House Duskryn

House Duskryn is the 9th House of Menzoberranzan, known for its military might and its participation in the sacking of Blingdenstone. Despite never holding a spot among the ruling council of Menzoberranzan, the House has consistently been relied upon for its well-trained soldiers and war wizards.

## Activities

The nobles of House Duskryn have a reputation for being cruel and militaristic, acting out both out of ambition and for their own perverse amusement. The House has consistently trained some of the best armies in Menzoberranzan since its founding in -2242 DR, first due to its association with Selvetarm and later its tradition of sending its males to master War Magic at Sorcere. Advancement within the House has been awarded based off of performance rather than birth, due to one of its greatest warriors and its first patron being a common-born male. Most of the house's greatest military victories have been during defensive wars, though they of course were responsible for wiping out many of the houses they have surpassed in status.

## History

The story of House Duskryn's ascent is not commonly told outside of House Duskryn, and in more recent years, it is not often told at all. Three thousand years before the 15th century DR, the first Duskryn- then a minor member of the now defunct House Tuin'Tarl, struck out on her own choosing to form a house of her own when it seemed like she herself could not defeat the priestesses in her own house and claim the seat of Matron Mother. Now a matron of a commoner House, the first Matron sought allies among the ambitious noble houses, though she was discounted by all she approached. When she sought a patron for her new family, however, she turned to a common-born man from the Braeryn- one who'd proven himself at Melee-Magthere and had made himself renowned as a blackguard of Selvetarm. The commoner took his chance to one day be nobility, and together the pairing of cleric and blackguard eventually led to the birth of a generation of strong females and males, trained in the patron's martial ways.

A century after the commoner House's founding, they had three sons and three daughters, each trained in combat and prayer, but sworn to the god Selvetarm rather than Lolth, as without noble patrons, none of the six young drow had been accepted into Tier Breche. Regardless of that fact, the First Matron, the First Patron, and each of their six children, were strong enough to take on any minor noble family- and soon they were able to rally a small army to take out the then 50th House, becoming a proper noble house themselves. In the centuries that followed, they built a reputation for having the best trained army, and rose all the way to being the 29th House of Menzoberranzan before the First Matron died by a hidden blade of another House, which House Duskryn to this day believes belonged to a Tuin'Tarl assassin.

In a centuries that followed, House Duskryn faced many direct assaults and political challenges, with the worship of Selvetarm explicitly being banned around -1000 DR just to stifle the House's tradition of raising their males as Blackguards of Lolth's loyal protector. The House continued to thrive regardless, even after experiencing a series of attacks from nobles houses around the 7th century DR that were all rumored to have been organized by the great House Baenre. By 1257 DR, Duskryn was considered the 15th most powerful House. Almost a century a later in 1372 DR, they had already risen to the rank of 10th.

Just before the War of the Spider Queen, the House won the charter from House Baenre that allowed them to sack the city of Blingdenstone and garrison their own troops within the settlement, which led to extensive participation by House Duskryn in the short war against the deep gnomes. After the sacking of Blingdenstone, a hundred Duskryn soldiers were left behind in the deep gnome city, led by High Priestess Neheedra Duskryn and her sister Zelzpassa. After several months, the entirety of this garrison disappeared, leading to the loss of the drow outpost, the priestesses and soldiers left there to guard it, and finally a loss of some House Duskryn's prestige.

In the years following the War of the Spider Queen their rivals and distant kin in House Tuin'Tarl were destroyed by House Melarn, causing Durkryn shifting their ambitions on the great House Fey-Branche, and allying the ambitious Vandree family that had risen from low to surpass even House Duskryn in status. House Duskryn would go on to provide its Elderboy to the Mizzrym and Vandree operation at Velkynvelve, while also having their own outpost east of Menzoberranzan. Soon after Tuin'Tarl was destroyed by the Houses who would become House Melarn, Melarn began fanatically getting involved in the business of other houses, accusing others of not upholding the Spider Queen's will. One such house they targeted was Duskryn, making the house's history as Selvetarm worshipers widely known once more. As a result, Melarn also became one of Duskryn's rivals.

Although House Duskryn has always hungered for a spot in the ruling council of Menzoberranzan, they have only come close once in 1484 DR, when House Xolarrin left Menzoberranzan to build a new drow settlement called Q'Xolarrin in the ruins of Gauntlgrym. This unofficially made them rise from being the 9th House of Menzoberranzan to being the 8th, though Matron Mother Quenthel Baenre would later recreate House Do'Urden from soldiers of House Xolarrin and a few priestesses of House Baenre, placing them as the 8th House instead. House Duskryn holds some resentment to Matron Baenre now, as they feel cheated out of a spot in the council that was rightfully there's.

## Enemies

From the start of the House's history, Duskryn has considered House Tuin'Tarl its enemy, though their distant kin in that House were destroyed in the years following the Silence of Lolth. They count no houses below them as threats, as history has proven their might against attempts to surpass them through direct attacks. Since the reign of the Matron Mother Bern'ith, however, House Duskryn has seen House Fey-Branche as a target- and after Duskryn was denied the spot on the Ruling Council by Quenthel Baenre, they have seen the destruction of Fey-Branche as the only logical step for advancement into being one of the 8 Great Houses.

