Ysri Vaerixas

Ysri is the matron mother of House Vaerixas, the drow noble house that once ruled over the city of Vlyn'darastyl. She co-rules the Deep Spire alongside Lord Varl, a relationship that has become strained as of late. Ysri views Lord Varl's plan to expand his people's territory as overambitious and dangerous to the well-being of the Deep Spire. Whether she speaks these facts from her heart or merely views Lord Varl's plan as inconvenient towards her own plans to remake Vlyn'darastyl in the name of her goddess Eilistraee (as well as good old fashioned revenge) remains to be seen.
Table of Contents

Early History

House Vaerixas is unusual among drow nobility in that the primarily place their worship in the goddess Eilistraee, the Dark Dancer, over Eilistraee's mother Lolth, the Spider Queen. Despite this, the family managed to live among and even rule over other noble houses loyal only to the Spider Queen. This was due to the strength, ferocity, and mercilessness of their house, as well as their willingness not to impose their faith on other houses.
This changed when Ysri rose to power, he faith far more zealous than the matron mothers who came before her. Her first act as ruler of Vlyn'darastyl was to abolish the taking of prisoners and forced labor, which was all the excuse the other houses needed to unite against House Vaerixas. Ysri and her surviving people were forced to flee to the Deep Spire where they met the Tideborne Tribe and she formed an alliance with Lord Harlorn. It was through Ysri's influence and assistance that Lord Harlorn was able to transform the Deep Spire into the center of trade that it is today.

Journey Into the Underdark Arc

Introduction at Deep Spire

Greeting the Lost Drow

Ysri was made aware of the Thaig Expedition's presence at the Deep Spire shortly after their arrival, namely the presence of a drow from the surface named Leh'ct. A pair of Sword Dancers had already spotted and spoken to the boy, ordering him to present himself to Ysri the following day. Ysri waited for this guest in House Vaerixas' sitting room with her bodyguards on either side of the couch she sat upon. Ysri had several suspicions about this boy when he arrived, yet he also presented an opportunity for her to glean rare and potentially valuable information about the surface world.
Leh'ct arrived dressed as finely as he could manage and accompanied by his traveling companion Elycia Mirais. He bowed as he entered and managed to remain quite cordial throughout the conversation (with a little help from Elycia and, unknown to Ysri, a little magical aid he'd enacted upon himself on the way there). Ysri had many questions for Leh'ct, though most of them were quite general. Who he was, where he was from, why he was here, and what faith he practiced. She carefully studied his reactions, both verbal and body language, as he gave his replies. The boy seemed to be truthful in telling his tale of growing up in an orphanarium in Haven City, ending with his journey to the Deep Spire to learn more of his people.
Ysri was also quite pleased that the boy seemed to have an intense disliking for Lolth, despising the Bitch Queen (which was how Ysri referred to the goddess) so much that he struggled to even allow her name to sully his tongue. But while Ysri found the boy's attitude satisfactory, she remained curious on how he would fair in one of the most important aspects of any drow culture: the ability to fight. She called forth an apprentice from House Vaerixas' mage academy, a boy a bit older than Leh'ct named Yorlorn, and informed her visitor that the pair of them would duel. The only rules of the match was that it would end only when she said so or when one of them surrendered. With that, she led everyone in the room outdoors and stood to the side with Elycia to observe the duel.

