In the forboding drow city of Menzoberanzan, those who have the means and reputation may find themselves among the residents of Norbondellyn. These streets house the aspirational, rising socialites looking to make their mark, stake their claim, and remove anyone in the way of their ascent. To have come so far is an achievement worthy of notice, but not all drow in the city of spiders have done so through the favor of Lolth.
Some dark elves have found other means by which to rise through the tangled skein of Menzoberanzan high society. This particular household seems to favor the worship of Ghaunadaur, the god of slimes. A precarious choice. Should their blasphemy be discovered by the priestesses of Lolth, it will cost the household far more than mere wealth.
I love this interaction between them. Minthara is among my favorites when it comes to the banters. I swear that woman only has to look at Gale for a vein to pop on her temple kek.
"Greetings, Zaknafein Do’Urden." Drizzt said heartily, drawing stunned looks from all in the room. Matron Malice had not granted him privilege to speak he hadn’t even asked her permission!
"I am Drizzt, secondboy of House Do’Urden, no more the page prince. I can look at you now, I mean at your eyes and not your boots. Mother told me so."
Drizzt’s smile disappeared when he looked up at the burning scowl of Matron Malice. Vierna stood as if turned to stone, her jaw hanging open and her eyes wide in disbelief.
Zak, too, was amazed, but in a different manner...
Briza, in her customary position behind Malice, fumbled with her whip, too confounded by her young brother’s actions to even know what in the Nine Hells she should do."
Drow merchant trains include pack lizards, "a breed of subterranean lizard -- slow, sturdy, strong, stupid, and not easily panicked. These creatures seldom will attack anything unless harmed first. Their loads are carried on special back harnesses." (David Sutherland, AD&D module D1: Descent into the Depths of the Earth, TSR, 1978 by Gary Gygax)
Investigating a series of caverns, the party has stumbled upon a peculiar outpost! It seems it belongs to a race of people that worship spiders, and as such many giant spiders patrol the perimeter, on the lookout for intruders.
And they don’t seem friendly at all, so it’s too bad when one of the adventurers gets caught looking at stuff they shouldn’t.
The creature tokens for this map are an Arakna, an Edgy Spider and a Spiderheart. Emerald tier gets the Edgy Spider while Diamond tier gets all three. In addition, Sapphire tier gets extra creature token variants.
You can see a preview of all of this week’s Patreon content here.
Thank you very much for taking a look and be sure to check out my Patreon where you can pledge for gridless version, alternate map versions as well as the tokens pertaining to this map.
BG3 Drow Lore 🕷️Minthara's Age and Name Meaning
🕷️Year Of Birth - Minthara was born before 1297 DR. In one of her lines, she mentions that she remembers a scandalous event from the past – when Viconia DeVir, a noble female drow and a daughter of the fourth house of Menzoberranzan, disgraced her family:
Two hundred years ago, she disgraced her family - the DeVirs - by refusing to obey a divine order from Lolth. It was quite the scandal, and I was young enough that it left an impression on me.
House DeVir fell out of favour with Lolth because of Viconia's transgression and ultimately, in 1297 DR, they were attacked and destroyed by House Do'Urden. During this time, Minthara was likely in the first decade(s) of her life, since by drow standards, she was still young and impressionable.
It would mean that she was born at least several years earlier, likely between 1270 DR and 1290 DR.
🕷️Age In BG3 - during the events of Baldur's Gate 3, Minthara is over two hundred years old, but probably less than two hundred and thirty.
🕷️Name Meaning - Minthara's name means „minor / second rune” or something similar, being composed of female prefix Min- („lesser, minor, second”) and female suffix -thara („glyph, marker, rune”). The name was probably given to her by her mother shortly after birth, according to drow custom.
We do not know if the meaning of Minthara's name was important in any way to her mother. Sometimes drow names seem to be connected to the child's future profession, ambitions or fate, but in many cases, there is no such connection and a name is just a name. For example, the eldest daughter of Matron Mother Yvonnel Baenre was named Triel, which means simply „wing” or „bat”.
🔹If Minthara's name meaning is not accidental, it could imply that she is her mother's second daughter (but at the same time, the eldest living daughter).
Noble drow females typically value their eldest daughters the most, from early years grooming them to become their successors. Who knows - maybe in this case, the first daughter did not survive, ending up being assassinated by enemies, or simply failing to meet her mother's expectations. Then Minthara would be „the second try” kind of a child – her mother's second chance to raise a worthy successor, to strengthen her position in the family and in the society.
🔹It might explain why Minthara's mother considered her so special and important: I have been told that I am special since my mother first held me in her arms. The burden of expectation.
Normally, drow children are not considered overly special by their mothers. The usual exception is the eldest daughter, expected to take her mother's place in the society one day.
In the next post - thoughts about Minthy's childhood, family and the identity of her mother 🙂
For more of my drow lore ramblings, feel free to check my pinned post 🕷️
Given the reception to my other drow panorama, here's Draix'il, the Navel of drow civilisation in my setting, capital of the Umbilical Court (pun intended).
I made this in November/December last year, and I was going to wait until some of my players went here before uploading this, but eh why not now?
I also have NPC profiles for several of the characters depicted, but those I will keep secret for now. Don't want to spoil too much, just in case.
CLIENTS BE LIKE THAT THO...
I'm a graphic designer in real life, and several of my players are also in the ad agency space, so I made this comic at the intersection of design and drow. BTW — Ak'vra owns Agency Menzo.
Being the eldest son of the Matron Mother Yvonnel Baenre is a burden that few would have the ambition to bear, much less the follow through, to become the most powerful male in a matriarchal society.
Gromph is a perpetual grump, and is never one to let a slight pass unnoticed. Like most male drow seeking any kind of meaningful position, he was ambitious in his arcane pursuits, rising to become the Archmage of the Sorcere.
He could be cautious when it came to his standing or upsetting any of the Matron Mothers. Gromph has been in a position to effect the course of the matriarchy, even destroy it, but has no interest in challenging the current status quo. Lolth is a capricious goddess and likely to notice such an attempt.
NOTABLE EVENTS
Gromph is a capable tactician and a ferocious magic user. He is creative in his use of spells and enchantments, often making use of unexpected resources. He defeated the Lichdrow Lord Dyrr, a cleric of Velsharoon, by destroying his phylactery and ensnaring his soul in an axe.
After the events of the Spellplague, Gromph attempted to summon the demon lord Demogorgon and failed miserably. Menzoberranzan was beset by demon lords, a massacre followed with thousands of drow dead and untold damage done. The Baenre family helped him escape to prevent his part in the ritual being discovered.
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