Nezlidrichynn

NEZLIDRICHYNN

City of Horrors

DESCRIPTION - LOCATION - PEOPLE - CLIMATE - TRADE - RESOURCES

Within the bowels of the earth lie a great oval cavern, roughly three kilometers in length, by two kilometers width, complete with a dome like ceiling lined with stalactites hanging down towards the City of Horrors, named so as being one of the earliest displays of horror and cruelty of the Underdark a traveller witnesses upon entering the realm beneath the surface. Here, in this environment, the drow have built one of their twisted cities, carved out of the earth itself, the drow inhabitants here numbering somewhere close to 12000 in number, plus an uncounted number of slaves.

• Description:

Nezlidrichynn, the City of Horrors, is a sprawling city which takes up about two square kilometers of the cavern ground, situated on the western side of the cavern, leaving a kilometer's distance eastwards of uninhabited land. Entry into the city is made only through the gates, and on the far eastern portion of the cavern, where it is not inhabited, there is a giant field of fungal growth and a portion of a lake, the exact size unknown, for it is walled off from the rest of the cavern by a wall where the water must flow under, here there is a small waterfall which cascades down the wall into the lake. Like many other drow cities, it is magically illuminated by permanent faerie fire spells, though some buildings will use candlelight instead of the continuous source of light.

Gates

Entry into the city is provided by three gates, all of which are positioned on the western cavern wall. All three gates are made of solid adamantine and are guarded with a garison of soldiers.

City Central

Within the center of the city lies the three great schooling buildings of the drow, the Temple of Lloth where the priestesses are trained, the Tower of Wizardry, and the Headquarters of Warfare.

The Temple of Lloth inhabits the largest amount of land within the central part of the city. It's center point is the great temple itself, massively tall, it easily rivals a keep of the castles of the surface world, however, it is beautifully decorated with arches and butresses with a great spider-like theme, like all important drow buildings. Other buildings are scattered in the area, these are the schools for the yathrin, the priestesses.

The Tower of Wizardry is a magically shaped building, a stalagmite transformed by magic into a spiral tower and skillfully carved by artisans into a thing of beauty, spiralling up higher than the hights of the Temple of Lloth. Here, on the many leveled building, sorcery is taught to the drow. The tower inhabits the least amount of land within the central part of the city.

The Headquarters of Warfare, unlike the Tower of Wizardry or the Temple of Lloth, is rather quite simple. It is built like a Mayan pyramid, with several layers sitting atop each other, the level at its base the widest, and the level at the very top the smallest. Its walls are crudely made, carved from the stone surrounding it, jagged and imposing.

Noble Houses

The city of Nezlidrichynn is relatively small and new compared to other drow cities, and in such a case, the ruling houses are few. Or at least to say, the ones with power are few. In total, there are three Noble Houses which control most of the city, each allied with some of the lesser houses in the area. These three houses in power have their homes stationed equal distances from the city center, located in a rough triangle between each other in the eastern part of the city, the northwestern part of the city, and the southwestern part of the city.

In the east, the noble house of Kilsek situates their home in a mighty stalactite from the roof of the cavern which reached down towards the ground, magically enchanted and carved by the master artisans of the drow. The surrounding area is walled off from the rest of the city, and the grounds within, located directly underneath the stalactite houses a large building constructed to connect the lower reaches of the stalactite to the ground of the cavern, allowing entry from such a point.

The noble house of Arkhenneld, in the northwest, is situated in a building similar to the one in the east, being carved right out of the stone of the earth, but enhanced with framework to appear as a great fortress atop the plateau in that part of the city, sitting high and proud over the rest of the city that surrounds its grounds.

In the southwestern part of the city, the newest portion of the city, lies the third noble house with the most power, house Lylyl, which had positioned a portion of itself within the city as an expansion of power throughout the underdark. Here, surrounded by walls, a simple mansion has been built. But as simple as it may appear, it is as powerfully enchanted and protected as the other two noble homes, if not more due to its simplicity and disadvantage of location.

Marketplace

Within the city of Nezlidrichynn, closest to the gates of the city is a massive marketplace, where trade occurs, from those businesses in the city to travelling merchants who have entered to city. Any sort of goods may be found here, from slaves to food and weapons from the overworld. However, there is more than just the drow travellers which could be found here, but there are possibilities of illithid trading with the drow, though there is no alliance between the two races, trade does occur.

House of Pleasure

On the opposite end of the city than the marketplace lies the house of pleasure, or at least its headquarters within the city. Here, a large mansion-like building is located. Similar to a high end hotel, the House of Pleasure is a sort of resort for the drow, providing living quarters for important visitors of the city as well as luxuries.