Observing the Duel

The fight turned out to be much more of a spectacle than Ysri had expected, Leh'ct's druidic magic pitted against Yorlorn's sorcery. Leh'ct summoned apes to his aid while Yorlorn utilized illusions for defense and elemental magic for offense. Lightning rained down from both combatants as they chipped away at each others defenses. But the deciding factor came when one of Leh'ct's spells went wild due to the faerzress in the area. The wild magic surrounded him with a protective aura that allowed him to survive a would-be fatal blow. Following this, Leh'ct challenged Yorlorn to finish the duel "like drow", which Yorlorn (and all the other House Vaerixas watching, Ysri included) took to mean "without magic". Leh'ct finished the fight shortly thereafter, striking Yorlorn with daggers coated in paralytic venom.
Pleased with the results of the duel, Ysri ordered one of the Sword Dancers who'd also observed the fight to take Yorlorn to the barracks for recovery. She then invited Leh'ct and Elycia back inside, stating they had much to discuss. As she passed Leh'ct, she just barely brushed the back of her hand against his shoulder and used powerful restorative magic to heal his wounds completely. She invited her two guests to sit this time as they once again entered the sitting room. Her first order of business was to congratulate Leh'ct on his victory, at which point she referred to him as Leh'ct Arlathil. Seeing the young man's confusion, she explained her suspicions about his likely heritage.

The Lost Arlathil's Heritage

Ysri gave an abbreviated version of House Vaerixas' history first, chronicling how they were forced from Vlyn'darastyl for trying to spread Eilistraee's faith to the other families. Among their allies was House Arlathil, one of the few houses capable of casting druidic magic and the only one of which that had allied with House Vaerixas in those days. House Arlathil was unable to flee Vlyn'darastyl alongside House Vaerixas and Ysri admitted she didn't know for sure what happened to them, though Leh'ct's existence indicated at least some had likely escaped and survived. If there were any other reason a drow with his abilities could have ended up on the surface, it was unknown to Ysri.
As further proof, she also pointed to the Lionlilly Vine wrapped around the end of Leh'ct's staff. The use of briar vines as a spellcasting focus was common among House Arlathil, though Leh'ct did lack the special talisman they were also known for crafting. Leh'ct stated he knew nothing of the vine's importance when he made it into his druidic focus, yet Ysri insisted that the fact he subconsciously made the decision to craft such an item was further proof of his heritage. She informed the young man that he and his companions would henceforth be welcome on House Vaerixas' tier of the Deep Spire. Upon being asked if he could do anything for her, Ysri asked Leh'ct to speak with Lord Varl (as Leh'ct had an open invitation to do so) and try to dissuade the orog leader from his current plans of conquest. With that, she dismissed him for the time being; Ysri had learned just as much as Leh'ct Arlathil had on this day, and had much to consider.

Briefing from Leh'ct

Leh'ct returned to House Vaerixas a few days later to fill Ysri in on his conversation with Lord Varl. One of the Sword Dancers guarding House Vaerixas led him inside when he arrived, taking him to Ysri's study deep inside. She sat at a desk writing, multitasking by continuing that while also speaking to him. Leh'ct, in his usual long-winded fashion, went into full detail about his talk with Lord Varl and the orog leader's plans.
None of this information seemed to surprise Ysri. She suspected that Lord Varl would announce his plans at the Conclave of the Fleet, a yearly meeting where nearly all the Tideborne Tribe gathered, in roughly two months time. Leh'ct inquired about Ysri's own plans, namely those regarding Vlyn'darastyl that Lord Varl had mentioned. She replied that her ultimate goal was the destruction of Lolth's influence over any drow and that delivering Vlyn'darastyl to Eilistraee's light was a key first step.
The first piece of information that did seen to surprise Ysri was the presence of kobold vipers in the Black Loch, which was news to her. Leh'ct also mentioned the waterkleddes loose in the area, though Ysri suspected that the drow of Spyr-Anaisz may be responsible for that rather than the drow of Vlyn'darastyl. Leh'ct asked her opinion on the Tideborne Tribe. Ysri stated that their fate was intertwined with House Vaerixas and that if one would fall, so too would the other before long. She was adamant that despite whatever the threat was, external or internal, she would not let her House lose another home.
This statement seemed to strike a cord with Leh'ct as he briefly stopped talking. Leh'ct brought up his observation that Lord Varl seemed angry with Ysri primary out of a sense of neglect. He and his people didn't live as long as the drow of House Vaerixas and the tribe leader believed he'd be dead and gone by the time Ysri finally did something. Leh'ct appeared very apprehensive about his explanation as he gave it, though Ysri assured him she wouldn't ask for his opinion if she didn't want it. At Leh'ct's prompting, she also explained what Spyr-Anaisz was and where it was located.
As he started rambling again, Leh'ct mentioned Captain Xavier and how the wraith was stuck in the Cube of Ghost Trapping he carried. Ysri questioned him about this and Leh'ct voiced concerns about what would happen to the wraith and specters inside if they were used to fuel magic. She regretfully informed Leh'ct that there was no saving them; no afterlife awaited creatures who had become such undead, only oblivion. Though Ysri seemed to consider this a mercy compared to being condemned to miserably wandering the Material Plane for eternity. Leh'ct said that while Captain Xavier's actions were clearly questionable, he hardly seemed depressed by his current state. This prompted Ysri to explain the difference between 'nice' and 'Good' to Leh'ct.
Leh'ct also mentioned that his traveling companion Villamax had asked for him to ask Ysri about potential access to any historical records in House Vaerixas' possession. Ysri was clearly cautious about some unknown wizard looking through House Vaerixas' library, but Leh'ct was willing to vouch for him and had yet to give Ysri any reason to distrust him. She told Leh'ct he could tell Villamax to present himself to House Vaerixas so that she could speak with and vet him herself.

