Ed Greenwood, the creator of Eilistraee and the Forgotten Realms, meant her to take the role of a nurturing and protecting mother-goddess for the whole drow race. In-world, when the Dark Elves were condemned and cursed by her father, despite her innocence, she chose to share the exile and curse of her people, her mother and her brother. She made such a choice so that she could be with the drow when they would have needed her the most, to provide a light in the darkness and a beacon of hope to her children in the difficult times that – as she had foreseen – would come upon them. So, in the present times of the Forgotten Realms, Eilistraee teaches and shows to the drow kindness and love, the joy and freedom of life that were taken away from them, calling them to her and singing to their hearts. The goddess helps the dark elves to strengthen, grow, and flourish in a hostile surface world, protecting her faithful and aiding them in hunting, swordcraft, and other practical matters of their everyday lives.