DROWOF THEUNDERDARK

CONTENTS

Introduction: Drow In The Realms . . 3The Nature of Dark Elves 5Dark Elven Society 13Drow Religion 20

Eilistraee 21Ghaunadaur (The Elder ElementalGod) 27Lolth 35Vhaeraun 43

The High History of the Drow . . . . 46Drow Spells 49Drow Magical Items 69Drow Craftwork 87Drow Language 95Drow Nomenclature 96

A Selected Glossary of Deep Drow . 100Dark Elven Runes 103The Spider And The Axe: War In The

Depths 109The Underdark I l lMonsters of the Underdark 112

Bat, Deep 113Dragon, Deep 115Myrlochar 117Pedipalp 118Rothe 120Solifugid 122Spider, Subterranean 123Spitting Crawler 125Yochlol 126

Design: Ed GreenwoodEditing: Newton EwellKeylining: Sarah Feggestad

CreditsTypesetting: Ries Graphics

Cover Art: Jeff EasleyInterior Art: Tim Bradstreet, Rick Harris

Copyright ©1991 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in U.S.A.

TSR, Inc.POB 756

Lake GenevaWI 53147 USA

TSR Ltd.120 Church End, Cherry HintonCambridge CBI 3LBUnited Kingdom

Sam

ple

file

Distributed to the book trade by Random House, Inc., and in Canada by Random House ofCanada, Ltd.Distributed to the book and hobby trade in the United Kingdom by TSR Ltd.Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distributors.

This work is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any repro-duction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited without the ex-press written consent of TSR, Inc.

ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D, and FORGOTTEN REALMS are registeredtrademarks owned by TSR, Inc. The TSR logo is a trademark owned by TSR, Inc.

9326Dedication

ISBN 1-56076-132-6

To Gary Gygax, for our first dark look at the drow.

To Roger Moore, for glimpses of drow, dwarves, and a campaign of warfare between them.

To Eric Oppen, for the dark elven point of view.

To C.E. Misso, for a look at the unfortunate driders.

To Ann Dupuis and to Erol Otus, for a little magic.

To James Jacobs, for two names and more fun.

To Jim Lowder, for finding drow in the Realms.

To Karen Boomgarden: Eilistraee is for you, with love and respect.

Most of all, to Bob Salvatore, for bringing the drow to life in the Realms — and spinning tales ofthe Realms to warm many a fireside, down the passing years!

Greater indeed are pleasures that are shared.— Drizzt Do'Urden, Exile

Sam

ple

file

Drow. The Dark Elves. Those Who HaveTurned to Evil. In elven tongues, they arereferred to by several names: "tirlaukhbhet-ess," "tuer lothnil," and "duissaszbhar." All of these translate to "TheAccursed." The elegant, dark and deadlydrow are a hated and feared race.

In the dangerous caverns of the Un̂derdark dwell many horrible monsters,Including the drow. Obsidian-skinnedkin to elves, this fell race has won masteryof magic—and a cruel reputation. Smallchildren of Faerun hear whispered taleseven before they are officially warned ofThose Below.

As everyone knows, drow come bynight, sporadically raiding the surfacerealms with their twisted magic and theirnear-invulnerability to the magic art ofmost wizards. They are masters of subtletreachery, and cannot be trusted even bytheir fellows.

"Were they not divided into warringfactions, they'd no doubt have overcome arealm or two before this—and mayhap(quietly, now; they've spies everywhere)even have already, on the sly, here onthe very sunlit surface of Faerun! Eh—smile not! Have ye not heard of strangemagic and doings, and this an' that goingshort, that never ran out before? Well—'tis going below, mark ye—to them."

So much I heard from a dozen hire-swords and caravan-guards in the tav-erns of Waterdeep when I asked aboutdrow (a subject best avoided, they gaveme to know). Armed with the ever-accu-rate lore of the average sword in thestreet, I used a secret gate I knew, and ina single step was flung from the City ofSplendors. Half a world away I flew, to theold green trees of Shadowdale; betweentwo old and gnarled forest giants, actu-ally, just across the high road from the

unheralded flagstone path that leads toElminster's Tower.

What did The Old Sage, among thegreatest (and almost certainly the mostwidely-experienced) living mages of Fae-run, know of drow? I quickened my stepsas I framed the question half a dozenways, thinking on how best to approachHis Crustiness.