Drow like to give and receive massages; long, skilled massages involving scented oils, hot water and steam. This is close to ultimate luxury for them, and as such, there are many chambers within the building which provide such luxuries. However, drow do indulge in other pleasures such as that of carnal acts or bloody entertainment between gladiatorial fights between slaves, monsters, and skilled drow warriors, which are all provided by the House of Pleasure.

However, it is well known that smaller branches of the house exists in the city, though these exhibit less grace and etiquette than the main headquarters. Some specifically for whoring, others merely appearing like taverns with pits built in for gladiatorial entertainment.

Location:

The city of Nezlidrichynn is not very deep beneath the earth compared to other drow cities in the underdark, being similar to an outpost for the world deeper down. It is located below the central plains of Gaia, the highest point of the domed ceiling which makes up the cavern only a little more than four kilometers down beneath the surface.

People:

Drow, the most dominant race of the Underdark inhabit this city. Any other race is typically a slave, enemy, or trader, though the latter is very rare.

The race itself is strictly matriarchal, with females holding all positions of power and responsibility in government, military, and home. In fact, even the lowest rank a female can obtain is higher than the highest male rank. Females are generally larger and stronger than males of the race. And males are generally seen as nothing more than servants.

Social station is the most important thing in the world of the drow, with each house in a power struggle with the other, as the ultimate goal of drow society is to ascend to greater power. Power being the sole goal of the dark elven race, be it control over the entire race or domination of the surface world.

Drow enjoy magic and revel in its power, being the masters of such a craft, they easily exceed many of the other races in its use, include elves of the surface. The drow also love beauty of all kinds, be it in music, sculptures, made items (especially weapons), or the body. All drow are proud of displaying their physique, and any children exhibiting any physical deficiencies are slain.

Climate:

Due to the underground environment, the city of Nezlidrichynn does not experience weather like the surface world. Time is calculated by a spell inlaid into the ceiling of the cavern which small specks of magical lights move around in accordance to specific times and reset to their original formation exactly at midnight to the surface world.

Trade:

Due to its location closer to the surface than many other Underdark cities, Nezlidrichynn is a large center of trade for surface goods, usually supplied by trade caravans from the drow merchants which do dare to venture above ground. However, the marketplace is large, and many of the stalls, stores, and buildings sell the usual mundane items of a typical warmongering and cruel race like the drow, be it from food to battle equipment. Most traders are drow, but every once in a while, illithid are known to show up as well as some duergar, though this case is rare at best.

Resources:

In the eastern fungal forests of the cavern the city inhabits, there is a domestic herd of rothe, generally the staple meat supply of the drow, though their numbers are controlled by herders. Also, the fungus that grows in the 'forest' is used as food or even fermented into alcohol. And further east, in the lake, some subterraneal fish are caught and used as food.

Adamantine items, exclusively made by the drow, who hold the secret of creating it, is an alloy made from adamantite. This alloy is greatly used in drow archetecture and is typically the base metal used in the underdark, being more reliable than even the strongest of steel.

Somehow, some way, several tattered and torn papers were seen drifting down choice alleyways, or perhaps hanging off the walls of select bars and other such location. A deep blue flyer it was, the markings of a Leviathan and information on the grand opening of the Stadium were detail in it.

It seemed to advertise a fighting stadium of sorts, above ground, as well as something only known as HOH...

Red pulled tightly at hood of her heavy cloak while scanning the Drow populace as discreetly as possible. She wasn't immune to the sickly smells that the incense barely covered. Sometimes she caught a whiff of something sulfuric that burnt her nostrils and wondered if that's what these weirdo's down here call scents. Other than that, red didn't mind Nezlidrichynn to much, it was like a magnificent hall of a grand dark king of the underworld, paralyzingly fascinating for a human.

The worst thing about this place was magic, it reeked of magic. If she hadn't been payed ten-thousand gold in advance with a promise of ten thousand more when the job was done, she would have never stepped into this God forsaken city. What of it though, her revolver attachment was equipped, ready to handle the worst. Still, there was a lingering doubt, the magic down here was intensely powerful. The spiral mark on her thigh burned from it. It always itched when she encountered a good magician, but down here it felt like a searing brand had been placed there and never removed. The pain was barely endurable. Red cursed everything magic and pushed on.

She fumbled nervously underneath her coat for her forged traders pass, it was a cheap forgery, but in a pinch, and if flashed fast enough, it would serve as a second option if they discovered she was a human. She had been told they wouldn't kill her to quickly if they knew she was a woman, but then again, would a Drow be able to distinguish between human genders?

