House Avithoul was a powerful Lolthite drow house of the city of Sschindylryn in the 15th century DR. They were famed in the city for their great use of slavery.[1][note 1]
Activities[]
Avithoul was renowned for the size and efficiency of their slave-gathering and training operations. The house was broadly responsible for handling the city's slave supply, which included both drow and captured surfacers, and made heavy use of special drow slave collars that rendered even the most defiant slave pliable and useful.[1]
Headquarters[]
The estate of House Avithoul was located outside of Sschindylryn across the chasm-bridges, resembling a prison and mansion in equal measure. While the slaves suffered in their pens, the house members enjoyed palatial riches nearby.[1][note 2]
History[]
During the Darkening in the mid-1480s DR, Avithoul joined an alliance with Szind and Dun'Robar and took part in the Sschindylryn invasion of Eveningstar, organized by High Priestess Hekta Szind to find the Thread of the Weave for Lolth. Matron Balbaste sent her soldiers to aid in the Underdark and on the surface, and was able to take many prize slaves that were divvied up for interrogation, labor, and ritual sacrifice. They took part heavily in an operation at the Temple of Mystra in the King's Forest, where Odezzt and Phargred managed the troops and the huge number of slaves captured, while their ally Eldrin Szind interrogated Ana Brabener.[1]
Their profitable business proved to be their undoing, as during the invasion their long-time slave Mirini Elemys managed to escape her bondage and traveled to the surface. Thanks to Mirini's in-depth knowledge, she and Wizard of War Aptem Mews were able to organize a counterattack that struck Avithoul where it hurt most—by infiltrating a team of surfacers disguised as slaves into the Avithoul compound. They managed to kill the slave handlers, start a slave uprising, and went through the household slaying the defenders and destroying their prized treasures, including the skull of the revered Vaarrej Avithoul. By the time they were done, the house was in shambles and already casting accusations at their allies for causing such a disaster. This greatly weakened the drow alliance and opened the way for a strike team to enter the Temple of Lolth atop the city and strike at High Priestess Hekta Szind.[1]
Members[]
By the time of the invasion of Eveningstar in the late 15th century DR, the house included the following notable drow:[1]
- Balbaste Avithoul, the house matron.[1]
- Banister Avithoul, a slavemaster.[1]
- Magroph Avithoul, a draegloth guard.[1]
- Odezzt Avithoul, a taskmaster.[1]
- Orgallryd Avithoul, a slavemaster.[1]
- Phargred Avithoul, a master slaver.[1]
- Vaarrej Avithoul, a revered ancestor.[1]
- Ydrae Avithoul, a soldier.[1]
The house also included the following prominent agents:[1]
- Amalzen, the guard captain.[1]
- Dolnozz, Ophur, and Ess'k, slave handlers.[1]
- Kal'anoth, a wizard.[1]
- Solul, the slave overseer.[1]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ Menace of the Underdark (including Web of Chaos) is dated to the period of 1484–1485 DR, as it references the ongoing Darkening. Shadowfell Conspiracy (including Disciples of Shadow, Shadow Under Thunderholme, The Druid's Deep, and The High Road of Shadows) are dated to the same period, as they are stated to take place at roughly the same time as Menace of the Underdark.
- ↑ The location of House Avithoul seems to match the location of the Slave Quarters depicted on the map included in Annihilation.