City History:

Menzoberranzan, City of Spiders

Menzoberra the Kinless, a powerful priestess of Lolth, founded the city that bears her name in -3917 DR. At the behest of the Spider Queen, she led seven drow families into the Northdark from the southerly drow holdings of Great Bhaerynden. Without an immediate external enemy, the families fell to attacking and undermining one another, to the greater glory of their goddess. In -3864 DR, only fifty years after the city's founding, a terrible battle between House Nasadra and House S'sril led to the exile of the former (which later founded the city of Ched Nasad) and the rise of House Baenre as the First House of Menzoberranzan.

The city's internal machinations have continued unabated for millennia. Houses that grow weak are destroyed, and new ones rise up to find favor in Lolth's many eyes. Their full history would constitute a nearly endless logbook of treachery, spite, and naked ambition. Within the last century, this pattern has seemingly accelerated; House Do'Urden ascended to Ninth House of Menzoberranzan with meteoric swiftness, destroyed the Fourth House (DeVir) and seemed destined for greatness, only to falter in a series of disasters leading to the destruction of the House. In 1359 DR, House Oblodra, Third House of the city, was destroyed by an apparent manifestation of Lolth's own wrath, and again the ranks of the ruling Houses changed.

Even worse, Menzoberranzan recently tasted its first defeat on the battlefield in centuries uncounted when the dark elves attack on Mithral Hall was thrown back with great loss, and House Baenre lost its Matron Mother. Matron Baenre had governed Menzoberranzan with such cruel subtlety and perfect evil for so long that House Baenre's preeminence had seemed completely insurmountable. When her eldest daughter Triel became the mistress of House Baenre, this situation changed.

Triel Baenre is clever and completely devoted to Lolth, but she lacks the utter confidence, resolve, and strength that her mother possessed. In a gamble to secure her support in the Cduncil and erase the stain of failure attached to House Baenre because of the disaster at Mithral Hall, Triel directed a murderous riposte at the deep gnome city of Blingdenstone in 1371 DR. At her command, hundreds of priestesses and wizards summoned demons and hurled them at the svirfneblin town. Blingdenstone was erased; and Triel won the grudging approval of the other great Houses.

But Menzoberranzan did not enjoy its triumph for long. In the waning months of the Year of Wild Magic, Lolth inexplicably fell silent. Denied their spells, the Spider Queen's priestesses concealed their weakness for as long as they could, but within a few tendays their lack of magic became plain for all to see. As the tendays lengthened into months and Lolth's favor did not return, the enemies of Menzoberranzan began to move against the city. First, the city's enemies hatched a plot to sponsor a slave uprising, which came far closer to succeeding than any drow would have believed possible beforehand. And then, hard on the heels of the uprising, the duergar of Gracklstugh decided to march on the city.

Still powerless, the Matron Mothers elected to dispatch an army to meet the duergar advance, planning to hold the gray dwarves at a difficult pass known as the Pillars of Woe. Yet here, too, the army of Menzoberranzan was defeated. House Agrach Dyrr had been secretly turned by the enemies of the city, and its soldiers abandoned a key position in the face of the duergar advance. Worse yet, the tanarukks of Kaanyr Vhok's Scoured Legion also appeared on the field. The Menzoberranyr found themselves ambushed at the Pillars of Woe, and their army was driven back in disarray.

At present, Menzoberranzan is under siege. The army of Gracklstugh and the half-demons of Kaanyr Vhok invest the city, and Agrach Dyrr holds out within its walls. The enemies of Menzoberranzan have joined forces, and the City of the Spider Queen stands in dire peril.

Character History:

Born and raised with the city walls of Menzoberrabzan, City of Spiders. First daughter born of three children she and her younger sister and brother were forced to live with their grandmother as a punishment for their mother failing in her attempt to slaughter their grandmother. Several years passed as each of the children split off in order to further their own studies May left her grandmother's tower and joined the local academy of arcane arts and became one of the most talented Arch Mages to have ever stepped foot within the academy.

Her younger sister was to be sent off to the temple to start her studies to become the next High Priestess though instead of doing as her grandmother requested of her she fled the city and has not been seen since. Her younger brother was forced to follow their grandmother?s wishes quite strictly and was trained by the best weapon master in the entire city and took his rightful place as a guard within the house.

A few years went by for May and she finally had decided to leave the academy and return home to her family only to of found out that her younger sister had fled the city and that her younger brother was on the verge of doing the same thing. They met up and made arrangements with a mindflyer that May had met during her studies at the academy to set out on their journey to find their mother making their way from Menzoberrabzan to Sinifar they traveled the many lands of the massive grouping of islands before finally settling within the lands of the Isles of Dread where they had heard rumors of their mother being within the lands after a few days they ventured out in search of her further before coming across what appeared to be an underground city after further inspection they had discovered that it was indeed the underdark speaking to the guard at the gates of the city they found out their mother was indeed within the city and was a noble Matron within her own house.

The guard after finding out they were the children of one of the nobles of the city handed them each a key to the gates and sent them on their way. A few days later they managed to find their mother after wondering through the vast city they came upon a well-guarded tower upon further inspection it would seem that the tower did indeed belong to their mother. Pushing open the large doors and entering the tower they were stopped by one of the Matron?s personal guards where they were questioned for several long moments before their mother finally approached to see what was going on finding the guard questioning her children she dismissed the guard and took both of her children into a loving embrace and welcomed them home after their long journey it had finally came to a halt now that they were safely within the halls of their mothers tower.

Appearance:

height: 5'2"
weight: 125 lbs
hair: Silvery White
eyes: Crimson
lips: Royal Purple
skin: Pale Grey

City Title: Faerz'un'arr (Seeress) of the Faern Magthere

House Colors: Black and Dark Teal

House Status: First born daughter

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