A strange and beautiful city of magic and fungus, which venerates Eilistraee and Mystra.

Mythen Thaelas was originally created as a location in my Dungeons & Dragons campaign - inspired and born from my then and current love for the Legend of Drizzt books, it takes inspiration from Menzoberranzan, but was formed to be a non-Lolthite enclave: a place of magic and wonder, which I then invaded with a Lolthite fanatic, her demonic staff of mind-control, and an army of mind-controlled followers. As one does in a high-level Dungeons & Dragons campaign.

(Don't worry, the PCs took care of her and freed the city, it's all fine. Besides, that's a seperate universe to Obedience.)

Naturally, when the time came to fashion a setting for my kinky drow romance, Mythen Thaelas was the obvious choice. Many of the details I crafted for D&D became irrelevant to the ongoing erotic romance plot, but I've enjoyed working little bits of worldbuilding into the background of Rizeth and Ashenivir's story.

History

The Matron Mothers have always been the rulers - originally a group of like-minded drow who worshipped Eilistraee and sought to make a refuge in the Underdark for those like them. They followed Eilistraee’s path to this place and knew to found it there.

Early in the city’s history, a group of Lolthites raided the city trying to get back those that fled their original Lolthite enclaves, and that which had been “stolen” from them: aka the slaves they freed and the daughters/sons that ran away. The Matron Mothers overcame the assault with help from drow wizards whomst they had previously thought little of, thus pre-empting the rise of magical prominence in the city and beginning the city’s alliance/dual worship/exoneration of Mystra & Eilistraee.

Three centuries ago, House Zaundar, under the direction of Matron Viconia Zaundar, established a public library program, resulting in widespread literacy in the city.

Features

Situated in the Northdark, at the Middledark depth, the cavern is about two miles wide and a thousand feet high. It possesses several interesting features:

• Stalagmite houses, decorations limned in purple, emerald, and amber faerie fire enchantments, magical floating rock staircases like stepping stones but in the air, delicate stone bridges.
• An enchantment in the cavern floor reduces echoes - a particular version, the sound baffle enchantment, exists over the Bazaar, creating 'pockets' of sound where the multiple 'bubbles' of enchantment layer over one another. (a feature I shamelessly lifted from War of the Spider Queen.)
• Time is tracked by fungal luminescence - the cavern is lined with a fungus that grows bright and fades over a period equivalent to a day. The light has a faint blue cast, and is about as bright at its height as an overcast day.
• High glow (noon), the brightest point, is treated by residents as a “siesta” for it is slightly too bright to be comfortable for darkvision. Businesses close and work ceases for 2-3 hours until the fungal light drops to a more comfortable level.
• Even at “night” the cavern is filled with a dim glow due to the faez'ress.
• Seven gated and guarded entrance passageways, for the Underdark is ever-perilous.
• Built on a site of strong faez'ress, meaning it has a natural protection against scrying and teleporting. The faezress is also key in the strength of their spell component production.

Organisations

There are three main organisations in the city, plus a cult: The High Council, The Assembly of Mysteries, and the Kuttra'ih'aras. The cult is a minor cult of Zuggtmoy, who flare up now and again like a recurring infection.

The High Council

The High Council are the Matron mothers who make all the major decisions, as represented by one Matron from each of the eight ruling houses. I chose eight to match both the eight phases of the moon - representing Eilistraee - and the eight schools of magic - representing Mystra.

All Matrons of the council are considered equal, no one house being ascendant over the other. 'All Houses exist in balance, their power waxing and waning as the moon.' Any decision must have a majority assent to pass, and the Matrons meet regularly in the Chamber of the Eight to discuss policy.

Ruling Houses

House	Matron Mother	Role
House Eilist'tra	Qilue Eilist'tra	Devoted to Eilistraee; has the largest number of Darksong Knights and priestesses
House Zaundar	Viconia Zaundar	Historians & Chroniclers; manage education systems
House Maendirath	Nizana Maendirath	Warriors & defenders
House Hyliir	Miz'brina Hyliir	Powerful artificers
House T'sonri	Ilharina T'sonri	Produces many talented wizards; produced the current Archmage
House Olonrae	Z'ress Olonrae	Fungus trade; many join/are members of Kuttra'ih'aras
House Do'tyl	Shynva Do'tyl	Manages majority of surface trade & have lots of surface connections
House Teken'sek	Alfaen Teken'sek	Diplomats & negotiators, particularly between other races. Psionicists in the bloodline

The Assembly of Mysteries

The Assembly of Mysteries is the Archmages council. There are seven masters and the Archmage, one representing each school of magic, and they work in tandem with the High Council to make decisions. They also, obviously, run the Arcanum.

