Update November 2009: Crane has become married and has two children... will need to fill in details. It should go without saying characters are three years older.

Update July 2006: Every one is two years older. The House has grown in size and members. The House has expanded its control to include a lava cavern and a surface farm. Further Bhaern and Valalia (Billea's assistant) have brought Eilistraee's mesage to a Drow Enclave. With some lose of life worship of Lolth has been banished from the island.

There are children concieved as well some of note include.

Bhaern and Vlos Darthic (queen of the Enclave)
Bhaern and Peacock (leader of the gypsy clan allied with the House)
Jar'harith and Vlos (daughter of the Queen)
Crane and Ketziah Fawnn (a human shapeshifter)
Crane and Clea

New people in House:

Lorea (adopted daughter of Bhaern) A gnome has  become a Priestess of the Dark Maiden.
Haminold a Drow archer that spends much time teaching children also somewhat involved with JeaRea.

I am sure I missed some details and some names might be typed incorrectly. Hopefully next update will be sooner though had some problems this time as well with ability to login to forturecity.
 End Update.

Update April 2004: It has been at least five years since the last update, in part because for some years fortunecity system prevented me from loging in. The page needs some edit work however the highlights are all members of House are at least 5 years older. That Billea has been also risen to the rank of Mistress and thus a member of the council. When I have more time will work on this page. End April 2004 Update.

The House of Quel, A house of some rank was attacked and almost destroyed by a rival house,the remains of a House war, begins to grow again. There have been loses including Bhaern's younger sister, the retainers of the House scattered. For 30 years Bhaern had traveled alone, living by his Blade and his skills.

The last several months after coming nearer to the surface, he had found House members and made friends, some new and some that remained from the House.

The house has allies.

Peacock and her gypsy clan.
House Saj, the alliance made by Mellissa Saj.

The House is well supplied, the house is prepared well for attacks or parties. In addition to the people living in the house, though the efforts of Kazzon and Ericea, 2 sheep, 2 cattle, several chickens and 17 riding lizards and 3 pack lizards. Which all have increased in numbers as the months pass.
Zanna has brought 12 rothe, that also add to the house and have increased in numbers.

Kazzon and Ericea have in addition found a Silver Wolf cub, now name T'lar and growing larger, that seems to respond to Kazzon the best, Ericea well. T' lar has at times growled at the house guards and likes to chase chickens the lizzards and him seem not to get along all that well.

Butterfly had her 11th birthday party and fun was had by all (perhaps most *G*).

As the word has begun to spread, that House Quel still survives several in number, remembering their bonds have joined the House, taking up their duties of before be it warrior, mage, thief or priest, 19 in number were in the second wave, many more have come since as the House rebuilds.

Quell Household
A History of the stronghold

The History of the Quell Household is very interesting. It seems that it dates back to the days when the Drow were original Surface Elves. This place was one of the first strongholds that were created as many Drow began the decent into the Darkness of the Underdark. It was used by one of the First Houses when they went Under. Its location is closer to the Surface then any other stronghold ever found. There are Many Rooms but relatively Few in number when compared to the Modern Day Drow Houses. Granted the Rooms themselves are large space and size wise but there are fewer of them.

There are three levels. First is the entrance floor that houses the main group of fighters and lower hall servants. The second floor is more public and also has guestrooms along with the temple located on it. The last floor, third holds the Family quarters, there are rooms for permanent guest and older children that become adults and therefore too old to live in the children's quarters with the family. Below all three is the area that has the forge and stables for the stronghold. Along with the Pens for the herd animals.

The Stronghold was abandoned for some unknown reason. If any itemshad been left they have long since succumbed to age, theft or other creatures of the underdark. When found by Zannatasha Nightrunner and Bhaern Quel of the House Quel it was infested with underdark rats. Needless to say, it took some time for it to be cleared.

As time has passed Zanna grows with child, the complex has become filled with more of the house the animals multiplying.

The Current House Rank in the House Quel is That of:
Bhaern being Head of the House, an uncommon thing. In surface terms he is the Lord of the House, there is no Matron Mother.

The next in Rank of about equal status or rank are three, though serving in different roles are Ranked Mistress (a title) Zannatassia, Kazzon and Jehelem These three serve as council to Bhaern and each other and have the right to command any other of the House Quel, from the Captain of the guard to the lowest animal handler.

The third tier of Rank, though in many ways not as equal, servants and mages less valued then Priestess and guards are, in importance,
Billea, Priestess of Eilstraee.
Jar'harith, Captain of House Guard.
Ericea, House mage and in charge of Animal Care.
Jhear, House Steward.

It has been said, those of the light, and those of the dark have been foe's from the creation of time. This is not so in the case of the Drow/Elves.

