Helvlani's Khos

Helvlani's Khos is a historical text recovered from the Tower of Vorn.

## Description

Serving as an account of the history of the city of Morrhelvgix Khos, Helvlani's Khos is an academic text first and foremost, and thus arguably ponderous reading for most. Nonetheless, it serves as an insight to the former functioning of the now destroyed settlement.

## Research

### Completed by Arnica

For the uninitiated, Helvlani's Khos quite literally translates to Helvlani's City, or the City of Helvlani, for use of the word Khos as both a prefix and suffix is common throughout Undercommon linguistics. Subsequently however, the word city will be utilised for sake of simplicity and accessibility.

#### History

The Helvlani Den has maintained a number of cities over the years, some great, some grand, many destroyed through war - both civil between the Den and their primary rivals, that of Duzktlar, Hunzrach and Kenarnvar in particular and those with other threats and foes. The Underdark, infamously so, is a place of monstrosities, aberrations and many other creatures besides, as well as humanoid races mad, cruel or malign. With competition and conflict raging so fiercely, the Helvlani Den sought to construct what would become Morrhelvgix Khos far into the northern stretches of their territory, beneath what the individuals of the World Above would know as the eastern aspect of the Brumal Deep. The toll of the wars raging through the Underdark had greatly depleted the strength of the Helvlani Den, and while new slaves were continuously being captured by means of conflicts, raids and chance, it would not be until aggressive and extensive use of necromancy to maintain stocks of labourers that the city's construction would find itself progressing at any significant pace.

During this time, the settlement was referred to colloquially as the City of the Soulless, owing to its lack of living occupants, and although the dead struggled with fine artistry now located throughout the city through efforts by drow artisans, their progress was quick, unyielding with lack of need for rest or respite. After the Wars of the Splintered Spindle came to an end, a decisive victory forged by the ultimately short-lived alliance between the Helvlani and Kenarnvar Dens, the Helvlani nobility and their vassals arrived at their city, henceforth occupied by the living - and so the City of Souls, the other name by which Morrhelvgix Khos came to be known.

#### Government

As is effectively tradition amongst the drow, Helvlani rule over the city of Morrhelvgix Khos was not uncontested, for in reality near every family, faction, house and den of any particular note - and many more besides - vied for power and dominion, but none have thus far proved successful in these ploys. A Guild of Inquisitors, headed by members of the Helvlani Den themselves planted spies and informants through all levels of the populace, from slave to aristocracy, feeding findings as whispers along the vast web-like network back to the Inquisitors for analysis and action. Coercion, forced disappearances and assassinations are but a few weapons in the arsenal of tools utilised.

Since the formal occupation of the city, Morrhelvgix Khos has been ruled by the Matron Mother Chaliryn Helvlani, who delegates her edicts through an army of priestesses, consorts, arachnomancers and shadowblades.

#### Geography

Morrhelvgix Khos was constructed in a tapered teardrop-shaped cavern, though over the years the space has been further expanded by means of extensive mining to manage the burgeoning population, and thus as such more recently the cavern is more akin to that of oblong or oval. From this central locale thousands of tunnels wind and sprawl, serving numerous purposes ranging from mining, storage, prison cells and military barracks.

The city itself is a winding mass of interlinked towers, palaces and plazas, constructed over several overlaid layers, connected by means of carved staircases and lifts around a trio of vast stalagmites of gabbro and peridotite referred to by the populace as Nuruuk, Tulaz and Zusheth. Beneath these, likewise, further tunnels and through routes wound, although these were predominately used by the lesser members of the populace, particularly slaves and low-caste male drow.

Notable structures within the city include:

* Acrimony's Pit, a large plaza in which the dead are collected, sorted and subsequently reanimated for their optimal role and function in death, as in life. Nearby to the Pit are a set of catacombs in which undead warriors lie dormant, ready to be loosed should the city come under attack from an outside foe.
* Clarlett Chapel, a clerical school and place of worship responsible for the selection, training and management of priestesses in all their duties throughout the city and beyond.
* Dourscreech Mere, a waterway winding between the stalagmites Nuruuk and Tulaz, formed by a combination of condensation from the cavern's walls, and an underground river redirected to pass through. The banks of the Mere serve as pasture for herds of deep rothé, which are farmed for meat and cheese.
* Jesz Zeousla, the training yards of the armies of the Helvlani Den, constructed on the southern wall of Tulaz, the stalagmite closest to the main entryways in the city.
* The Inquisitorial Tower, more commonly simply known as the Tower of Vorn, after High Inquisitor Vorn Helvlani, second-born son of the Matron Mother. The tallest lone-standing structure in the city.
* The Twice-Fang Palace, built between the bifurcated tips of the central stalagmite Zusheth, from which the Matron Mother rules her populace and resides with her consorts. Come the arrival of a new day, a slave is traditionally sacrificed atop each of the summits, causing each fang's tip to drip gore for the coming hours, while it is said that that the Matron Mother herself feasts on the souls of the oblated.