Menzoberranzan
  1. Locations

Menzoberranzan

Underdark in Eressea

Menzoberranzan, the City of Spiders, is the largest and most powerful of the drow city states. The city is controlled by a matriarchal ruling council of the eight most powerful houses in the city. The worship of any god other than Lolth is strictly forbidden. There are many mages and magical related businesses in the city. Slavery is a legal and flourishing trade in the city. 

Introduction

Evil Reigns

Menzoberranzan is a nasty place. In drow culture, treachery and murder are commonplace, as are acts of debauchery. Drow sometimes have orgies with demons and engage in despicable acts of bloodletting. Menzoberranzan is populated by vile and capricious sadists, who seek to improve their personal standing through the suffering and misery of others.

Lolth is Supreme

No other force in drow society is as pervasive as the Church of Lolth. Although other divine entities have appeared in drow religious rites over the millennia, all are secondary to Lolth and are barely visible in the shadow of the Spider Queen. Other entities have adherents in some places, but few are worshiped with the same devotion—and fear—as Lolth. It is she, and she alone, who stands at the heart of drow religion.

Station is Everything

Despite its members being born of chaos, drow society is governed by a deeply entrenched hierarchy. Each drow divides everyone else—including other drow—into three categories:

  • Those with more power, who must be appeased and placated (at least until they can be replaced).
  • Those who are useful to one's own advancement, who must be exploited in all ways possible.
  • The weak, who are worthless except as labor or disposable troops.

As drow see it, each day is a new chance to improve your station or to eliminate those in your way.

Secrets are Currency

Drow are not mindless brutes who charge headlong into the unknown. In fact, the residents of Menzoberranzan, called Menzobarranyr, are meticulous and calculating in their endeavors. Although wealth and might are certainly respected, the true currency of the drow lies in secrets. Information is power, and with it, an individual can wield influence far beyond his or her station. The machinations of the drow are legendary.

Geography

Located in the northern Underdark, generally beneath the Nordmark on the overworld. Tunnels connect the city to other settlements and to the surface.

Structure

Menzoberranzan sits in a huge arrowhead-shaped cavern, two miles wide and a thousand feet high. The drow call the cavern Araurilcaurak. The city is mainly carved from calcite and illuminated by blue, green, and violet faerie fire. Buildings are often adorned with the city’s main motif—the spider—in honor of Lolth. The roof of Menzoberranzan is covered in paths, with some homes perched 1,000 feet above the floor. Ceiling houses require powerful magic to prevent them from falling, though many are left empty. An enchantment in the cavern minimizes echoes from the constant noise.

The number of buildings in Menzoberranzan is fixed, making the poorer areas extremely crowded. Noble houses, once destroyed or abandoned, cannot be reoccupied, leaving numerous compounds vacant on both the surface and the roof of the city cavern.

The city has around a hundred gates, all guarded, leading into the labyrinth of tunnels surrounding the city (collectively called the Bauthwaf).

One of the most distinct structures in the city is the pillar-clock Narbondel. Each morning, the Archmage of Menzoberranzan enchants it to glow, with the light slowly fading as the day passes. Narbondel is visible from throughout the city. When it is completely dark, it signals Narbondel's Black Death—essentially midnight.

Inhabitants

Around 42,000 inhabitants live in the city, with approximately half being drow and the rest humanoid slaves, including orcs, kobolds, gnolls, humans, goblins, bugbears, and the occasional illithid. The city often hosts visitors such as beholders, deep dragons, illithids, naga, and fiends.

Trade

Independent traders and mercantile companies play a significant role in drow society, mostly run by male drow, though a few, such as "Nal" Xalyth, defy this convention. Trade is perilous, particularly for non-drow, as many meet their ends through "accidents" orchestrated by rival Houses or competitors. Some traders receive sponsorship from noble Houses, giving them a degree of protection.

The city exports poisons, mushrooms, riding lizards, spell scrolls, wine, and water, as clean water is scarce in the Underdark. Other goods include body dyes, chains, everdark ink from deep dragon scales, giant slugs, herbal medicines, musical instruments (flutes, drums), obsidian carvings (often for sacrifices), perfumes, spells, spiced sausages, stone sculptures, surgical services, textiles, tortoiseshell items, and ulaver wine.

Menzoberranzan imports produce from both the surface and the Underdark, shellfish, slaves, and textiles. The neighboring drow city of Ched Nasad provides half of Menzoberranzan's goods.

Various currencies circulate in Menzoberranzan, with coins in many shapes—round, square, triangular, ring, and spider-shaped. The greatest dozen houses mint their own coins, such as House Baenre, whose coins are accepted throughout the city.

