Menzoberanzan

The guard sighs and opens a scroll to read off a quick "message" spell. A few moments later the door opens, and a young Priestess of Lolth and her entourage greet you. "Ladies, I am Demarina Baenre follow me, the rest may follow at a distance until we arrive at more appropriate location for them." The absolute disgust in her voice for everyone else is quite clear.

There is no warmth to this place, there is a cold harsh feeling to the halls and art that evokes power and violence. There are no small nooks where two or more might gather. The Baenre compound is in and of itself like a spider web and you are lead to the center before the Priestess gestures to a room that opens up. "Your attendants may wait here, a male of the house will explain the situation to them in small words that both he and they might understand." Those of you who are not female Drow head in and are greeted by a male of the Baenre household, he's dressed in fine silks and looks as if he's some sort of apprentice.

He greets you, "I'm Telairn Baenre, I'm here to explain the mission to you. Did you want some food or drink before I begin?" He gestures to plates and glasses around a table and, while it smells okay, you've smelt better in the Barracks Kitchens of House Platin where the soldiers eat between shifts let alone the delicious meals in the Common Quarters or the utterly fabulous meals you've had during celebration days. Plus, of course, it could be poisoned, you never know.

He begins once you're settled. "The Matron Mother wants your group to go to Mearimydra and find out what's happened there and report back. She'll give the women a journey book to write in every day. I have some maps of the place and know something of the journey from books." He certainly looks more suited to reading books than actually surviving beyond the walls of Menzoberanzan.

---

When the women walk into the receiving room of Matron Mother Quenthal Baenre there are no places to sit, no chair surrounding the Matron Mother's. Nothing in this place suggests family ever meets here. Having just seen your own Matron Mother and felt the warmth and care in her presence the lack here is striking and hostile. You know you must kneel on the floor before her and when you do you can feel the very stones beneath your knees spike up to cause pain along with jolts of electricity. Nothing enough to truly damage but clearly enough for you to be in pain before her.

Matron Quenthal Baenre is thin and pointed every part of her seems sharp. The white spider web tattooed upon her face stands out along with the high layered hair. Her ruby red eyes stare at you with a keen wisdom and clear disdain. She rudely points at Narcaere, "You girl, weren't you with some other house? It seems House Platin is always picking up trash from the streets."

Her eyes alight on Silver and T'rissae and says, "T'rissae, I remember the news of you and that Melarn girl surviving an assassination attempt but your sister Silver there I don't recall much of her time in Arach Tinilith, was she just one of the followers, some boring nobody? Well, I hope her uselessness there does not hurt the mission." All pointed words and all pure venom spewed out knowing that she is in power and must be respected despite it.

Once she is bored of enjoying herself by humiliating you and your family she sighs and holds out three items. There are two scroll cases and a leather-bound book. "I have a missive for you to deliver to the ruling house of Sith Morcane. Beyond that this is a signed letter with the Sigil of the Ruling council giving you permission to do whatever is necessary in order to investigate the matter of missing shipments and letters. You will find out what has happened and report back to one of my assistants daily for further instructions. That is all."

Matron Baenre clearly does not want questions, nor will she respond to any. She sets the book, and two letters on a table next to her chair utterly ignoring the person who comes to take it. Her red eyes watch you with a smile when you back out of the room. Then, when you read the letter of permission you note that it is carefully written to ensure House Baenre can determine what is and is not truly necessary.

-
Silver is secretly amused that someone from House Branae is even bothering to waste time insulting members of a house so low down on the totem pole. Certainly, she could have better things to do than waste time insulting nobodies like us. Is she so insecure of her position in House Branae that she has to take her frustrations out on a bunch of nobodies?

Kalafein finds Telairn easy to wheedle information out of. The young male is clearly more like a slave to the House Wizard than anything else and any number of pleasing words and tiny recognition has him telling everything he knows and happily giving over the maps that he has. "Well, it seems Lolth isn't answering prayers, the house sent the first daughter and others to find out why. They are grabbing as many of the other houses and sending them to do their bidding in different ways." Kalafein understands that this is make work, a way for House Baenre to assure that some of the more powerful members, like yourselves, from other houses are elsewhere so that they aren't fomenting rebellion here.