Now what of her bounty, she thought. Her employers, whom she never bothered or cared to know much about, had given her all the details except his name. She had memorized the file. A male Drow named Beldaeyn had caused somebody some trouble on the surface, apparently these Drows can't stand men, and this one left his native land to work as mercenary on the surface. Red hated the thought of killing a fellow mercenary, but what the heck, he was one of those magical Drows, so this would be a test, a chance to prove herself against a magic user.

Now if only her hip would calm down, this would be easier. The pain was getting to be too much. She fell to her, sweating. Not now, she thought, struggling against a searing pain that overcame her whole body. If I'm discovered it's over, she thought. She moaned before collapsing completely, making sure she had a death grip on the handle of her revolver.

Red laid as still as a corpse amidst a streaming flow of Drow sewage. It was pungent, but otherwise harmless. A last minute roll into the craggy ditch had saved her from being discovered. She didn't know how long she had lain half submerged until she saw the fairie light above, which corresponded to midnight on the surface. It had been almost five hours. Her hip still burned intensely, but that was to be expected, otherwise things had calmed down considerably. They hadn't closed the gates yet, and there were no alarms. Her camouflage cloak and the Drow's lack of smell had kept her hidden so far.

She thought back to the moment when she had collapsed. One of the Drow had gotten close, emanating the powerful magical aura that had caused her searing pain. She thought back, that must have been her quarry, he had the similar features to Drow in the picture she was sent, but it was hard for her to tell because male Drows all tended to look alike, that submissive subservient look. But this one was different, there was a fiercely independent look that resonated with any soldier of fortune. The Drow she had seen must have been her target, but he was long gone now. Her stomach growled, but her food supply was soaked in filth, completely inedible. She took a no hunger pill, but it didn?t work. Red hoped Drow food was edible for humans. She pulled her cape over her soiled red hair.

As she searched for a place to buy a some grub she had strange feeling. Why didn't her target kill her when he had the chance, she was down, pretty much done for, and he must have sensed something, she knew he knew that she was a human, and he must have knew that she was a mercenary. This Drow had seen and worked for humans most likely, or at least killed a few, so he must have known. She wondered why he didn't kill her right there. Was he being merciful, no that couldn't be. The dirty S.O.B. didn't want to get his hands dirty, she had been considered unworthy of the challenge because of her lack of magic abilities.

Red's face assumed the color of her name as she clomped down the Drow street. They hadn't even sounded the alarm yet. Morons, she thought, though she knew it wasn't true. Gruesome as this race was, they were no morons. For any other human this would be a death trap, the best one could hope for was to be enslaved, but she didn't consider herself any other human. Focus on the odds, she thought, I'm on enemy territory, I can't use magic, strong magic hurts me, I'm not ungodly strong, I'm outnumbered by thousands to one. She smiled, those were good odds.

Playtime was indeed over. Within a fraction of a second the camouflage cloak fell off and the first was round was fired, a small explosive bullet plunged into the center of the main blood sucking tendril, which sucked it in eagerly. Tendril parts from the priestess rained over the area as Red jumped back, snapped back her revolver attachment, and shot a different type of canister into the air. While that canister was in the air she jumped atop a marketplace stall while simultaneously clicking the attachment for the next cartridge without wasting more than two seconds time. They were closing in, but she had no qualms about genocide if they were that stupid. As long as the food was edible, she knew she could wait them out. Only her target scared her, but fear was meant to be overcome.

Kraun wrote:

(Too bad the guild house was right next to the House of Pleasures, which consequently, meant that {Sorry I took this as meaning next the market place in proximity, not traffic, my bad.} next to the marketplace, traffic was the heaviest here.)

Kraun wrote:

(She wouldn't have a chance to.)

The Drow mistoke her for an ordinary human, and that was their first mistake. The mark on her thigh burned, but it's effects extended to any drow that knew magic. They would feel the pain, plus they would feel fear, and be hesitant to jump right into the attack. Also, her red trench coat emmited a gravity repulsion effect that slowed their other attacks enough to give her time to use her intense speed gained from ninjitsu and other martail arts training she had been exposed to since birth, not to mention years of combat experience. And she jumped upon the crags of the rocky guild walls, jumping back forth between both sides of the tight alley until she was at the ceiling of the guild building. On the way up, she fired a fire magic grenade down the one side of the alley, and then down the other. Just because she was magic berift didn't mean she couldn't cheat with some magical ammo. Her shots came within seconds of each other, so the nearest of the mob on both sides to crisp. Her trench coat, her boots, and her speed kept the magic at bay until she reached the top. She realized it was a bad idea to come here and that she better bail on this mission for now, she already had 10,000 gold, it would be next to immposible to find him, and she could always wait for Beldaeyn to come back to the surface and track him that way. Coming to Nezlidrichynn was a totally a**l mistake, but she was determined that it wouldn't be her last one. She rolled to the center of the ceiling and loaded the magic rope escape bullet into her revolver with a drill bit implosion bullet on top.