Government

The city consists of many competing factions or Houses, all vying for power. As a matriarchal society, only females truly hold authority. Officially, Menzoberranzan is governed by the Ruling Council of Eight, composed of the matron mothers of the first (and most powerful) eight Houses. For centuries, House Baenre has held indirect control over the city, with Matron Mother Yvonnel Baenre, also known as Old Matron Baenre, as one of the most powerful rulers in its history. House Baenre has remained the First House of Menzoberranzan for centuries of undisputed power.

Though drow society is matriarchal, a few male drow wield political influence, such as Velkos Baenre, the city's archmage, and Jarlaxle, leader of the mercenary band Bregan D’aerthe, often employed by House Baenre.

Justice

The idea of drow justice is little more than a bitter facade, instituted to supposedly stem the chaos that ensues when ruthless and ambitious drow fight each other. Might makes right in the city, and the law is little more than a mockingly ironic set of rules in which the only ones to get punished are those who get caught and don’t have the wherewithal to evade justice.

The priestesses of Lolth determine guilt and mete out punishment in Menzoberranzan. A priestess, whether from the Academy or a house, leads every street patrol and administers justice immediately as she deems appropriate when the patrol arrests lawbreakers. There is no appeals process, but a priestess must be careful not to be too harsh on “criminals” who have high-ranking protectors. If she offends a superior, the priestess can expect retribution.

A claim of innocence is not the best defense against an accusation of wrongdoing. Having a connection to someone high in the hierarchy—in other words, someone who can cause the judging priestess serious harm—is the only reliable way for a defendant to avoid the scourging lash or worse punishment.

Beyond the base tenets of the Way of Lolth, what precisely constitutes a crime becomes tenuous and random. Crimes of property (theft, burglary, vandalism) are illegal in Menzoberranzan, but street patrols do not hunt down stolen goods. If an owner cannot protect her property, then in the eyes of the drow, the owner does not deserve to possess it.

Likewise, crimes of violence are technically illegal, but those who are attacked in the city are expected to defend themselves. The street patrols tend to violently punish anyone caught fighting, so all combatants commonly flee when a priestess arrives on the scene.
Menzoberranzan has no formal criteria for matching punishments to crimes. Instead, punishment for any offense is at the whim of the drow priestess administering justice, which means it is arbitrary, capricious, and almost always cruel. Sentences for various forms of lawbreaking include immediate execution, death by torture, mutilation, castration, torture without death, exile, imprisonment, whipping, servitude, and exorbitant fines that go into the priestess’s purse. Whipping and torture are the most common penalties because the priestesses enjoy delivering the sort of punishment they can inflict repeatedly.

Way of Lolth

Menzoberranzan’s principal law is the Way of Lolth, a code of behavior known in detail by every high priestess and administered by the Ruling Council. Its tenets are:

  • There is no god or goddess other than Lolth. Any who follows the dictates of another entity will be slain, preferably in sacrifice to Lolth.
  • Ritual worship of any entity other than Lolth is forbidden within the city’s vault. Non-drow who violate this tenet are fined and expelled from the city. Second offenders or any drow who do so are slain.
  • Slaves have no rights, and there are no limits to the punishments or duties that can be set for them. Treatment of slaves is the affair of their owners. It is a capital offense for a slave to refuse any order from a drow of the house that owns the slave.
  • A commoner or a student of the Academy who refuses to obey a priestess can be punished as the offended priestess sees fit, up to and including death. If the offender is the property of another house and the noble of that house is present and objects, the two must agree on a punishment (usually flogging).
  • Any drow who falsely wears the colors of another house or who deliberately alters his or her appearance to masquerade as one of a different station will be slain.
  • Any non-drow who adopts the appearance of a particular drow, a drow of noble rank, or a drow of a house other than his or her own will be slain.
  • If it can be proven that two or more houses attacked another house, all the houses that participated in the attack will be destroyed jointly by the remainder.

Districts

The Braeryn (Stenchstreets)

Sick and outlaw drow live here, along with the many non-drow inhabitants of the city. This is definitely the slum of Menzoberranzan

  • The Wan Hag: Information broker by the name of Smylla Nathos
  • Slave Markets: The heavily patrolled southern ghettos of the Braeryn serve as pens and holding facilities for thousands of wretched souls sold into slavery. Drow slavers peddle their wares around the clock in the markets. Slaves that don't "make it to market" are simply wheeled away and dumped into Lake Donigarten
  • Quaggoth Drool: A crude establishment where drow of every station go to forget about caste and rank for a few hours, guzzle raw spirits, and watch lesser creatures slaughter one another in bloody contests. As is common, revelers must surrender all weapons when they enter the tavern. 

Eastmyr

Most commoners, including mercenaries and lesser merchants, lived in this neighborhood. While better than the Braeryn, Eastmyr was still where you would find many poor and outlaw drow and non-drow of no discernible means. Despite the lack of wealthy residents, House Hunzrin and House Kenafin were based here.

