#house do’urden

[aldanil]

The House Do’Urden, the way I imagine them in my head

I hadn’t place to draw Zak and Rizzen ):

Tumblr ruined the pixels again

[princefleabitten]

Saribel and her terrible husband

It kinda hit me that they are like married for 13 years? I think the plot about them would be much more enjoyable if they at least liked each other. I don’t even mean loved, just a little much fondness between 2 persons who decided to marry each other. Fully by their own choice. I still would have understood that they are evil and drow, I swear. Anyway, share your thoughts, I want to know.

[missrosiewolf]

I want…Maya to have an okay relationship with her dad and her brother

I want Maya to have sisterly-ish bonding moments with Vierna

I want Maya to argue with Drizzt over which makes the better pet: cat or spider

But most of all I want her to THRIVE QAQ

[hillhouses]

happy christmas i’m reading the wiki pages on drow lore

[qwahaxahn]

I don’t think she ever forgot those words.

All Vierna has seen the world do to Drizzt, ever since his birth, is break and beat and destroy him. Of course, she was never there for the brighter days in Icewind Dale—all she knows of him is his time in Menzoberranzan, when he suffers and recoils and is smothered into depression and dismay.

She tries to lift him out of it, to encourage him to follow the family’s will, but he refuses. And how many times do you think she heard those words echo in her ears after each new confrontation?

So she decides to act on them. He would be better off dead. Fed to the driders. Free of his pain.

I wonder if it kept her awake some nights, especially after the fall of House Do’Urden. “He would be better off dead,” warped now to mean: “it would have been better for all of us if he had died” as much as “he would be at peace if he was dead.”

Drizzt has to die. Not just to fulfill Lolth’s will, but to finally put him to rest. At least then, the world can’t break him anymore. She isn’t the first of Drizzt’s kin to come to that conclusion.

Vierna is more like her father than she realizes.

[wanderingswampbeast]

Long Post: Why I Don’t Like The Drow

I’ve been ranting about this to a friend on discord (a lot of points I make will come from him) but I’ve finally figured out what my issue with the drow is outside of inherently evil groups being dumb.

The drow are boring. Drow lore is less of a dive into a unique culture and more of a list of fucked up things they do. Like, I cannot name a single interesting aspect of typical drow society that does not directly involve murder, sexism, or slavery, or Lolth. And even then, most of those things are written about in an incredibly bland fashion with them.

The Drow don’t really have much depth to them, and are just kind of evil for evil’s sake (or “because Lolth said so”). They do slavery, but the only real purpose of doing slavery for them is “because Lolth said so”. It isn’t for cheap labor, it’s to be more evil. They betray each other purely because that’s what evil people do. They’re misandrist, not for any real societal reason, but because Lolth hates men. There’s none of what would make slavery an interesting topic or story element, no justification for why they should be allowed to commit one of the worst injustices possible, no real economic reason for it. They just do it because Lolth says they should, and from a writing perspective it hammers home the fact that they’re evil. They aren’t evil because they enslave and murder, they enslave and murder because they’re evil, if that makes any sense.

Them being written as comically evil as they are also hurts them from a worldbuilding perspective. They’re so reliant on slaves for menial labor that the lower class of their society struggle to get jobs. Drow culture so obsessed with betrayal and dumbass house wars that even when actively under attack from the outside they sabotage each other. They’re so decadent that their buildings are held up with magic and semi regularly collapse when a spell fails. To put it bluntly, drow society feels like one that should have collapsed in a few centuries, which, funnily enough, is way longer than D&D elves live.

Their culture being so monolithic also makes writing anything about them difficult. Every drow antagonist is going to have near identical motivations, methods, and ideologies as every other drow antagonist. Every drow protagonist is going to ultimately feel very similar to Drizzt, because leaving their fucked up society to become a do-gooder is such a common backstory element that they added a whole extra god just for doing that. In fact, you can divide 90% of drow characters from any official materials into these categories:

Manservant

Ambitious male, usually a wizard (5 bucks says he has long hair and a widow’s peak)

Dommy Mommy Warcrime Woman

Drizzt Do’Urden or one of his many duplicates

Self-loathing and/or resentful Drider

And finally, their existence almost purely to be humanoid enemies you can fight at nearly any levels is just kind of lazy. This is a problem that I have with the “evil races” of a lot of fantasy but having a group that’s evil by birth just feels like an excuse to not have to write actual motivations for your antagonists. It’s the difference between “go attack this camp of soldiers because they’re part of the SkullMurder army and their general wants to use our land to build a dread fortress” vs “go attack this camp of soldiers specifically because they’re drow/goblins/orcs/the dreaded peepee-poopoo folk”. Using stuff like this just feels like an excuse to not have to write an actual antagonist since it comes pre-written in the group’s lore. This has the side effect of whenever such a group is the antagonist of the plot, the players or audience know near exactly what to expect. The orc is here to conquer, the goblin is here to steal, and the drow is here to enslave or do some dark ritual.