Hearing a familiar chuckle from off tothe left, I took the side-path that led downto Elminster's Pool. Perhaps he was doingdishes or laundry (or rather, sitting andtalking, smoking his infernal pipe, whileLhaeo did the actual work), or maybe hewas—I stopped dead.

Elminster was sitting, yes, smoking,definitely—but he was also chuckling atthe low, murmured words of a visitor.Words that ceased abruptly at my arrival,changing to silent hand-movements,head-shifts, arched brows, and a complexshifting of expressions.

Elminster laid a level gaze upon me,nodded in a "wait-and-bide-quiet" man-ner, and turned his attention to hisguest. His hands, shoulders, and whatcould be seen of his face above the beardalso moved, in a silent, high-speed ges-ture-talk that seemed concerned with thesafety of my presence, and what I mightreveal. I forgot to wait and bide quiet inthe approved inscrutable manner; I wastoo busy staring.

Before me, shoulder-deep in the pool,was a very beautiful elven woman. Herhead and shoulders were framed by acascade of fine, snow-white hair, whichpooled in the water around her in animpressive nimbus. Ruby-red eyes, set ina delicately-featured obsidian face, dartedfrom Elminster to me like licking flamesin the gathering twilight.

The drow lady—I could only call her a

Introduction • 3

Sam

ple

file

lady—held a swirled-crystal wineglassclear of the water. Green, spiced drowwine sparkled within its depths. A simi-lar draught occupied a matching glass ona rock beside The Old Mage.

Elminster smiled, and turned to me."Well met," he said. "May I present—nocloser, please; she's rather apprehensive,and for reasons of modesty won't comeout of the water just now—my onetimeapprentice, Susprina Arkhenneld."

He held my eyes almost challengingly. Iremembered that one knelt on one kneeto ladies of esteem (even when they'rebathing in a pond), and did so. Elminstersmiled. "Aye, she's drow. Mystra mindednot. Have ye become so expert in the waysof Faerun that ye must stand asdumbfounded as a local? Ye came to askme something?"

I took a deep breath, and tried a smileon the angry-looking Susprina. Thiswasn't going to be easy....

It definitely wasn't easy, but you nowhold the end result: a sourcebook explor-ing the fascinating, often deadly cultureof the drow in (or rather, under) Faerun.Elminster helped, as did Susprina, butthey both warn that much here is incom-plete: adventurers may well learn more attheir peril. Moreover, in the other worldswhere they are found, drow may vary incustoms and details from the informa-tion given herein. As The Old Mage says(all too often, it seems): Ye Have BeenWarned.

4 • Introduction

Sam

ple

file

The Nature of Dark Elves

CHAPTER

The drow, or dark elves, are a fearsomeand mysterious race to most surfacedwellers in the Realms. Their essentialcharacteristics, statistics, and game-re-lated details are given in Volume 2 of theMonstrous Compendium, under theheading "Elf, Drow."

This chapter augments the informa-tion given there, as the essential first steptoward the goal of this work: bringing thedrow of the Realms to life, for easy DMreference and ready use in play.

Drow BuildDrow vary in shape, features, and haircolor as greatly as humans do. The onlyexception to this rule is their uniformlyjet-black skin (the few exceptions tend tobe bone-white albinos).

The majority of drow have snow-whitehair from birth, yellowing (if female) orgraying (if male) and thinning with greatage. Rare drow have naturally silver orcopper-hued hair, although there arethose who deliberately dye their hairsilver (see the chapter on Drow Religion,under "Eilistraee").

Most drow have red eyes. Others havegreen, brown, or black. Various shades ofgray, even amber and rose-hued eyes arenot unknown. All drow eyes tend to growredder when they are angry or upset.Yellow eyes usually denote illness, dis-ease, poisoning, or the presence of cer-tain detrimental magics.

Blue and purple (and all the tintsthereof) are the most unusual eye colors,and usually denote human or surface-elven blood somewhere in the drow'sancestry.

Drow teeth may be black, white, orpurple, and their gums, tongues, andthroats pink, red, or purple.

Drow females tend to be bigger andstronger than males. Both sexes tend tobe lithe, slim, and graceful in build,features, and movements, much as otherelves appear to human eyes.