  • The Shadowed Chalice
  • Battered Beholder: Arms and Hardware. Inventory varies widely from day to day.
  • Calask's Hands: Hair salon
  • Darkled Depths: One of the most popular taverns in the city. The Depths is a higher-class establishment than the drinking pits, though it does admit non-drow. It is renowned for its glowing drinks made from phosphorescent lichen and a wide variety of stuff mushrooms. 
  • Narbondel's Shadow: Rooming house, one of two in the city that caters to non-drow visitors. It is very expensive, but the service is excellent.
  • Dylchanta's: Massage house

Duthcloim (Manyfolk)

Home of the well-off commoners of the city, as well as wealthy non-drow. Tradesfolk and their shops/businesses are mostly found here. Most Menzoberranyr came from this area and it was the most varied and tolerant district in the entire city. It is located near Tier Breche. House Auvryndar is located here.

  • The Cathlyre: Exotic Bird Aviary
  • Rhauvais' Arms: run by Rhauvais del'Ygana, specializing in the discreet manufacture and sale of exotic, high-quality ranged weapons and ammunition
  • The Bazaar: The ever-changing, never-sleeping Bazaar is the commercial heart of Menzoberranzan. This circle of bare bedrock about 750 feet in diameter is a crowded, untidy labyrinth of stalls and hagglers. The ongoing trade fair attracts merchants and goods from all over the continent, and the drow go there to buy and sell almost everything imaginable. Merchants of all races and lands are welcome in the Bazaar, and shoppers can get almost anything they desire in its curtained booths and stalls, given enough patience and money.
  • Bhaelundryn's Bestiary: Provides pack lizards and riding-lizard mounts
  • Dhode's Fine Piwafwis: Tailor and clothier, specializing in drow cloaks
  • Quild's Mobile Parlor: Little more than a bench and a cart full of cheap trinkets, Quild is however an excellent source for rumors and gossip, and he can give directions to most locales in and around the city. 
  • Rauva's Sensuous Scents: Perfumery
  • Shimmerdark's Decanter: Vinter and Alchemist

Narbondellyn (Broad Streets)

This is the home of the wealthy and up-and-coming drow houses. No fewer than seven existing powerful noble houses and several of the most luxurious and profitable of businesses are located in this neighborhood. The best gems and perfumes can be found here, as well as the city's moneylenders. Narbondellyn is stretched out in front of Qu'ellarz'orl

  • Brother's Jaszarr: Regarded as the finest purveyors of perfume in the city. Sold only to the finest drow of high society, their scents are woven with magical compulsions that make them more than simple cosmetics. 
  • Feathered Masque: Theater and festhall
  • Black Sapphire Bath: public bathhouse

West Wall

The West Wall was covered in the fortresses of more minor noble houses and the proudest of the non-noble drow families.  Menzoberranzan's embassy with Ched Nasad and Veldor'dhun is located in the West Wall

  • Elstearn's Escorts: Elstearn's Escorts provides attractive drow of either sex to escort those who desired them or to act as tour guides to visitors.
  • Fane of the Goddess: Amphitheatre and Temple of Lolth. Constructed as a "gift" to the city from House Baenre. Before the Fane's construction, most drow worshiped Lolth privately in their homes because the chapel in Arach-Tinilith was restricted to students and priestesses. For the first time in the city's history, drow and non-drow, male and female alike, can together venerate Lolth publicly. This spectacular open air venue is typically restricted to religious ceremonies, but occasionally large secular activities such as gladiator bouts are held within the amphitheater.
  • Xeva's Den: The common room of this drinking establishment offers its discerning patrons a quiet place to enjoy a relaxing game of sava, table dice (backgammon), or old men's bones (pick-up sticks). Gamers looking to make wagers can do so in the private rooms.

Qu'ellarz'orl (The House Loft)

This plateau is located in the southwestern corner of the city and is screened from the rest of the city by a forest of giant mushrooms. Contrary to the rest of the city, Qu'ellarz'orl is spacious and bare, no crowds are found here, nor any businesses. The space that is occupied is dominated by the most powerful noble houses: House Baenre, House Mizzrym, House Barrison Del'Armgo, and House Agrach Dyrr.

Tier Breche

The location of the three academies of Menzoberranzan: Arach-Tinilith, Sorcere and Melee-Magthere. It is the highest point in the city and is protected by two giant spider statues that could be animated to protect the academy. It is located in a side cavern on the northern side of the city

Donigarten

The area around Lake Donigarten in the eastern side of the cavern is nearly uninhabited but is the source of all of Menzoberranzan's food.

