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Aquanova
Seeker
USA
63 Posts |
 Posted - 18 May 2006 : 16:38:05
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Is the only truly decent amount of info in the Menzoberranzan Boxset? The concept of an aquatic-themed drow city entices me, and I'd like some more info on it if there is any.
I'll probably be getting several PDFs from RPGNow.com about 2e drow modules, but is there any other sources with at least somewhat detailed information on Sschindylryn? It seems to get the short end of the stick, compared to Sshamath, Ched Nasad, and Menzoberranzan. 
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 18 May 2006 : 16:51:40
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It's largely undetailed. Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark contains lore on Sschindylryn's Gate... but that relates more to a location nine days out from Menzoberranzan.
Interestingly, in Eric's first draft of DDGttU, he intended Sschindylryn's Gate to lead to the drow city of Erelhei Cinlu on Oerth - creating an FR/GH crossover. This was in response to the fact that there was a listing of several Greyhawk drow cities and noble houses in Ed's Drow of the Underdark. This attempt to fix a Realmslore contradiction however didn't get through the editing process.
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Edited by - The Sage on 18 May 2006 16:52:36 |
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Zanan
Senior Scribe
Germany
942 Posts |
Posted - 19 May 2006 : 09:12:21
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Hm ... dunno, but i never heard of that many Greyhawk drow cities bar Erelhei Cinlu. Which are the others?
As for Sschindylryn, a few notes on that place can be found in one of the War of the Spider Queen novels, when Danifae and Valas go there.
As for short sticks, about all drow cities of Faerūn get short sticks when compared to Menzoberranzan. Even the info on Sshamath, Eryndlyn, Ched Nasad and the like pale in comparrison. |
Cave quid dicis, quando et cui!
Gęš a wyrd swa hio scel!
In memory of Alura Durshavin.
Visit my "Homepage" to find A Guide to the Drow NPCs of Faerūn, Drow and non-Drow PrC and much more. |
Edited by - Zanan on 19 May 2006 09:15:02 |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 19 May 2006 : 11:06:06
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quote:
Originally posted by Zanan
As for short sticks, about all drow cities of Faerūn get short sticks when compared to Menzoberranzan. Even the info on Sshamath, Eryndlyn, Ched Nasad and the like pale in comparrison.
That's the truth... As far as drow cities go, Menzoberranzan is neither overly large nor overly important. But because Drizzt came from there, to many people it's the only drow city worth mentioning.  |
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Kaladorm
Master of Realmslore
United Kingdom
1176 Posts |
Posted - 19 May 2006 : 16:25:14
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I'd love to see more information on Ched Nasad and Sshamath  The Underdark book didn't have enough for me 
Ched Nasad did get a section in Icewind Dale 2 though |
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Aquanova
Seeker
USA
63 Posts |
Posted - 19 May 2006 : 21:49:31
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quote:
Originally posted by Kaladorm
I'd love to see more information on Ched Nasad and Sshamath The Underdark book didn't have enough for me
They got more attention than Sschindylryn. I suppose that just gives DMs more freedom to craft cities, such as Sschindylryn and Undrek'Thoz (more understandable since it debuted in 3e), but I MUCH prefer concrete and established things than those which you just concoct yourself.... |
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Aquanova
Seeker
USA
63 Posts |
Posted - 22 May 2006 : 20:51:20
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| So, is Sschindylryn indeed mentioned in the Menzoberranzan Boxset, and if so, is it at least a little detailed, or more along the lines of the very brief description in the FRCS? |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 22 May 2006 : 20:54:28
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quote:
Originally posted by Aquanova
So, is Sschindylryn indeed mentioned in the Menzoberranzan Boxset, and if so, is it at least a little detailed, or more along the lines of the very brief description in the FRCS?
If I recall right, it was just a passing reference that is about a sentence long. :) |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
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Aquanova
Seeker
USA
63 Posts |
Posted - 22 May 2006 : 21:11:24
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quote:
Originally posted by Kuje
If I recall right, it was just a passing reference that is about a sentence long. :)
lol, well, thank you anyways guys. |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 23 May 2006 : 01:13:05
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quote:
Originally posted by Kuje
quote:
Originally posted by Aquanova
So, is Sschindylryn indeed mentioned in the Menzoberranzan Boxset, and if so, is it at least a little detailed, or more along the lines of the very brief description in the FRCS?
If I recall right, it was just a passing reference that is about a sentence long. :)
The actual passage (ppg. 19) mainly details that the drow from Sschindylryn have discovered a gate nine days out from Menzoberranzan. Part of the local news and events for Menzoberranzan...
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Aquanova
Seeker
USA
63 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jun 2006 : 01:45:30
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Oh, by the way y'all, I find that there's some more info on Sschindylryn. The web-enhancement of City of the Spider Queen has a nicely-sized entry on Sschindylryn during/after the silence of Lolth with the other cities.
Just thought I'd let it be known. It's nothing spectacular, but it's at least some more enlightenment on the city. |
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msatran
Learned Scribe
USA
210 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jun 2006 : 07:53:08
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I'm running an adventure in Sschindrylyn right now, for one of my many groups, as a matter of fact. The model is, of course, Venice with spires. A recent mind flayer move in, followed by a Githyanki force that is at war with the Mind Flayers makes the city an uneasy place to be...
I tried to imagine the city as built the way that Elves would build an underground city in a water based environment, with locks, water elevators, islands, and sinkholes.
Getting there was actually bad. One of the PC's, a Deep Imaskari, had been jonesing for a meeting with another of his race. Well, I'm certain the Deep Imaskari Vampire wizard wasn't really what he wanted, but you know...that wizard ran them out of EVERYTHING. He had Craft Trapmaking and Expert Trapsmith. It was not a kind dungeon crawl.
