Karsoulithyl

The beautiful City of Shimmering Webs, Karsoulithyl, is located some leagues to the south of Lith My'athar, built on the ruins of the Dwarven fortress town of Ironhold. It was built as an outpost from which the Dwarves could mount an assault on Lith My'athar and ultimately Zhanduril itself; however, a group of particularly zealous My'athari Ara'yathrin utterly destroyed the Dwarves and razed the fortress. Their leader, Matron Thylara, declared that the Spider Queen commanded them to build a city on the ruins to remain ever vigilant against further incursions by the Dwarves. Thus, Karsoulithyl was born.

Its epithet comes from the city's streets of calcified web, believed to have been spun by Sindrai'el herself as a sign of her favor. It is ruled by a shadowy order of Ara'yathrin known as the Eyes of Sindrai'el, an elite cadre of high priestesses with the ability to shapeshift into spiders; many spend more time in arachnid form than Drow, and think of themselves as more spider than Elf. To be accepted into the Eyes is a great honor for the noble houses, and all of the city's prominent Matron Mothers are also Eyes. Karsoulithyl's ruler, Pellanistra Rilyn'tar, is the grand dame of the Eyes and is quite possibly the most insane Drow alive next to the Dread Lady herself. She is known largely for taking Reverie inside a cocoon and has been known to devour unruly males whilst in her black widow form (though some quietly whisper she had cannibalistic tendencies long before she ever became an Eye).