=====House Positions=====
Matron Mother: Sauphrina Zauthril=====History=====
House Zauthril was created nearly four millenia ago, during the days of Menzoberranzan's first true expansion. The city had begun to make a name for itself and drow from all over the Underdark were flocking to what became known as the City of Spiders. The Matron Mothers initially welcomed these newcomers to the city. However, with so many drow, along with slaves and shock troops, they soon found themselves being forced to import food from other cities simply to avoid starvation.
The Matron Mothers decided that this was unacceptable; Menzoberranzan must provide its own food supply. They decided to clear one of the neighboring caverns, which had become infested by Gnolls at the time. That cavern would be used to create more mushroom fields, as well as a habitat for a significant Rothe herd. Yet they were unable to decide which house should take charge of this endeavor, as none of the houses were willing to give such an important task to the others without having a cut of the action themselves.
In the end it was decided that a new House, a small merchant House, would be created solely for the purpose of caring for these mushroom fields and Rothe herds. And it's through that decision house Zauthril was created. Its ranks were filled with fourth sisters, distant cousins, and other members of the great noble Houses that were unlikely to ever hold any position of real power within their own families. In light of this, they were willing to settle for being larger fish in a smaller pond. And so while Zauthril has been a merchant House for most of its existence, its members have always had noble blood in their veins.
It is said that this decision to fill the house with unsuccessful children from other houses accounts for its unremarkable history, for House Zauthril seemed to bring neither great renown, nor great shame to itself. By many of the Great Houses they were considered a constant, never changing much and generally trustworthy. When the other houses fought and rivaled for position House Zauthril preferred to stay out of the fights, or joined only when the winner became obvious.
Things changed when Arilissa Zauthril became Matron Mother. An arrogant, greedy, yet highly competent woman, she concocted a plan to seize control of several of the other Houses by secretly switching away from the worship of Lolth to worship the traitorous god of Kiaransalee. The other priestesses in her House were either converted or silently removed and killed, yet Arilissa was hesitant to include her own first daughter. Sauphrina Zauthril was a beautiful young drow, blessed with lovely features, great strength and endurance, and an iron will. When her mother finally included her in her machinations, she readily agreed that they should switch to worship Kiaransalee instead.
Within an hour of stepping outside her mother's quarters, Sauphrina had gathered all the forces within the house still loyal to the dark mother. The house became consumed in a battle between the two factions, brother against brother, sister against sister. And while the faithful of Lolth were outnumbered, they were eventually successful. It is said that Sauphrina's faith was so strong, the spiders themselves came to her aid and attacked the traitors. While that story might be exaggerated it is generally believed that she herself killed her mother, denouncing the Matron Mother as a traitor and a heretic before taking control of the House.
These actions greatly impressed Yvonnel Baenre, who decreed that House Zauthril would be raised to a minor noble House, Fifteenth of the city. This was done against the wishes of all the other Great Houses. Even House Fey-branche, which always supported House Baenre in almost every endeavor, declared their wish that Zauthril remain a merchant House. But Yvonnel had an iron will, and none dared to go direct against her. So the House was raised up in status, with the others looking on in silent fury.
The first thing the young Matron Mother sought to do is to find evidence of her mother's allies outside of her own House. She was certain they existed, as her mother had spoken of them whe she sought to convince her daughter to turn away from Lolth. Yet she had been unwilling to reveal their identities, still not entirely convinced of her daughter's sincerity and wanting to keep certain secrets for herself alone. Despite all her efforts, Sauphrina never discovered the identity of her mother's external allies. She did, however, discover a strange letter send from House Agrach Dyrr. It bore the seal of the house, yet nothing was written upon the letter itself, no matter what magical or mundane examination was performed upon it, leaving only suspicions.
The relationship between Agrach Dyrr and Zauthril soured quickly. For centuries, Agrach Dyrr had been one of the buyers of Rothe meat and mushrooms. Suddenly, they decided to purchase their food from other Houses, no longer wishing to do business with Zauthril. Fortunately, Sauphrina proved quite adept at navigating the political landscape of the drow nobles, managing to forge strong ties with House Barrison Del'Armgo and House Xorlarrin. Unfortunately, only one of those relationships have survived to this day.
It had been such a simple proposition. Zauthril and Xorlarrin both traded with nearby drow cities, sending caravans to Ched Nasad and back every fortnight. With the relations between the two Houses so amiable, it seemed only sensible to join the caravans together and thus lower the need for guards. But things did not go as planned. The very first caravan they send out together was ambushed, forfeiting all the supplies sent by House Xorlarrin, while leaving most of those being transported by House Zauthril. The latter consisted mostly of leather, hides, and dried mushrooms, in which the raiders seemed to have no interest.
This by itself might have been overcome had House Xorlarrin's first daughter not been journeying with the caravan. Though House Zauthril lost nearly two dozen guards of their own in the attack, the Xorlarrins were quick to point out they had not bothered to send along a priestess, nor any blood relative of the Matron Mother. Meanwhile, Xorlarrin had lost a promising young priestess who had been the favorite of their Matron. While House Zauthril protested its innocence, House Xorlarrin swore to one day exact vengeance.
The relationship between the two Houses turned from amiable to antagonistic, even causing some minor skirmishes in the streets, resulting in the death of two promising young wizards belonging to Zauthril and increases tensions. In time, these skirmishes would diminish and eventually stop, but to this day the two former allies rarely see eye to eye on any matter.
=====Members=====
Sauphrina Zauthril -- Matron Mother=====Relationships=====
House Agrach Dyrr:
House Baenre:
House Barrison Del'Armgo:
House Xorlarrin:
House Zolond: