Talosthra

Demographics
Government Theocracy

Population: Sparsely populated by mostly dark elves. Also dwarven quarter. Underground city build mainly with black stone that intervenes with metal vines. It serves both as decorations and empower the structures. Lit by the purple crystals and patrolled by the shadow dragons as well as multiple minions from house Haled like Minotaur. The Drow aren't worshiping Loth. They exabit a softer version the common Drow mentality, Still cynical and backstabby but also willing to negotiate and trade. Especially because they are vastly outnumbered now so it's in their best interest.

The elves of Talostra were involved in centuries old battle against demons streaming some somewhere bellow in the Grimdark and destroying everything in their path. They have made a pact with a powerful devil demanding many sacrifices for his protection which caused them to raid the surface looking for them. They also made quite a bit of sacrifices from their own people in the cases where they could not fulfil the quota. The demon assaults lessened as the demon gate was closed by explorers from the surface which made them cut the ties to the devil. Leaving it quite unsatisfied. They were unprepared for the second wave of demons that came when the portal was opened once again for a short time. They managed to deflect the attack and scutter the assaulting forces (remnants of whom now roam the Grimdark) but at a great cost. The population decimated and only around 10% of the drow still live. Still, not ones to care for the loss of others they, using their magics, begin the process of accelerated recovery. This is one of the reasons they are currently act as "Good neighbors". They aren't in a position to start another war.

The church of shadows:

 * The church is the main ruling body in the city comprised of priestesses from all the different houses.
 * When committing to the church, one must relinquish all titles and previous obligations.
 * Ylaya: Elderly, Female Drow with ankle length hair and wears something like a dress made of very thin and flexible metal. Sorceress with at least 5th level spells (including teleportation circle and tongues). Title is 'Keeper of the Law' and was the drow who spoke with Chotek.
 * Mirial Ambershade: Female Drow. High ranking Priestess. Would not object to the title 'Keeper of the Law'. Might take some actions to make it a reality. Comes originally from house Seishen.

Great Houses:

 * House Haled (read: Ha-led). The house of stone. Known for its administrators and architects. A lot of the cities mid-tier bureaucrats come from this house and it controls vast amount of the "human resources" - the slaves and the occasional summoned creature.
 * House Seishen (read: Say-shen). The house of arrows. Known for good training for soldiers and occasional mercenaries. Very lawful and respect contracts.
 * Beiro: Head Servant of the house. Chief administrator. Talks in a really slow voice that makes people think he finished talking before he actually did.
 * Nivara Ambershade: Female Drow. Blood Witch. "Dates" with Mitch. Powerful spellcaster - which is quite rare in house Seishen.
 * House Illgathrel (read: Ill-gut-rel). The house of the tome. Small house but can be very influential when he wants to. Known for the unseal amount of spellcasters belonging to it. See: The Academy. Sometimes gets in conflict with house Haled over its summoning rituals.
 * House Thraalsin (read: Tra-al-sin). The house of the Chalice. Inside the house walls they call themselves the house of Shadows, a nickname that isn't liked by the other houses as all drow feel affinity to shadows. Known for its spies and intrigue. Not liked by any other house but very much valued for the information they provide. Houses acting against house Traalsin quickly find their deepest secrets revealed to their enemies.

The Academy:



 * Supposedly independent and doesn't favor any house in particular.
 * All the houses send their promising students to study magic here.
 * In practice, isn't neutral at all. Because of the sheer amount of skilled spellcasters from house Illgathrel, most of the high ranking members belong to that house.
 * Houses acting against house Illgathrel quickly find themselves without any magical support as their students suddenly fail even basic tasks and get confined to the academy while the more influential wizards develop "headaches".
 * Image inspiration. Obviously built with the Talostra build style, but contains multiple towers interconnected with small bridges and openings.

The Dwarven Quarter:

 * One of the abandoned quarters after the war was populated by the dwarfs that have rebuilt the walls and the outer city.
 * Some of the builders decide to stay long-term. This raised a few highbrows but they were allowed to stay with the influence from three of the four houses who viewed them as a potential way to undercut house Haled.
 * Contains the Kenkodeh embassy. The Ambassador, Kiggat Ironheart. Elder dwarf that charities the connections between Kenkodeh and its allies. Not too religious. Inspiration for his look (but obviously not duragar)
 * The Dwarven boy, only 44 years old, by the name Ocean is sent to various tasks. Has family in Kenkodeh.

Notes:

 * A lot of abandoned houses after the demon outbreak incident. Cheap real estate.
 * While the houses fight over influence and try to outpace each other, Drow life is valued and assassinations aren't common.
 * Dwarfs from Kenkodeh are rebuilding the walls and the defenses that were brought down in the demon attack.
 * Some are living in the abandoned houses while working. Might(?) want to stay after they are done.
 * An Emmesy from Dedon is being built in one of the abandoned quarters, and some trade started coming from outside.
 * The Drow are looking for lost lore in the Grimdark.
 * Adventures that come here as part of a quest can buy Mithril armor here (Part of the quest reward).
 * Price: 3x Normal price of non-Mithril Armor?
 * They do not use any commonly known language. I'd suggest they normally know Grimcommon and might also speak a different dialect of Elven - might have some words mean similar things and would speak haltingly, but probably could communicate.
 * They worship 2 deities: Asha (LN; Birth, Death, Rebirth, Fate) and Malassa (CN; Darkness, Shadow; Keeper of Hidden Secrets) They never name the deities to foreigners, referring to them only as Shadows and Gleam.
 * Allied creatures: Minotaurs, shadow dragons. Domesticated combative creatures: giant lizards, hydras