Along the streets of Menzoberranzan . . . the drow.
- Matron Mother Yvonnel Baenre: Also known as Yvonnel the Eternal. Ruled the house and the city for two thousand years. Killed by King Bruenor Battlehammer
when she led the city against Mithral Hall more than a century ago.
- Quenthel Baenre: Daughter of Yvonnel the Eternal and current Matron Mother of Menzoberranzan, ruling from the seat of House Baenre. Gifted
with the memories of Yvonnel the Eternal by the illithids so viscerally that they are as much a part of her as they were her
mother. Through them, she discovered the deception of Lloth and helped create the Great Heresy against the Spider Queen.
- Sos’Umptu Baenre: Yvonnel the Eternal’s daughter, mistress of Arach-Tinilith, former first priestess of House Baenre and current high priestess
of the Fane of the Goddess. Remains fervently loyal to Lloth, putting her at odds with Matron Mother Quenthel and House Baenre.
- Yvonnel Baenre: Daughter of Gromph and Minolin Fey Branche. Like Quenthel, she was gifted the memories of her grandmother, Yvonnel the Eternal,
only for her, it was performed in utero. She is only a few years old, but was born with full consciousness and two thousand
years of memory. Perhaps the most powerful drow in Menzoberranzan, she used magic to age herself into a young drow woman.
She admires Drizzt, secretly loves him, and, with Matron Mother Quenthel, facilitated the Great Heresy, leaving the city of
Menzoberranzan on the verge of civil war.
- Matron Zhindia Melarn: Zealot of Lloth, led the assault of the Sword Coast of Faerun against Luskan, Gauntlgrym, and Bleeding Vines, and seemed on
the verge of victory until the Great Heresy of Quenthel and Yvonnel stole her drider army out from under her.
- Matron Zeerith Xorlarrin: The matron of the powerful House Xorlarrin, known for its practitioners of the arcane magic, lost much of her status when
her house struck out to create a sister city to Menzoberranzan, only to be rudely evicted by King Bruenor and his armies when
he reclaimed Gauntlgrym. Her friends, the Baenres, gave to her the abandoned House Do’Urden, a name she never wore comfortably.
Ever the diplomat, the old matron wishes to avoid war in Menzoberranzan and also wishes to restore her proper family name.
- Saribel Xorlarrin: Saribel once carried the surname of Baenre, after marrying the brash young weaponmaster Tiago of the First Family. Practical
and clever, Saribel is the sole remaining daughter of Matron Zeerith and serves as First Priestess of the new House Do’Urden.
- Ravel Xorlarrin: Son of Zeerith, Ravel is a blossoming young wizard. Events have slowed his studies in the arcane arts, but have shown a side
of him both cunning and diplomatic. Never enamored of Lolth, he welcomes the changes sought by the Baenres.
- Tsabrak Xorlarrin: The powerful wizard of Zeerith’s house ascended to the rank of Archmage of Menzoberranzan after the abdication of the position
by Gromph Baenre. He came to glory among the udadrow in the War of the Silver Marches, when he channeled the power of Lolth
to blot out the sun in an event called the great Darkening.
- The Blaspheme: An army of some eight hundred driders returned to life on the Material Plane to serve Matron Zhindia Melarne in her surface
war. But when Yvonnel and Quenthel fashioned the magical web to remove all curses, even the Curse of Abomination that eternally
tormented them in their half-drow/half-spider form, they rushed through to become again true drow, now following House Baenre
in opposition to Lloth.
- Mal’a’Voselle “Voselly” Amvas Tol: Mighty warrior from another age, the long-dead House Amvas Tol, where she ranked as weapon master. The powerful, broad-shouldered
woman serves as Blaspheme field commander.
- Aleandra: Another of the Blaspheme, and friend of Voselly since their days fighting side by side in House Amvas Tol in ancient Menzoberranzan.
- Dininae: Another of the Blaspheme, and one of the few who lived in recent years in Menzoberranzan. His true identity is Dinin Do’Urden,
elder brother of Drizzt. He was turned into a drider by his sister, Vierna, and met his end at the end of King Bruenor Battlehammer’s
many-notched axe.