I’ve legitimately heard people say “well if XYZ can’t be inherently evil anymore, who will we use as bad guys?” It’s very simple: whoever the fuck we want. Write an evil queen, or a scheming wizard, or an underground slave trade network. For God’s sake, anyone can be evil, you don’t need to tie that to a specific ethnic group and write it as “they’re just like that”. Write an actual character for your antagonist.

[avelera]

Being a basic Drizzt Do’Urden book series loving bitch from back in the day has been so rewarding while playing BG3. If you could SEE my face when names like “Baenre” and “Oblodra” show up (not to mention a couple references to Bruenor Battlehammer and the Drizzt man himself) in the game.

Like, I know it’s the Forgotten Realms, I know that Menzoberranzan and the Baenres and the Oblodras are referenced in MANY places in that world, not just the Drizzt books, but…!! House Baenre! House Oblodra! My horrible Drow Houses full of horrible Drow people I nevertheless adore! My children! They are here!!

[novarex]

A closeup of Maya Do'Urden from the Drizzt Visual Dictionary.

MAYA - The youngest daughter of Malice, and sired by House patron Rizzen, Maya Do’Urden is a fanatically devoted priestess of Lolth. Skilled with telepathy and the mace and shield, Maya gives Drizzt his first lesson in “the way of the drow,” forcing him to kill her goblin champion. She gets her own taste of the way of the drow when House Baenre comes to destroy her house.

[wellthebardsdead]

Clow: *joining the harpers in hiding for the ambush, watching quietly and waiting* I- *steps out in shock*

Wyll: C-Clow?! What are you doing?!

Clow: I know him… *steps out in view of the caravan* Kar’niss?… is that you?

Kar’niss: who lurks in the da-… I know you… *steps forward slowly* szarkai Do’Urden, slave to spider bitch servants, szarkai like me, pretty pale spider… *halts in front of him and leans down, the lantern gleaming off of clows icy skin as the tadpole reacts to his presence, entering their mind* you are chosen by my majesty too! Free from your masters, free in our majesty’s light! *takes his hand gently* come, come with me.

Clow: I- wait- *pulls the artefact from his bag and holds it up, it’s surface glowing red hot and burning into the driders mind, finding his consciousness through the fragments and showing him the truth* fight- with me?… for our freedom?

Kar’niss: I- *blinks and looks at the artefact, then at him* the absolute… lied to me… the cultists- held me down, dropped that leech on my face, laughed as they told it to ‘pick an eye’ so dark in the cave, so dark in this land, I couldn’t resist I couldn’t fight back, no better than lolth, worse than lolth! *snarls and draws his blade, turning to face the rest of the caravan* FILTHY CULTISTS!! YOU WILL BLEED FOR WHAT YOUVE DONE TO ME!! *lifts Clow up onto his abdomen and charges into battle*

*several hours later*

Astarion: so we have a drider amongst us?

Clow: *letting Kar’niss braid his hair as they rest amongst the huge pillow nest he built him* yes! He won’t cause any trouble. He’s always been very polite and well behaved, the only reason he was turned into this is because his house lost favour, *reaches up stroking his cheek* you didn’t deserve this…

Kar’niss: *trills in delight at his touch and leans into it* hnnnnrrrr~

[rukafais]

Zaknafein meandered back across the city soon after, to House Do’Urden and Matron Malice, and there he remained as the tendays slipped past. And every day, he rose from his bed and thought that he was a day closer to death. And that, at least, was a good thing, after all.

A comic about whetstones. Or going through repetitive motions, or something.

[slusheeduck]

Fictober 2023 Day 10 - Prompt: "Honestly, why would I care?" Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3

“Well, there’s not much by way of food. Or supplies. Or weaponry. Or alcohol,” Wyll said as he and Astarion rummaged through the wrecked house’s library. “But we do have a lot of books. Gale will be thrilled.”

“Yes, and a fat lot of good it does the rest of us,” Astarion grumbled. “Maybe one of these is a secret lever, and we’ll get a door that leads to a fantastic wine cellar. Oh, or a torture chamber!”

“Maybe sound a bit less excited about that.” Wyll sighed. “Then again, given what we’ve seen so far, a torture chamber’s the more likely option.”