September 5th, 2024 October 3rd, 2024

Common Phrases

Jal khaless zhah waela – All trust is foolish.
Oloth zhah tuth abbil lueth ogglin – Darkness is both friend and enemy.
Xun izil dos phuul quarthen, lueth dro – Do as you are ordered, and live.
Lolth tlu malla; jal ultrinnan zhah xundus – Lolth be praised; all victory is her doing.
Ilharessen zhaunil alurl – Matron Mothers know best.
Lil alurl velve zhah lil velkyn uss – The best knife is the unseen one.
Lil waela lueth waela ragar brorna-lueth wund rand, kyorlin elghinn – The foolish and unwary find surprises, and among them, waiting death.

Khaless nau uss mzild taga dosstan – Trust no one more than yourself.
Nindyn vel’uss kyorl nind ratha thalra elghinn dal lil alust – Those who watch their backs meet death from the front.
Ulu z’hin maglust dal Qu’ellar lueth Valshoress zhah ulu z’hin wund lil phalar – To walk apart from House and Queen is to walk into the grave.
Kyorl jal bauth, kyone, lueth lil Quarvalsharess xal belbau dos lil belbol del elendar dro – Watch all about, warily, and the Goddess may give you the gift of continued life.
Vel’uss zhaun alur taga lil Quarvalsharess? – Who knows better than the Goddess?

October 4th, 2024

Notable Inhabitants

Slave Pits

The Iron Pits


Description: A network of caged enclosures, layered with jagged iron bars and surrounded by wooden walkways for viewing. Slaves are paraded here for inspection, with clerks recording transactions in ledgers.

Features:

A central stage for auctions, elevated and illuminated by eerie faerie fire.

A magical restraint field powered by glyph of warding to keep slaves from escaping or casting magic.

Guards with beasts such as trained displacer beasts or shadow mastiffs to intimidate both slaves and buyers.

The Branding Hall


Description: A dimly lit chamber where newly captured slaves are branded with sigils of their masters. The air is filled with the acrid smell of burning flesh.

Features:

Branding irons enchanted to mark with glowing sigils of binding (arcane mark).

Wards to prevent teleportation or phasing (dimensional anchor).

The Shattered Bazaar


Description: A chaotic open-air marketplace where lower-tier slavers hawk their wares. The goods range from broken and desperate humanoids to dangerous and exotic creatures.

Features:

Haphazard stalls constructed from scavenged materials.

Frequent brawls and magical duels between competing slavers.

The Overseer’s Spire


Description: A black obsidian tower where the Braeryn’s drow overseers monitor the market and settle disputes.

Features:

A magical observation orb that allows the overseers to scry on any part of the market.

Prison cells beneath the spire for unruly slaves or buyers.

Lake Donigarten Disposal Gate


Description: A grim chute leading to Lake Donigarten where dead or unsellable slaves are unceremoniously discarded.

Features:

Guarded by a cruel drow who ensures no one uses the gate for anything other than slave disposal.

A thriving ecosystem of scavengers, such as kuo-toa, in the waters below.

December 13th, 2024

Slave Pits

The Iron Pits


Description: A network of caged enclosures, layered with jagged iron bars and surrounded by wooden walkways for viewing. Slaves are paraded here for inspection, with clerks recording transactions in ledgers.

Features:

A central stage for auctions, elevated and illuminated by eerie faerie fire.

A magical restraint field powered by glyph of warding to keep slaves from escaping or casting magic.

Guards with beasts such as trained displacer beasts or shadow mastiffs to intimidate both slaves and buyers.

The Branding Hall


Description: A dimly lit chamber where newly captured slaves are branded with sigils of their masters. The air is filled with the acrid smell of burning flesh.

Features:

Branding irons enchanted to mark with glowing sigils of binding (arcane mark).

Wards to prevent teleportation or phasing (dimensional anchor).

The Shattered Bazaar


Description: A chaotic open-air marketplace where lower-tier slavers hawk their wares. The goods range from broken and desperate humanoids to dangerous and exotic creatures.

Features:

Haphazard stalls constructed from scavenged materials.

Frequent brawls and magical duels between competing slavers.

The Overseer’s Spire


Description: A black obsidian tower where the Braeryn’s drow overseers monitor the market and settle disputes.

Features:

A magical observation orb that allows the overseers to scry on any part of the market.

Prison cells beneath the spire for unruly slaves or buyers.

Lake Donigarten Disposal Gate


Description: A grim chute leading to Lake Donigarten where dead or unsellable slaves are unceremoniously discarded.

Features:

Guarded by a cruel drow who ensures no one uses the gate for anything other than slave disposal.

A thriving ecosystem of scavengers, such as kuo-toa, in the waters below.

December 13th, 2024 December 13th, 2024