And the guild doors swung open, several drow filing out through the open doorway almost in the form of an organized march. One of these such drow was of course, Beldaeyn, who seemed rather glad to finally be heading out.

He checked his weapons as he moved along with the others towards the triple gates of the underground city, making sure everything was there as well as secured properly. Even though his stay was less than pleasant in his eyes, he had managed to pick up a few new items and a modification to his current armour.

Out of the faerie fire lit city and into the unending darkness of the Underdark...

The entire conversation between the spellsword and the matriarchs in the city was played out very subtle, with careful direction of the smallest of details. Decruda would speak in common so that the matrons would not be offended by a human butchering the drow language, and he would always be courteous, knowing his place and to watch his words and actions, for in drow society, males were considered inferior.

All in all, the man's diplomatic skills came through, as terms for an alliance were agreed upon, even if it would not come into use all too often. He exited the building and began heading towards the city's exit on the west side where the three heavy gates were located. He personally did not see any need to stay longer than needed, even if he was provided a place to stay at the House of Pleasures as an important diplomat.

It had been some time since Valas last found himself within a city of his kin, and he didn't miss any of it. He had been glad to finally be free of the matriarchal tyranny that was drow society, and wasn't too pleased when he had been tasked with coming to this particular city in an attempt to find a few select "chosen ones" to join the new order. It wouldn't be too hard finding a few disgruntled males looking for a change in life.

Spells layered to make him nearly impossible to detect, the lichdrow Valas Zauviir lurked near one of the gates leading into the city, awaiting an opportunity to slip in unnoticed. Despite His resourcefulness, Valas hadn't been given much information about this particular city, only that it held much potential for their cause. Valas was typically skeptical of the optimism, but he owed much to his lord, who wouldn't have taken no for an answer.

Valas met the apprentice mage some hours later, who was waiting for him outside of the doors to the Tower of Wizardry. After exchanging a brief greeting, the apprentice brought Valas inside.

The foyer wasn't much impressive. It was typical for places that taught magic. There were some couches, a reception desk, and a spiraling staircase that went up to all the levels of the tower. Valas was sure there were some levels below it as well, but he wasn't here for exploration.

"I told Master Kenafin about your proposal, and he says he is interested," the apprentice whispered as the archmage followed next to him up the steps. The remained quiet the rest of the way up, which wasn't long. Master Kenafin was an instructor on necromancy; hardly archmage material. It was a start for Valas, though, and the lich would play on Kenafin's ambitions.

The apprentice left Valas at the door to Kenafin's study. He knocked once before allowing himself inside, closing the door behind him.

Later on into the hours of darkness in the Night Above, Master Kenafin knocked on the door of the room Valas had been given for the duration of his stay. The wizard entered as Valas was putting away his spellbook, turning in his desk chair to look at him.

"I have met with the others, and they say that they are interested in your proposal," Kenafin said.

"Good," Valas replied, smiling. "In the southwestern edge of this cavern, you will find a cluster of stalactites that once served as a House in this city, before it's abrupt downfall. Seek me there tomorrow night, after the last light has gone out, and bring your friends."

The mage bowed his head and stepped out of Valas' room, leaving him alone to resume his studies.

Chaszmyr had discovered that two of the necromancers in Kenafin's company were treacherous, having told their Matrons of the plans of their peer. It wasn't enough information for them to truly care to investigate, and they were males, afterall. They probably wouldn't care as much when their bodies would be found with their necks sliced open.

The other necromancers turned out to be honorable to the cause - at least as honorable as drow go. Valas still didn't trust them yet, as they still had much to prove to him, but he met with them again, going over more plans, and the formation of their own secret coven. Valas would be the leader of it, of course, and overtime he would reveal his powers to them, and the fact that he is actually a lich. It was a dangerous thing to do in a drow city ruled by Lolth's priestesses, but it has been done before, numerous times. Even Lolth's oppression cannot suppress the wills of the other gods. One way or another, their word will be discovered.