Drow IntelligenceDrow are also very alert and inquisitive,simply as survival traits in their twistedsociety. This mental readiness gives theman intellectual advantage over most crea-tures. When creating drow characters,DMs may elect to add + 1 to Intelligencescore rolls, and +1 or + 2 to Dexterityscores, to a maximum of 18. Note thatwhile drow Intelligence is augmented,drow Wisdom is not—the all-pervasiveteachings of Lolth, and the limited expo-sure to other societies, beings, and sur-roundings, are not conducive to a wideand reasoned experience of the world.

Drow are rarely surprised. DMs shouldadd the "expecting attack" + 2 modifier toall drow surprise rolls. This is becausedrow always expect attack, whether inthe "wild" Underdark or surface world, intheir own cities (where rival drow maystrike with a dagger, dart, or spell at anytime), or even at home (where rival familymembers may seize an unguarded mo-ment to "prune the family tree").

To reflect the true deadliness of drow incombat, DMs are urged to have them useshrewd strategies, be alert and respon-sive to PC foes preparing spells and otherdangers to come, and so on. Typical drowtactics include arranging ambusheswhere known dangers can be used, suchas loose rocks that can be knocked downatop intruders. Anti-personnel traps,such as strategically-placed phycomids,and glass bulbs filled with ascomoidspores, are also not uncommon in the

The Nature of Dark Elves • 5

Sam

ple

file

Underdark. Drow who fall in combat arecustomarily animated as zombies (solong as their lower limbs are usable) bydrow clerics, not left for others to plun-der. Such zombies are often commandedto carry less-mobile dead and wounded,and are also useful as "shock troops."

Drow SensesDrow eyes can see heat patterns in airand rock thanks to their 120' rangeinfravision. Against a dim gray "cold"stone backdrop, progressively warmerhues show as subtle blue, purple, red,and warm yellow. The warmth comesfrom hot springs, magma, seeping water,and fissure-breezes.

Drow learn to use the "shadows" ofthese varying hues for concealment whenstalking, in much the same way as asurface creature uses the shadows pro-duced by the sun, moon, and other lightsources. Like surface dwellers, drowmust learn to "read" heat-hues; the mean-ings of various shades and patterns be-come known to drow only through teach-ing or experience "in the field."

Near areas of drow habitation in theUnderdark, the varying heat-hues of thenatural Underdark are blurred by thehigher ambient heat of many gathered,living beings and their activities. Drowcities also sport magical glows, a fewactual lights (notably the sharp, foreign-to-most-drow radiances of the candles ofstudying wizards and important ritualsto Lolth), and the far more commoncontinual faerie fire glows that highlightdrow sculpture.

Drow are proud of the beauty of theirdesigns, and usually outline the mostimpressive works with this spell.

Drow hearing is highly developed. In

the Underdark, one learns to find waterby timing the echoes of dripping orrunning water, and to detect coming rockshifts or collapses by listening for thenatural grating and groaning sounds ofunshaped rock.

Drow have long, slender, sensitive fin-gers, and a highly-developed tactilesense. In addition to their silent languageof gestures, stances, and expressions,they are able to read subtle, braille-like"secret signs" left on rock walls, messagestones, and other places by fellow drow.

The drow sense of smell, however, isnot so acute. The all-pervasive smell ofthe rock and damp air all around, taintedby ever-present mold and fungus sporesand the scent of drow and slave bodies, isa strong background. Most drow havebeen exposed to strong incense and offer-ing-burnings since infancy, which fur-ther serves to dull the olfactory sense.Drow still enjoy perfume, incense, andthe like, but their smell is only about asacute as that of most humans—far lessthan that of many native inhabitants ofthe Underdark.

Personal MagicAll civilized drow receive training in wiz-ardry magic (discussed in the next chap-ter), both to test their aptitude for castingspells and to train them in the mentalconcentration necessary for control oftheir natural spell-like abilities. (DMNOTE: SPELL-LIKE ABILITIES FADEWITH TIME ON THE SURFACE WORLD.BY THE TIME A PC IS OF ADVENTURINGAGE, THEY WILL HAVE FADED AWAY.)

These innate "base powers," so-calledbecause all drow are born with them, andwith practice can learn to use themwithout formal tutelage, are the abilities

6 • Chapter 1

Sam

ple

file