Many centuries ago all elves lived together in the upper world. Over the course of a few years, one group of elves dared to challenge the oppressive regime held over all by the Grey elves. These brave souls were the drow. Strong in combat, but not well versed in magic, they strove to achieve freedom even though the oppressive Grey elves were the strongest magicians in the world. The drow were beginning to be victorious over the selfish Grey elves, when the traitorous High elves and the Sylvan elves struck the valiant drow by surpass. They had joined the repressive Greys for the promise of wealth and the drowish lands. The drow fought on, even though they now had no chance of victory.

The drow leaders decided that the struggle must continue, but that it was lost for the present. So it was decided that one hundred of the bravest warriors would cover the retreat of the drow. The warriors slew thousands of the Grey's forces while the remnants of the drow elves retreated to the only place safe from the repressors, the dark underworld. The valiant one hundred fought on until the vast number of Greys overwhelmed them. But they succeeded in their mission, and the drowish race was saved. They survived by learning from the underground denizens, where to get water, how to grow the fungal crops that grew in this lightless realm. And slowly, ever so slowly, they began to change.

They began to adapt to this new world, developing a darker skin color, and more powerful visual capacities. Also they began to learn new magical lore, becoming as strong, if not stronger than their Grey elf oppressors. And they became friends with the giant spider races that lived in this underworld. But their new home also provided them with new enemies. The Ithillids (known to surface dwellers as Mind Flayers) lived in the same caverns as the drow, but they were of an evil bent. The Illithids were cruel and placed no value on intelligent life. They hunted the drow through the caverns, but the drow refused to flee from their new home. They fought a century long war, with the drow finally forcing the Illithids to flee.

The drow now had all the power they had ever desired, they were masters of magic, they were powerful warriors, and they had new allies. They had kept alive the knowledge of their glorious struggle against the Grey elves, and some drow leaders were in favor of winning the struggle. But it was finally decided that they had no use of the upper world anymore, and that they were already free.

Drow Life

At a very young age, drow are brought up learning how to obtain power and wealth through hate and greed. These incarnations of hate range from jealousy to betrayal. In a world where you can't even trust your own blood, what else is left?

Male drow, when they are born, have the chance of being slaughtered before they are even a day old, because of the Lloth appeasing ritual of sacrificing the third born son in a Drow House. If they are chosen to live, they are forced down one of two roads. First, a male drow can become a fighter and is trained from the moment they are able to hold a weapon, becoming the feared drow warrior. Another path involves the art of wizardry. Becoming a mage is actually quite common for drow males, considering they are inherently more magical than females and they are already equipped with the intelligence and the innate magical powers of the drow. Again, they are trained as soon as they can make coherent speech. Either road the drow male travels, it is not of their choosing. The decision is made by the ruling matron mother, which always is for the furtherment of their house in Lloth's favor.

Female children, on the other hand, are given some choice. Since the drow support a truly matriarchal society, this only seems fit. They are destined from birth into the service of Lloth as one of her all-powerful priestesses and are sent to Arach Tinilith to learn to serve Her. If the child is not seen fit to serve Lloth, the Spider Queen, then she is given some, although not much, choice in what she is to become. These women are extremely rare, considering that almost anybody can do the treacherous work of the Spider Queen.

There are two different social classes in drow life. First are the merchants. These clans according to the priestesses of Lloth, are relatively overlooked, although these clans actually keep the other social groups alive. How could one survive without valuable supplies needed from places other than the Underdark? Dealings with the surface world are considered demeaning and are beneath the noble houses (unless they send a raiding party to slaughter everything, it doesn't seem worth it). The nobles make up the second group. The noble houses have, by far, the best deal out of the two social groupings. Noble houses support more power, which is the lifeblood of drow life. Life in the Underdark almost completely revolves around what the noble houses seek to accomplish (not to mention Lloth's favor).

Station is the most important aspect of the drow noble houses. Station is the most impotent thing in all drow life. It is the hierarchy in which power is distributed. Each elf, from the Matron Mother of the first house to the lowly asset in the last merchant house has a certain amount of station. We would call it, in our world, authority. The main goal in drow life is to achieve more station (and thereby gain the favor of Lloth). The primary tool to gain station is retirement (assassination). Brothers will try to kill each other as long as a higher station is achieved in the process. Lloth promotes this system, because of the fact the weak are weeded out of the populace and She is also a goddess of chaos. What better way to cause chaos than to kill a superior and promote anarchy?

Talk about justice???? Justice is just a pretense to avoid open warfare.

Bhaern Quel / M / Fighter-Thief / 13/16 / 70 / 175 / 68 / 101 / -4 / Blacksmithing, Set Snares, Appraising, Armorer, Herbalism, Swimming, IF
Greatly caring for Zanna and newborn son. Continues to lead the House

Billea / F / Priestess / 7 / 45 / 118 / 52 / 82 / 1 / Carpentry, Musical Instruments, Religion, Singing, Herbalism, IF
She and her assistant have provided healing to many of the House and their skills grow. Both follow the Dark Maiden.

