History of Shadowdale - The Fall of Azmaer, Last Drow Marshall of the Twisted
Tower:
The drow rule of Shadowdale lasted until the early 900s Dale Reckoning, when the
increased human population in the area brought the dark elves into conflict with
their now more numerous neighbors. The humans were the Dalesmen who a millennium
earlier had crossed the Dragon Reach and made peace with the elves of Myth
Drannor, settling at the borders of the great woods that was the elven home. The
drow soon found themselves under continual attack, and most of those who held
overground settlements retreated back below. The last powerful drow leader was
Azmaer, the marshall of the Twisted Tower in its last drow-held days. Azmaer
oversaw the last retreat of the drow holdings in the face of a human uprising,
and held the citadel against a year-long siege. With supplies and slaves brought
up from the Underdark directly into the tower, the drow could have conceivably
held out forever; however, a human slave (family histories in the Dales indicate
a number of possible individuals) poisoned the well in the Tower and the citadel
was easily overrun. Azmaer's body was not found among the dead, leading some to
believe that he escaped back into the depths to rejoin his people. Noting the
fact that he would have had to explain to his matriarch how he lost Shadowdale,
it is much more likely that, should Azmaer have survived, he went into voluntary
exile, hiding from both human and drow. Given that this occurred only 400 years
ago, it is certainly possible that Azmaer still lives.