- Malagdorl: The Weapon Master of powerful House Barrison Del’Armgo, Malagdorl has been turned into the image of his ancestor, the great
Uthegentel. Considered the greatest warrior in Menzoberranzan, he is prized and beloved by his grandmother, the Matron Mez’Barris.
He wants nothing more than to battle and kill Drizzt Do’Urden.
Along the streets of Callidae . . . the aevendrow and other.
- Nvisi: A human of the Ulutiun culture, Nvisi is short and hunched with a face wrinkled and ruddy, bright and round, and with one
eye flashing amber, the other crystal blue. He is a seer, a wizard of the school of divination . . . maybe. The other wizards
of Callidae don’t understand him and don’t trust his ways, his magic, or his visions, with the notable exception of Allefaero,
who has come to recognize that Nvisi might be among the best seers of the city. Nvisi doesn’t care. As long as he has his
casting bones and his loyal glacial lemming familiar, Doodles, all is well.
- Azzudonna: A young aevendrow woman, proud warrior of the Biancorso cazzcalci team, hero in the most recent match. A fierce fighter, Azzudonna
has found a strong bond with Zaknafein.
- Holy Galathae: Paladin of Eilistraee, Galathae is a leader in the defenses of Callidae and was instrumental in accepting the four strangers—Jarlaxle,
Catti-brie, Artemis Entreri, and Zaknafein—who happened upon the city.
- Aida “Ayeeda” Umptu: The innkeeper of Ibilsitato in the borough of Scellobel. With unusual blue eyes, mostly blue hair, and a perpetual smile and
joy of life, she became friends with the four strangers, particularly Jarlaxle, who spent their nights in Callidae in her
establishment. She is very close with Azzudonna, Ilina, and Alvinessy.
- Allefaero: A young bookworm and wizard, this mage-scholar is the city’s expert on much of the flora and fauna of the region. Preferring
to spend his days in the library, Allefaero is nervous that his understanding of the dangerous environ will almost certainly
put him on the front lines of a great struggle.
- Ilina: Priestess Ilina was one of the earliest to accept the four strangers, as her god is quite similar to that of Catti-brie, Mielikki.
With an indisputable reputation, Ilina’s vouching for the outsiders was an important voice in their acceptance.
- Alvinessy “Vessi”: Best friend of Azzudonna, the short wiry man plays dasher for Biancorso. Like Azzudonna, he is young and full of life and
hope and dreams.
- Doum’wielle Armgo: Daughter of a drow man and a moon elf woman, Doum’wielle found her way to Menzoberranzan and a place as a noble in Barrison
Del’Armgo, the city’s Second House. She ran afoul of Gromph Baenre and was thrown through a portal to the far north. Jarlaxle
convinced his three companions to go north primarily to find her, and learned that she, too, had stumbled upon Callidae, and
had been accepted by the aevendrow, but now, alas, was seemingly lost forever.
- Mona Valrissa Zhamboule: The current mona, or governor, of Callidae, Valrissa carries the weight of great responsibility on her shoulders. A savvy politician and decent
woman, she balances the responsibilities of office in leading the Temporal Convocation with the responsibilities to her heart,
and that which she knows is right.
From the Sword Coast . . .
- Gromph Baenre: Yvonnel the Eternal’s oldest child, former archmage of Menzoberranzan, and now the archmage of Luskan’s Hosttower of the
Arcane. Considered among the most powerful wizards in the world.
- Kimmuriel: Co-leader of Bregan D’aerthe with Jarlaxle, Kimmuriel has ever been an enigma to his roguish counterpart. For Kimmuriel is
a powerful psionicist, a master of mind magic who spends quite a bit of time with the strange illithids at their hive mind.
He is older now, and more introspective, asking the larger questions of his life.
- Dab’nay: The drow priestess has served Jarlaxle in Bregan D’aerthe for many decades. Once a lover of Zaknafein, always a friend to
him and to Jarlaxle, she often questioned why Lloth was seemingly granting her divine spells, since she has no love for the
evil Spider Queen. Her prominence within Bregan D’aerthe had grown in recent years as she had become integral to their handling
of their rule in the city of Luskan.
- Jarlaxle: A houseless rogue who began Bregan D’aerthe, a mercenary band quietly serving the needs of many drow houses, but mostly serving
their own needs.