Discussion with Villamax

While Leh'ct and his companions were off chasing a lead regarding Sunny's brother Haz, Villamax came to House Vaerixas to present himself to the matron mother. The wizard explained that he was a historian and looking for information about a certain individual from 500-600 years ago. While Ysri judged his explanation as truthful, she was also able to glean that fact that he wasn't sharing everything. She asked who he was researching exactly, saying she might happen to know something on the subject herself. Villamax hesitated for a moment, seeming to ponder his answer before giving it. The name he spoke was indeed one that Ysri recognized, though very much not one she had expected.
Villamax also informed her of the reason he sought this information. Seeing his intentions were good, she told him what little she knew of the subject and instructed House Vaerixas' librarian to assist him with further research. Ysri admitted she didn't know if the records they possessed would hold the exact information Villamax was seeking, but believed that they would be able to point him in the right direction at the minimum. Truthfully, Ysri had once researched this very topic herself many decades ago. But when her own research did not present the results she had hoped for, she abandoned it and had forgotten many details on the topic in the years since then. At the moment, her mind was more concerned with what trouble his research could potentially bring to him and, by proximity, to the Deep Spire and young Leh'ct.

A Matron Mother's Anger

Shortly after the adventurers of the Thaig Expedition left to explore Ollin's Borehole, a priestess of Eilistraee came to Ysri and informed the matron mother that Leh'ct had told her that he had a pet giant spider in his care. Presently, the spider was hidden away somewhere in the Black Loch, though Ysri barely heard this part of the priestess' statement as anger enveloped her. She'd taken that boy in, looked out for him, and he had the gall to lie to her?! A lie by omission, yes, but a lie nonetheless. Ysri made sure every drow (and many others) at the Deep Spire knew that pass word to Leh'ct that he was to answer her summons immediately upon his return.
While Ysri was waiting for this, she was approached by Leh'ct and Villamax's companion Itassis. The tabaxi wished to test her mettle against the Sword Dancers and had come to request Ysri's permission for a duel. Ysri granted permission for her to fight any Sword Dancer who volunteered and laughed at Itassis' "jest" that she wished to fight three Sword Dancers, saying Itassis would be granted any boon within reason if she could win such a battle. A few heartbeats later, Ysri realized this was not a jest and that Itassis was completely serious. Ysri bore witness to the duel that followed, with Itassis indeed managing to take down not one but three Sword Dancers single-handedly.
As the duel was ending, Leh'ct appeared to answer Ysri's summons and caught the tail end of the battle. While Itassis compliments towards the Sword Dancers skills mollified Ysri's mood somewhat, her anger towards Leh'ct rapidly bubbled to the surface as she ordered the two adventurers into her parlor after commanding several of the fight's onlookers to take the injured Sword Dancers to the infirmary.
While Itassis played the part of observer, the Matron Mother demanded Leh'ct provide an explanation. She didn't bother to state what for, knowing Leh'ct would come in fully aware what this summons was about. Though taken off-guard by being allowed to frame the conversation, Leh'ct adamantly defended his pet, and spiders in general, by stating that the Bitch Queen didn't deserve them and that he was trying to find out whether Eilistraee could protect his pet the same way the goddess protected him. Though passionate, his speech was not enough to convince Ysri that it was worth the risk of allowing an instrument of Lolth to live. As the Matron Mother was opening her mouth to chastise Leh'ct further, Itassis interrupted.
She reminded the Matron Mother that, though joking, Ysri had offered Itassis a boon if she could best three Sword Dancers in combat. Which she had. Itassis asked that Ysri give Leh'ct three weeks, one for each Sword Dancer she had defeated, to find and present a solution for protecting his pet. Though still clearly displeased, Ysri honored the word of her offer before quickly dismissing the two adventurers in anger.

