", lawful and evil in temper, with the hollow-circle mark of the Unaligned, among the gods of strength, death and plague who share that domain with Arya, Goddess of Life (S420).
She is an "Astral Dust Holder (Darkness, Deception and Fate) - The Golden Web" (S021); Astral Dust and its holders are treated under the Astral Shards.
Dark Elf Pantheon¶
Jorogu's own document places her in a pantheon of the Dark Elves that it does not name: "Dark Elf Pantheon (NEED NAME)" (S021, S435). No other member of such a pantheon is named anywhere in the sources, and the newest register marks her Unaligned instead. The register's reading is followed here; the Dark Elf pantheon is recorded as an earlier account.
Gap
The sources never name the Dark Elf pantheon or any other god in it. Whether it exists apart from Jorogu, or is simply the Dark Elves' worship of her, is not said.
Nature¶
"She has an insatiable appetite for power. Though she often devours souls (she is a Demon), her path to greater power lies through her Godhood/shard. She works to amass followers and bind souls to her shard to increase her power. Her primary means of amassing followers is through domination, intimidation, manipulation and entrapment. However, she realizes that living followers provide more astral power than entrapped dead souls, and is quite protective of her relatively small number of living followers."
"In some sense she has largely abandoned her baser Demonic desires which would normally compel her to seek the complete annihilation and assimilation of all life on Terrun. Instead she has grown comfortable and accustomed to the powers granted to her by this world" (S021).
Her avatars are a female Drow, and "Large Nephila spider with drow head between the spider eyes".
Ascendants and the Fallen¶
Two Ascendants are known (S021):
- Argione, a "huge female spider active in the deep underdark below central Numenia".
- Pompili, a "huge Spider Wasp Demon active in the jungles of East Astia".
Her one named enemy is her own daughter. Estridaa, pronounced Ez-Tree-DAY, is a Fallen ascendant, the "Half-Demon daughter of Jorogu", who "appears as a Female Drow with Jet black eyes, tall pointed horns and golden hair, or as a huge Nephila spider". She "has a small following of Good-aligned drow, chitines, choldrith and arachne/driders in south central Numenian Underdark".
Jorogites¶
Jorogu's worshippers are "Dark Elves, Chitines, and occasionally other races (Assassins). Referred to as Jorogites" (S021). Two rites are recorded:
- Humanoid Sacrifice. "After rituals to bind the target's soul to her shard, she sacrifices the target so that their soul will be added to her shard (and increase its power). Only the weak-willed can have their soul bound to her against their will. Stronger-willed enemies are killed outright or are deceived into vulnerable situations where their soul can be bound (after which they are killed)."
- Tests of Power. "Contests of power are a ritual for servants of Jorogu."
In the Fifth Age, "Joruga" is listed among the powers of the north with the note "Underdark, Spiders", beside the awakened Elder Gods and the Church of the Divine (S015).
The Fifth Age¶
"During the Fifth-Age, Jorogu's power has reached a pinnacle where she has begun to create children in her own image" (S021). Nothing more is said of these children; whether Estridaa, a half-demon daughter, is counted among them is not stated.
Earlier accounts¶
The 2014 document of Jorogu (S435) is identical to the 2021 copy (S021) except that it lacks the closing line on the Fifth Age. Both give her temper as neutral and evil; the 2026 register (S420) gives it as lawful and evil, and that reading is followed here. Both place her in the unnamed Dark Elf pantheon where the register marks her Unaligned.
Gap
The sources do not describe Jorogu's temples or priesthood, the Golden Web itself, her relations with the other demon princes or with Necatus, creator of the Dark Elves, nor what became of her children.