Menzoberranzan

Menzoberranzan

Menzoberranzan—the City of Spiders, “Jewel of the Underdark”—is the most infamous drow metropolis in Faerûn. A vast arrowhead-shaped cavern two miles across and a thousand feet high, it glows with blue-green faerie fire and bristles with spider iconography to honor Lolth. It is the birthplace of Drizzt Do’Urden and the stage for centuries of intrigue, holy terror, civil war, and demonic calamity.

Where it stands & how it’s built

The city lies in the Upper Northdark about two miles beneath the Surbrin Valley, linked by tunnels to Mithral Hall, the Moonwood, and the High Forest. Nearby Underdark powers include Blingdenstone (deep gnome) and, farther, Ched Nasad. The main cavern (Araurilcaurak) is carved from calcite; some noble estates even cling to the ceiling, sustained by powerful magics. An enchantment damps echoes, while roughly a hundred guarded gates open into the surrounding tunnel web called the Bauthwaf. The city’s “clock,” Narbondel, is a great pillar the Archmage energizes daily; its fading glow marks the hours, and its full dark—Narbondel’s Black Death—is “midnight.”

Districts range from the slums of the Braeryn (Stenchstreets) to up-and-coming Narbondellyn and the noble plateau Qu’ellarz’orl (seat of Houses Baenre, Mizzrym, Barrison Del’Armgo, Agrach Dyrr). Tier Breche, a side cavern at the city’s apex, houses the three-part Academy: Arach-Tinilith (clerics of Lolth), Sorcere (wizards), and Melee-Magthere (warriors). Lake Donigarten and its Isle of Rothé (managed by House Hunzrin) feed the city with fungus, fish, and rothé herds.

People, numbers, and economy

The free population is overwhelmingly drow (historically ~20,000), with a shifting mass of slaves (goblins, grimlocks, kobolds, orcs, quaggoths, ogres, bugbears, svirfneblin, minotaurs, trolls, even humans). Visitors might include illithids, beholders, fiends, and deep dragons. Merchants—mostly male drow—run perilous trade under House “protection.” Exports include poisons, mushrooms, spell scrolls, fine wine, riding lizards, and even clean water (a luxury underground); imports are slaves and surface/Underdark produce and textiles. Coins vary widely in shape; great Houses mint their own pieces, e.g., Baenre.

Government & factions

Menzoberranzan is a matriarchy ruled (on paper) by the Ruling Council of Eight—the matron mothers of the eight greatest Houses. In practice, House Baenre has dominated for centuries, first under legendary Yvonnel Baenre, then Triel, later Quenthel, and in recent years Sos’Umptu Baenre. Males rarely wield formal power, but exceptions—Archmage Gromph Baenre and Jarlaxle of Bregan D’aerthe—shape events from the shadows. Defense rests on House armies (e.g., the Army of the Black Spider), elite patrols in the Dark Dominion (an 8 km radius of faerzress-soaked tunnels), and colossal jade spider constructs.

Religion: Lolth’s cult is law and culture; open worship of others is forbidden, though Vhaeraun’s secret cult persists. Customs reflect Lolth’s supremacy: harming spiders is a capital crime; nobles revel in savage pageants, and intrigue is a civic pastime. Corpses—save priestesses, who are cremated—are stored for later animation as battle fodder.

The long, bloody history (highlights)

Founding (−3917 DR):
Priestess Menzoberra the Kinless led seven Lolth-loyal families from Great Bhaerynden into the Northdark, seized a beholder’s lair, and founded the city. Internal feuds soon erupted: in −3864 DR, a House war (Nasadra vs. Thaeyalla) collapsed a cavern wall, killed Menzoberra, and led to House Nasadra’s banishment to found Ched Nasad. House Baenre rose as First House.

13th–14th c. DR: ascents and annihilations

  • House Do’Urden rose from Tenth to Ninth (1297 DR) after destroying House DeVir, then survived House Hun’ett’s assault (1327 DR) with Bregan D’aerthe’s help.

  • Drizzt’s defiance cost Do’Urden Lolth’s favor; House Baenre erased them in 1339 DR.

  • During the Time of Troubles, House Oblodra (psionics-strong) nearly seized power while magic failed, but Lolth unleashed Errtu and demons; Oblodra was obliterated, its ruin tumbled into the Clawrift.

  • A punitive war against Mithral Hall (c. 1358–59 DR) ended in disaster; Matron Yvonnel Baenre fell to Bruenor’s axe, and the city reeled.

Silence of Lolth (1372–73 DR):
Lolth ceased answering prayers; slave revolts and arson wracked the city. A duergar host under King Horgar of Gracklstugh, aided by Nimor Imphraezl and turncoat House Agrach Dyrr, besieged Menzoberranzan at the Pillars of Woe. The Army of the Black Spider was routed, the city besieged, then saved when the Silence ended and the defenders rallied. Quenthel Baenre murdered Triel and seized the First Seat.

Demon Hordes & Demogorgon (1485–86 DR):
Quenthel, steered by echoes of Yvonnel’s mind, seeded demon incursions to keep lesser Houses off-balance. Lolth then manipulated Gromph into tearing the Weave and summoning Demogorgon into Sorcere. The Prince of Demons ravaged districts, carved a trench through the city, and crazed thousands before a desperate gambit—channeling the city’s combined force through Drizzt Do’Urden—blasted the demon back to nothingness. The faerzress veil was scarred in the process.

The Civil War & the Avatars (late 15th c. DR):
Quenthel and Yvonnel II performed the unthinkable—reversing the drider curse on hundreds once damned by Lolth. Declaring Lolth’s “laws a lie,” Quenthel invited the restored to House Baenre, splitting the city. Factions formed: Barrison Del’Armgo aligned with House Melarn; Do’Urden/Xorlarrin wavered; Eilistraeeans intervened to sanctify demon sites; Bregan D’aerthe maneuvered amid assassinations and rescues. Two avatars of Lolth manifested (through Sos’Umptu Baenre and Matron Zhindia Melarn), demons flooded the Braeryn, and whole Houses (e.g., Fey-Branche) were destroyed. At the crescendo, Gromph returned and detonated his own staff in a sacrificial blast that banished Lolth and her handmaidens for a century. In the aftermath, Jarlaxle and Sos’Umptu negotiated amnesty and exile: ~2,000 “heretics” were allowed to leave forever; Sos’Umptu assumed the Matron Mother’s mantle, promising measured mercy to those who remained.

Daily life, diversions, and strictures

Food centers on Donigarten’s yields (rothe meat/cheese, fungus fields, fish). Street fare runs to sausages and rolls; noble tables feature raw mushrooms with sauces, rothe steak, and sweet wines (ulaver and dessert vintages), plus duergar brandy. Sava, a chess-like Houses-at-war game, fills taverns; “houses of delights,” baths, and brothels (often slave-staffed) dot better quarters. Parties must cease at Narbondel’s Black Death by city law; dancing while armed is insulting, and certain rites shed clothing entirely. Killing a spider—accident or not—means death.

The wider web

Beyond the gates, the Dark Dominion seethes with patrols, wards, and faerzress; at Dead Dragon Gorge, teleporters stage in and keyed portals hide behind waterfalls while Houses pretend not to watch. Notorious locales include the Cavern of Severed Tentacles, Ablonshier’s Cave, and (once) the deep dragon Zz’Pzora’s crystal lair. Smuggling consortia (Three Black Rings, Xalyth’s Company), mercantile combines, and Bregan D’aerthe’s cells lace these approaches with informants and traps.