Quenthel Baenre

Quenthel Baenre was a drow priestess, and the third daughter of Yvonnel Baenre. She was the Mistress of Arach-Tinilith, the clerical school of Menzoberranzan, and later Matron Mother of First House Baenre.

Description
Quenthel was described as strong and beautiful.

Personality
Quenthel was domineering but often allowed insubordination by the males around her. She scowled often. She was ruthless.

First life and resurrection
Quenthel Baenre acted as an assistant to Matron Yvonnel Baenre during her invasion of Mithral Hall in 1358 DR. She silently disagreed when the matron mother killed other drow priestesses to further her own power, believing this was not sanctioned by Lolth.

Quenthel was killed fleeing the disastrous Battle of Keeper's Dale by Drizzt Do'Urden but was shortly thereafter (in 1361 DR) resurrected from death by decree of Lolth. Shakti Hunzrin returned her to life by entrapping the yochlol that was apparently Quenthel in a soul bubble and then releasing her. House Baenre attempted to cover up her absence by claiming she had gone on a mission, and kept the secret of her death from many. For some time, the only male to have known out about the incident is Gromph Baenre, who admitted to his sister Triel that he had found out. Quenthel did not have full memories of her time in the Abyss, but she had vague recollections of it.

Mistress of Arach-Tinilith
After her resurrection, Quenthel became the Mistress of Arach-Tinilith, the clerical faction of the Tier Breche Academy, where she served was of 1372 DR She intended to prove her greatness at Arach-Tinilith in order to prove her ability to rule the city.

In 1372 DR, during the Silence of Lolth when she was unable to use her clerical powers to defend herself, Quenthel was subject to a number of assassination attempts. Her brother, Gromph Baenre, sent a number of demons to Arach-Tinilith to destroy her, but each time they were foiled, although at one point Quenthel had to approach Matron Mother Zeerith Q'Xorlarrin for magical help. Some of the students and instructors of Arach-Tinilith viewed these attacks as signs that Lolth wanted her destroyed, so so a group of them led by Drisinil Armgo attempted to kill her. They failed and Quenthel summoned a horde of spiders to destrot them. Additionally, the priestess Halavin Symryvvin fell mad due to one of Gromph's attacks and attempted to kill Quenthel.

Silence of Lolth
Sometime afterward, Quenthel was assigned by Matron Mother Triel Baenre to lead a band of drow (Pharaun Mizzrym, Ryld Argith, Triel's draegloth son Jeggred, Valas Hune, and Faeryl Zauvirr) were tasked by Triel with uncovering the mystery of the Silence of Lolth. They traveled to Ched Nasad to determine the city's status and see if the Silence of Lolth was also affecting priestesses there. They found chaos and were quickly embroiled in a Jaezred Chaulssin plot to lay low the city. While checking up on House Baenre's interests in the Black Claw Mercantile Company, Quenthel and Jeggred were captured by Matron Ssipriina Zauvirr, who had hired the duergar mercenary band Clan Xornbane to destroy House Melarn. However, the drow who had advised House Zauvirr, was secretly a prince of the Jaezred Chaulssin and had arranged for the duergar to be part of an attack on the city itself. Quenthel and Jeggred were eventually rescued by their companions, who had teemed up with Halisstra Melarn and her servant Danifae Yauntyrr, in order to escape the city. Fleeing duergar, huge guardian spiders, and stonefire flasks that burned the stone city to the ground, the group was able to escape through a portal in the Dangling Tower that led to the ruins of Hlaungadath in Anauroch.

The group eventually decided to consult with Tzirik Jaelre, a Vhaeraunite priest and acquaintance of Valas' last seen in The Labyrinth. However, when they arrived there, they found that House Jaelre had apparently left for the surface. They took a portal from House Jaelre's holdings in the Labyrinth to the surface forest of Cormanthor and determined where House Jaelre was located. Upon their arrival, Tzirik offered his assistance only if they aided him in retrieving a magical tome from a beholder lair. They did so and Tzirik revealed that Lolth was still alive but that she was locked away in the Demonweb Pits. The group and Tzirik traveled via astral projection to the Abyss. Once there, Tzirik betrayed them and gated in Vhaeraun, who tried to destroy Lolth. Valas attacked Tzirik in an attempt to return the group to the Material Plane, but was unsuccessful. In the end, Pharaun was able to have Jeggred, who had stayed behind, kill Tzirik's mortal body to return them to Cormanthor.

Quenthel competed with Danifae Yauntyrr and Halisstra Melarn, two drow priestesses she met on the journey, for the position of "Yor'thae", the Chosen of Lolth. Quenthel was enraged when Lolth selected Danifae, as Danifae was seen as more cunning. Quenthel killed Jeggred in the Demonweb Pits as a sacrifice to the reborn goddess, and returned to Menzoberranzan to her position of High Priestess and Mistress of Arach-Tinilith after the Silence of Lolth was dealt with.

Post-Spellplague
Quenthel was hailed as a dark heroine upon her return to Menzoberranzan, and she quickly turned her popularity among her fanatical people to her advantage. In only a decade, she gathered enough power to challenge her sister Triel for the title of Matron of house Baenre, a challenge Triel couldn't hope to win. Quenthel reigned as first Matron Mother thereafter, and has maintained her title as Mistress of Arach-Tinilith, a move first attempted by Triel during Quenthel's years in the Demonweb Pits.

Equipment
Quenthel possessed a whip of fangs, as many priestesses do, but hers was unique. IT consisted of five vipers attached to an adamantine handle, with the essences of five imps are also bound to the whip, one for each snake. These fiends kept watch for her and offered her advice on problems, each with its own personality. Each imp, and thus each snake head, had a name. Hsiv was the first imp bound into the whip. Yngoth was the wisest. K'Sothra was the least intelligent. Zinda was the name of another head.

Quenthel possessed a wand of healing, which was her only source of healing magic during the Silence of Lolth. In Ched Nasad she also confiscated Halisstra's wands of healing and invisibility.

Quenthel also wore a necklace of large, black beads. When a bead was slipped off the chain and thrown at a target, it exploded in a brilliant flash of light, blinding anyone nearby. In addition, the target struck by the bead became temporarily immobilized by a magical force field.

Relationships
As First Sister of House Baenre, Quenthel, as well as and her brother, Gromph Baenre served as Triel's primary advisers. Gromph, however, was not fond of the competition and thus attempted to have her assassinated several times in 1372 DR.

Novels

 * Starless Night (minor)
 * Siege of Darkness
 * Windwalker


 * War of the Spider Queen series
 * Dissolution
 * Condemnation
 * Insurrection
 * Extinction
 * Annihilation
 * Resurrection