The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed

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Drow Magic and Equipment
In their long years of exile in the Underdeep, the drow
have learned tricks and secrets of magic unknown to the
other races of the world. This chapter covers the magic
of the drow, from the mysterious rituals of boneforging and
lifebinding to a selection of new drow spells and magical
items.
Rituals
The drow have developed a number of magical rituals,
strange rites that are but rumours to outside races. This
section deals with two of the most famous ritual magics
of the drow. The first is boneforging, an alchemical and
magical process known only to the feral drow that was a gift
to them from their demonic god. The second is lifebinding,
a powerful ritual which allows the drow to force a sacrificial
victim to shoulder part of the cost of magic item creation.
Boneforging
Boneforging is a blanket term applied to several aspects
of Kanahraun alchemy and magic. They were first taught
the secrets of boneforging by Azzanoth the Glutton, and
have refined the craft even further in the millennia since. A
skilled Kanahraun boneforger can create items from bone
as easily as a smith can work steel.
The feral drow have a nearly unending supply of bone to
use, making boneforging in some ways easier than creating
items from metal. However, possession of a boneforged
item is a mark of some degree of status or accomplishment
within Kanahraun society, and most feral drow either make
do with the weapons and armour they scavenge from their
victims or are awarded metal items created by feral drow
smiths.
In the simplest terms, boneforging is the process of taking
a bone from a dead (or undead) creature and moulding it
into a new form. This new form can be almost anything
the creator desires it to be, so long as there is sufficient
mass in the bones he has to work with to create what he has
in mind. When the boneforger is finished with his work,
the item is still clearly bone, but has assumed an entirely
new shape and has been strengthened to very nearly the
hardness of steel. Boneforging has multiple applications in
feral drow society, used to create the arms and armour of
the ruling class as well to build structures in the Kanahraun
cities. The mammoth temple to Azzanoth in Gauth Sheol,
for example, is constructed entirely of bone.
At its most basic, boneforging is an alchemical process,
known only to those of the Kanahraun ruling class with the
Boneforging feat. Those with this feat have the knowledge
of the correct processes and ingredients needed to make
the bones pliable and malleable, able to form them into a
new shape or even mould multiple bones together to create
a single mass of bone. The same processes that make the
bones malleable cause them to harden again, this time with
a strength only slightly less than that of steel. In order to
form the softened bones into a useful item, of course, the
boneforger must also have the Craft (bone) skill.
Note that boneforgers may not take 10 or 20 on their Craft
(bone) skill checks, as once the bone has hardened, it is
impervious to any attempts to soften it again.
The final boneforged product may be left as a mundane
item, or it may be enchanted. As with all magical armour
and weapons, the boneforger must possess a masterwork
boneforged set of armour or weapon in order to enchant it.
Boneforging and the Undead
The most skilled, talented and daring boneforgers test their
abilities by creating boneforged items from the bones of
the undead. This is difficult, time-consuming and terribly
expensive and though the feral drow have no monetary
system, acquiring the necessary ingredients will take up a
large amount of time and a great many favours.
If done correctly, the boneforger attempting to make an
item from the bones of an undead is able to retain some
of the undead creature’s powers within the bone itself,
harnessing that power for his own use. Successfully
boneforging the bones of an undead requires two Craft
(bone) skill checks (with a different DC for each class
of undead), one to harvest the bone successfully and
another to forge it into the desired item. This process also
counts as magic item creation, requiring the boneforger to
possess the appropriate item creation feat to construct the
item he desires. In the case of armour and weapons, the
item must be enchanted with at least a +1 bonus during
the process of boneforging in order to retain its undead
properties. This is rarely, if ever, performed with bones
of such inconsequential undead as skeletons and zombies,
as they have no particular powers to harness. The most
common undead to be used in this way is the ghoul, though
the most powerful boneforgers will sometimes attempt to
manipulate the bones of such mighty undead as mummies
and vampires. Obviously, boneforging can only be used on
the corporeal undead, placing such terrible beings as ghosts