Neheedra Duskryn

**Neheedra Duskryn** was a drow high priestess from House Duskryn of Menzoberranzan. Being a sister to Matron Mother Prae'anelle, Neheedra had enough influence to place herself as the Commander of the Duskryn forces charged with sacking the city of Blingdenstone in 1371 DR. There, Neheedra remained as a garrison commander for two years, until her lust for power led her to turn herself into a medusa. In her confused anger she petrified the remainder of the garrison, remaining isolated until she formed an alliance with Ogremoch's Bane during the Rage of Demons.

Neheedra Duskryn was an NPC present in the ongoing *Out of the Abyss* adventure.

## Description

Neheedra was once a female drow of extraordinary beauty, with light gray skin, ivory-white hair, and bright blue eyes that made her stick out amongst the many red-eyed drow of her homeland. She stood tall at 5 feet and 9 inches (1.7 meters), and weighed about 170 pounds (77.1 kilograms). Neheedra's appearance, from her eyes to her height and physique, would always be accentuated by revealing spider-silk dresses that had been woven with drow magic. Before her fall from Lolth's favor, she also wielded a scourge of fangs and was never seen without a holy symbol of the Spider Queen.

After her transformation into a medusa, Neheedra's ivory hair became many pale-white snakes with gleaming blue eyes, though the rest of her beauty still remained- even if looking upon it would now mean death. Even after around a century of isolation in the abandoned districts of Blingdenstone, Neheedra continued to wear the magical dresses she brought with her to the deep gnome city. Now however, she wandered the caverns without a scourge of fangs or symbol of the Spider Queen, having been forsaken long before.

## History

### Life in Menzoberranzan

Neheedra was born in the year 1083 DR to the Matron Mother Bern'ith and the Patron of the House, Ildan Duskryn. As the second daughter of Bern'ith, Neheedra formed a rivalry with her much older sister Prae'anelle, though as the years went one Neheedra began to despise and oppress those siblings who were younger than her over the one sister who was above her. Her beauty, the power she commanded from early age, and the favor of the Spider Queen assured her a place among the high priestesses of Lolth almost as soon as she had left Tier-Breche. Despite her tendency to put aside supplanting Prae'anelle to focus on other members of the family, Neheedra still planned to act against her sister one day- though she intended to do this through the next generation of the Duskryn family- her own children, as well as those of her siblings.

To aid in her plans of using those of the next generation to her benefit, Neheedra found a suitable consort from among the commoners belonging to House Duskryn, a warrior of prowess named Alton Ilith'vir. In her own domineering way Neheedra became fond of the man, and though she'd never admit it, the relationship eventually became comparable to one born of love. He would give her a son named Zeerith in 1223 DR as well as a daughter named Z'ress in 1300 DR. Neheedra gave the role of weaning both children to another, but Neheedra ensured she had sway on both children early on, so she could use that connection later. As they were not under the direct control of Neheedra in those early years of their lives, both believed their mother to be caring towards them- as she never had the responsibility of educating them as harshly as a drow mother normally would. Zeerith went on to study at Sorcere, whereas Z'ress would be sent off to Arach-Tinileth.

After the birth of Prae'anelle's second child in 1338 DR, Neheedra was given the task of being the babe's weanmother by Matron Bern'ith. While this task was usually seen as an undesirable chore by most priestesses, Neheedra saw the infant Va'laere as an opportunity to act against her older sister in the future. Neheedra raised the boy through physical and emotional abuse, instilling the boy with the belief that his torment was a direct result of orders by his mother and grandmother, and Neheedra was actually being interpreting those orders in the most favorable and sympathetic of ways. She sought to make the young boy rebellious and loyal to her despite her role as his abuser, and she succeeded in this. By twelve the young secondboy was firmly under the belief that Neheedra, despite all that she had done to him, was a victim of the priestesses as much as he was.

### Prae'anelle's Ascension

Prae'anelle eventually sensed these feelings in her young son and took him away from Neheedra's care, taking away Neheedra's future agent before he could be forever indoctrinated. Neheedra resented this, but ever the patient sister, she did not act again before her sister organized for her own ascent to Matronhood in the year 1358 DR. Although it seemed that she might need to fight her older sister in that year to continue living (as all of their aunts had been assassinated by Prae'anelle along with Bern'ith), the struggle between the siblings was put aside as House Duskryn contributed its forces to the war against Mithral Hall. After that failed invasion, Neheedra lived by remaining in the favor of the Spider Queen, as well as the Peace of Lolth that assured her safety in the years that came.

During the Peace of Lolth, Neheedra had her last two children by her longtime consort Alton, who had by this point become a leader in House Duskryn's army. These last two were twins- a boy named Tsabrak and a girl named Sassandra. Neheedra abused Lolth's ruling regarding the Peace of Lolth to insist upon raising her own children, knowing her sister could not act against her for so minor an act of defiance. Both were raised with a mix of hardening abuse and care, as Neheedra needed them to grow up as proper drow, but still wanted to use them in the future. She did not finish educating them to their twenties, however, as Neheedra was called upon to lead the armies of Blingdenstone alongside her younger sister Zelzpassa.

### Occupation of Blingdenstone

Under Neheedra's command, the Menzoberranyr armies sacked the deep gnome city in the year 1371 DR, using a mix of ground forces and swarms of summoned bebilith demons to massacre all the deep gnomes they could. She was the cruel leader to dictating that no deep gnomes would be taken as slaves during the sacking, and when the ordeal was complete, she elected to remain in Blingdenstone with her sister Zelzpassa, who had been originally assigned to the role of establishing a Duskryn garrison in the city to prevent resettlement and collect riches for House Duskryn. Usurping her younger sister's role and abandoning the children she had begun to raise in Menzoberranzan, Neheedra and her garrison sat out the War of the Spider Queen the next year.

The Silence of Lolth affected her deeply, as Neheedra and her garrison were forced to accept the return of deep gnomes to certain sections of the city and found themselves unable to effectively control the sections of the city controlled by earth elementals. Neheedra became obsessed with collecting spell gems and other magic to protect herself now that she was without her clerical magic, and this led to her trafficking with xorns and the returned deep gnome wererats known as the Goldwhisker Clan. In her time of need she looked into the lore of elementals present in the books claimed during the sacking of Blingdenstone, and in these texts she found a ritual meant to infuse her with power greater than what she had as a godless cleric. Aided by her longtime lover Alton, Neheedra gathered most of the spell gems in the ruins Blingdenstone and captured both her sister Zelzpassa and Alton's own rivals for use in Neheedra's ritual.

The sacrifices and the infusion of elemental power worked, though not in the ways that Neheedra had intended. Transformed into a medusa, she petrified her consort with an unintended glance. Moments after the ritual's completion and the death of her lover, Neheedra felt the return of Lolth- and her subsequent abandonment by the Spider Queen, who would not return to her the favor she had earned before. In a rage, Neheedra turned her petrifying gaze upon all of the drow garrison, ending House Duskryn's control over the city. The Goldwhiskers and mad elementals claimed all the territory once owned by Neheedra's followers, and the medusa isolated herself in her own quarters- coming out only to petrify those who came too close to her lair. Although she herself was not an elemental, the beings maddened by Ogremoch's Bane were not affected by her gaze or hostile to her presence, allowing Neheedra to remain alone and plot her revenge upon everyone who'd ever wronged her, as well as weep for all that she had lost.