Those who are a part of it hold the title of Master, the same as all the teachers at the Arcanum. The mages on the council representing each school of magic are also the head of that school within the Arcanum College, and are responsible for its teaching. In theory, any wizard of skill can advance to the position, but in practice this is often not the case, and most Masters end up coming from one of the ruling families because Mythen Thaelas is Not Immune to Nepotism.

The current Archmage is Seldszar T'sonri, who has held the position for a long time. He's also the Enchantment Master for the College.

Kuttra'ih'aras

The Kuttra'ih'aras (trans.'mushroom protectors') are the druidic circle of the city, almost entirely Circle of Spores based. They’re referred to as Grovekeepers, and are responsible for maintaining the city’s internal food supplies. They deal in fungi and the undead - if you visit Kuttragarten, you’ll likely run into undead fungal servants helping maintain the forest.

They have a tendency to move a little slowly and not rush things. They are known for being patient yet unrelenting. Typically made up of drow, there are a small amount of other races that have joined the druidic group - svirfneblin, duergar and the occasional surface-dweller who chose to make Mythen Thaelas their home.

Raising corpses from the dead via fungal reanimation to help tend the gardens. This is seen as a noble and useful practice and many Grovekeepers pledge their own bodies to be used in such a way after their deaths.

Grovekeepers also bear tattooed markings that mark them as druids, usually on their face, with patterns drawn from the song of the fungus.

The druids of Mythen Thaelas abide by the following tenets:

• Tend the fungus, keep the city alive
• Stamp out Zuggtmoy's spores wherever they infest - she is a perversion of a natural cycle, she strives for imbalance.
• Death feeds life, life feeds death - the cycle is eternal and sacred

Cult of Zuggtmoy

The Cult hold territory and frequently start emerging from the fungal forest of Chatuarvvin. Despite frequent attempts to eradicate them, they continue to spore at irregular intervals, since it only takes a single spore-servant of Zuggtmoy for it to survive.

The infected cultists worship Zuggtmoy, the demon goddess of fungus, and their only goal is to spread the infection. Once a new host has been infected, they cease to be: they are utterly consumed by it, transformed from living flesh into semi-sentient fungus.

Church of Eilistraee & Darksong Knights

The Church of Eilistraee is primarily based out of the Shrine of the Dark Maiden, in the central Qu'ellor'harl district of the city. Priests and priestesses provide the majority of healing services within the city, both physical and mental, magical and mundane.

I have my own interpretations of Eilistraeen religion, that are half based on actual lore and things from various Forgotten Realms books, and half headcanon and vibes. The main concerns of Eilistraeens are to help others, provide aid and protection to those in need, fight discrimination and prejudice towards drow, promote joy, and to oppose evil. To serve the Goddess is to commit to kindness, compassion, and joy.

I will fully admit that I gave Mythen Thaelas Darksong Knights because of the Lady Penitent books which, for all their flaws, did give me an interest in Eilistraee to begin with. In original lore, the Darksong Knights are elite warriors, and their main purpose was to deal with demonic threats. In Mythen Thaelas, that is still a part of their purpose, but they have become more of a general armed force of the Church. They are trained to protect the city, and can often be found patrolling in its outskirts, or sometimes escorting valuable caravans - or people - through the Underdark.

Temple of Mystra

The followers of Mystra, Goddess of Magic, hold equal prominence to those who follow Eilistraee in the city. Their major shrine is housed in the Seat of Arcanum, alongside the Arcanum college - helpful, since many of their clerics tend also to be wizards, and the college has a continual and consistent need for clerical medical aid. On account of, you know. The wizardry.

Much like the Church of Eilistraee, clerics of Mystra within the city provide free or low-cost magical services to the citizenry, and the temple itself offers a minor, basic magical education to those who wish to learn but don't wish or can't commit to a full education at the Arcanum college.

Laws, Tenets, & Values

The following are the core values I decided on for the city. Obviously not every Mythen Thaelan follows them exactly, but they gave me a basis for establishing trends and traits.

