Zann'Elth was the second-largest Khali drow city in the Caverealm, and the largest after the Orc Wars. It was located underneath Crungia in the Colupan Archipelago, around 1'000 kilometers south-southeast of Gezneth.

History

After the drow retreat underground from the Elvish Wars and the ensuing Recreance, a dispute between the survivors as to what should be done next - likely provoked by Lolth herself - emerged. Eventually, the major houses and most of the survivors decided to move north, eventually founding the citadel of Gezneth. A large group of others, meanwhile, led by House Mal'Maen, went south.

They reached an expansive and complicated network of tunnels, most of which were about 20 meters in diameter. They decided to use this interesting location to build their new citadel, which they named Zann'Elth, after the matron of Mal'Maen. The initial years were rather tumultuous, with the settlers facing various unknown dangers, a lack of food, and infighting. A daughter of Mal'Maen, and her allies of House De'Marno, fought a quick civil war against the others, then left on mutual accord to found a new city, Sunell.

Zann'Elth grew to become a huge city, albeit one that suffered from a lack of unity due to the twisting corridors. Most notably, it did not have a council of matrons. Still, the city's trade power grew unequaled, and it entertained relations with much of the southern Caverealm. Most of the time, the city entertained amicable relations with neighboring Sunell. It was neutral to Gezneth until Zeanel's Pleasure, after which it grew hostile.

The Tyranaen period from 2'250 shook the very foundations of the citadel, introducing authoritarian rule of a female drow. The city grew much more militaristic and expansionist, conquering various outposts in its surroundings and fighting multiple war against neighboring Caverealm civilizations.

During the Orc Wars, Zann'Elth cooperated with the Bonebreakers, fighting some of its Caverealm enemies in exchange for surface outposts and numerous slaves. Relatively quickly, however, it allied with Trensandor and Tsseh, a Caverealm yuan-ti kingdom, turning against the orcs. The city managed to gain vast expanses of land in the western Caverealm, although it lost its surface territory - except that held by Tsseh - after the fall of the Bonebreakers.

Thereafter, the Tyrana was by far the most powerful drow, shadowing even Gezneth in numbers and military power.

Society

4'146 - 2'250 b. OW, Council of Merchant-Masters

Zann'Elth was a unique citadel because it was not "ruled" by a council of the most powerful matrons. This was impossible because the twisting corridors that constituted the city separated them too much to even find a common meeting place. Instead, each house had a chosen merchant-master, a male noble who oversaw the house's mercantile interests outside the house. These men held an "informal" council of the twelve most prominent merchant-masters, setting the city's common domestic and foreign policies. Its power was limited because it did not have much control over individual houses, and because many merchants went on private undertakings, but it was able to reap in great fruits for the city.

2'250, Tyranaen

The citadel was united by a single very ambitious drow, Suezza Mal'Maen, in 2'250. She established a new political system, the Tyranaen, that endured the centuries and eventually enabled Zann'Elth to become the head of a drow empire.