Unexpected Refugee

An Injured Man Arrives

Two weeks later, Ysri received an unexpected letter from Leh'ct thanking her for all the aid she'd given him and explaining his actions more politely than he had during their previous talk. He also explained solutions he'd discovered that could protect Silinrul, both a temporary short-term solution and a long-term one he believed would solve the issue permanently. He ended the letter stating he wrote it because the life of an adventurer was dangerous and he didn't want any bad blood between them should something happen to him before they had a chance to speak again. He also enclosed a gift, a magic mantilla he had crafted that would allow the wearer to both breathe and speak while underwater. While these efforts did not completely abate Ysri's anger towards Leh'ct, they did do a great deal in lessening it.
A day later, Ysri was in her study when a bell could be heard throughout the Deep Spire. This particular bell meant a ship with injured aboard was incoming. Ysri headed for the infirmary alongside one of her priestesses of Eilistraee in case her healing magic was needed. She was surprised when she saw an orog carrying an injured, unconscious high elf and ordered her priestess to see to the injured man while the orogs filled her (as well as Lord Varl, who'd also come to investigate the bell) in on what happened.
The captain of the ship who'd found the injured elf stated he and his crew had noticed a strange vessel in distress. Boarding it, they found something that looked like a woman but was far more monstrous. It appeared to have killed everyone on the ship via decapitation with a hatchet. The captain threw a javelin at her as she raised her hatchet over the injured man, running her through. And she laughed, turning towards them with a mad look in her eyes and a smile on her face. The mad woman stated she wanted to kill them, but had to leave a few alive if she wanted to be famous. Her shadow lurched up around her, enveloped her, and when it pulled itself back down to the deck of the ship she was gone. The elven ship was already half sunk, leaving the orogs no time to do anything other than grab the injured man and make best speed back towards the Deep Spire.
This news bothered Ysri greatly, for several reasons, and she suggested to Lord Varl that he delay the Conclave of the Fleet due to this incident and other strange happenings on the Black Loch as of late. Lord Varl bluntly refused, stating that calling off the meeting (which had never been done before) would be a sign of weakness to any who meant the Deep Spire harm. Ysri appeared greatly irritated by this (the look on her face seeming to indicate she was considering doing Varl physical harm), but did not press the issue further as the Tideborne leader left. Instead, she focused her efforts on the injured man and learning more about him. Or rather, she was about to, when he was taken aback by Elycia Mirais emerging from the dispersing crowd and walking through the infirmary door a Sword Dancer had been holding open for Ysri.

