The War of Zeanel's Pleasure erupted in 2'702 b. OW when Priestess Zeanel Dear'Clith left Gezneth for Sunell. The two citadels fought in various locations, eventually exhausting their resources and agreed to an unspoken end of open fighting. It was one of the greatest drow wars.

History

Zeanel was a successful daughter of the Gezznyr House Dear'Clith. She was due to survive the Ritual of Darkness with flying colors and become a new head priestess; however, the night before her initiation, she fled her house, with the help of a male Sunnyr slave. She traveled to Sunell, where the Ritual of Darkness did not exist, and received the protection of the First House De'Marno.

Declaration of War

Matron Dear'Clith, outraged at her daughter's flight, demanded the extradition of Zeanel. De'Marno refused, and nothing more happened for a few weeks. During this time, Dear'Clith pushed the citadel of Gezneth to unite for war, succeeding primarily because Lolth supported their decision. Meanwhile, individual Sunnyr houses reinforced their defenses, but did not unite or prepare for full-on war.

A forward army, constituted primarily of lizard riders of House Dear'Clith and reinforced by some Sun'Saal wizards, moved out and travelled all the way south, raiding a fungal farm outside of the citadel and capturing numerous slaves, including a dozen surface elves and two female Sunnyr. A fraction of this force continued on and tried to raid the city proper, but was defeated.

Open War

House De'Marno, strongly using the charisma and symbolism of Zeanel, managed to unite the Sunell houses to face their stronger common enemy. The citadel raised a force of 3'000 fighters, with many more slave infantry, some driders, and about 60 warcasters (priestesses and wizards). They marched northwards, setting up camp near Peakhole, a trading post that was important to Gezneth. Soon afterwards, a larger Gezznyr army clashed with them, fighting for days on end in larger caverns and twisting tunnels. Both armies suffered horribly and eventually had to retreat.

During this time, both citadels mounted smaller groups of warriors - on average about 30 strong - and sent them out along circuitous routes to raid citadel outskirts and capture those they could. Equipping these forces with top-of-the line magical gear, and especially the ravages that enemy forces caused, greatly sapped both sides' resources, although Sunell managed to hold their own against their more powerful enemy.

The Greanzziul'eanoe Raid, 2'684. A famous example of this raid warfare was when a dozen Silver Web guards, the elite force of Gezznyr House Meerne, marched the 1'000 kilometers south to Sunell. They managed to penetrate the citadel and even enter the throne room of House De'Marno, where they attacked the matron and her arms master. They managed to severely wound the matron mother, and to cause an explosion in a storage area, damaging foodstuffs.

Political Developments

There was no possibility of compromise between the citadels. However, in Gezneth, unity and the authority of Dear'Clith was failing. The houses felt that they weren't getting any profits out of the fighting, and Lolth had gone silent. Multiple open civil wars between lesser houses erupted, and some matron mothers of even the ruling ones were exchanged, including of House Dear'Clith itself. The new matrons were rather unwilling to invest much in the war.

In Sunell, the coalition - despite the great costs of the raids - still stood strong. They had to remain united to survive. Zeanel's authority, despite some efforts by De'Marno, had grown to the point where she was treated as a Sunnyr matron mother, despite having no house. When Matron De'Marno was wounded, Zeanel took profit of the situation, claiming the support of four other major houses. The entire De'Marno nobility died mysteriously, and Zeanel as the house's most powerful priestess became its new matron. She also took complete control over a strengthened coalition, getting rid of two of her allies in the process.

End of the War

Although neither side could claim a victory, both had come to the point where continuing to fight was pointless. The Dear'Clith nobles who had wanted Zeanel back were gone, and Gezneth had no wish to go on; Sunell had no peeves anyway. Thus, both sides stopped sending raiding groups, but they also didn't officially end the war, because neither wanted to show themselves as the "losers" for suggesting a "surrender".

Aftermath

The foreign politics in the drow world for the next centuries were marked by the hostility of the two citadels. Initially, both maintained high alerts and kept large guard forces on the outskirts, because they couldn't be sure the other side would stop sending raiders. Even afterwards, trade did not reemerge, and tensions remained so high that merchant guards that came across each other would quickly escalate into brawls. The citadel Zann'Elth, which was of comparable power to Gezneth but located much closer to Sunell, took the Sunnyr side in the affair primarily out of economic reasons, drawing the ire of the Gezznyr. Thus emerged a polarization of Khali society between north and south.

In Gezneth, the war's immediate aftermath was marked by political instability, a lack of political and leadership skills among the elite, and increased militarization and inter-house feuds. In Sunell, Zeanel managed to build a tyranny under her rule, which was relatively prosperous and allowed the city to rebuild quickly.

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