Sschindylryn

Sschindylryn was a drow city in the Middledark of the Deep Wastes in the Underdark. It was a strong trading power in the Underdark but a minor military one, at best.

Location
The city was situated miles below the kingdom of Cormyr, beneath the King's Forest, though maps placed it beneath the Eastern Plains.

It stood on the shore of the underground Lake Thalmiir, or rather near a lake named Daerbraun deeper underground that Lake Thalmiir drained into.

History
The city was once very war-like, using their portals to raid other Underdark settlements and cities. At some point in its history, Sschindylryn lost a war against Menzoberranzan. The defeat caused an almost complete demilitarization of the city. What followed was a time of rebuilding the city as a mercantile power. Toward that end, the city's spellcasters specialized in magic of divination and such that allowed easier travel.

Some time in the late 1350s DR, scouts from Sschindylryn discovered a very old gate on an island in the eastern Darklake of Gracklstugh. Dubbed Sschindylryn's Gate, it led to a different plane entirely. Sschindylrynyr mercenaries were hired to guard the gate, but rival cities fought over it. Finally, mercenaries hired by Menzoberranzan forced the Sschindylrynyr through the gate. However, the gate was damaged, and none of the occupying Menzoberranzanyr knew how to operate it or to where it led.

Society
Sschindylryn enjoyed, for a Lolth-dominated city, rare political and social stability that resulted from the ruling priestesses' inability to follow Lolth's philosophy of strife. It also had economic stability and power that the male-dominated merchant class built through surprisingly peaceful means.

However, Lolth was a goddess who enforced and enjoyed internal strife. Prior to the Silence of Lolth, the ruling priestesses started to fear that their city's stability would cost them Lolth's favor. Their solution was to start plotting and killing each other. The priestesses' inability to get their houses involved as well led to them murdering each other more less personally, thus preventing casualties from spilling outside of the priesthood. Due to the priesthood's near-self-destruction, the male merchants, mages, and soldiers moved into positions of power and leadership of the city, while the priestesses ruled in name only. After losing their effective power over the city, some priestesses converted to Kiaransalee and dead priestesses rose again as revenants to get vengeance on other priestesses, which escalated their conflict further. The ruling males did not love Kiaransalee's clergy but their efforts against them were lackluster.

Inhabitants
Around 1136 DR, Sschindylryn was infiltrated by the Jaezred Chaulssin. They took over a minor noble house and installed a fosterage. The leader of this fosterage in 1372 DR was Patron Father Ilphtrin Imphraezl.

Description
Sschindylryn was constructed atop older kuo-toan ruins lying above the water of the lake. The later drow city maintained a piscine style to its architecture.

Sschindylryn was contained in a pyramid-shaped cavern having three sides each around long with the tip two miles high. At the outer edges of the cavern, great trenches or moats had been dug around the city.

At the city's center was a giant ziggurat. Many of the buildings were constructed from stone and brick (unusual for a drow city) and were fairly close together as they rested on the stepped tiers.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Annihilation
 * Video Games
 * Dungeons & Dragons Online (Menace of the Underdark)