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khorne
Master of Realmslore
Finland
1073 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jun 2006 : 15:20:31
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quote:
Originally posted by Kaladorm
I'd love to see more information on Ched Nasad and Sshamath The Underdark book didn't have enough for me
Ched Nasad did get a section in Icewind Dale 2 though
Well, spoiler
Ched Nasad got sacked and is ruled by the chaulssin now. |
If I were a ranger, I would pick NDA for my favorite enemy |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jul 2006 : 10:42:28
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quote:
Originally posted by Aquanova
Oh, by the way y'all, I find that there's some more info on Sschindylryn. The web-enhancement of City of the Spider Queen has a nicely-sized entry on Sschindylryn during/after the silence of Lolth with the other cities.
Just thought I'd let it be known. It's nothing spectacular, but it's at least some more enlightenment on the city.
Those details are set just *during* Lolth's Silence, not after though.
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Aquanova
Seeker
USA
63 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jul 2006 : 03:47:59
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quote:
Originally posted by The SageThose details are set just *during* Lolth's Silence, not after though.
*Shrugs*
Still, it's still more information than we had. At least it gives us (read: ME) some more data on it. Though, it's probably nothing that I wouldn't find out when I get to the tiny part on Sschindylryn in the WotSQ series {currently reading}.
quote:
Originally posted by msatran
I'm running an adventure in Sschindrylyn right now, for one of my many groups, as a matter of fact. The model is, of course, Venice with spires. A recent mind flayer move in, followed by a Githyanki force that is at war with the Mind Flayers makes the city an uneasy place to be...
I tried to imagine the city as built the way that Elves would build an underground city in a water based environment, with locks, water elevators, islands, and sinkholes.
Sounds cool, almost like how I envisioned it. One thing I particularly see is their use of aquatic spiders, whose webs (just like several real-world spider species) are water-resistant and can lock in air. Ergo, there's a non-magical underwater life-support system right there. In conjunction with magic, there are quite a few cool possibilities. |
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Mekorig
Acolyte
10 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jul 2006 : 21:24:05
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| I had the list of Drow cities in Greyhawk somewhere in my PC. When i found it i will update this post. |
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Inaubryn
Acolyte
40 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jul 2006 : 07:33:15
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From the layout in Annihilation (5th book in the series) it says that Sschindylryn is contained in a pyramid shaped cavern having three sides each two miles long with the tip two miles high. In the outer edges of the cavern great trenches or moats have been dug around the city with several expanses of stone at various intervals around the city center crossing between the two areas. Slave quarters exist on the other side of these bridges away from the city itself.
The entire city scales up toward the city's center which is a giant ziggurat (a mountain of buildings and other structures). Many of the buildings are constructed from stone and brick (unusual for a drow city) and are fairly close together. They rest on stepped tiers, starting at the bottom of the cavern and climbing towards the ziggurat and continuing up. Sschindylryn's center (the ziggurat) is split into 9 levels and rises to a height of perhaps 2200 feet or a mile and a half.
Levels 1-3 are the Gate Houses. Accounting for approximately a third of the ziggurat's height, these levels house most of Sschindylryn's thousands of gates. And other than the city's many gates, there is no discernible way in or out of the great cavern.
Levels 4-6 are the Trade Levels which is the site of most, if not all, of the city's trade.
Levels 7-9 are home to the city's High Houses, or nobles.
At the pinnacle of the ziggurat sits the temple of Lolth.
Sschindylryn is a city that specializes mostly in divination and transmutation magics. They were very war-like at one point, using their portals to raid other underdark settlements and cities. A sound defeat by the army of Menzoberranzan curbed that practice. |
Edited by - Inaubryn on 27 Jul 2006 07:39:37 |
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Aquanova
Seeker
USA
63 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jul 2006 : 20:27:25
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quote:
Originally posted by Inaubryn
From the layout in Annihilation (5th book in the series) it says that Sschindylryn is contained in a pyramid shaped cavern having three sides each two miles long with the tip two miles high. In the outer edges of the cavern great trenches or moats have been dug around the city with several expanses of stone at various intervals around the city center crossing between the two areas. Slave quarters exist on the other side of these bridges away from the city itself.
The entire city scales up toward the city's center which is a giant ziggurat (a mountain of buildings and other structures). Many of the buildings are constructed from stone and brick (unusual for a drow city) and are fairly close together. They rest on stepped tiers, starting at the bottom of the cavern and climbing towards the ziggurat and continuing up. Sschindylryn's center (the ziggurat) is split into 9 levels and rises to a height of perhaps 2200 feet or a mile and a half.
Levels 1-3 are the Gate Houses. Accounting for approximately a third of the ziggurat's height, these levels house most of Sschindylryn's thousands of gates. And other than the city's many gates, there is no discernible way in or out of the great cavern.
Levels 4-6 are the Trade Levels which is the site of most, if not all, of the city's trade.
Levels 7-9 are home to the city's High Houses, or nobles.
At the pinnacle of the ziggurat sits the temple of Lolth.
Sschindylryn is a city that specializes mostly in divination and transmutation magics. They were very war-like at one point, using their portals to raid other underdark settlements and cities. A sound defeat by the army of Menzoberranzan curbed that practice.
O_O
Wow, that's very different than how I envisioned it. A ziggurat was the last thing I'd expect.
Still, thanks for sharing. Guess I'll be looking foward to book V (Dissolution is fantastic... I can't believe I didn't start on this series when it first came out). |
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Neriandal Freit
Senior Scribe
USA
396 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jul 2006 : 14:36:13
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| Yes well....dont get to excited Aqua. :/ |
"Eating people is wrong...unless it's on the first date." - Ed Greenwood, GenCon Indy 2006 |
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Sschindylryn
