House Jaelre House Jaelre was the biggest drow faction in Cormanthor . In 1372 DR , they accounted for about 11 % of the drow population in the forest . Objectives . House Jaelre ’ s goal was to find a home for themselves by repopulating the land of Cormanthor that the elves abandoned in the wake of the Retreat . Towards that end , they tried to satisfy the three requirements of a state . Namely , territory , the region around the Elven Court , population , their own members , and power to defend borders and lives of the aforementioned two through modifying elven magic such as the mythals into forms that would protect them . Activities . House Jaelre claimed the territory in and around the abandoned Elven Court before the Eldreth Veluuthra could do so . They generally remained on the upper part of the city for the lower parts were riddled with mortally dangerous traps . House Jaelre reused elven buildings when they could but also created their own , for the elves destroyed their biggest structures in their former capital before they left for Evermeet . They used these houses as forts and camps for defense and places from which to strike against their enemies . As a general rule such buildings had at least one Underdark level . They practiced agriculture but only with Underdark food , in regards of surface food , they were gatherers and hunters and traded with other groups . They studied the mythals with the intention of modifying them so that they could be used for the protection of House Jaelre ’ s people . In order to distract others from intervening in these actions and to thin the ranks of their drow enemies , House Jaelre harassed distant lands like Mistledale to agitate the Dalesfolk into attacking House Jaelre ’ s drow enemies . Members . House Jaelre ’ s members were collectively drow and followers of Vhaeraun . Their members were organized in a militaristic fashion that functioned like a military , a feature commonly seen in vhaeraunite organizations due to a cooperative mind set that was uncommon in drow cultures , though higher rank didn ’ t mean receiving special treatment . They were led by a council of four members . These were : It seemed that House Jaelre didn ’ t apply the usual „ might makes right “ - rule commonly seen in religious drow groups , in which the most powerful cleric is put in charge , but seemed to apply more secular standards as seen in Nurkinyan being completely outclassed in terms of power by the High priest Tzirik Jaelre , as evidenced by the High priest ’ s ability to cast spells like " astral projection " and " gate " and the inability of Nurkinyan to do so . Relationships . House Jaelre was a drow house and thus consisted of drow . House Jaelre abandoned the tradition of racial hatred against elves and had no intention to put specific efforts towards their destruction . but , unlike Clan Auzkovyn , they made no efforts to recruit non - drow . They allied with other creatures ranging from dragons , mephits to surface elves when they shared their mind set like those of the aforementioned Clan Auzkovyn . Their elven neighbors though didn ’ t lose their tradition of hatred and became their enemies and coupled with the good reputation of the elves and the bad reputation of the drow , other races also viewed House Jaelre as their enemies for being the elves ’ enemies . House Jaelre used this hatred against drow in general to play out non - drow enemies against their drow enemies . Elven groups such as the Eldreth Veluuthra used similar tactics against House Jaelre . They disguised themselves as drow and raided human settlements and wanderers to increase hostilities between humans and drow . House Jaelre saw an enemy in Lolth - worshipping drow but fairly good relationship with other Vhaeraun - worshipping groups with whom they traded Their relationship with Clan Auzkovyn was especially good for that group had no desire to erect permanent settlements . They didn ’ t kill each others ’ trespassers and even developed personal friendships like the one between the Widower and Jezz the Lame . The connections between these groups developed into a full alliance called the Masked Brigades . Magic and Skills . Each member of House Jaelre ’ s fighting forces was provided with magic items which included at least one healing potion . House Jaelre seemed to favor magic items that augmented their own and the items ’ intrinsic abilities and those that could be used by anyone equally well . For example specialists in sneaking were provided with " boots of elvenkind " , " elixir of sneaking " and ' potions of " cat ’ s grace " while the warriors were provided with " gauntlets of ogre power " and potions of " bear ’ s endurance " were all items to improve the basic abilities of the user and usable by anyone else . Potions of spells like " blur " and " invisibility " were also common . Their armor and weapons were enchanted so that their basic capabilities like sturdiness was heightened instead of adding gimmicks . As drow , they made use of " piwafwis " , and " drow house insignias " while more unusual items included the likes of " fire elementals gems " and " rings of antivenom " . They also made heavy use of alchemical goods and poison . Apart from the usual smokesticks , acid flasks , alchemical fire , thudenstone or tanglefoot bags , they also used drugs like " kammarth " or " ziran " . A special trait about House Jaelre ’ s member was that they had at least some aptitude in stealth and that many overcame the drow race ’ s weakness against sunlight . History . Originally House Jaelre lived in Menzoberranzan . Some decades prior to 1372 DR , it lost a civil war and was driven out of the city . Another account spoke of the house being driven out for the crime of having a male leader and revering Vhaeraun instead of Lolth about 500 years prior to 1372 DR . Given their large numbers of about 8000 , compared to House Baenre ’ s 3300 , both accounts could be true . After being cast out from Menzoberranzan , House Jaelre wandered the Underdark in exile . They settled for a time in the Labyrinth , where they occupied a palace and other holdings . Sometime between 1322 DR and 1372 DR , they found a portal in the newly sacked Blingdenstone , taking them to areas of the forest of Cormanthor that had formerly been protected by " mythal s " . ( Other accounts speak of a portal set up directly from House Jaelre ' s holdings in the Labyrinth that brought them to Cormanthor . ) In Cormanthor , House Jaelre set up their base in Minauthkeep , an abandoned elven fort . The house sought to occupy the ruins of the Elven Court and make use of the " mythals " and wards there to keep its enemies at bay . It sent a force led by Jezz the Lame as a diversion to the Dalesfolk . House Jaelre had relatively little conflict with the Clan Auzkovyn , which first arrived in Cormanthor at about the same time , as the latter were nomadic and thus did not contest Jaelre ' s holdings . A century later , Valan Jaelre sent the drow ( led by a simulacrum of himself ) to attack Shadowdale and steal the " Pendant of Ashaba " . Notable members of House Jaelre . " Pre - Spellplague " " Post - Spellplague "