The Coven of the Dark Eternal, as they called themselves, met once a week in the ceiling palace that Valas had made into his temporary quarters. During that time, Valas would reveal more of the world of undeath to them, and the teachings of Dark Eternal, as well discuss more possible converts they could take into their fold. Chaszmyr would remain unseen the entire time, working from the shadows. They would not know of his existence, nor would they be allowed to. The assassin was the fail-safe device. If the necromancers turned on them, he would kill them all before they ever made it back to their respective Houses.

Sneaking into the drow city was easier than expected. Finding someone with the information he needed, however, was another matter. Darshendros had had dealing with the drow in the past, but he had been gone for a while, and in drow society a lot can change in a while. His only connections to the city - the demilich and the assassin - were dead now, leaving him with little to work with.

He kept to the shadows, intangible and mostly undetected, unless somehow someone knew he was lurking invisibly in the darkness. His only lead was to go to the Tower of Wizardry and peruse their vast library, but he knew well enough there would be numerous protections around the place to prevent uninvited guests.

Fortunately, males in drow society were usually always willing to increase their status by any means necessary, so all he needed to do was find the right patsy to invite him into the tower or bring him any related texts that he needed. Finding such patsy would take some time. Good thing he had all the time in the world.

Inside the Tower of Wizardry, something was amiss...

"Who's going to tell him?"

"I'm not going to tell him."

"Well, I don't wanna tell him either. I don't want to be turned into a pool of slime!"

"Someone has to tell him..."

"We're the only ones who know. We can't exactly tell someone else to tell him."

"... Fine, we'll tell him together."

The pair of squabbling mages - coincidentally the same two who first heard Vorag screaming outside - hustled down the long corridor toward Archmage Gromph Zauviir's office. The archmage was one of the oldest - and scariest - of the archmages living in the tower, so it was obvious why they feared to report to him of what they had discovered. The other archmages were away, leaving him in charge, unfortunately for everyone else. The two mages approached the door and were about to knock when a loud, piercing wailing noise shot through the tower.

"What--?"

"That's the dimensional alarm..."

The door suddenly swung open with an angry, aged drow wizard standing in the doorway, dressed in his fine robes and smelling of various alchemical herbs and reagents.

"What in the Nine Hells is going on?" he growled.

"Archmage, it's the dimensional al--"

"I know what it is, you idiot! How was it activated?"

The mages mouths hung open as they sought to figure out an answer when another mage came running down the corridor.

"Demons! There are demons in the tower!"

"That's impossible!" the archmage said, stepping out into the corridor and shouldering his way past the two bumbling mages. "We have every protection in place to prevent such a thing."

"Uh... It seems... they've been disabled, sir..." said mage #3.

"This is why I hate babysitting you imbeciles when the others are away... What in blazes are you three standing around here for? Go and banish them back from whence they came! Do I have to tell you everything?"

Mage #3 tripped over himself as he turned to run back the way he came, while the other two hesitated, which only irritated Gromph some more.

"Are you two daft? Go help the others!"

"A-archmage, there's something else you should know..." said one.

"An artifact is missing," the other continued. "One of the ancient tomes... The one you recovered from the illithids many years ago..."

Gromph's eyes widened. "What?! When did this happen?"

"We're not sure, sir, but we think Vorag might have taken it. He's been acting odd since we found him outside a few days ago, and earlier we heard him chanting... strange words in his room."

"Vorag? He's not even advanced enough to handle such a tome. It would destroy him as soon as he--"

The tower shook with an explosion somewhere inside and the floor in the middle of the corridor erupted with dark energy. Black tendrils sprang up, one with an entangled mage that was soon splattered against the wall.

"These aren't demons of the Abyss," the archmage said. "You two! Gather everyone in the tower who can fight. I don't care if they're still novices! We cannot let these creatures destroy this tower and gain access to its secrets, let alone shame us in the faces of the priestesses... We will handle this ourselves. I will clear the way for you. Make haste! And if you find Vorag, you bring him to me!"

Gromph took a pinch of something from one of the many pouches hanging from his belt and incanted some words, the temperature in the air growing hot around him. He flung out his hand and launched a fireball that filled the entire corridor, nearly cooking the two mages had they not been quick enough to duck behind him. He erected a barrier in front of them as the fireball exploded and consumed the dark tendrils, clearing the way for the two mages to run and carry out his orders.

"We cannot fight off these monsters and recover the book at the same time," Gromph grumbled to himself as he watched his subordinates flee down the hall, one of them nearly falling through the hole in the floor. "As much as it pains me to do this, we're going to need his help... Lolth help us all..."

Gromph pulled a gemmed hair pick from a hidden pocket and returned to his study, slamming the door behind him.