Lolth SymbolLes familles de MenzoberranzanLolth Symbol

Houses of Menzoberranzan

The following are the topmost houses of Menzoberranzan:

  1. Baenre
  2. Barrison Del'Armgo
  3. Oblodra (destroyed by Lolth in DR1358)
  4. DeVir (destroyed by Do'Urden in DR1297)
  5. Hun'ett (destroyed by Do'Urden in DR1328)
  6. Faen Tlabbar
  7. Xorlarrin
  8. Agrach Dyrr (became a vassal of House Baenre in DR1372)
  9. Mizzrym
  10. Do'Urden (destroyed by Baenre in DR1340)
  11. Fey-Branche
  12. Tuin'Tarl
  13. Duskryn
  14. Srune'Lett
  15. Horlbar
  16. Kenafin
  17. Druu'giir
  18. Hunzrin
  19. Shobalar
  20. Vandree
  21. Symryvvin

House Baenre

House Baenre  is the family which has reigned in the Underdark city of Menzoberranzan for over 2000 years.

House Baenre is a family of powerful schemers and manipulators that holds more power than any other house in Menzoberranzan, keeping it so for over 2,500 years. Fiercely devoted to the drow goddess Lolth, as all houses in the Menzoberranzan society were, House Baenre was led by Matron Mother Triel Baenre, a shrewd priestess of Lolth who was able to succeed her slain mother Yvonnel, after Salvatore wrote her slain.
Menzoberranzan was a city ruled by backstabbing and ambition, and Baenre thrived in it. It, the house, held the greatest favor of Lolth more successfully than any other family in Menzoberranzan history. As such, the family was successful at keeping hold of the prestige Deceased Matron Mother Yvonnel Baenre succeeded in acquiring and continually supporting throughout her over 2,000 year reign.

House Baenre Members

House Del'Armgo

House Barrison Del'Armgo is the second drow house of Menzoberranzan.

House Oblodra

House Oblodra is a deceased drow house of Menzoberranzan. House Oblodra was gifted in the rare art of psionics. The matron of House Oblodra used this advantage, during the Time of Troubles, by attacking other houses. Though it fell during the years 1358 DR - 1359 DR and was defeated by House Baenre and by the help of an avatar of Lolth. Undead survivors might haunt the Claw Rift as some sort of ghosts or witchlin.

House De Vir

House DeVir is a deceased drow house of Menzoberranzan. It fell before 1297 DR.

House Hun'ett

House Hun'ett is a deceased drow house of Menzoberranzan. It was formerly the fifth house.

House Faen Tlabbar

House Faen Tlabbar is the third drow house of Menzoberranzan.

House Xorlarrin

House Xorlarrin is the fourth drow house of Menzoberranzan. House Xorlarrin is famous for their wizards.

House Agrach Dyrr

House Agrach Dyrr is a drow house of Menzoberranzan.

House Mizzrym

House Mizzrym is the fifth drow house of Menzoberranzan.

House Do'Urden

House Do'Urden (informal for Daermon N'a'shezbaernon) is one of Houses of the Underdark drow city of Menzoberranzan. House Do'Urden was Tenth House of Menzoberranzan at the start of the series. It was the house of the famous drow Drizzt Do'Urden.
"Do" means "walkers in", and "Urden" means "the darkness". Thus "Do'Urden" means "walkers in the darkness".

On the day which Drizzt Do'Urden was born, House Do'Urden attacked House DeVir, which was Fourth House of Menzoberranzan at that time. Using the power of the birth of Drizzt Do'Urden, Malice Do'Urden was able to create a spell capable of defeating House DeVir. With this defeat House Do'Urden became Ninth House of Menzoberranzan.
When Drizzt Do'Urden saved the life of Ellifain, an elven child he encountered on a surface raid, House Do'Urden lost the favor of Lolth. House Hun'ett (the Fifth House), which already considered House Do'Urden a threat, prepared to attack. The first part of the battle was supposed to occur with the killing of Drizzt, but he in turn killed Masoj Hun'ett and Gelroos Hun'ett (who was actually Alton DeVir, last survivor of the House DeVir) giving House Do'Urden an edge in the war.
Matron Malice Do'Urden became aware of her sons actions, which had placed the house in disfavor. To regain the favor of Lolth, she sacrificed Zaknafein (Drizzt's father), who volunteered to save his son's life. Drizzt, returned from his battle with Masoj and Gelroos, and discovering what had happened to his father, deserted House Do'Urden and left Menzoberranzan. House Hun'ett lost two of its wizards and the favor of Lolth for failing to kill Drizzt, and House Do'Urden lost the favor of Lolth due to Drizzt's desertion.
Ten years passed with small sneak attacks between House Do'Urden and House Hun'ett, because neither of the houses had regained Lolth's favor. Also both were severely weakened by various losses. House Do'Urden lost its principle weapon masters and House Hun'ett lost its two most powerful mages. In Exile (1338 DR), when finally House Hun'ett launched an attack to House Do’Urden with the help of Bregan D'aerthe, Malice Do'Urden turned the tide of the battle by making a better offer to Jarlaxle. House Do'Urden became Eighth House of Menzoberranzan and made its way to ruling council. But they had lost a lot of soldiers and had yet to regain Lolth's favor. SiNafay Hun'ett became a member of House Do'Urden to offer the house additional power. (under the name Shi'nayne Do'Urden).
To regain Lolth's favor, House Do'Urden needed to kill Drizzt. After Briza and Dinin failed, Matron Malice took her biggest risk and desired Zin-carla to hunt Drizzt down. Giving SiNafay as a sacrifice, Zaknafein's was risen as Zin-carla which is also known as a spirit-wraith. This removed Malice's disfavor in the eyes of Lolth, however, it did not regain Malice favor. When Zaknafein regained his senses for a little time he jumped into an acid pit, destroying himself and causing the failure of Zin-carla. This caused House Do’Urden to lose Lolth's favor forever, as Matron Malice had failed in her distinct orders to kill Drizzt. Briza took the lead by killing her mother but House Baenre,under orders of Lolth attacked House Do'Urden, killing most of its members. Vierna and Dinin survived this attack and joined Bregan D'aerthe in order to survive.
In The Legacy (1357 DR), Vierna tried to rebuild House Do'Urden by attempting to kill Drizzt. She had Lolth's favor and got help from Bregan D'aerthe. She turned Dinin into a drider. During their attack on Mithral Hall, Bruenor killed Dinin in his drider form, and Drizzt killed Vierna, making Drizzt the last known Do'Urden.

House Do'Urden Members

House Fey-Branche

House Fey-Branche is the sixth drow house of Menzoberranzan.

House Tuin'Tarl

House Tuin'Tarl is the seventh drow house of Menzoberranzan.

House Duskryn

House Duskryn is the eighth house of Menzoberranzan. They won the charter from House Baenre that allowed them to loot the city of Blingdenstone.

The nobles of the house are known for their cruelty which they enact seemingly for their own perverse amusement. Duskryn has consistently trained some of the best armies in Menzoberranzan for the 3000 years since the houses founding. Advancement is awarded for performance, not noble stature as is the norm in most other houses. However, all of the most famous military victories of the house have been defensive rather than offensive in nature. In the 7th century DR, House Duskryn came under repeated attacks from several other noble houses that were all successfully repelled. Rumours persist that all of these attacks were planned by Yvonnel Baenre.

House Kenafin

House Kenafin is a drow house of Menzoberranzan. It was ranked the 10th house of the city in the year 1361 DR. The females of the house reigned supreme and were famous for taking immense delight in subjugating and terrorizing of its house males.