| “ | Hold your tongue, or I will tear it out and give it to you, that you might hold it in your hand. | „ |
| ~ Triel to Jarlaxle. |
| “ | Oh, did he? Then no doubt he'd like me to know his name. Or is he afraid of me, as all good little drow males should be? | „ |
| ~ Triel interrogating a servant of Nimor Imphraezl. |
Triel Baenre is a minor character in the Forgotten Realms. She is a minor antagonist in The Legend of Drizzt, serving as a supporting antagonist in Legacy of the Drow, as well a supporting character in War of the Spider Queen. She a powerful drow priestess of Lolth in the drow city of Menzoberranzan, being the oldest daughter of Yvonnel Baenre. This made her the first daughter of the powerful House Baenre, and one of the most powerful people in the city. Eventually, her mother was killed in battle, and she became Matron Mother, leading Menzoberranzan through the Silence of Lolth. However, her reign was cut short when she was killed by her sister Quenthel Baenre.
Appearance[]
Like all drow, Triel had ebony skin and white hair. She was short, even by drow standards, being less than five feet tall, and was described as rather plain looking. She generally wore her hair in a crown around her head.
Personality[]
Triel was ambitious and ruthless and was willing to do anything to increase and maintain her power, being perfectly willing to personally torture her prisoners and kill anyone who stood in her way. She was fiercely loyal to her goddess and would not suffer insults against her, making wrathful threats to those who she deemed sacrilegious; threats she was perfectly willing to go through with. However, unlike most of her sisters, Triel preferred to be subtler, and would rather use someone than kill them. She was very manipulative and could control her allies and enemies alike.
However, there were some hints that Triel had a softer side. She seemed to be insecure about her position as Matron Mother of House Baenre, struggling to maintain the web of alliances her mother had created, and trying hard to be as cunning and intimidating as her. It is for this reason that she gave birth to a child with a demon, and her son Jeggred seemed to hold a special place in her heart, despite his blatant monstrousness and stupidity.
Biography[]
First Daughter of House Baenre[]
Triel was the first daughter of Yvonnel Baenre, who at that point was building up House Baenre the make it the most powerful force in Menzoberranzan. Like all drow women, Triel attended Arach-Tinilith at the Academy to learn to be a priestess. Due to her House Baenre's power and Triel's natural skill, she became the Mistress Mother of Arach-Tinilith.
Triel helped with several of her mother's schemes. During Yvonnel's attempts to set up a situation where she would be allowed to unite the city and attack the dwarven city of Mithral Hall, Triel manipulated Vierna Do'Urden and Jarlaxle (the leader of the mercenary group Bregan D'aerth) into attacking Mithral in search of traitor drow Drizzt Do'Urden. After their defeat, Yvonnel Baenre had an excuse to attack the place she had hoped to conquer for so long.
Triel continued to help her mother unite the city, and during the Time of Troubles, when the priestesses were cut off from Lolth, she tried to help maintain control over the city. Eventually, Yvonnel set of to conquer Mithral Hall with a massive army of all of the Houses in the city, and left Triel to rule the house while she was invading. Unfortunately for them, the conquest was a disaster and Yvonnel was killed. With her mother gone, Triel ascended to Matron Mother of House Baenre.
Matron Mother Baenre[]
As Matron Mother, Triel had trouble dealing with her city, with many houses thinking that this was a good time to make a play for power, since the woman who had kept them all in line was dead. Nevertheless, Triel was able to ensure that House Baenre remained the most powerful house. At some point around this time, she slept with a demon named Belshazu and gave birth to a half-demon son named Jeggred Baenre, who became her bodyguard.
Triels brother, Gromph, became her closest advisor during this time. However, at some point Triel was ordered by Lolth to cast a ritual to bring her sister Quenthel Baenre, who had been killed during the attack on Mithral Hall, back to life. The ritual succeeded and Quenthel became Triel's other closest advisor. The family covered up evidence of her ever having been dead.
About three years after her rise to power, Triel announced the "Peace of Lolth", when none of the drow were able to betray each. This didn't last a very long time.
The Silence of Lolth[]
Triel faced her first challenge during the "Silence of Lolth" when the spider queen mysteriously stopped answering her priestess's prayers. Although Triel tried to keep it secret, word got out. Eventually a slave revolt broke out lead by the alhoon Syrzan who hoped to monopolize on the drow's weakness and take the city for himself. The revolt was crushed, but the Menzoberranzan was left weakened. It was then that Triel sent out a small group (which included Quenthel) to the neighboring city of Ched Nasad to try and discover the reason for Lolth's silence.
Triel faced another obstacle during the "Siege of Menzoberranzan". When an army of duegar from a nearby city and an army of demons known as the Scoured Legion attacked Menzoberranzan. They were pushed back at first but continued to siege the city. At one point, an assassin was sent to murder Triel. He was captured and interrogated him, discovering that he worked for an organization known as Jaezred Chaulssin, who were the masterminds behind the siege. She then discovered that he had had a delayed fireball cast inside of him. Triel barely managed to survive the subsequent explosion with the protective magic of her mother's throne.
Gromph temporarily disappeared, and when he returned, he claimed that House Agrach Dyrr was secretly working Jaezred Chaulssin, and set out to defeat their powerful Defacto leader Lichdrow Dyrr. During the subsequent battle, the two magic users let out all the power they had, destroying much of the city. While watching this spectacle, Triel regained her Lolth-given powers and briefly helped her brother when it seemed he was about to die, before telling him killing the lich was his job. Eventually Gromph won and the army sieging the city retreated upon discovering that Lolth had returned. While Gromph went to destroy the lich's phylactery, Triel took over House Agrach Dyrr as a vasal of House Baenre.
Death[]
Despite her success during the Silence of Lolth, Triel was murdered by her sister about ten years later in a play for power.
Powers and Abilities[]
Triel was an adept cleric of Lolth, and also had a magic wand she used to polymorph. Although as strong a fighter as her sister, she had a brain for politics, and was quite manipulative and crafty.
Trivia[]
- Triel's reign as Matron Mother only lasted about 25 years, making it one of the shortest reigns of any known drow matron mother, second only to Briza Do'Urden.
External Links[]
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The Legend of Drizzt Villains | ||
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