- Drizzt Do’Urden: Born in Menzoberranzan and fled the evil ways of the city. Drow warrior, hero of the north, and Companion of the Hall, along
with his four dear friends.
- Catti-brie: Human wife of Drizzt, chosen of the goddess Mielikki, skilled in both arcane and divine magic. Companion of the Hall.
- Regis (Spider Parrafin): Halfling husband of Donnola Topolino, leader of the halfling community of Bleeding Vines. Companion of the Hall.
- King Bruenor Battlehammer: Eighth king of Mithral Hall, tenth king of Mithral Hall, now king of Gauntlgrym, an ancient dwarven city he reclaimed with
his dwarven kin. Adoptive father of both Wulfgar and Catti-brie. Companion of the Hall.
- Wulfgar: Born to the Tribe of the Elk in Icewind Dale, the giant human was captured by Bruenor in battle and became the adopted son
of the dwarf king. Companion of the Hall.
- Artemis Entreri: Former nemesis of Drizzt, the human assassin is the drow warrior’s near equal or equal in battle. Now he runs with Jarlaxle’s
Bregan D’aerthe band, and considers Drizzt and the other Companions of the Hall friends.
- Guenhwyvar: Magical panther, companion of Drizzt, summoned to his side from the Astral Plane.
- Andahar: Drizzt’s summoned steed, a magical unicorn. Unlike the living Guenhwyvar, Andahar is a purely magical construct.
- Penelope Harpell: The leader of the eccentric wizards known as the Harpells, who oversee the town of Longsaddle from their estate, the Ivy Mansion.
Penelope is a powerful wizard, mentoring Catti-brie, and has dated Wulfgar on occasion.
- Grandmaster Kane: A human monk who has transcended his mortal coil and become a being beyond the Material Plane, Kane was the Grandmaster of
Flowers of the Monastery of the Yellow Rose in far-off Damara. He was friend and mentor to Drizzt as the drow learned to find
peace at last along a turbulent road.
- Thibbledorf Pwent: A walking weapon in his spiked and sharp-ridged armor, Pwent is a battle-hardened dwarf whose loyalty is as strong as the
aroma emanating from him. He led every seemingly suicidal charge with a cry of “Me King!” and gave his life saving King Bruenor
in the bowels of Gauntlgrym. His death was not the end of Pwent, though, for he was slain by a vampire, and now continues
as one—a cursed and miserable thing, haunting the lowest tunnels of Gauntlgrym and satisfying his insatiable hunger by feeding
on the goblins beyond the dwarven realm.
- The Brothers Bouldershoulder, Ivan and Pikel: Ivan Bouldershoulder is a grizzled old veteran of many battles, mundane and magical. He’s risen to a position of great trust
as a commander in Bruenor’s Gauntlgrym guard. More eccentric and extreme than Ivan, the green-haired Pikel fancies himself
a druid, or “doo-dad,” and helped Donnola Topolino create wonderful vineyards in Bleeding Vines. His limited and stilted vocabulary
only adds to the deceptive innocence of this quite powerful dwarf.
Eternal Beings
- Lolth, the Lady of Chaos, the Demon Queen of Spiders, the Queen of the Demonweb Pits: The mighty demon Lolth reigns as the most influential goddess of the drow, particularly in the greatest drow city, Menzoberranzan,
known as the City of Spiders for the devotion of its inhabitants. True to her name, the Lady of Chaos constantly shocks her
followers, keeping her true plans buried beneath the webbing of other more obvious and understandable schemes. Her end goal,
above all, is chaos.
- Eskavidne and Yiccardaria: Lesser demons known as yochlol, they serve as two of the handmaidens of Lolth. The pair have proven so resourceful and skilled
that Lolth gives them great rein in walking the ways of the drow and making a glorious mess of everything.
- Eilistraee: The Dark Maiden is the drow goddess of beauty, song, dance, freedom, moonlight, swordwork, and hunting. For the udadrow,
she is the anti-Lolth, giving hope and purpose to those who have escaped the deceits of the Spider Queen.
- Qadeej: One of the Vaati, or Wind Dukes of Aaqa, a group of godlike beings opposing chaos in the cosmos. The legend of Qadeej claims
that he lay down on the north pole of Toril and there died, and that the great glacier that now houses Callidae on one end,
and the frost giant and slaad castle on the other, arose from the magic of his body.