He did start tugging at book corners, waiting to feel one catch. There really were an obscene amount of books here. Beside him, Astarion delicately ran his fingertips over the spines, no doubt searching for a trap.

“The Importance of Impotence: Finding Pride In Childlessness, Query in the Quarry, An Owlbear’s Guide To Life…whoever lived here certainly had some strange tastes. Are you reading these titles?” Wyll asked.

Astarion clicked his tongue irritably as he stooped down. “Honestly, why would I care? Don’t make small talk, Wyll, it doesn’t suit you.”

Wyll shook his head. Well, he tried being nice—suppose being a monster hunter didn’t make one very popular with the monsters themselves. He resumed looking over the books, then paused. It couldn’t be. Could it? Here? Carefully, he pulled one book out.

“Oh my gods,” he murmured. “They have the new Drizzt Do’Urden biography.”

“Drizzt Do’Urden?” Astarion’s voice had gone up at least half an octave, and in an instant, the vampire was hovering over Wyll’s shoulder, cold hand gripping his arm. “Oh my gods, it is!”

Wyll looked at him, surprised. “You…know about Drizzt Do’Urden?”

“Know about him? I’m obsessed with him,” Astarion said, eyes bright. “Reading about him is what’s kept me sane for the better part of two centuries. He is literally everything one could want from a hero.” He looked up at Wyll. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised you like him.”

Wyll laughed. “I had my father read The Companions Codex every night I could for a year straight,” he said. “He’s why I started on this path. I dreamt of having adventures like his.”

“Everything all right?” Karlach poked her head into the library, and Wyll nodded as Astarion ducked around him to look at the book’s dust jacket.

“Yes, we’re fine. Just found the new Drizzt Do’Urden biography while pok—”

“Drizzt Do’Urden?” Karlach’s hands immediately went to squish her cheeks in excitement. “Oh, my mum used to tell me stories about him all the time!” She hurried over to look at the book. “Isn’t he the best? Sometimes, when things got really bad down in Avernus, I’d try and imagine I was one of his companions—y’know, fighting the good fight against all odds.”

“Wyll,” Astarion said, suddenly very serious. “I know you’re a good person. It’s frustrating, but typically manageable. But in this case, we need to take this book.”

“We really do, Wyll,” Karlach agreed.

Wyll looked it over, then glanced around. “Well…I mean, whoever owns this place probably isn’t coming back…” Karlach and Astarion nodded intently. “…and I bet it’ll be great for camp morale.”

“Then it’s settled. Back with us it goes.” Astarion paused, finger going to his lips as he looked between Wyll and Karlach. “One…problem. There’s only one copy, and three of us.”

All three looked between each other.

“Well…I’m probably out,” Karlach said after a moment, giving a sheepish smile as she holds up her hands. “I know I’ve cooled down a bit, but paper and fire? Not a great combination.”

Wyll looked down at the book for a moment, face tight. With a long sigh, he held it out to Astarion. “Here. You can read it first.”

Astarion took the book, an eager glint in his eye, but he glanced up at Wyll and Karlach. After a moment, he heaved out a sigh. “Well, now I look like an arsehole if I do take it.”

Wyll crossed his arms. “I don’t suppose there’s some way all three of us could read it at once? Like maybe…” He suddenly grinned. “I’ve got it.”

~

“But Regis looked to Drizzt and nodded, and Catti-brie did, too, and so the drow pulled out his onyx figurine and brought in the sixth member of the Companions of the Hall. All gathered, then, Regis and Wulfgar announced their plans, and Bruenor’s cry of dismay split the night and turned many nearby eyes their way…”

Wyll’s voice was steady and smooth as he read the book aloud. He, Astarion, and Karlach all sat together, backs to the fire, and hadn’t moved since they’d cracked it open, save for when Wyll passed the book to Astarion for his turns to read. Karlach, the three had decided, was just a little too much at risk for singing the pages.

Off to the other side of the fire, Lae’zel frowned as she crossed her arms, looking to Falerin—he was listening in, but not nearly so raptly.

“Who is this…Drizzt?” she asked. “Is it a holy text in this plane?”

Falerin stifled a laugh. “You would think it with them, wouldn’t you?” he whispered. “He’s an adventurer. Hero, really, in every sense of the word. There must be hundreds of books about him. I read a few when I was younger.”

“T’chk. They are contenting themselves with children’s stories, then,” Lae’zel scoffed. “If they wish to know true feats of bravery, then they should hear of how the immortal queen Vlaakith once st—”

“Shhh!!” Wyll, Astarion, and Karlach all snapped their heads around, fingers to their lips. Lae’zel, clearly caught off-guard, went quiet, and the three turned around to resume their reading.