Clea / F / Warrior Guard / 6 / 61 / 119 / 55 / 85 / -3 / Bowery-Fetcher, Fishing, Riding (Landbased), Weaponsmith, IF
Third in command of guards has 4 officers under her direct command

Crane / M / Warrior Servant / 6 / 49 / 113 / 63 / 106 / 2 / Agriculture, Artistic Ability, Brewing, Fire Building, Pottery, Stone Mason, IF
As head servant of dealing with mundane aspects of the house he has 3 team leaders assigned to him, to specific needs of the House, he reports to Jhear, Bhaern and the three Mistresses of House Quel

Ericea / M / Mage / 8 / 26 / 123 / 65 / 111 / 2 / Animal Handling, Animal Training, Riding, Spellcraft, Healing, IF.
He has been spending some time working with Kazzon with the animals and has been given much of her trust. The two have become closer, as Kazzon speaks of dreams that trouble her and now of love. Ericea has a mage assistant in training and also is teaching Kazzon the ways of magic and healing. In addition he is in charge of the animals and their well being. In this capcitity he has 2 team leaders assigned to his orders, guiding and supervising those assigned to the care of animals.

Jar'harith / M / Warrior Guard / 7 / 61 / 120 / 64 / 109 / -1 / Endurance, Hunting, Riding, Rope Use, Survival, IF
Bhaern has appointed him as Captain of the guards, answerable to only Bhaern, Kazzon, Zanna and Jhealean. He has 4 officers assigned directly to him. Very loyal to Bhaern and trusted by Zanna.

JeaRea / F / Warrior Guard / 7 / 56 / 111 / 58 / 87 / -2 / Blacksmithing, Cobbling, Dancing, Engineering, IF
This lady loyal to the House Quel seeks it to have a strong Matron and has offered help to Kazzon to achieve this outcome by offering to arrange the Deaths of Zanna and Butterfly if needed. She has learned dance from Zanna in great part to better learn how to kill if the need comes. Bharrn has appointed her second in command of the guards. She has 4 officers assigned directly to her.

Jhaer / M / Warrior Servant / 7 / 51 / 119 / 60 / 103 / 3 / Cooking, Dancing, Leatherworking, Sewing, Etiquette, Weaving, IF
Buterfly's mind entwined so much with his, is starting to act more and more like a gypsy. A trial separation tried between Jhaer and Butterfly, resulted in her feelings of wanting Jhaer near was felt thoughout most of the house, hopefully quelling some of the discontentment expressed about the amount of time he spends with her. Jhearn is Steward of the house, Crane reports to him, he reports to Zanna and Bhaern when issues arise, due to the closeness of Butterflies and Jhaer the two are vitially unseperateable and sharing deep passions of love.

Butterfly Quel-Kerdyn She wears the traditional clothing of any gypsy girl, and has abilities that are just now coming to light. She is the adopted daughter of Bhaern Quel and Zanna. Butterfly has taken Jhaer as lover with her winning eyes, smile and empathic love, she seems most happy and content when he is near her. She is learning greater control of her empathic abilities.
Age: 11 Hair: Black Eyes: soft Dark brown doe-eyed Height: 4 ft. Weight: 79 pounds Skills: herbalist, sewing, basic wound care, singing, dancing, tapestry making

Zannatasha Nightrunner / F / Fighter / 5 / n/a / 67 / 75 / 139 / 0 / Hunting, IF, Riding Landbased, Animal Lore, Set Snares, Tracking, Swimming, Rope Use
She has become Bhaern's companion and lover. She is Butterfly's adopted mother and mother of Bhaern and her son. Her rank is Mistress her primary duties are in Household management and finances of the House

Kazzon, A ranger that has been befriended by Bhaern, she has achieved much trust from Bhaern and has learned most of the house secrets. Granted the rank of Mistress she has prime duties of oversight of guard and Jar'harith and the oversight of House animals and Ericea, she has in addition has chosen to learn magic from Ericea and has become very close to him.

Kelnar, Younger brother of Bhaern, he has explained that he was busy/distracted at the time of the assault on the old household, since that time had adventured some, before becoming the guest of the Drider. Bhaern rescued him and also lives in the House no responsibilities assigned. A matter of a lack of trust to be assigned duties that protects or serves the House.

Jehelem (Sorrow) Daughter of a High Priestess of Lloth, given protection of the House Quel and valued greatly by Bhaern, She is quiet in nature and possesses magical skills that amaze many, she has provided for the coffers of the house over 7,000 gp. Her Rank is Mistress, has no primary duties though does have authotity over Ericea in reference to asspects of magic. She being somewhat recluse, she continues to aid the House a recent gift made to the House is a doll of magical making that will serve as Zanna's and Bhearn's son's companion and protector.