Deep Spire

The Deep Spire is a large trade settlement carved out of a massive stone column that stretches out of the Black Loch all the way up to its distant ceiling. It is the sole known location in the Underdark that is home to multiple peoples instead of belonging to only a single type of humanoid. As such, it has developed a reputation as a community where outcasts may find safety. Most who live here are exiles, escaped prisoners, fugitives, or the descendants of people who were in similar circumstances. Those less tolerant individuals will sometimes refer to the settlement as "the Exiles Tower", saying the phrase as though it were a curse.
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History of the Spire's Founding

Discovery by Orogs

Centuries ago, what is now the Deep Spire was just another rock jutting out from the waters of the Black Loch, albeit a very large one. That changed when it was found by a nomadic tribe of orogs looking for a place to set their roots near the fresh and plentiful waters of the Loch. The orogs began work to carve tunnels into the massive pillar and make it their home, and a defensible one at that. It was the work of generations, but in time it became a veritable fortress where the orogs who christened themselves the Tideborne Tribe live peacefully. Or, at least, peacefully with a healthy bit of piracy on the side.

Arrival of House Vaerixas

Far from the Black Loch sat the drow city of Vlyn'darastyl, one of the largest drow settlements on Nexus. Worship in Vlyn'darastyl was centered on Lolth, as is the drow custom, yet Vlyn'darastyl's ruling family did not place the Spider Queen as their chief deity. House Vaerixas worshipped Eilistraee, the Dark Dancer, as their chief patron, much to the ire of Vlyn'darastyl's lesser noble houses. It was tolerated only because House Vaerixas did not attempt to force their beliefs onto the other houses. That changed when the previous matron mother died.
Whereas the old matron mother was a believer, her daughter and the new matron mother, Ysri Vaerixas, was a zealot. She decreed that so long as she ruled, Eilistraee's rule would not be denied. Her first decree was the abolishment of forced labor and that was all it took to unite the Lolth-loyal houses against House Vaerixas. Ysri and those of her house who managed to survive were forced to flee Vlyn'darastyl, eventually making their way to the Black Loch. While zealous, Ysri was no fool and had her remaining troops seize fishing vessels to ferry them to the Deep Spire.

A Partnership Formed

Ysri approached the orog docks seeking to speak with their leader, Lord Harlorn, speaking in a calm manner and with none of the arrogance the orogs associated with drow. This news intrigued Lord Harlorn of the Tideborne Tribe, who agreed to meet with Ysri. The matron mother's offer was a simple one: her people would assist the Tideborne Tribe with whatever the orogs required in exchange for certain allowances. This was fortuitous timing for Lord Harlorn, for an attack by duergar raiders from Brazenthrone was imminent, the orogs and duergar having become rivals over the ore needed for their smelters over the years since the Deep Spire's founding.
Lord Harlorn was upfront with Ysri about the situation, a fact that Ysri both appreciated and valued after spending much of her life surrounded by backstabbing Lolth worshippers. Ysri proposed a detailed plan for partnership, an alliance of co-rulership between House Vaerixas and the Tideborne Tribe over the Deep Spire. Knowing his people would likely die to the last soldier without aid, Lord Harlorn had no choice but to accept. The duergar assault came a week later and the dwarves were quite surprised to find the orogs they had expected to outnumber reinforced by the renowned and feared Sword Dancers of Eilistraee. When they realized a drow matron mother was also backing the defense, the duergar turned around for home before the battle even began.

Open for Business

Sensing an opportunity to advance Eilistraee's agenda, Ysri came to Lord Harlorn in the days that followed with another proposal. The first stage of which would involve expanding the Deep Spire facilities, which the orogs could do with their great strength now that the drow were there to watch for attackers. But instead of shoring up their defenses with military might, Ysri suggested they could buy safety by turning the Deep Spire into a center of trade. All races in the Underdark traded with each other to various degrees, but this was always a difficult processes due to the mistrust between communities. By providing a place for the different peoples to mingle and trade safely, they could create a new economy. And the Tideborne Tribe would finally have a way to convert all those looted goods into gold.
While many of the orogs were reluctant at best to give up their piracy, Lord Harlorn among them, they acknowledged that they owed House Vaerixas greatly. Lord Harlorn agreed to a two-year trial period for this idea, in which time business quickly boomed and the orogs began to make even more gold through trade than they had through years of successful piracy. Over time, derro and deep gnomes and many other peoples, even some duergar, began to settle in the town and a growing collection of businesses grew. Traders set up permanent shops, craftsmen came to the Deep Spire to stay, and inns accommodating all peoples were open for the first time anyone in the Underdark could remember.

Notable Residents

• Ysri Vaerixas - The matron mother of House Vaerixas and co-founder of the Deep Spire as it is today. Her people worship Eilistraee, the Dark Dancer, and the goddess' famed Sword Dancers can defend the Deep Spire through practically reputation alone. She is currently in opposition to Lord Varl's plans to expand the Tideborne Tribe while plotting her own schemes to reconquer Vlyn'darastyl.
• Lord Varl - The current head of the Tideborne Tribe and great-grandson to Deep Spire founder Lord Harlorn. He is a young and ambitious ruler who pines for the glory days when his ancestors were feared raiders and seeks to return them to such times, despite Ysri Vaerixas' council against such action.
• Lord Harlorn - The deceased co-founder of the Deep Spire, who forged an alliance with Ysri Vaerixas and House Vaerixas against a duergar invasion that remains to this day. Though now dead for many decades, his name is still spoken with reverence among members of the Tideborne Tribe.
• Raddon - A duergar who runs the local brewery and frequently imbibes in his own products. The townsfolk say he's never uttered a single sentence unslurred in his time at the Deep Spire.
• Kardik & Berea Silverhoard - Married co-owners of a local smithy and known for their forging skills. Kardik is a mountain dwarf while Berea is a duergar. With each of them unaccepted in their spouse's homeland, they wound up living in the Deep Spire.
• Ladia Ashpyre - A duergar cleric of Moradin, Dwarven God of Smithing, a god of the surface dwarves. She helps those duergar who flee their traditional settlements in search of gentler faith, and runs a mushroom farm to keep a roof over her head.
• Glend Witherstone - A deep gnome grocer who claims he was forced to leave his homeland and flee to the Deep Spire after being falsely accused of murder.
• Tarson Markabreech - A deep gnome tinkerer makes small clockwork gadgets and constructs. Rumor has it he used to work at Ollin's Borehole, though he clams up whenever someone asks about the place.
• Sain & Molly Antazir - A married couple who run a tavern together. Sain is the only drow not of House Vaerixas in the Deep Spire. Molly is his human wife, who immigrated to the Deep Spire after they met on the surface.
• Gaz - Gaz is a sane derro. This makes him incompatible with other derro and an outcast from their society.
• L'trath - L'trath was a mind flayer that freed himself from the hive mind of his colony. He journeyed to the Deep Spire after hearing it was a place where all races were accepted. He was killed on sight and thrown into the Black Loch. They're not that open minded.

Type

Large town

Related Plots

• Campaign 05: Uncovering the Underdark