“Wait until they finish. They’ll probably be through the whole thing by morning,” Falerin whispered.

Lae’zel looked over at him, then let out a little huff. “Very well. I will listen to these Drizzt stories. Perhaps there is something useful to glean, outside of magic cats and lavender eyes.”

Fictober 2023 Drabble Master Post

[missrosiewolf]

Saw the House Do’Urden family portrait and all I can say is Maya is giving such gremlin energy I love her

[everybodyloveshippos]

House Do’Urden (minus Drizzt)

repost of my first Legend of Drizzt fanart (the og is still up, this version just has less blur effects haha)! started this series last august and well. yeah,,, here we are. i knew the obsession was gonna be serious when i sat down and drew this

[autistic-hc-bracket]

still accepting submissions !! see pinned post for google forms link :3

the current list of characters:

todd rice

hank pym

bart allen

drizzt do’urden

cass cain

steven fisher (specs)

bruce wayne

lan wangji

nico di angelo

alhaitham

nicholas angel

nadia van dyne

chu wanning

tucker croft

laios touden

shino aburame

tim drake

kamishiro rui

sasuke uchiha

sherlock holmes (elementary)

gregory house

sherlock holmes (bbc)

scott summers

alan scott

yor forger

prince zuko

anya forger

kusuo saiki

shigeo kageyama (mob)

L Lawliet

scarlet (from star darlings)

[too-many-blorbos]

Abandoned Homeland AU: The King's Judgement

The king and council of Blingdenstone were not pleased that a drow stood before them, even in chains. A member of the party who slew nearly all of their mining team, leaving only a handful to escape with the tale. Why bring him here alive instead of leaving his corpse with the rest of his foul kin? 

Judgment, Belwar said. The burrow warden insisted that the drow get a chance to defend himself. That was the law of Blindgestone, and it applied to all equally, friend and foe alike. So the king reluctantly allowed the prisoner to speak, Belwar translating between them. 

“Speak your name.”

“Drizzt, second son of House Do'urden, ninth house of Menzoberranzan.” The drow spoke softly, keeping his eyes low. 

“And how many of my kin did you slay?”

“None.”

The king snorted in disbelief.

“He speaks true,” Belwar insisted. “His swords had no blood on them. Only rock dust– he slew the elemental I summoned, but none of our miners.”

The king's eyes widened, impressed despite himself. “Few warriors can defeat an elemental, much less with blades. With such skills, he must be a person of note among drow. Perhaps we could trade him back to his people and get some measure of recompense for our spilled blood.”

Drizzt let out a humorless laugh when Belwar translated. “My family will give nothing for my return,” he said with bitterness. “More than one of them would be glad for my death.”

Belwar frowned. He leaned closer, lowering his voice. “This could be your only chance to stay alive, drow.”

“For how long? Until my family confirms what I've already said? At best, a ransom demand will give my matron a good laugh. At worst, she would agree–and then massacre whomever you sent to make the exchange, and decorate our compound fence with their mutilated bodies.” The drow looked sick at the thought. He looked the king in the eye and deliberately shook his head. 

The king got the message even without Belwar's translation. It intrigued and perturbed him that the drow was so candid. Drow as he knew them were proud, sly, arrogant. This one was none of those things. This drow was hardly making an effort to save himself. It was… odd. 

“Tell me,” the king said, a bit more gently, “why should this council show you mercy? Why should I allow you to go free?”

“...you have no reason to.” Drizzt murmured, talking as much to himself as to his audience. “I don't understand why that's even a question. Why would you let your enemy go unscathed, after what my people did? Why didn't you kill me in the tunnels and be done with it? Why did you promise a quick death when I deserve so much worse?! I don't–” 

His voice broke, a sob escaping before he caught himself. He looked down at his chained hands, blinking back tears. “...I don't understand,” he whispered. 

The drow fell silent. The council exchanged looks as Belwar translated the outburst. It was… uncomfortable to hear such words coming from a prisoner. For the first time, they took note of how young the drow was. For the first time, they saw what Belwar had seen all along: a young man, so used to cruel treatment that he could not conceive of any other kind. 

The king steepled his fingers, brow furrowed. It was possible the drow's distress was an act, a ploy to gain sympathy. If so, it was a masterful one, for the king had lost any desire to order an execution. Letting the drow free was foolishness, of course– an insult to everyone they had lost in the attack. But the thought of killing the drow did not sit well with him either. Not anymore. 

