The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed

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The only reason anyone would go to such trouble is that
trade with the Sulzthul can be very profitable indeed. The
Sulzthul have ready access to a number of goods they
dredge from the deeps, most of which can otherwise only
be obtained through the use of water-breathing magic. The
few seas and more common deep lakes of the Underdeep
are among the most fertile areas of the world beneath the
surface, home to a multitude of edible plants for which the
landbound drow are quite eager, as such things provide
them a break from their otherwise dull diet of mushrooms
and are less expensive (though also not so prized) as food
brought from the surface. Additionally, the Sulzthul
cultivate large beds of Underdeep oysters from which they
harvest black pearls, an expensive and highly sought item
in many drow cities. Even the thryssal the aquatic drow
wear is valuable as a trade item, for in recent years the
other drow have grown enamoured of its shimmering look
and sensuous feel.
Among themselves, Sulzthul use pearls as currency, but
rely instead on a simple barter system when dealing with
other drow.
Education
The primary education for children of Sulzthul is in skills
needed for survival and knowledge of how to serve in the
caste to which the child was born.
Many Sulzthul are illiterate. Most have no need of such
knowledge, and the Sulzthul have very limited access to the
written word anyway. Paper, books and other perishables
are kept in a dry cave, and are rare enough that they
certainly cannot be wasted teaching every Sulzthul how to
read. Rarer still are the books of metal pages, usually gold,
with the words engraved on the thin sheets. These books
can survive indefinitely beneath the waves, but there are
pitifully few of them.
The Sulzthul make up for their lack of the written word
with a strong oral tradition, concerning mostly the torments
the aquatic drow endured while enslaved by the aboleth
and the heroic tale of their rebellion and dearly bought
freedom. Any Sulzthul can recite large sections of this at
will, so firmly is it embedded in his mind from childhood.
The constant retelling of this oral history helps keep the
Sulzthul hatred for the aboleth and all their servants burning
brightly with the passing of years.
The children of the craftsman caste are given the best
education of the three castes, as it is through this caste
that trade with other races is conducted. A child of the
craftsman caste will likely be taught how to read, and will
also be tutored in a simple understanding of mathematics.
Engineering
The cities and communities of the Sulzthul are widely
varied, depending on the number of Sulzthul in any given
settlement and the relative safety of the area.
Small groups of aquatic drow, especially those in an area
near populations of other races, will frequently dwell in
natural caves beneath the water’s surface, bringing air
down on a daily basis in large bladders and storing it at
the highest point of the cave’s ceiling. They live with a
minimum amount of impact on the local environment,
not out of a concern for nature, but rather to conceal any
evidence of their existence.
Larger communities of Sulzthul, those which have existed
for centuries and boast a population numbering into the
thousands, and which are living in relative safety in areas
of the Underdeep inhabited by no other races, are a very
different story. These cities achieve an incredible, ethereal
beauty which is nonetheless alien in appearance to any race
that does not call the water home.
The Sulzthul will typically use the existing geography of
an area when building their cities, blending their buildings
and homes in with the natural formations of rock and coral
to achieve a flowing, harmonious effect. They prefer to
build vertically where it is possible to do so, be it in a rocky
cliff plunging towards the distant bottom of an underground
abyss, or wrapped around a fluted column of natural stone
in the midst of a great Underdeep lake. Bridges, walkways
and streets are completely absent, as the Sulzthul have no
need of such things, although in some cities there are the
graceful arcs of supporting columns and structures that
serve to buttress and reinforce. In areas where such vertical
building is impossible, the Sulzthul like to make their
homes in caverns with multiple pools joined by connecting
caves, much like their original settlement at Uthzo Tesslath.
The Sulzthul always make their homes in a body of water
with at least some discernable current that will constantly
wash the people’s waste downstream or out into the sea.
They vastly prefer areas of bare rock, and will not live in a
rude cave gouged out of mud or clay, nor will they take up
residence in an area of still or silt-filled water.
Sulzthul are adept at tunnelling underwater, a process aided
immensely by the race’s sorcerers. Cities of the aquatic drow
are marked by dozens, even hundreds of caves excavated
from the bare rock. The caves have multiple chambers
in them, the number, size and depth of which is usually
indicative of the family’s status within the community.
Such dwellings would seem incredibly sparse to the eyes
of a land-bound race, should anyone from such a race ever
see them. The Sulzthul have none of the furnishings and
trappings of everyday life taken for granted by those who