T'rissae finds Demarina less persuadable than Kalafein finds her distant brother or cousin and yet the priestess is able to gather some information even as Demarina insults House Platin. "Well as the fourteenth house you should recognize your place. The bidding of House Baenre and the Council are important no matter how lowly the task may be." At the same time T'rissae knows that Szith Morcane has historically been a place where Baenre influence was powerful outside the city. House Morcane has long been their thrall and if the forces of that house could be brought into Menzoberanzan it would assist House Baenre in holding everything in the city together.

The Forges
For a brief period of time those going to the forges and those heading to House Melarn are going in a very similar direction. The Forges are south and West closest to the wall while House Melarn is south and right next to the deadly area of Menzoberanzan called "Lolth's Web" where within the stalagmites and stalactites are numerous spider webs and large spiders to go with them. All manner of meat is dropped here by that unfortunate enough to be roped into the job, and it is relatively often that the people sent to drop off the meat for the spiders often become food for them as well. Though, supposedly, there is a gang that works within the web as well.

The Forges in the City are deadly quiet, the doors shut tight and numerous defenses set. By now the news of Lolth's Silence has spread and with it these lower houses and commoners alike ought to be crafting armor and weapons to sell in the Bazaar where others will buy them for a tidy profit. At first you wonder what could be keeping them inside and away from their tasks and then you start seeing bodies. Here and there Drow and slaves have dropped to the ground dead, their bodies cold and some with flecks of frost on them.

The guardian lion spirit wavers in Burny's view as her knowledge of religion helps her recognize this type of death. A Banshee, the spirit of a female elf whose power in life was enough that in death she's become a mournful spirit. Usually, a priestess is able to send such spirits into death though sometimes a more powerful priestess will bind the Banshee to their will. It's quite likely that some priestess here lost control over this spirit when Lolth went silent. The guardian spirit looks off and she gets the feeling it wants her to put the spirit to a gentle rest. Her imp, of course, takes the moment to but in, "Not our problem, it won't go away if we just kill it. You need to find what caused its misery and then it will disperse. Don't listen to the stupid guardian, just go on and leave these people. No skin off our nose if the Banshee kills them all, probably serves them right..."

---

House Melarn

Near the deadly web is a well-fortified location, or a place that used to be so. House Melarn, the Fifth House of the City, has clearly seen better days. Those same Vhearaunite corpses are everywhere around the house with parts of the wall broken and nearly destroyed. Basically it looks like a small war just happened here. A Drow woman wearing blood stained armor greets you as you arrive. At first her hackles are up as are her sisters in battle but, then she notices your House Sigil and she slumps. Suddenly she looks tired and worn. She clearly doesn't have the energy to play the game of politics as she simply speaks in near full honesty, "You must be the daughter of House Platin come to speak with our new High Priestess Arduva? If so, then she is with the new Matron Mother and a small cadre of our higher ranks."

That alone tells you much of what has occurred. Looking at the bodies on the ground you can see that many of House Melarn's men lie dead fighting not against, but along with the cultists of Vhearaun. The inner council in the house made up of the Priestesses of Lolth with Zhindia Melarn and Kyrnill has been lost in this battle and the house itself has been torn apart.

---

Maps and the Magister
You return to House Platin with the maps there you are, amazingly enough, able to get the attention of your House Magister. Vern, as is usual for him, is his full bony self. A skeleton wearing a fashionable hat, black robes, and blazing red eyes he would be far more frightening but clearly, he'd recently been in with some of the youngsters because his arms have various drawings all over them.

As you set out the maps he places another set down and a quill lifts in the air noting on his maps the differences between them and the ones you've brought. "It's always nice when someone brings me new knowledge. Look at this here, I didn't know there was a group of Orcs living there. Hmm, and this cavern has Yrthak does it? I wonder how the caravans go through?"

He likely gets blank looks from you (DC 18 Nature) as he speaks of the creatures and even if he doesn't the Lich does love the sound of his own voice. "Yrthak are distant cousins of dragons. Long thin jaws with sharp teeth, about twenty meters long, no eyes, they can "see", he holds up a pair of skeletal fingers to make air quotes, "sound. You make any noise going through these caverns and you'll be swarmed by them. You'll need someone to cast a silence spell or a scroll if I can find one for you."

His skeletal finger traces the rest of the path to the small trading town. "Three days I should think. The first day you'll have to deal with the Yrthak. The second keep an eye out for the Mind Flayers and the third take care to be wary of the terrain and possibly Umberhulks. Shall I pontificate upon the weaknesses of the other foes?" He's just a skull and bones and yet you swear he's smirking at you.