Maerimydra

Maerimydra was a large drow city located below the Dalelands in the Deep Wastes.

Geography
Maerimydra is situated in the Middledark, roughly 10 miles below the southern border of Mistledale. It resides in a cavern roughly 3/4 mile from north to south and 1/2 mile from east to west with many smaller caverns surronding the city itself. Numerous plateaus seperate the city, with the highest level being in the north-west corner.

Connections to the Surface
Winding away from the city were Underdark passages, some of which led to the surface. There are noted connections to the surface that connect to Maerimydra; one within the Dordrien crypts in Daggerdale; one near the Elven Court in Cormanthor; one beneath Haptooth Hill in Battledale; and one that leads into the sewers of Zhentil Keep. It should also be noted there are underdark connections to the Shadowdark beneath the Twisted Tower of Ashaba in Shadowdale, though since 1367 DR this entrance has been sealed off by Mourngrym Amcathra.

Trade
Prior to its fall, Maerimydra was still actively trading with duergar in the Underdark near Zhentil Keep. The drow were buying dwarven slaves from these duergar and using subterranean rivers that connect from the Moonsea to the Shadowdark beneath The Old Skull Tor to ferry them.

Defences
The city itself only had three main points of entrance from the rest of the Underdark. Each was guarded by enormous iron gates and barred by a metal bolt. The northernmost gate was destroyed in the assault by Kurgoth Hellspawn.

History
In -2600 DR the Matron mothers of Maerimydra commissioned the building of the Twisted Tower as a beachhead in the Realms Above. Despite repeated attacks and attempts to stop them by the elves, the drow completed the Twisted Tower in -2549 DR and claimed the surrounding surface territory, which became known as the Land Under Shadow and as a base for Underdark-based slavery.

The Land Under Shadow was freed by the forces of Cormanthor in -331 DR and the Twisted Tower occupied by Eilistraee-worshiping drow. However, in 714 DR, in the wake of the fall of Myth Drannor, Maerimydra reconquered the area. They ruled it for nearly 200 years until 906 DR when the water wizard Ashaba led an army of dalesmen and cormytes to drive the drow out of the Twisted Tower.



When the Silence of Lolth began in 1372 DR on 28 Eleasias, it caused growing unrest among the drow, until the city's archmage, Duneth Wharreil, used the confusion to launch a coup on the remaining houses. On 23 Eleint, the city was sacked by the half-fiend Kurgoth Hellspawn and his army of goblins, ogres, fire giants and demons. Most of the drow inhabitants of the city were killed or enslaved, with some escaping into the surrounding Deep Wastes. The single drow house to survive with any assets was House Dhuurniv, because most of them lay outside Maerimydra.

While the mage and Kurgoth's army were destroying the city's strongholds the local cult of Kiaransalee took over Castle Maerimydra, the home of House Chûmavh which, at the time was the ruling house. The leader of the cult, an albino drow named Irae T'sarran, killed Duneth and, under her god's direction summoned Kiaransalee's Undying Temple to the Prime Material Plane. She then focused on using the temple's negative energy to research a new spell that would raise all of the corpses in and around the city simultaneously as a singular horde of powerful undead, all under her command.

A few small bands of drow refugees fled the sacking of the city. One party managed to travel the 100 miles to Szith Morcane, an old outpost of Maerimydra. The Lolth-worshiping leaders were slain by Irae's two children who then organized raids on Daggerdale.

Kiaransalee's followers were eventually defeated, as was Irae T'sarran, but not before tearing a hole in the weave and leaving many pockets of corrupted magic dotting the dales above.

By 1479 DR Maerimydra was firmly under the control of the fire giants, led by the fire titan Queen Hledh. Enormous amounts of rebuilding had turned most of the city into a domain fit for its larger residents by expanding much of the existing cavern. Hundreds of drow still remained in the city, albeit as slaves to their new fire giant masters.

Castle Maerimydra
Standing atop a 100ft high plateau, the elegant curves and fluted battlements of this castle represented the epitome of drow aesthetics. At 250ft tall and comprising of seven floors Castle Maerimydra was the the heart of Maerimydra and the seat of the ruling House Chûmavh. Comprising of three basic structures, the Great Tower, the Lesser Tower and the South Column, Castle Maerimydra was by far the largest Noble House in the city.

Colisuem
The Maerimydran drow considered the coliseum as the crowning acheivement of their city and the very height of their culture. The building itself is oval, with an outer wall over 60ft high that was topped by battlements. Inside, flickering continual flame torches lit the public gallery and grand staricases led off to armouries, slave pens and even holding pens for great beasts. Over the centuries, thousands of prisoners, exotic beasts and slaves died here as entertainment for the drow.

Courtyard of Lolth
The Courtyard of Lolth housed Maerimydra's temple of Lolth. Shaped like an enourmous spider, the courtyard surrounded the temple, a single gracefully sculpted archway allowing access beneath stony fangs. Glowing, magical orbs of light at the entrance created an invisibility purge effect. An important security measure while the temple of Lolth stood.

Lake of Blood
Situated in the southern part of the city this large murky lake earned its name shortly after the city's founding. Legends of the drow claim the red-tinged colour of the water and acrid smell is due to a failed coup, after which the rebels' corpses were thrown into a heap in the lake. The streams that feed the lake are clean and pure though.

Noble's Plateau
Dominated by numerous fortress-like citadels and palaces, this area was the home of the powerful noble drow houses of Maerimydra.

The Shattered Tower
This tower got its name because it had an aesthetic design that made its walls appear cracked like broken glass. The archmage of Maerimydra resided here with his apprentices.