Matron of the spider temple

The matron of the spider temple is a drow woman of the Sürgün Günlükleri ("Exile Chronicles") campaign whose name is not given. Ephorus told his friends that she is his grandmother on his mother's side and the matron of his house.¹

The vision

After a spider's bite Ephorus fell into a sleep or vision. He saw a temple with a spider-shaped necklace on its pedestal, a woman bearing marks like a holy sign, the bodies of sacrificed victims, some of them faces he knew, and a giant spider moving to her side.^{2 1}

The woman claimed that she had saved his soul and asked him to bring her the necklace the dwarves would give him. She called it a religious object of meaning only to the drow, without magical power. In return she offered him power, the safety of his friends and an end to the war, and promised to leave his soul in peace; if he refused, she would have him brought to her alive and would hurt his friends and their families. Ephorus believed himself beyond saving and left the choice to his friends, who had loved ones to lose; they answered that she might be lying and that another way might be found for his soul.^{3 4 5 6}

The necklace itself turned out to hold a will of its own, which Ephorus felt was not her voice; see Spider Queen necklace.⁷

An old enemy of the Empire

An imperial spymaster told the companions that this matron had once killed a friend of his, and asked that, when she died, someone whisper in her ear a reminder of the danger of thoughtless bargains.⁸

Spoiler: An old crimeRevealSpoils: Sürgün Günlükleri #45 · Say what you have read

It was later said that the matron, Ephorus's grandmother, had killed the old emperor, and that the Empire's secret operation was meant to finish his campaign.⁹

Spoiler: The templeRevealSpoils: Sürgün Günlükleri #44; Sürgün Günlükleri #45 · Say what you have read

As part of the Imperial operation against the drow cities, the company was sent against her. Wings of light closed around them and opened in the very temple of Ephorus's vision, with its empty pedestal and four pillars bearing great purple seals. The matron was there, wounded but alive, with a bloodied knife beside the body of a slain drow and the giant spider behind her.^{10 11 12}

She fought with her knife while the spider bound and burned the company with its webs. A heavy blow brought her to her knees screaming but did not kill her; after a feint, a piercing strike ended her life, and the fight with the spider went on. On their return the companions reported that they had killed her.^{13 14 15 16}