House Do'Urden

House Do'Urden (informal for Daermon N'a'shezbaernon) is a fictional clan of dark elves in R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game.

It is one of Houses of the Underdark drow city of Menzoberranzan which first appeared in Homeland. 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, who brings the disfavor of the Spider Queen upon his house by committing an act of kindness and sparing a life.^[1]

"Do" means "walkers in", and "Urden" means "the darkness". Thus "Do'Urden" means "walkers in the darkness".

Plot

At the beginning of the book Homeland (1297 DR), 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 son's 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 by 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.

Characters

Drizzt Do'Urden

Main article: Drizzt Do'Urden

Drizzt Do'Urden
Game information
Homeland	Icewind Dale, Menzoberranzan, Mithral Hall
Gender	Male
Race	Drow
Class	Fighter/Ranger
Alignment	Chaotic Good
Age	165
Setting	Forgotten Realms

Drizzt was born as the third son to House Do'Urden and was originally meant to be sacrificed to Lolth, but was spared when one of his older brothers was killed, making Drizzt the second eldest.^[1] Zaknafein trained him to be a great fighter, one of the greatest Menzoberranzan had ever produced. As an anti-stereotype drow, Drizzt has forsaken the evil ways of his people.

Drizzt left Menzoberranzan, and eventually found his way to the surface after time alone in the wilds of the Underdark and a sojourn with the deep gnomes. Most people he met treated him with hatred and disgust, leaving only the most open-minded and open-hearted people to accept him.

He was to meet an important and true friend named Montolio Debrouchee (Mooshie). Drizzt was taught the ways of the ranger from Mooshie, and Drizzt realized he had followed these ways all of his life. From this time on, he made his patron goddess Mielikki, Faerûnian goddess of the forest and of rangers.

Drizzt traveled through the realms in search of a new home. Eventually Drizzt found himself in Icewind Dale. There he met some of his best friends: Cattie-brie, Bruenor, Wulfgar, and Regis. A series of events led Drizzt and his friends south, to Mithral Hall, where they currently reside.

Sometimes Drizzt regresses into a bestial and instinctive state of mind in which he has identified as the Hunter. The first time this happened was after Drizzt had fled from Menzoberranzan and was living in the wilds of the Underdark. When Drizzt is the Hunter, he reaches his physical apex, his skills honed to their utmost peak. His scimitars are like extensions of his own arms, and his senses are heightened beyond their normal capacity.

References

↑ 1.0 1.1 Galuschak, George (March 1, 2006). "Salvatore, R.A. Forgotten Realms: Homeland, vol. 1". Kliatt. Retrieved May 12, 2013. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)

Additional reading