“By the stones, this is a mess,” he muttered. He turned his gaze to the cause of this conundrum. “Burrow Warden Dissengulp– what do you suggest be done?”

An excellent question, Belwar thought. He'd thought the best outcome would be the drow getting tossed out of the city and left to find his way home. But now that felt…callous. He looked to Drizzt, second son of House Do’urden. “Do you want to go back home, boy?”

“...” Drizzt looked away. “There's nothing worth going back to.”

That settled it. Belwar faced his king once more. “We have hosted a drow guest in our city before. If you will allow it again, I will take responsibility for him.”

“That’s a weighty promise, Belwar.”

“I am aware.”

The king looked between his trusted burrow warden and the pitiful drow. “...Guards, take the prisoner to a holding cell while we decide his accommodations.”

The gnome soldiers ushered Drizzt away at spearpoint. Belwar watched them leave, hoping fervently that he would not come to regret this choice.

Part I

Part III: Malice's Revelation

[lawful-evil-novelist]

Design Notes: Nalfein Do'Urden

Nalfein died in 1297 DR, and Timeless more or less suggests he was born the year after Briza in 919 DR, so he was about 378 when he was killed.  Nalfein stands at the same height as his mother–five feet even–and is lithe and high-waisted.  He has some muscle mass but it is excessively lean and far more suited to agility than strength.  He is also nowhere near as agile as his brothers or Zak, because he’s still physically weaker.

Nalfein’s features closely resemble Malice’s tending towards sharp and beautiful.  Arguably Nalfein’s talent for enchantment magic makes most see him as more beautiful than Malice but no one’s going to say that out loud.  Nalfein, like most Do’Urdens, has dark gray skin with a warm undertone, and has a very faint Lolth’s Embrace.  The most notable marking, in fact, is a crescent set on his brow, which Malice suspected meant he was blessed by a surface elven god.

Nalfein’s hair and eyes are both silver, and he keeps his hair very long, practically to his waist.  His hair curls into loose ringlets at the ends and he usually pins it back or keeps it in a long braid or high ponytail.  Nalfein definitely wears make-up, tending to prefer dark tones with metallic accents around his eyes and very light lip staining.  Nalfein also occasionally dip-dyes the ends of his hair various colors.  It was black right before he died.

Nalfein, like Kimmuriel, has three piercings:

A set of silver hoops all Do’Urdens receive when they become nobles.

A set of star sapphire studs to commemorate his graduation from Sorcere.

A pair of earrings depicting swords, originally studs commemorating his graduation from Melee-Magthere, Nalfein started wearing the swords when he was made House Wizard.  Though it’s hard to tell, they’re rough approximations of Zaknafein’s main-hand blade.

Nalfein wears a fair number of heavily enchanted robes, all of which on some level function like Robes of Hypnotism, with gold or silverwork lining holding a particularly distracting enchantment.  Nalfein’s robes are all cut with an open skirt–a holdover from his time as a warrior as he finds the traditional long robes of wizards uncomfortable and impractical–and fitted to compliment his figure.  They sometimes have open backs or otherwise attractive cutouts, and a few are sleeveless or have a halter neckline.  Nalfein’s robes are usually purple/indigo and black with silver or gold lining, and he wears leggings and heeled boots under them.

Nalfein’s jewelry tends to change depending on the day, but he keeps a silver ring on a chain around his neck.  The ring is one of a set of rings of arbitration, and he almost never wears it or attunes to it.  Nalfein’s other jewelry usually matches his robes, and most of it is also magical.

Nalfein usually wears a wide leather girdle if he feels the need to wear any armor at all; it’s barely armor honestly.

Nalfein wears his House Sigil more regularly than his piwafwi, and it usually serves as a brooch to hold his robes or a sash in place.  Nalfein also carries a personally made magic item based on the masks of cloud giant priests of Memnon.  The mask is a bi-color, full face mask.  One side is white and jovial while the other is black and scowling.  Nalfein based the mask’s facial features off of Gromph Baenre.

Nalfein does have a sword, a mithril bastard sword called Havenbreak with a silver hilt that amplifies the sound of anything that hits its blade, but he only carries it when he feels the need.  For the most part, Nalfein’s most common weapon is throwing knives, since despite his lack of combat skill, he’s got a decently good aim.

Nalfein also has a familiar, a fox named Cerridwen.  Cerridwen is a silver fox, a type of red fox with a black and silver coat.  She has unusual blue eyes, very possibly a result of her bond with Nalfein.  When she’s running errands, she has a small black leather harness to carry things.