• Slavery is illegal, especially magically dominated slavery
• Power is valuable when it is learned and worked for - mages and those who study their craft are more respected than the like of sorcerers and warlocks.
• Impersonating a mage is punishable by fine, imprisonment or exile (depending on the status of the impersonated)
• High Values: Education & Knowledge Seeking; Excellence in ones profession or trade; Magical prowess & occult ability
• Hated Qualities: Dominating & possessing other people; Laziness

Spell Components & Exports

There are a handful of unique exports that the city is known for, primarily some particularly special gemstones.

• Thaelean Garnets - a deep, bloodred garnet whose structure make it particularly capable of harnessing arcane energies
• Darkstar Sapphires - deep blue sapphires with white or silver starburst patterns. Uniquely useful in lightning-based magics.
• Kuttra Amber or Mushroom Amber - comes from a particularly enormous fungus, like tree amber but typically with purplish veins in the bright orange stone. This is another very common export, as a lot gets produced.

Locations

The city is divided into several districts, centered around Qu'ellor'harl. To the west lies Kuttragarten; to the south the Mei'q district and Lyurdin; to the east is Chataurvvin; north-east lies Draix'ress; and true north sits the chasm city of Tragdendeep.

Qu'ellor'harl

Sitting on a raised platform of rock at the centre of the cavern lies Qu'ellor'harl, the heart of Mythen Thaelas. The enormous pillar of the Seat of Arcanum towers like a spine over all, glimmering with magical lights. Other stalagmite buildings, many with tops like great stone mushrooms, cluster about it in a stone forest.

The heart of Mythen Thaelas! It, and most of the districts, bear the mark of me going hogwild with the drow translator to try and have names with ~meanings~. This one is ‘the place where the Houses look down’, and it’s set on a raised, rocky plateau, where you can literally look down over any other point in the city.

It’s also the rich people district, so as well as being home to all the High Houses, the Shrine of the Dark Maiden, and the Seat of Arcanum (which itself houses the Arcanum college, just because I like to be as annoying as place names are in real life sometimes), it also has the high class restaurants, theatres, bathhouses, and high-end boutiques.

Rizeth does in fact live here, in that he has a small estate the Archmage gifted him, partly out of friendship, partly out of ‘please for the love of god you need to live somewhere that isn’t the Arcanum all the Time’. Rizeth...does not live there most of the time.

The Seat of Arcanum

The enormous pillar of the Seat of Arcanum towers like a grand spine, the mightiest of mushroom stalks, over all Mythen Thaelas. Magical lights glimmer about it, twinkling like stars in a manner far too peaceful amidst the despair that permeates the city.

The Seat of Arcanum is the center of all Mythen Thaelas, sitting in the great, thousand foot high rock pillar at the heart of the city. It holds the Arcanum college, hosts the Assembly of Mysteries, houses the Hall of Mysteries - Mystra's temple in the city - and is the home of the Archmage of Mythen Thaelas

The main location of most of Obedience is somewhere my players, in the grand tradition of D&D players everywhere, never actually went! I made an entire location key for it, top to bottom, and have I ever used any of it? Hardly at all! So it goes.

The Shrine of the Dark Maiden

Appearing as a cluster of stalagmite pillars that pierce to the ceiling, each limned with flickering blue faerie fire, the whole surrounded by a 15-foot wall. Sword-shaped pillars flank the steps to the grand entrance, the stone overheard carved with the cycle of the moon, with the full moon a great pearl in the very centre. The rear of the Shrine is formed of a large, open-topped sphere flanked by two smaller pillars to the north and south.

This is somewhere my players did actually go. It got treated very badly by the Lolthite invasion, which in Obedience-verse never happened. This is the place Ashenivir once trained as a priestess, before he transitioned, and it's where Keszriin’s mother works, as the High Priestess.

This shrine is the main centre of Eilistraeen worship in the city, although there are other, smaller shrines scattered throughout the districts. It's also the home-base for the Darksong Knights, and holds their barracks and training grounds.

Kuttragarten

Mushroooms on mushrooms on mushrooms - taller than trees, small as your hand, and everything in between in a bizarre yet beautiful tapestry of color. Strange shapes pulse and glow, spores like stars float among the stalks, mushroom gills ripple and seem almost to breathe. Kuttragarden seems an impenetrable forest of fungus, but there are paths that wend through it for those that care for this most precious of places.