Additionally, they hold some hatred for House Melarn, which destroyed Tuin'Tarl before Duskryn could end its ancient enemy. Melarn would go on to become one of the greater houses and 'Inquisitors of the Way of Lolth', further leading to animosity between the two Houses, as Melarn accused Duskryn of still needlessly venerating the god Selvetarm rather than devoting all worship to Lolth. This accusation was untrue, though it made Duskryn lose some credibility, and gave them a desire to eventually cause Melarn's destruction.

## Notable Personages

* **Bruherd Duskryn.** Bruherd Duskryn is the youngest brother of Matron Prae'anelle, and he was once a Master of Sorcere, until he inflicted with a strange chronic illness that effected both his appearance and his strength. When his magic failed to cure it, he was cast out of both his House and Sorcere for the weakness, leading him to later participate in the Prophet's Revolt during the Silence of Lolth. He was slain by Va'laere Duskryn during his assault on the Duskryn compound.
* **Dro'vas Duskryn.** Dro'vas Duskryn is from a commoner branch of House Duskryn, being the grandson of Matron Prae'anelle's aunt Faeryl. He was once one of the House Duskryn Warriors, though he later abandoned his House to instead join the mercenary company Bregan D'aerthe. To avoid irritating Matron Duskryn, the company soon moved Dro'vas to work alongside Bregan D'aerthe on the surface.
* **Havel Duskryn.** Havel is the younger brother of Matron Prae'anelle, and a Master of War Magic at Sorcere. Due to his duties to Tier Breche he does not participate in his House's politics, though his station is a point of pride for House Duskryn.
* **Hundaer Duskryn.** Hundaer, despite being from a common branch of House Duskryn, has been considered the greatest warrior in the House since his graduation from Melee-Magthere. During the War of the Spider Queen, after the death of the House's Weapons Master at the Pillars of Woe, Hundaer was chosen to be the new Weapons Master of the House. Loyal to a fault, it is clear that unless he is slain by a rival male, he will continue to serve his cousin and Matron Prae'anelle faithfully.
* **Imbros Duskryn.** Once a master of Sorcere, Imbros Duskryn is now House Duskryn's House Wizard and the House's oldest living male. Older than Matron Prae'anelle by a little more than a century, he is charge of the House's magical tutoring, as well as its enchantments and wards.
* **Ilmra Duskryn.** Ilmra is the First Daughter of House Duskryn, and the twin sister of the now-dead Talabrina. A High Priestess in her own right, she is the expected successor to the role of Matron, should anything happen to Prae'anelle. She shares her mother's cruelty and ambition, and if it wasn't for Prae'anelle's strength, there's no doubt Ilmra would've attempted to ascend already.
* **Jorlan Duskryn.** Jorlan Duskryn is the first son of Matron Prae'anelle and the Elderboy of House Duskryn. He is a skilled warrior who proved himself during the War of the Spider Queen, and was later sent to be a captain at the drow outpost of Velkynvelve. There he became the lover of Mistress Ilvara Mizzrym, until his disfigurement led to him being demoted and humiliated. He would go on to free a group of slaves from the prison to make Ilvara look incompetent, leading to those ex-slaves becoming heroes.
* **Matron Prae'anelle Duskryn.** Prae'anelle rose to the status of Matron Mother during the Time of Troubles, having slain her mother Bern'ith and her aunts Akordia and Faeryl to ensure no one would question her ascension. She is a cruel and ambitious woman, and although the Peace of Lolth forced her to treat some of the members of her House with respect, the end of that era allowed the Matron to return to her ways. She has a reputation for having taken most of the House's soldiery as temporary consorts, only officially keeping them around if the union produced a child- though she later kills those men after she tires of them. She is the mother of the twins Ilmra and Talabrina, the brothers Jorlan and Va'laere, and the young priestess Miz'ri.
* **Neheedra Duskryn.** A younger sister of Prae'anelle, Neheedra was always an ambitious woman. She resented her sister for claiming the seat of Matron Mother, and she'd go on to try raising the Secondboy of the House Va'laere with a grudge against his mother. When House Duskryn won the charter to sack and garrison Blingdenstone, Neheedra was put in charge of the army and later the garrison. She and her garrison (including her younger sister Zelzpassa) were never seen again and presumed dead.
* **Sassandra Duskryn.** Sassandra is the daughter of Neheedra Duskryn who remained with her mother in Blingdenstone after the city's sacking. For unknown reasons she departed from the newly made drow outpost before its garrison disappeared, becoming an outcast from her house. As far as anyone in House Duskryn is concerned, Sasandra perished like the others, though in truth she roams the Lowerdark still, now a warlock of some unknown master.
* **Talabrina Duskryn.** Talabrina was the 'second-born' daughter of Matron Prae'anelle, born as the twin sister of Ilmra. She too was as ambitious as Ilmra, though rather than taking after her mother, she took after her weanmother Neheedra. After news of Blingdenstone being resettled reached House Duskryn in the late 1470s, Talabrina and two of her favored bugbear slaves ventured out to Blingdenstone to end any hopes of resettling the city her House had sacked. She died in 1479 DR, fighting a group of heroes who were aiding the deep gnomes in the resettling process.
* **Va'laere Duskryn.** Va'laere is the second son of Prae'anelle Duskryn, later becoming the Secondboy of the House when his mother became the Matron. He was raised to be ambitious and hateful of his mother by his aunt Neheedra, though he later repressed those feelings to serve the House during and after the Peace of Lolth. In 1482, an encounter with a sword dancer of Eilistraee gave Va'laere the urge to finally rebel against his family, and he left for the surface. He later established himself as a bounty hunter in Waterdeep.