Triel Baenre

Triel Baenre was a drow priestess and the matron mother of House Baenre, first house of Menzoberranzan until 1383 DR. As the matron mother of the first house, Triel was the most influential drow in the city, and as such could be seen as the unofficial leader of Menzoberranzan; however, due to the nature of the drow, no other matron mother would ever willingly accept her dominance publicly -- they were a far too envious and power hungry of a race to concede power to a single figurehead.

As a powerful matron mother, Triel was addressed by a number of titles. Some of them were "Exalted Mother" and "Sacred Mother."

Description
Triel was less than 5 feet tall, short -- even by drow standards -- but broad and strong. She was not particularly attractive compared to many other drow elves, either, but made up for this with her ferocity and ambition (which are often seen as attractive traits in drow society). She typically wore her white hair braided in a crown around her head.

Triel often wore a tunic with five black spiders embroiled in silver to proclaim her rank.

Personality
Despite her cruel and aspiring nature, Triel was patient, a character trait that allows her to carefully maneuver situations to her advantage. Paranoid about her height, Triel filled her mother's role but not her throne (literally; she even added a foot pedestal to the Baenre throne). However, Triel was shrewd and calculating, and a powerful vessel for Lolth's will, despite her often flippant attitude toward her goddess. She guided Menzoberranzan through tough times and continues to do so in the presence of looming catastrophe, continually proving herself to be a capable drow politician -- just as her mother was.

Triel was a powerful high priestess of Lolth, but during the Silence of Lolth even she doubted her goddess.

History
Triel was Yvonnel Baenre's first and most powerful daughter. She came to power in 1358 DR when her mother, Yvonnel Baenre, was killed during the drow assault on Mithral Hall.

Triel was a potent cleric of Lolth, and prior to (and immediately after) her succession to the throne of House Baenre she served as Mistress Mother of Arach-Tinilith in the Academy of Menzoberranzan. Shrewd and ambitious though she was, Triel did not expect to be landed with the role of House Matron so early, and she slightly resented the position at first due to the precarious position House Baenre was in at the time (Yvonnel Baenre had just been killed, which caused mounting unrest and political change in the city). As the eldest daughter of house Baenre, however, Triel was trained in preparation for becoming Matron Mother by Yvonnel Baenre herself; she was well qualified for the position by the time she ascended to it.

In 1361 DR, Triel announced the Peace of Lolth, a decree from the goddess for the drow of Menzoberranzan to stop shedding each other's blood until Lolth instructs otherwise. In essence, that truly meant that only priestesses were forbidden from slaying one another.

In 1372 DR began the Silence of Lolth, when Lolth failed to communicate with her priestesses or grant them spells. Fearing that threats to the city and the matriarchy would use it to their advantage, Triel forbade any priestess to speak of it. After a slave revolt, the city was weakened and unprepared for the following Siege of Menzoberranzan, so Triel was forced to seek allies among the other drow houses.

During the Siege of Menzoberranzan in 1373 DR, Triel was subject to an assassination attempt by the Jaezred Chaulssin. In fact, there were two attempts: an obvious one involving an assassin, who was captured and brought to Triel, revealing the true attempt, which was a delayed-blast fireball embedded in the assassin's body. Triel survived the fireball because of the protective magic of her mother's throne. Soon after, when House Agrach Dyrr surrendered following their betrayal of the city, Triel accepted them as vassals of House Baenre for the foreseeable future.

Triel's rein as matron mother was short-lived, especially for a drow. In 1380 DR her sister Quenthel lured her into a confrontation where her sister killed her and took over as head of both House Baerne and Arach-Tinilith.

Possessions
Triel possessed a magical diamond that could be used to summon Bregan D'aerthe. Like her mother, she continued to utilize the band's skills.

Triel wore an earring that could detect lies. She also had a five-headed viper whip, like her sister Quenthel. She had several wands, including a a wand of torture that appeared as braided iron with white feather at the tip and an iron wand of polymorph topped with a moth trapped in amber, which she once used it to turn a jade spider into an umber hulk.

Her favored weapon was a whip of fangs which she wielded against many young drow of the Academy.

Relationships
Triel's mother was Yvonnel Baenre, the ancient and powerful matron mother of House Baenre who had ruled for as long as anyone could remember. Triel had a number of siblings, but the most notable was her brother Gromph, Archmage of Menzoberranzan and probably the most powerful male in the city, as well as the rogue Jarlaxle, leader of Bregan D'aerthe. Quenthel Baenre, her younger sister, became the next the Mistress of Arach-Tinilith after her return from death. Triel considered Gromph and Quenthel her most trusted advisors (which prompted Gromph to attempt to assassinate Quenthel a number of times).

She once had a draegloth (half-drow, half-demon) son, Jeggred, who served as her personal bodyguard until he was presumed slain in Lolth's realm, the Demonweb Pits. He was considered a sign of Lolth's favor upon her.

Appearances

 * The Legacy
 * Starless Night
 * Siege of Darkness
 * Daughter of the Drow

War of the Spider Queen series:
 * 1) Dissolution
 * 2) Insurrection
 * 3) Condemnation
 * 4) Extinction
 * 5) Annihilation
 * 6) Resurrection