Big mushroom garden! (the literal translation of the name is just mushroom garden. i am very smart). Sometimes people call it the Garden District, for variety. It’s the main source of internal food for Mythen Thaelas - not just loads of fungal crops, but also rothé are grazed there, and the lake is fished and looked after by the Kuttra'ih'aras druids as well.

Kuttragarten lake is very pretty as well - floating, lacework puffball mushrooms bob across the surface, making it glimmer.

Draix'ress

Slightly raised in the north-east corner of the cavern lies a close-pressed tangle of small House estates, linked with delicate-seeming stone bridges and limned with purple, green and amber light

Ashenivir’s home district! Kind of a mini Qu'ellor'harl - it’s the middle-class district, and home to most of the Guilds in the city (merchants, artificers, apothecaries, etc). Bregan D'aerthe have a safehouse here, down near Chataurvvin. (Jarlaxle did try to get into the highclass district but has not yet managed it).

Much like Qu'ellor'harl, it has a lot of more high-end bathhouses and stores and suchlike, though it’s still largely residential.

Mei'q / The Bazaar

Shops spiral up inside of stalacmites, or are carved into the wall of the cavern. You could easily imagine this place bustling with life and trade and noise, yet now the Bazaar sits silent. What few stalls remain in the centre are empty or overturned, abandoned.

Mei'q just means 'trade’ - this area is literally the trade district. (once again, i am very smart). There’s the Bazaar itself, where stalls change from day to day, unless you have a permanent berth paid for; and there are permanent stalls and other establishments embedded in the rock of the cavern or into large mushrooms or stalagmites.

This is the place most people visiting the city end up staying, so there are quite a lot of taverns and inns, as well as a a good deal of entertainment.

It also has sound baffles, which i shamelessly lifted from when I read War of the Spider Queen. The enchantments are laid into the stone, dividing up the market into segments of sound, and preventing the noise of it from echoing and overwhelming the entire cavern.

Lyurdrin

A cramped tangle of buildings abutted on one side by the Bazaar and on the other by Chataurvvin, here the commonfolk of Mythen Thaelas look up at Qu'ellor'harl - then turn away and get on with their lives.

This is the commonfolk district, aka where most normal people live. Merchants, regular workers, labourers; those who don’t have the kind of family line that gets you an estate and a mining share.

Tal'skalad is at the back of this district, set down in a recess in the cavern floor - the name translates to ‘the ignored’, and it’s the slums, basically. It’s where everyone who ran out of options ended up; you can find bankrupt merchants alongside disgraced wizards, homeless runaways, and all the other people who have nowhere left to go.

Chataurvvin

A towering forest of mushroom stalks glowing with otherworldly light from strange lichen that clings to their stalks. Walking into Chataurvvin seems like walking into a fungal dream.

Another fungal forest! And Keszriin’s favourite picnic destination. It’s pleasant enough, but it descends many many miles down into the Lowerdark, which is where it connects to a Myconid colony. but, as Ashenivir notes, they rarely come up to the level of Mythen Thaelas. Luminescent lichen bathes the grove in soft hues of yellow, blue, and violet, and this dim light suffuses the entire grove and lends it a dreamlike quality. It's really quite beautiful.

The upper areas are used as hunting grounds, and a fair few sections are claimed by the High Houses as ‘private’ hunting grounds, which just means they pay guards to patrol for poachers. Also, since the forest connects to all three districts of class in the city, there is a tendency for children from all walks of life to sneak into the forest for secret meetings.

Tragdendeep

A great chasm leading down, down, down to the great gemstone mines of Mythen Thaelas. Criss-crossed with rope bridges, walls glowing with patches of fungus and the flickering light of driftglobes floating at all levels.

This is where the great and sort-of famous gemstone mines of Mythen Thaelas are, as well as many others. An enclave of deep gnomes make their home here, and have a pretty amicable relationship with Mythen Thaelas proper; the drow can’t access the mines without the gnome’s aid and permission, so there’s plenty of incentive to play nice.

It’s all criss-crossed with rope bridges and there are driftglobes floating up and down it all the time. It’s so so pretty, but can also be dangerous if you're not careful - trip from a bridge and it'll be a long time before you hit bottom.

Nikik'lar, the ‘stranger’s place’, is the area around the rift, and is a surface extension of the deep gnome’s city, and has become a district mostly occupied by the non-drow that have taken up residence in the city.