Conversation with the Wounded

Ysri was quick to grab Elycia's attention, displeased at the bard's brashness. However, her annoyance was soon replaced by curiosity when Elycia stated she may know the injured man. Placing more value on the potential additional information, Ysri invited Elycia (and Jake F. Statefarm, who was with Elycia) to join her. The priestess caring for the injured elf informed them he would survive though she was yet uncertain about any long-term physical damage, to say nothing for the unconscious man's mental state.
Elycia recognized this man's uniform as army, noting it was odd he'd have been on a navy ship, as well as the man himself: Fennan "Fen" Nardesh. Ysri used her more potent healing magic on Fen to get him fully recovered and he began to regain consciousness. Which proved to be something of a mixed bag as he started screaming about being in a drow torture chamber. Luckily, he was stunned into pausing upon seeing Elycia, who he believed dead and referred to as a sergeant. Ysri elected to let this play out and see where it led, which ended with the revelation that Elycia was AWOL from her nation's army. She managed to turn the conversation to be about Fen, asking what had happened out there before the orogs found him.
Fen described the same woman, or rather a monster that looked like one, as the orog captain had. She had dropped down from above, despite the elven lookouts, and made a big show of it in her strange clothing. Including a series of severed heads hanging from her belt. This distraction turned out to be more than showboating as creatures that appeared humanoid but wrong, covered in shadows with wrongs numbers of limbs and orifices that lurched forwards like puppets on strings, swarmed over the elves in seemingly endless numbers. All the while, the woman went among them laughing as she lopped off elven heads. Fen lamented that maybe things would have gone different if the Silver Falcons had been on the ship rather than out on a recon mission.
While this explanation was useful, it seemed to generate as many questions as it answered. The priestess charged with caring for Fen's health felt he'd stressed himself enough and ordered everyone out. In this matter the priestess' authority exceeded Ysri's own, though the matron mother did order several Sword Dancers to guard the infirmary. With the murderous woman still out there somewhere, she would take no chances. Elycia requested access to Fen while he remained in the infirmary, which Ysri said she'd consider (not feeling the need to do her any favors due to Elycia's earlier rudeness).

Attack of the Airship

Battle on the Deck

While most of the Tideborne Tribe was away at the Conclave of the Fleet, the Deep Spire came under surprise attack by an airship armed with cannons. Though the Deep Spire was well fortified, they had little in the way of anti-air defenses. To make matters worse, the cannons on the airship exceeded the range of their own artillery weapons. Though she moved as swiftly as she could to organize a counterattack, Ysri's anger grew as more and more of the people she was charged with defending died with every shot fired in the meantime.
She had her best wizard, the leader of the Arcane Knights, teleport herself and her best warriors onto the deck of the ship. They fell upon the duergar deck crew with righteous fury, slaughtering them in short order. But still, the airship continued to fire on the Deep Spire. The drow made their way below deck and were stopped by a light purple barrier. On the other side was a large purple crystal, the size of a riding lizard, that seemed to serve as the vessel's power source. And next to it was a man made of metal, one that matched the description of an individual reported to keep company with Leh'ct Arlathil.
Though the drow tried, they were unable to breach the barrier through either magic or mundane means. Desperate to stop the airship, they returned to the deck and began using destruction spells to rip it apart from the outside. The damage to its sails and engines soon forced the ship to flee, though Ysri and her comrades were unsure whether the ship was going down or not. They chose to retreat back to the Deep Spire and begin helping the injured there, Ysri placing her people's safety above anything else.

