The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed

It has been some time since my last entry, and I am unsure of the date. For an unknown time, though it feels like days,
I have been fleeing through unknown regions of the Underdeep, unsure whether I should be more wary of the dangers that
might lie ahead or the death chasing at my heels.
Now at last I am safe, and have accomplished what the Seekers sent me for. I have seen Ssil.
I must begin with the beginning.
I had joined a caravan of House Devoren as a mercenary guard, setting out on the third trading expedition with the Sulzthul,
those drow who were twisted and devolved in the time after the Sundering when they were enslaved by the aboleth. After
many days of travel and two easily-won battles against the little rodents known as kobolds, we found our way to the meeting
place decreed by the Sulzthul, who will allow no one to come to their cities.
The meeting place was in a narrow cavern, carved from the rock by the river that flowed through one side. Even as we
arrived, the Sulzthul rose from the water, weapons ready. They looked more like true drow than I had expected, though their
skin gleamed with a strange shine that I afterward learned was a natural, slick covering of some kind. Moving warily, they
emerged from the water and approached the caravan, obviously not completely at home on dry land.
While the Sulzthul spoke to the House Devoren caravan master in our tongue, accented by odd gurgling noises, I slipped
out of sight long enough to deploy the magics that would -- I hoped -- see me through to Ssil. When the business was
concluded and the Sulzthul left, dragging bundles behind them in the water, I entered the river as noiselessly as I could
and began to follow. Though it took great care, I was not noticed, which is well, for otherwise I would not have found the
city nor would I be alive to write these words.
I cannot say how many twists and turns led at last to the great lake where the underwater city lies, but I began to fear I would
lose track of the Sulzthul I followed. The city itself is striking in appearance, a single immense column of stone beneath
the waves pierced with hundreds of caves where the Sulzthul make their homes. Fields of underwater crops spread out all
around it and, most surprisingly, the entire area was lit by thousands of floating, translucent creatures that glowed with a
variety of colours.
As we expected, the entryways to the city were well guarded, but I was able to slip through. For a full day, I made my way
about the city as well as I was able. I quickly learned the Sulzthul are comfortable at depths beyond what we can endure,
and the strange creatures that light their great city are agonisingly painful to touch, though it seems not to bother the
Sulzthul.
Only by the use of magic was I able to comprehend the speech of the Sulzthul when distorted by the water, but what
I overheard was a wealth of new information for our archives. Unfortunately, I was discovered before I could learn
everything I would wish, and before I was able to find a lone Sulzthul to bring back for further study. I am unsure how this
happened, but I believe one of their sorcerers detected the spells I was using.
Infuriated, the Sulzthul came for me, but again through the use of magic I was able to outpace even them in the water. I
came up again from the river at an unfamiliar location, and had no opportunity to gain my bearings before the Sulzthul were
upon me. Though they are fallen from true drow, I am not so foolish as to imagine them incapable of meting out swift death
to any whom they capture violating their lands.
I will record my findings below, and I encourage the Hidden Eyes to plan a return trip to Ssil, that we may learn more of
these strange creatures.
From the Journal of Irazz Balagothe, Hidden Blade of the Seekers of na’Koth
127