To rule Menzoberranzan

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Obak
Maid
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To rule Menzoberranzan

Post by Obak »

Hello.

Our group have set out to play a mastodonic campaign centered around menzoberranzan, our DM plan to take this up to epic levels so from the beginning I set out to create a character with equally fitting ambitions, to become the absolute ruler of Menzoberranzan (and turn it into a decadent, imperialistic late roman republic type of state). My friends seem to be up to the task, my DM horrified and amused but by no mean adamantly opposed.
Question is, how would one accomplish this monumental task? Feed me your ideas.
My character is a drow male psion telepath thats going into thrall-herd, he have been gone from menzoberranzan for about 120 years and recently returned when acompanying Hardrog Prohl (from the Menzoberranzan adventure, no spoilers!).
Before you answer: "It's impossible" or any variant there off is not an answer I am looking for, so please be more flexible if you bother to reply at all.
Bhaern Quel
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Re: To rule Menzoberranzan

Post by Bhaern Quel »

Well it does indeed sound a large task.

The first thing I expect you need to do is remove Lolth's influence. Not kill the deity, however cause the Worship of Lolth to be a minor religion as opposed to the major one of the city.

You clearly would need to take out the current House structure of rule.

This might be done by aiding minor Houses to take out the more powerful Houses with and agreement with those Houses of oath of loyalty to your character. The basic rule of House Wars is one House vs. one House and No House can be attacked too often, that is after a House War those Houses are not to be attacked for at least one as I recall.

Break this rule. First get the major Houses to battle each other with out your factions being involved in them, you could however do the lessor Houses as needed. If you develop enough coalition of the lessor Houses great enough to equal the power of the Leading House (Or at least one of the top four), then it is time for your move. Wait for the target House to have won a House war for maybe a few weeks (in stead of the year) and attack with combined forces.

You must win this battle and take over the House. You must still have enough power to be able to take on another Major House with good assurance that you can win such a battle.

Then you start to make deals, you offer a Major House a share of power as opposed to attack if they combine forces with yours. With the combined forces you then cut lessors deals of power sharing with the other Houses. Making your Senate for rule of the City. Maintaining the right to act against any House.

One other thing that you should do, in fact likely should start with is a city Guard loyal only to you (Your Legions of Troops) that until you gain control of a Major House must remain covert and Hidden. They should be made of of all Houses and merchant guilds.

The Legions shall become your police force to put down any rebellion or even House wars after the Senate is founded.

You need both diplomacy and a military force to maintain rule should you achieve it.
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Irennan
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Re: To rule Menzoberranzan

Post by Irennan »

You should ignite a revolution, and in Menzoberranzan it could start from those who are called ''free drow'', i.e. the common people. They definitely are not happy with their current situation, forced into their status by a stagnating social system, probably lacking food or other fundamental resources (due to their scarcity of the Underdark), hunted *for sport* by the nobles.

Drow have been brainwashed by centuries of dogma (and backstabbing), they are told since their birth that they must kill or be killed, dominate or be dominated, and everything around them (their nonsensical society) shows that it is actually true, leading them down the ''path of evil'' (because they are forced to ''do evil'' if they want to survive, and because any attempt to dissent is punished with tourture and death).

Furthermore, they are brainwashed into believing that the individual has no intirinsical value, that ''status'' and ''power'' are the only things that matter and can make a person matter, and that they can only be acquired through the favor of the goddess. They are told that joy, love and other good things in life are ''weakness'', and are forced to live a joyless, choice-less, ugly life, with no development or possibility of self-fulfillment whatsoever beyond ''you must kill other people and get teh powah''. For example most drow have their life chosen without having a say on it, because Lolth's dogma says that they have to become X.

However, they suffer for that, as no being wants to live such a kind of life, and this is even more valid for ''free drow'', as they get all the worst parts out of Lolth's tyranny, without getting the privileges of nobility. This state of unsatisfaction is what you should use to destroy the House system and Lolth's worship.

Going away from all of this would however make the drow look at reality through a different perspective and lead them to make different choices. The trick is showing to the drow the existence of something different, to make them look through a different perspective. You should inject new ideas, and show and prove with results that they can actually lead to a better life. They would spread, some people would recognize them for their value, embrace and support them, band together and work/fight to achieve something for them or their race -- it's the need to improve one's own condition that all beings have (and it's why lolthite society tries to shut down anything that could do that).

How to do that? You should have some sort of force/organization, to begin with, and keep it secret at the beginning, being ware of spies. You should do two things at the same time.

1)starting to spread ideas on how Lolth has only killed the potential of the drow people: any kind of development, progress in terms of magic, arts and anything that could improve the drow's quality of life and odds at success, has been shut down by the dogma of Lolth, abandoned in favor of pointless backstabbing that has brought the drow from their older glory (of the kingdoms of Ilythiir and Miyeritar, under the lead of Vhaeraun and Eilistraee, respectively) to stagnating in cages underground, unable to choose their life and hunted like beasts by surface races and other underdark dwellers as soon as they dare to step out of them. Basically you should higlight the crappy kind of life that the drow are forced to live by Lolth and her houses, and how the dark elves are merely expendable puppets to her.

2)On the other side, you should offer the free drow protection from hunting nobles, helping them, bringing them food, cures, whatever they might need, showing that you have the capacities to protect/feed and take care of those who want to change the situation. Basically you should establish a relationship of dependance (initially) that should become of trust with time passing. You could also start spreading panic among the Lolthite ranks, via targeted assassinations and sabotages. You could even dare bigger assaults at some point. You should also prepare tools, spies, ''warriors'' and terrain for eventual reprisals, both small and large scale. Obviously, this would require quite a lot of resources.

In any ''realistic'' context, if you *prove* with facts that you can deal with the situation, a lot of free drow *will* join you, because -as I said- no one with half a brain is satisfied with their kind of life.

You could bring in, ally with, and use the resources available to the followers of Eilistraee and Vhaeraun. Because: 1)they may easily get you more drow wanting to join a rebellion 2)once you have your rebellion, you have to make it succeed, and more forces are always welcome, especially priestesses, magic users and so on.

Vhaerunites would be excellent allies when it comes to assassination and sabotage, or espionage. They even have infiltrators within the Lolthite ranks, with their traitor masks (priestesses of Lolth who made a deal with Vhaeraun).

Eilistraeens are really good at aiding people, as it is what they do to bring drow away from the Underdark and Lolth. They could protect the rebellious drow, bring cures, food and so on. Besides they may also bring their help in opening the drow's eyes and hearts to a different life.
In fact, Eilistraee knows that she needs to make the drow understand that there's an alternative, that the life she wishes for them is possible. She and her followers accomplish that by caring about them, giving them the kindness, acceptance --even love-- that they were denied, by 'being at their side' and helping them when they need it, and showing them the joy of life and happiness that was taken from them. Basically they do so to prove to the drow that they do have a choice and that it would lead to a way better and happier life. In fact, as per Ed Greenwood's -her creator- words, she takes ther role of a mother-goddess for all drow, who fights to provide a concrete alternative to ''her children'', to help them in making this choice, to grow and flourish as a people in a world hostile to them.

However, given your intention to turn Menzo into a decadent Rome rules by you, their influence on the ideals of the drow wouldn't be really fitting for your purpose, so you might want to be careful with them, if you want their help.

Actually, In case you brought them in, you would have to somehow deceive followers of both deities, as they wouldn't be very keen to bring down a tyranny just to let another rise in its place (yes, even Vhaeraun, as he ,despite being ''evil'', also stands for rebellion).
Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things.
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