Healing the Wounded

Those injured in the attack were heavily wounded, most losing limbs to the cannonballs that came sailing through the Spire's walls. It was only the more skilled of their warriors who managed to suffer mere injuries. Those of average battle prowess were wounded fatally, to say nothing of the untrained civilians who were blown apart. Of all the clerics in the Deep Spire, it was Ysri alone who possessed the level of restorative magic required to repair such damage and resurrect the dead. The other priestesses of Eilistraee, as well as Ladia Ashpyre, were tasked with using magic that would prevent the dead from decaying and seeing to any lesser injuries.
Though she worked sleeplessly to restore lives, deep seated anger would not leave Ysri's heart. Varl had been right; the duergar had attacked and threatened her home. She and her people had already lost one home and by Eilistraee they would not lose another. She ordered her Sword Dancers to send the metal man in Leh'ct's company to her the moment the adventurers returned. Ysri knew when to expect them after Leh'ct sent her an animal messenger with a note from Lord Varl, which gave key details of the Battle of Skatha's Rest and stated the orog fleet was two days from returning.
When they did return, Ysri was in the process of regenerating lost limbs for injured orogs and kept them waiting before addressing them. Still feeling a little absolutely livid, she angrily asked Ban why someone who looked near-identical to him had helped the duergar during their attack. Ban immediately figured out that she was referring to the Light Gundam and explained his relationship with it, along with the fact that it was very much an enemy he was working to stop.
Ysri's anger was lessened (somewhat) when Lord Varl mentioned they'd only known to return to the Spire quickly because Ban had taken prisoners. Ban and Lord Varl filled the Matron Mother in on what they'd learned and she ordered two Sword Dancers to take the duergar heads Ban had collected to the priestesses of Eilistraee for immediate interrogation. Though still seething, Ysri agreed that attempting to parley with the Deepking was an idea that held merit. She and Lord Varl would draft a missive the adventurers would deliver to Cinderfolk Foundry to open negotiations while they remained at the Deep Spire to reorganize their people. Ban stated he would assist in resolving this matter and start by showing them how to better implement anti-air defenses. He apparently needed Leh'ct's help to do so, as he asked the young druid to come with him and left to start work immediately.
As Elycia and Jake turned to follow, Ysri motioned for them to wait. She had another task for the two of them, but stated this one was being asked as a favor. The Matron Mother knew Leh'ct would attempt to assist the wounded and revive the citizens killed in the attack. She asked the two of them keep an eye on the young Arlathil and prevent him from doing so. The cannons used in the attack were devastating weapons; skilled warriors had lost limbs to their fire and the untrained civilians had to be collected in bags. It was not a sight she wished the young man to see, a point which Elycia and Jake both agreed with before taking their leave.

Infirmary Attacked

As Ysri was doing her rounds in the upper level infirmaries, she heard some sort of ruckus coming from one of the lower ones were the less injured patients had been placed. She arrived to find that one of these infirmaries had been attacked by the same murderous woman who'd all but wiped out the crew of the elven warship, having seemingly come to kill Fen and finish the job. Leh'ct gave her the details, chiefly how he and Jake had managed to save only Fen while the murderous woman slaughtered the other patients via decapitation. He also managed to retrieve a blood sample that he gave to Ysri and suggested it could be used for scrying.
After hearing the details, Ysri commented the murderous woman must have been skilled to have taken down the (albeit injured) warriors in the room without suffering any wounds herself. Given the damage the murderous woman did, Ysri also noted that Leh'ct was fortunate she hadn't turned her weapon on him. Now knowing what had happened, Ysri openly wondered why. If the murderous woman had wanted to kill Fen, why let him go back on the elven ship? Orog sailors had already been there to act as witnesses and spread word of her deeds. It also seemed she'd found some way to circumvent the wards the prevented anyone from teleporting into or out of the Deep Spire, the same as any other Underdark settlement. She and Leh'ct quickly noticed there was a spherical radius where the local faerzress seemed to have been nullified, centered on the infirmary. How the murderous woman achieved this without an antimagic field remained unknown, but that clearly hadn't been her methodology as Leh'ct and Jake both cast spells while trying to stop her.
With the crisis seemingly past, Ysri ordered two Sword Dancers to take Fen someplace safe and ensure at least two guards had eyes on him at all times, even if they needed to get the Tideborne guards to help do it. She also stated that only some of the fresh corpses could be repaired (the murderous woman having taken several of their severed heads when she fled), though it remained a moot point until they could secure more diamonds from somewhere. Ysri resolved to seek assistance from Azurizt on that matter, provided they could successfully parley with the Deepking and gain permission to move through his territory first.

Deity
Eilistraee, the Dark Dancer
Known Magic Items
Mantilla of the Moon on the Water