The Fall of House d'Zranthrae

[Allyn]

Legends come and legends go, but some things endure.

The Fall of House d'Zranthrae

There was a time when House d'Zranthrae was faithful to the Spider Queen. Quellar d'Zranthrae was a minor drow house from the City of Spiders, Menzoberranzan. Her priestesses served in all the spider lore of that reknowned drow city. That was before the coming of Xanethryll, however.

Xanethryll was an enterprising female black dragon possessed with an unusually high intellect for her kind. She, using the magic known to her, infiltrated House d'Zranthrae in the shape of a drow female and thru many cunning plots and ingenious schemes, became the Matron Mother of House d'Zranthrae over the course of three and a half centuries, give or take a few decades.

To those on the outside, House d'Zranthrae appeared as any other faithful Lolth-serving drow House. But, as Xanethryll rose thru the ranks of House d'Zranthrae, dragon blood coursed thru House d'Zranthrae's children. Xanethryll sought to increase her own power thru her progeny. Such practices were not confined to pure blood drow, as Xanethryll also interacted with certain prospects (as she saw them) of House d'Zranthrae's slaves. Thus, many drow, half-drow, and others were possessed of varying degrees of black dragon blood quantums from Xanethryll's actions.

After circa 350 years, the secret of House d'Zranthrae was discovered and Menzoberranzan's drow faithful gathered en masse and rained down destruction upon House d'Zranthrae. House d'Zranthrae was obliterated as a drow House and most of her peoples killed. Only a few scattered scions of House d'Zranthrae remain. These few still walk the depths of the Underdark and remember what once was. In them, the blood of the dragon still flows.