Rise of the Drow

tential victims and if any more creatures were taken from their stock it would leave them unable to function effi- ciently and effectively. Matron Maelora ordered her House Backstory to start trawling the Underworld for more slaves and liv- ing bounty to be used to power the Vidrefacte. In the mean- The drow city of Holoth has long been a nexus of power while, she sacrificed a few medium ranking members of in the Underworld, both naturally and when forged the house (including some immediate relatives she had by those who desire it. It is a wealthy city of never much cared for because they’d stood in her way power-hungry drow families with various houses as she rose through the House ranks) and the forma- constantly vying for position and prestige at the tion of her new home was virtually complete, with the expense of each other. For years, a house by the exception of the ornamentation that would name of Gullion struggled for power only to lose cement its position as the grandest ever con- footing with each conflict. After slaying her moth- structed. She named it Tolgorith Tower, er, the drow priestess Maelora came to lead the and magically secured the now-hovering family; the new Matron Maelora struck a deal Vidrefacte above the top of the struc- with a race of crystalline beings called the Vi- ture, as instructed by the crystalline beings. dre. This magically-sealed pact between her house and the Vidre would facilitate House The Vidre were rather pleased about the situation. Gullion's rise to preeminence in Holoth. To They had been able to trick House Gullion, as the guarantee this progress, the Vidre granted channeling of souls from their artifact, although House Gullion an item called the Vidrefacte; a bonded to Maelora, gave them a steady supply of crystal shaped like an enormous carved gem, life force, a free source of the energy they required the Vidrefacte is a powerful artifact capable in order to survive and thrive. Little did Mother of draining souls from the dead or dying and Matron Maelora know, but she was obtaining transferring their life force into energy which only half the energy from each soul while the can be stored in the crystal and used at a later Vidre fed on the rest. The more energy the Vi- time. When granting the artifact to Matron dre absorbed, the stronger they became; this vi- Maelora, the Vidre performed an incantation cious circle continued for many years until House which permanently bonded the crystal to House Gullion became a force to be reckoned with. The Gullion and its insignia. family had agents installed in all the other houses and every chain of command. They were poised to strike Matron Maelora ordered the ritualistic sacri- and strike they did; House Gullion took the throne fice of many of House Gullion's slaves and low of Holoth for its own, grasping the seat of power ranking members in order to fill the magi- to control the entire city. But Matron Maelora cal crystal with energy. After the foul deed was was far too power-hungry to stop there; she done, hundreds of souls were added to the Vi- wanted to dominate the entire region, both drefacte, causing it to glow and pulsate with a above and below ground. She ordered a blinding white light. The Matron prayed to the lockdown of the Underworld. Within the last Spider Goddess while holding the gem aloft; as twelve months, she ceased outside relations with she finished her spell, she set the crystal atop the mercane, the dwarves, and the other races which a large stalagmite within close proximity of the traded and dealt with the drow. She found new sourc- city's central structures. The stalagmite magically es of goods through raids on outlying villages and towns grew until it almost touched the ceiling of the gigantic and instead of asking for what they needed, the drow now cave while at the same time the pulsating light from the Vi- took what they wanted. This change in lifestyle (disdained drefacte diminished. Matron Maelora ordered the sacrifice by some) has been accepted by the general populace in and of more members of House Gullion and the light returned. around Holoth; many see Matron Maelora as a gift from the The Matron summoned the crystal's power again and cir- Spider Goddess herself, someone who will, “Guide us to vic- cular windows appeared; she created a grand entrance tory and dominance over the other races with their weak dedicatedSample to the Spider Goddess, finding yet more sacrifices file and mewling gods!” were required. After a dungeon to keep prisoners and train beasts was created, the light in the gem flickered out. The Matron was furious that the crystal continued to require 1 these sacrifices; the House was now in short supply of po tance from the Spider Goddess. In another vision, granted to the whole family, the Goddess agrees to help but only with the promise of the expansion of her power; House Gullion Changes in the must dominate all of the region around the city (both below and above ground). They must spread the word of the Spider Goddess and force the humans above to bow before her or Underworld die, that they might know her strength and might. The change in drow behavior has adversely affected most of All those involved acquiesce and the Spider Goddess severs the Underworld, throwing the status quo into utter chaos. the link between House Gullion and the Vidre. The back- Trade routes have been severed, drow raids have increased ripple of energy from the Vidrefacte is felt by every drow of and the stability of the entire Underworld is teetering on House Gullion as the mystical threads seen in the first vision the brink of destruction. Most affected by the new changes are torn asunder, while those who took part in the second rit- are the dwarves of Embla, a large subterranean city in close ual feel a personal blessing from the Goddess (something that proximity to Holoth. Over the past few months Embla has comes with a price to pay). Enraged, the Vidre prepare an all- lost numerous warriors, merchants, and officials to drow out assault on Tolgorith Tower; if House Gullion will not ful- raids on both trade shipments and the city itself. Embla sent fill their agreement, the Vidre will take their souls with force! word to the nearby major dwarven capital of Stoneholme but was turned away; their sister settlement had already closed its borders and barred its gates when the dark elves took to their raiding activity in the area. The beleaguered dwarves of Adventure Embla are now virtually defenseless and are prepared to beg outsiders for help. Hook This part of the adventure begins in Rybalka (or any remote Current Events village that is on the edge of civilization). The Matron’s Decision to If the party has played through The Darkness Arrives they will be aware of the drow and the plan to take prisoners into Further Betray Those Around Her the Underworld (they may even have taken on the drow and saved some of the prisoners.) What they don’t know is that After a consultation with her daughter Maltorya (the Oracle the drow, cunning to the last, mounted several raids and of Tolgorith Tower), Matron Maelora suspects that her deal members of many different races were captured and taken with the Vidre is no longer working to her advantage; the to Holoth. Having found themselves back in the original thirst of the crystal is increasing despite the fact that she has village after chasing the drow, the players will have come decreased her reliance of it. House Gullion’s consumption across Miah, either as one of the prisoners OR having been of energy from the Vidrefacte has also dropped, so whatev- approached by Quorron and Miah (who managed to flee the er is being drained from it is going somewhere unknown. drow in the confusion caused by the PCs) back in the home The Matron Mother prays to the Spider Goddess and per- village as they ask the PCs to help resist the dark elves. forms many bloody and taboo rituals requesting guidance and clarity; Naraneus grants her a vision in which Maelora If the party is fresh to the adventure, they find themselves in sees threads of life force trailing off each member of House Rybalka as rumors have begun to spread of a previously un- Gullion. These threads all coalesce at the Vidrefacte where, known enemy - Underworld elves! At present, the humans of using Tolgorith Tower, the energy is being channeled down the village don’t feel threatened and may even dismiss news through the earth and directly into the bodies of the Vidre; of the drow as feytales, but others are concerned. Because the they are hidden below Holoth and as the crystalline beings reputations of the PCs are spreading and they are one of the growSample in size and power, they require more of the artifact’s file very few bands to have had success in the region recently, soul-driven energies. Suddenly everything becomes clear they are approached by the dwarven blacksmith Quorron and to the Matron; she knows what she must do. Gathering the his cousin Miah (a representative of Embla, an Underworld children of the House who she sees with threads coming city) in a request for assistance with the growing problem. from them, they perform a ritual requesting further assis- Other agents like Miah have been sent all over the known 2 realms, above and below ground.

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