Ust Natha

Ust Natha is a drow city in the Underdark under northwestern Tethyr in Old Shanatar. It is maintained by the drow as a symbol, marking the location of a nearby temple on the surface where the first drow descended underground; its name means "the first". The temple and city are fought over regularly by the drow and surface elves (including at least those from Suldanessellar), though the silver dragon Adalon guards the area and tries to govern the hostilities, often succesfully. The entrance to her lair is located near that of Ust Natha, but the drow are incapable of entering it due to a wall of magical, impenetrable darkness blocking the passage. Other neighbours of Ust Natha include outposts of kuo-toa, illithid, and beholders, all of whom are regarded as rivals by the drow; and a svirfneblin town that is independent but plays a subservient role to the drow. At the other end of the same main cavern from which all of these settlements are accessed, there is also a hole leading upwards all the way into City-of-Caverns, a sahuagin settlement. The drow have no dealings with the sahuagin, but some of their race did occupy a section of that city in the past.

Ust Natha is mostly built on platforms above the natural bottom of its cavern, many supported on stalagmites, with most on the same level but a few above the others. Buildings of note in the city include guilds for female and male fighters as well as for wizards, and a grand temple of Lolth at its eastern end. In a typical drow fashion, Ust Natha is run on the basis of several competing houses led by matron mothers, including a local branch of the Despana family. Though virtually all of its free citizens are drow, it also houses a number of members of other races at a given time. Besides of the presence of slaves, beholders, illithid, githyanki and aboleths have been known to visit the city.

Drow from Ust Natha tend to be very well equipped for the Underdark. It is perfectly ordinary for them to be equipped with adamantine weapons and shields with a +3 enhancement bonus and elven chain mail and full plate mail with no lesser than +5 enhancement bonus. This extra potency may be bought at the cost of very heavy dependence on the Underdark faerzress magic, though, since these items exhibit an extraordinarily rapid version of decay when exposed to sunlight; they turn to dust more or less immediately.