The Nethren are a deep-cavern people whose culture of chosen names and remembered ancestry grew from generations of Drow enslavement.
People of the deep caverns
The Nethren are native to the caverns surrounding Stillreach. They have colourless or stone-grey skin, large dark eyes and a strong sensitivity to vibration that helps them navigate passages where light and distance have become unreliable.
Names reclaimed
For much of their recorded history, Drow families held the Nethren as miners, porters and servants within the old fort. Their captors enforced slavery not only through violence but by destroying family names and settlement histories.
Modern Nethren culture therefore places exceptional importance upon chosen names, remembered ancestry and every person's right to describe their own life. To take away a name is to begin the work of ownership; to choose one is an act of freedom.
Stillreach
Their liberation by Gorran Chainbreaker led to the founding of Stillreach. Although the Nethren are its largest people, they have never claimed sole ownership of it. A sanctuary built by freed people, they argue, ceases to be one the moment it decides freedom belongs only to its founders.
Notes and record
This article combines campaign record, spoken lore and the mythic account preserved in the Earin archive.